Raag Aasaa
Commentary

Raag Aasaa, Mehl 5 (Guru Arjan)

A moment's craving costs ages of regret; what looks sweet is poison, and coveting another's is sleeping beside a snake — the whole world tangles its loyalties backwards, but the perfect Guru untangles and carries the soul across.

The Arc

Pauri 0: a moment's indulgence, long regret. The Pause (Pauri 1): O blind one, meditate — your day draws near. Pauri 2: sweet-looking poison; coveting another's like a poisonous snake. Pauri 3: disordered loyalties — befriending the faithless, raging at true friends. Pauri 4: the world entangled; the Guru saves and sanctifies.

Key Vocabulary

  • a moment's craving, long regret: the disproportion of indulgence (cf. B00C801)
  • sweet-looking poison: what attracts can harm
  • coveting another's = a snake: the danger of wanting what is not yours (cf. B00C762)
  • disordered loyalties: clinging to what harms, spurning what helps

Themes and Cross-Connections

The warnings against craving and coveting are the Panch Vikaar in concrete form (B00C762, B00C850). "Your day draws near" is the brevity of life (B00C848). The disordered loyalties picture the manmukh's confusion, untangled only by the Guru, who carries the soul across the bhavjal.

For Raag Aasaa

Aasaa's hope is rescue from backwards loyalties: see the bad bargains for what they are, and let the Guru untangle and carry you. The mood is bracing and clear-eyed.


Last updated: 2026-06-28

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