Raag Bilaaval
Commentary

Raag Bilaaval, Chhant, Mehl 5 (Guru Arjan)

One kind look lifts the fog, and the small light folds back into the great Light — whole at last.

The Arc

The inner court where sorrow and fear do not reach (P0); the call to sing together into what never dies (P1); the wonder-struck moment of being taken by the hand (P2); and the merging of the small light into the great Light (P3).

Key Vocabulary

  • anhad — the unstruck inner music.
  • bisman bisam — utterly wonder-struck; vismaad.
  • darisat Dhaaree — the Glance of Grace.
  • jotee jot ralee — light merging in Light.
  • aap kartaa aap bhugtaa — the One as both Maker and Enjoyer.

Themes and Cross-Connections

An inner refuge safe from sorrow; communal devotion as joy; grace as one transforming look; and oneness (Ik Onkar) — the small self folding into the whole.

For Raag Bilaaval

The raag's brightness peaks here in wonder — vismaad, the awe at the very heart of Waheguru.

Translation Notes

The noose of Death (jam kee faasee) is rendered as being freed from what bound me with fear, dropping death-terror per wellbeing rules; rog sog... janam maran (P0) becomes a place sorrow and fear do not reach. Bhagat thag-uree (the drug of devotion) is rendered as the happy medicine of devotion — never framing devotion negatively.

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