The shabad is a meditation on life's turning fortunes: feast and famine, horses and bare feet, soft beds and hard ground. Between the images runs the refrain, as the One keeps us so we live, closing on the Name that carries us across every high and low.
Key Vocabulary
Ji-o raam raakhai as the One keeps us; the flow of existence (Hukam).
Mahimaa the glory of the One, beyond description.
Naam nistaarai the Name that carries us across.
Gur milai meeting the Guru, the Guiding Light.
Themes and Cross-Connections
Equanimity through changing fortune; trust in the flow of existence (Hukam); the Name as the steady thread through every condition. Connects to the project's Hukam and sahaj teachings and to Guru Nanak's river-of-existence imagery.
For Raag Bhairao
A steadying comp for Bhairao. The raag's strength becomes the strength to rest in whatever comes.
Translation Notes
Begging and want are rendered gently, without shame, as ordinary turns of fortune. The emphasis stays on trust and equanimity rather than on hardship, keeping hope foremost.
However life keeps me, so I live.
The Arc
The shabad is a meditation on life's turning fortunes: feast and famine, horses and bare feet, soft beds and hard ground. Between the images runs the refrain, as the One keeps us so we live, closing on the Name that carries us across every high and low.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
Equanimity through changing fortune; trust in the flow of existence (Hukam); the Name as the steady thread through every condition. Connects to the project's Hukam and sahaj teachings and to Guru Nanak's river-of-existence imagery.
For Raag Bhairao
A steadying comp for Bhairao. The raag's strength becomes the strength to rest in whatever comes.
Translation Notes
Begging and want are rendered gently, without shame, as ordinary turns of fortune. The emphasis stays on trust and equanimity rather than on hardship, keeping hope foremost.