I do not even know how to swim — so give me Your arm, and I will hold on.
The Arc
Namdev cries out from the waves of greed that keep crashing over him: carry me across the world-ocean, Keeper of all, Beloved One, the way a parent carries a tired child. He cannot steer his boat in the storm or find the far shore alone. He asks to be brought to the true teacher who knows the crossing. The close is utterly disarming: I do not even know how to swim — give me Your arm, give me Your arm.
Key Vocabulary
lobh lahar — the waves of greed.
taar — carry across, ferry.
gobind / beethulaa — devotional names of the Beloved One.
anil bayrhaa — the boat in the storm-wind.
baah deh — give me Your arm.
Themes and Cross-Connections
Namdev's tender, dependent plea is a counterweight to the raag's more assertive voices; it belongs to Gurbani's steady welcome of honest helplessness turned into trust. The crossing-image recurs across the tradition as the passage from turbulence to peace.
For Raag Basant
Against the raag's bright blossoming, this shabad shows the trust that makes blossoming possible: a heart that admits it cannot swim and simply reaches for the arm that will carry it to the calm, greening far shore.
Translation Notes
Wellbeing care: the drowning imagery is turned toward rescue and a reaching hand rather than despair. The devotional names Gobind and Beethula are kept as names of the Beloved One, capitalized, and rendered warmly as parent-and-child rather than a distant sovereign.
I do not even know how to swim — so give me Your arm, and I will hold on.
The Arc
Namdev cries out from the waves of greed that keep crashing over him: carry me across the world-ocean, Keeper of all, Beloved One, the way a parent carries a tired child. He cannot steer his boat in the storm or find the far shore alone. He asks to be brought to the true teacher who knows the crossing. The close is utterly disarming: I do not even know how to swim — give me Your arm, give me Your arm.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
Namdev's tender, dependent plea is a counterweight to the raag's more assertive voices; it belongs to Gurbani's steady welcome of honest helplessness turned into trust. The crossing-image recurs across the tradition as the passage from turbulence to peace.
For Raag Basant
Against the raag's bright blossoming, this shabad shows the trust that makes blossoming possible: a heart that admits it cannot swim and simply reaches for the arm that will carry it to the calm, greening far shore.
Translation Notes
Wellbeing care: the drowning imagery is turned toward rescue and a reaching hand rather than despair. The devotional names Gobind and Beethula are kept as names of the Beloved One, capitalized, and rendered warmly as parent-and-child rather than a distant sovereign.