Whom shall we call bad, when there is no other? — and the five, domesticated, still living in the house.
The Arc
A nine-verse Ashtapadee that carries two of the Guru Granth Sahib's great teachings within one composition. Verse 1 opens with the Guest's promise: enshrine the Name, and He comes Himself to meet you. The Pause distributes the labor: meditate on the One Name; evict egotism and duality — greatness by subtraction. Verse 2 posts the waiting list — angels, humans, and silent sages long for this devotion; pandits and astrologers read forever — and none of it substitutes for the True Guru. Verse 3 gives the shortest complete theology: all is in His Hands, nothing more can be said; whatever He gives is what is received. Verse 4 is the first summit: all beings are His and He belongs to all — whom shall we call bad, since there is no second? Verses 5–6 hold the hard pairing: He Himself gave the wandering (greed and corruption within), and He Himself made the Gurmukhs, granting them the devotion they return — the dark is not a rival kingdom, and the finders did not make themselves finders. Verse 7 resolves the paradox: the truly wise see everything as Truth; He may set them wandering, but they do not go astray, for the One they know is on every road. Verse 8 is the second summit: the five passions still move within the body's house — but made veechaaree, thoughtful, domesticated; without the True Guru they are not overcome, and through the Name the ego is conquered.
Key Vocabulary
Mandaa kis no aakhee-ai — "whom shall we call bad?" (verse 4): the non-condemnation that follows strictly from Ik Onkar; actions may be named, souls may not be written off.
Bhavaalee — the wandering, the going-astray (verse 5): given by Him — no second power owns the lost.
Bakhsee-an — granted, bestowed (verse 6): devotion itself as gift, not achievement.
Panchay veechaaree — the five made thoughtful (verse 8): the passions domesticated rather than destroyed; permanent residents under new management.
Translation Notes
Verse 0 — sun man. The Literal Meaning reads "Listen, O mortal"; the Gurmukhi says sun man — "listen, O mind" — the Third Guru's characteristic self-address, as in his Anand. Rendered "O my mind."
Verse 8 — panchay veechaaree. The Literal Meaning's "the five are well-behaved" is apt; more literally the five are made veechaaree — reflective, deliberate. The passions are not slain but converted into thoughtful servants; the rendering keeps this crucial nuance.
Themes and Cross-Connections
Verse 4 belongs beside "no one is bad" from the Mehl 5 shabads of this raag and the project's Panch Vikaar and evenhandedness teachings: the refusal to write off any soul is not sentimentality but strict non-dual logic — condemnation requires a second, and there is none. Verse 8 then completes the psychology: the same logic that spares other souls spares one's own five passions — they too are not an enemy kingdom to raze but energies to re-employ; this is the clearest statement in the raag of mastery-not-flight (compare Maya made servant). Verses 5–7 extend the aap-litany of the neighboring hymn into its most consoling form: the wise wander without going astray, because omnipresence cannot be exited. The hymn thus holds, in one span, Gurbani's widest mercy (no soul beyond the pale) and its most practical instruction (the five under new management, keys held by the Name).
For Raag Aasaa
Aasaa's hope, at full maturity, has room for everyone: the wanderers are still in His territory, the passions are still in the house, and none of it is a threat to the one who knows the True One — for there is no second kingdom, no rival landlord, and no soul outside the reach of the raag's great promise.
Whom shall we call bad, when there is no other? — and the five, domesticated, still living in the house.
The Arc
A nine-verse Ashtapadee that carries two of the Guru Granth Sahib's great teachings within one composition. Verse 1 opens with the Guest's promise: enshrine the Name, and He comes Himself to meet you. The Pause distributes the labor: meditate on the One Name; evict egotism and duality — greatness by subtraction. Verse 2 posts the waiting list — angels, humans, and silent sages long for this devotion; pandits and astrologers read forever — and none of it substitutes for the True Guru. Verse 3 gives the shortest complete theology: all is in His Hands, nothing more can be said; whatever He gives is what is received. Verse 4 is the first summit: all beings are His and He belongs to all — whom shall we call bad, since there is no second? Verses 5–6 hold the hard pairing: He Himself gave the wandering (greed and corruption within), and He Himself made the Gurmukhs, granting them the devotion they return — the dark is not a rival kingdom, and the finders did not make themselves finders. Verse 7 resolves the paradox: the truly wise see everything as Truth; He may set them wandering, but they do not go astray, for the One they know is on every road. Verse 8 is the second summit: the five passions still move within the body's house — but made veechaaree, thoughtful, domesticated; without the True Guru they are not overcome, and through the Name the ego is conquered.
Key Vocabulary
Translation Notes
Themes and Cross-Connections
Verse 4 belongs beside "no one is bad" from the Mehl 5 shabads of this raag and the project's Panch Vikaar and evenhandedness teachings: the refusal to write off any soul is not sentimentality but strict non-dual logic — condemnation requires a second, and there is none. Verse 8 then completes the psychology: the same logic that spares other souls spares one's own five passions — they too are not an enemy kingdom to raze but energies to re-employ; this is the clearest statement in the raag of mastery-not-flight (compare Maya made servant). Verses 5–7 extend the aap-litany of the neighboring hymn into its most consoling form: the wise wander without going astray, because omnipresence cannot be exited. The hymn thus holds, in one span, Gurbani's widest mercy (no soul beyond the pale) and its most practical instruction (the five under new management, keys held by the Name).
For Raag Aasaa
Aasaa's hope, at full maturity, has room for everyone: the wanderers are still in His territory, the passions are still in the house, and none of it is a threat to the one who knows the True One — for there is no second kingdom, no rival landlord, and no soul outside the reach of the raag's great promise.
Last updated: 2026-07-03