The world is a crow, pecking at bait it forgets the moment it swallows — until a heart lets go of the false and turns home.
The Arc
The first of Guru Nanak's Basant Ashtapadees, marked du-tukee (two-line verses). It opens by naming the restless, forgetful mind (the crow chasing bait), then the rahau gives the remedy — without the Name, no good life grows. The middle verses show impermanence (a house of sand, a bubble) and the emptiness of a life dressed up outside but hollow within, building to a tender address to the soul as a beloved daughter-princess: turn from what drains you, sing the Name, lean on love. It closes with Nanak standing at the door, content in the Name, asking only for the grace that is already near.
Key Vocabulary
jag kaoo-aa — the world as a crow: restless, grabbing, forgetful.
naam — the living presence of the One held in awareness; what stays.
bikh — literally poison/corruption; here, what only feeds craving.
sarnaagat — sanctuary, shelter of the One.
raaj kuaar — princess; the soul addressed as a beloved bride-daughter (jeev-istree).
Themes and Cross-Connections
Impermanence (sandcastle, bubble, fading flower) set against the one thing that lasts — the Name and the light it shares in every soul. The soul-bride convention frames the turn from craving to love. Awe (bhai) as the doorway out of fear connects to Nanak's wider teaching that reverence for the vast One dissolves small anxieties.
For Raag Basant
Spring's green growth is the hidden measure of a life 'grown from' the Name (the rahau's gun chaar), and the fading flower-to-dust image (P6) is spring's shadow-side — blossom that does not last unless rooted in something real.
Translation Notes
The literal has gendered lines — 'the woman desires beauty and pleasure... her beauty leads her into evil' (P5–P6) and 'O princess, my daughter, run away' (P7). These use the classic soul-bride (jeev-istree) convention, not a comment on actual women; the children's text universalizes to any craving heart and renders the address tenderly ('dear one') rather than as gendered blame. 'Depart like thieves' (P3) and 'loses honor gathering sin' (P4) are reframed to empty-handedness rather than condemnation. 'Fear of God' (P4) is rendered as awe/reverence per house style. The hymn is marked du-tukee (two-tuk verses).
The world is a crow, pecking at bait it forgets the moment it swallows — until a heart lets go of the false and turns home.
The Arc
The first of Guru Nanak's Basant Ashtapadees, marked du-tukee (two-line verses). It opens by naming the restless, forgetful mind (the crow chasing bait), then the rahau gives the remedy — without the Name, no good life grows. The middle verses show impermanence (a house of sand, a bubble) and the emptiness of a life dressed up outside but hollow within, building to a tender address to the soul as a beloved daughter-princess: turn from what drains you, sing the Name, lean on love. It closes with Nanak standing at the door, content in the Name, asking only for the grace that is already near.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
Impermanence (sandcastle, bubble, fading flower) set against the one thing that lasts — the Name and the light it shares in every soul. The soul-bride convention frames the turn from craving to love. Awe (bhai) as the doorway out of fear connects to Nanak's wider teaching that reverence for the vast One dissolves small anxieties.
For Raag Basant
Spring's green growth is the hidden measure of a life 'grown from' the Name (the rahau's gun chaar), and the fading flower-to-dust image (P6) is spring's shadow-side — blossom that does not last unless rooted in something real.
Translation Notes
The literal has gendered lines — 'the woman desires beauty and pleasure... her beauty leads her into evil' (P5–P6) and 'O princess, my daughter, run away' (P7). These use the classic soul-bride (jeev-istree) convention, not a comment on actual women; the children's text universalizes to any craving heart and renders the address tenderly ('dear one') rather than as gendered blame. 'Depart like thieves' (P3) and 'loses honor gathering sin' (P4) are reframed to empty-handedness rather than condemnation. 'Fear of God' (P4) is rendered as awe/reverence per house style. The hymn is marked du-tukee (two-tuk verses).
Last updated: 2026-07-10