"My mind, my mind" — the Name as the only Friend who stays, and eyes healed to see the ever-present One.
The Arc
The companion shabad to B00C935, marked by its doubled cry man mayraa, man mayraa — the heart repeating itself because it means it. Verse 1 anchors on the permanent One — support of the earth, here from before the beginning, now and forever, while all else is passing — and links clarity to valuing good deeds and right living. Verse 2 is the great sorting: ego, attachment, and Maya's lures cannot follow you, and neither — said tenderly — can mother, father, family, children, cleverness, property; only the Name is the Friend who stays, and finding it, wherever I look, I see Him. Verse 3 tracks the actual change — a mind made pure by contemplating the True and keeping saadh sang (holy company), vices discarded, restless coming-and-going ended — closing on the humble prayer, O Friend, grant me Your Name. Verse 4 delivers the shabad's summit image: anjan — a healing ointment on the eyes — clears clouded sight so the ever-present One becomes visible, merged with sahj; and it names how rare the ego-conquering, contented servant is.
Key Vocabulary
Man mayraa (refrain) — my mind, my mind: the doubled address; conviction said twice.
Naam... only Friend (v.2) — the one companion that goes all the way; loved ones precious but not ultimate.
Jit dekhaa tit soi (v.2) — wherever I look, there He is: the world lit up once the one Friend is found.
Anjan (v.4) — healing eye-ointment: the seeing is healed; the presence was never absent.
Sahj (v.4) — intuitive ease: the merging that costs no strain.
Translation Notes
v.2 — the list of loved ones. SSK is literal; the point is ultimacy, not disdain — none can be the final companion. Per voice rules, rendered warmly ("all dear, none able to go all the way"), never as a put-down of family.
v.1 — "all else is false" (hor sabh koorh).Koorh here means impermanent/passing, not "a lie"; rendered as "just passing through" to avoid a harsh moral reading.
v.4 — "renunciates" (virakat). The unattached; rendered by function (free of grasping) rather than as a monastic label, since the raag prizes the householder-yet-detached ideal.
Themes and Cross-Connections
The healing-ointment (anjan) image recurs across Gurbani for grace clearing perception (Sukhmani's "ointment of wisdom on clouded eyes"; see philosophy.md on Anand). The "only Friend / nothing goes with you" sorting rhymes with the neighboring Chhant B00C934 and the Songs of Separation's B00C928 ("friends, children, relatives — none shall be your companion"). Saadh sang as the engine of purification is a raag-wide constant (B00C928, B00C933 v.17). The doubled man mayraa pairs this shabad with 935's inward music as a two-part meditation on the mind steadied in love.
For Raag Aasaa
The shabad hands a child two durable comforts: that there is one Friend who never leaves, even when everything and everyone else must; and that the One is not far or hidden but ever-present — waiting only for the eyes to be gently healed. Hope is not acquiring something new; it is having your sight cleared to what was always here.
"My mind, my mind" — the Name as the only Friend who stays, and eyes healed to see the ever-present One.
The Arc
The companion shabad to B00C935, marked by its doubled cry man mayraa, man mayraa — the heart repeating itself because it means it. Verse 1 anchors on the permanent One — support of the earth, here from before the beginning, now and forever, while all else is passing — and links clarity to valuing good deeds and right living. Verse 2 is the great sorting: ego, attachment, and Maya's lures cannot follow you, and neither — said tenderly — can mother, father, family, children, cleverness, property; only the Name is the Friend who stays, and finding it, wherever I look, I see Him. Verse 3 tracks the actual change — a mind made pure by contemplating the True and keeping saadh sang (holy company), vices discarded, restless coming-and-going ended — closing on the humble prayer, O Friend, grant me Your Name. Verse 4 delivers the shabad's summit image: anjan — a healing ointment on the eyes — clears clouded sight so the ever-present One becomes visible, merged with sahj; and it names how rare the ego-conquering, contented servant is.
Key Vocabulary
Translation Notes
Themes and Cross-Connections
The healing-ointment (anjan) image recurs across Gurbani for grace clearing perception (Sukhmani's "ointment of wisdom on clouded eyes"; see philosophy.md on Anand). The "only Friend / nothing goes with you" sorting rhymes with the neighboring Chhant B00C934 and the Songs of Separation's B00C928 ("friends, children, relatives — none shall be your companion"). Saadh sang as the engine of purification is a raag-wide constant (B00C928, B00C933 v.17). The doubled man mayraa pairs this shabad with 935's inward music as a two-part meditation on the mind steadied in love.
For Raag Aasaa
The shabad hands a child two durable comforts: that there is one Friend who never leaves, even when everything and everyone else must; and that the One is not far or hidden but ever-present — waiting only for the eyes to be gently healed. Hope is not acquiring something new; it is having your sight cleared to what was always here.
Last updated: 2026-07-05