The home where the Guru's word rings turns bright with joy; the heart is dyed a deep, lasting crimson of love, and the Word clears the darkness inside.
The Arc
Think of the happiest your house has ever felt. Someone you love walks in the door, and everyone starts singing. A heart drawn into love for the One feels like that, every day. Some people carry the One in their hearts. Stand near them and you start singing the One's praises before you even decide to. Their love rubs off. Over time it soaks into you, like dye going through every thread of a white shirt. That colour stays through every wash. And when you feel lost or confused, the Guru's word switches on a lamp inside. The dark simply clears. At the centre, the Rahao: near the One's people, peace comes and praise flows on its own.
Key Vocabulary
bilaaval: the bright home of joy (also the raag's name)
mangal: songs of joy
balihaarai: I am a sacrifice, I give myself
nij ghar: the true home of one's own being
rang chaloolai: the deep crimson dye
agi-aan anDhayraa: the darkness of not-knowing
Themes and Cross-Connections
This shabad puns on its own raag: tit ghar bilaaval — that home is Bilaaval, the home of joy. The crimson-dye image (rang chaloolai), a colour that kadai na utrai (never fades), is Amar Das's picture of a love that has soaked all the way through, unlike the world's dyes that wash off.
For Raag Bilaaval
This is the most Bilaaval of the M3 shabads — it names the raag itself as the bright, joy-filled home, and dyes the heart in the raag's own crimson of love.
Hukumnama
Subject: Near the One's people, praise comes easily Preview: a home lit with song, a welcome at the door, a crimson dye that never fades and a lamp in the dark.
Today: Think of the happiest your house has ever felt. Someone you love walks in the door, and everyone starts singing. A heart drawn into love for the One feels like that, every day. Some people carry the One in their hearts. Stand near them and you start singing the One's praises before you even decide to. Their love rubs off. Over time it soaks into you, like dye going through every thread of a white shirt. That colour stays through every wash. And when you feel lost or confused, the Guru's word switches on a lamp inside. The dark simply clears.
Stay near the One's people, and praise comes on its own.
For today: Spend time today with someone who loves the Naam, and sing one shabad together.
The home where the Guru's word rings turns bright with joy; the heart is dyed a deep, lasting crimson of love, and the Word clears the darkness inside.
The Arc
Think of the happiest your house has ever felt. Someone you love walks in the door, and everyone starts singing. A heart drawn into love for the One feels like that, every day. Some people carry the One in their hearts. Stand near them and you start singing the One's praises before you even decide to. Their love rubs off. Over time it soaks into you, like dye going through every thread of a white shirt. That colour stays through every wash. And when you feel lost or confused, the Guru's word switches on a lamp inside. The dark simply clears. At the centre, the Rahao: near the One's people, peace comes and praise flows on its own.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
This shabad puns on its own raag: tit ghar bilaaval — that home is Bilaaval, the home of joy. The crimson-dye image (rang chaloolai), a colour that kadai na utrai (never fades), is Amar Das's picture of a love that has soaked all the way through, unlike the world's dyes that wash off.
For Raag Bilaaval
This is the most Bilaaval of the M3 shabads — it names the raag itself as the bright, joy-filled home, and dyes the heart in the raag's own crimson of love.
Hukumnama
Subject: Near the One's people, praise comes easily Preview: a home lit with song, a welcome at the door, a crimson dye that never fades and a lamp in the dark.
Today: Think of the happiest your house has ever felt. Someone you love walks in the door, and everyone starts singing. A heart drawn into love for the One feels like that, every day. Some people carry the One in their hearts. Stand near them and you start singing the One's praises before you even decide to. Their love rubs off. Over time it soaks into you, like dye going through every thread of a white shirt. That colour stays through every wash. And when you feel lost or confused, the Guru's word switches on a lamp inside. The dark simply clears.
Stay near the One's people, and praise comes on its own.
For today: Spend time today with someone who loves the Naam, and sing one shabad together.