Raag Bilaaval
Commentary

- Raag Bilaaval, Ashtapadee, Mehl 1 (Guru Nanak)

The one thing that goes everywhere with you is what you carry in your heart.

The Arc

Your mind is like a puppy chasing the next thing it wants. Each new thing is like a sip of salt water. You drink, and you get thirstier. You look at your phone, your clothes, your strength, your people, and you feel proud. One day all of that stays behind. The Naam is what comes with you. Some songs sparkle for a minute and fade. The song of the One, sung with love, works like medicine. Fancy clothes and holy marks are a costume if anger is boiling inside. Serve the Guru, flow with the One's will, and hold everything with an open hand. At the centre, the Rahao: only the Naam goes along with you.

Key Vocabulary

  • mansaa: the mind's wanting
  • tripat: satisfaction, fullness
  • bin naavai sang na jaanaa: only the Name goes along
  • daaroo: the medicine of praise
  • hukam: the flow of existence
  • ateet: detached, holding lightly

Themes and Cross-Connections

Impermanence and what endures; the medicine of loving song; living in tune with the flow; merging in Truth. Extends the previous Ashtapadee's teaching on the Name.

For Raag Bilaaval

The raag holds both the wistful note of impermanence and the settled joy of coming home.

Translation Notes

The stacked animal comparisons and the caste term neech chandaalaa (Pauri 5) are set aside here, keeping the gentle teaching -- turning from the Guru leaves us lost; turning back brings us home. 'Songs and rhythms are false' is reframed as fleeting entertainments, never framing music negatively, since the shabad prizes singing the One's praises. Hukam is kept as 'the flow of existence.'

Hukumnama

Subject: Only the Naam goes everywhere with you Preview: wealth turning to dust, a song like medicine, a white cloth, a forehead mark and beads on a playhouse actor.

Today: Your mind is like a puppy chasing the next thing it wants. Each new thing is like a sip of salt water. You drink, and you get thirstier. You look at your phone, your clothes, your strength, your people, and you feel proud. One day all of that stays behind. The Naam is what comes with you. Some songs sparkle for a minute and fade. The song of the One, sung with love, works like medicine. Fancy clothes and holy marks are a costume if anger is boiling inside. Serve the Guru, flow with the One's will, and hold everything with an open hand.

The Naam is the one thing that travels with you.

For today: Before you reach for the next thing you want, pause and say the Naam once.

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