"I will never give up the Name — my Guru taught me this."
The Arc
This is the Prahlaad shabad. It moves scene by scene: writing the Name on a child's slate, the fearless boy, the mother's frightened plea, the courtiers' plot, the terrifying hour and the rescue, and finally the blessing that flows to generations. Love is set against fear at every step.
Key Vocabulary
Prahlaad — a child devoted to the One despite a father who demanded worship for himself.
saasnaa — a teacher's scolding, which the boy meets without fear.
jam jaal — the "noose of Death," softened here to the tangle and fear of feeling cut off.
ha-umai bikh — the "poison" of ego, neutralized by the Guru's word.
Themes and Cross-Connections
Love over fear; a child's steadiness; ego treated as poison to heal. Pairs directly with B00C2367, which retells the same story from a second angle. The devotion-blesses-lineage theme reappears in B00C2374.
For Raag Bhairao
The raag's fierce brightness carries a story of protection through fear — its intensity becomes the intensity of rescue rather than of terror.
Translation Notes
The tale is Puranic (the Narsingh avatar) and is rendered respectfully. The graphic climax — sword, shattered pillar, Harnaakhash torn apart by claws — is softened for young readers to awe and rescue: "the One appeared, vast and awesome... the cruelty was undone." The "noose of the Messenger of Death" is softened to tangle and fear, per the wellbeing rules.
"I will never give up the Name — my Guru taught me this."
The Arc
This is the Prahlaad shabad. It moves scene by scene: writing the Name on a child's slate, the fearless boy, the mother's frightened plea, the courtiers' plot, the terrifying hour and the rescue, and finally the blessing that flows to generations. Love is set against fear at every step.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
Love over fear; a child's steadiness; ego treated as poison to heal. Pairs directly with B00C2367, which retells the same story from a second angle. The devotion-blesses-lineage theme reappears in B00C2374.
For Raag Bhairao
The raag's fierce brightness carries a story of protection through fear — its intensity becomes the intensity of rescue rather than of terror.
Translation Notes
The tale is Puranic (the Narsingh avatar) and is rendered respectfully. The graphic climax — sword, shattered pillar, Harnaakhash torn apart by claws — is softened for young readers to awe and rescue: "the One appeared, vast and awesome... the cruelty was undone." The "noose of the Messenger of Death" is softened to tangle and fear, per the wellbeing rules.