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. Shabad 167)
sweet-looking poison: what attracts can harm
coveting another's = a snake: the danger of wanting what is not yours (cf. Shabad 128)
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 (Shabad 128, Shabad 216). "Your day draws near" is the brevity of life (Shabad 214). 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.
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
Themes and Cross-Connections
The warnings against craving and coveting are the Panch Vikaar in concrete form (Shabad 128, Shabad 216). "Your day draws near" is the brevity of life (Shabad 214). 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.