I come empty-handed and ask to be held; sing the Name and let the fruitless striving go — for the Name is the support that makes a whole life.
The Arc
Some days you feel small, as heavy and plain as a stone. Come anyway. Hold out your empty hands and ask the One to hold you. You have the One, and that is enough. Then sing the Naam. Through the Guru, it tastes sweet. A lot of what you chase leaves you hungry, like scrolling for an hour and feeling worse. You can set that down gently. A life with the Naam in the middle stops spinning like a wheel in mud. It has something to lean on. And slowly, it starts to grow fruit. At the centre, the Rahao: sing the Naam, O mind, taste its sweetness through the Guru, and set the fruitless work down.
Key Vocabulary
moorakh mugaDh: unknowing, unschooled — a gentle self-address
paathar: a stone
nirgun: without merits, empty-handed
naamheen: without the Name
aDhaar: support, prop
safal jannamaa: a life made fruitful
Themes and Cross-Connections
This shabad turns weakness into the doorway: ham nirgun (I have no merits) is not self-hatred but the honest empty hand that grace can fill. Naam aDhaar — the Name as the support — is Ram Das's steady image of a life propped on the One rather than on its own strength.
For Raag Bilaaval
Bilaaval's well-being here is the relief of stopping the fruitless striving (nihfal kaamaa) and resting the whole weight of a life on the Name.
Translation Notes
Two passages are handled gently. (1) The opening self-description (moorakh mugaDh... paathar heen akarmaa — in the older English translation, "foolish, idiotic... a lowly stone with no good karma") appears here as coming before the One with empty hands, open for grace. (2) Verse 3's naamheen Dharig jeevtay... vad dookh sahammaa ("lives are cursed... terrible pain... unfortunate fools") keeps its core: a life without the Name feels empty and goes in circles.
Hukumnama
Subject: Sing the Naam and taste its sweetness Preview: an empty hand held out, a heavy stone, a wheel going round and a life that bears fruit.
Today: Some days you feel small, as heavy and plain as a stone. Come anyway. Hold out your empty hands and ask the One to hold you. You have the One, and that is enough. Then sing the Naam. Through the Guru, it tastes sweet. A lot of what you chase leaves you hungry, like scrolling for an hour and feeling worse. You can set that down gently. A life with the Naam in the middle stops spinning like a wheel in mud. It has something to lean on. And slowly, it starts to grow fruit.
Sing the Naam, and taste what lasts.
For today: Swap ten minutes of scrolling for ten minutes of singing the Naam.
I come empty-handed and ask to be held; sing the Name and let the fruitless striving go — for the Name is the support that makes a whole life.
The Arc
Some days you feel small, as heavy and plain as a stone. Come anyway. Hold out your empty hands and ask the One to hold you. You have the One, and that is enough. Then sing the Naam. Through the Guru, it tastes sweet. A lot of what you chase leaves you hungry, like scrolling for an hour and feeling worse. You can set that down gently. A life with the Naam in the middle stops spinning like a wheel in mud. It has something to lean on. And slowly, it starts to grow fruit. At the centre, the Rahao: sing the Naam, O mind, taste its sweetness through the Guru, and set the fruitless work down.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
This shabad turns weakness into the doorway: ham nirgun (I have no merits) is not self-hatred but the honest empty hand that grace can fill. Naam aDhaar — the Name as the support — is Ram Das's steady image of a life propped on the One rather than on its own strength.
For Raag Bilaaval
Bilaaval's well-being here is the relief of stopping the fruitless striving (nihfal kaamaa) and resting the whole weight of a life on the Name.
Translation Notes
Two passages are handled gently. (1) The opening self-description (moorakh mugaDh... paathar heen akarmaa — in the older English translation, "foolish, idiotic... a lowly stone with no good karma") appears here as coming before the One with empty hands, open for grace. (2) Verse 3's naamheen Dharig jeevtay... vad dookh sahammaa ("lives are cursed... terrible pain... unfortunate fools") keeps its core: a life without the Name feels empty and goes in circles.
Hukumnama
Subject: Sing the Naam and taste its sweetness Preview: an empty hand held out, a heavy stone, a wheel going round and a life that bears fruit.
Today: Some days you feel small, as heavy and plain as a stone. Come anyway. Hold out your empty hands and ask the One to hold you. You have the One, and that is enough. Then sing the Naam. Through the Guru, it tastes sweet. A lot of what you chase leaves you hungry, like scrolling for an hour and feeling worse. You can set that down gently. A life with the Naam in the middle stops spinning like a wheel in mud. It has something to lean on. And slowly, it starts to grow fruit.
Sing the Naam, and taste what lasts.
For today: Swap ten minutes of scrolling for ten minutes of singing the Naam.