Raag Bilaaval
Commentary

Raag Bilaaval, Dupda, Mehl 5 (Guru Arjan)

Remember the Giver of life, and the days fill with color instead of circling.

The Arc

The first verse contrasts two ways of living: forgetting the Giver of life leaves it hollow and circling, while holding the Giver close dyes the days in love. The Rahau fills the singer with deep calm and great gladness, peace found among good company. The close addresses the One who knows the inside of us and fills every place and space between.

Key Vocabulary

  • jeevan kaa daataa: the Giver of life
  • an-din rang raataa: dyed in love day and night
  • pooran bha-ee aas: hopes fulfilled
  • antarjaamee: the knower of what is inside

Themes and Cross-Connections

The inner-knower (antarjaamee) filling every space (thaan thanantar) is the all-pervading Oneness felt as intimacy — nowhere the One is not, including within.

For Raag Bilaaval

Bilaaval keeps the contrast gentle: not a warning, but an invitation to the fuller, color-filled way of living.

Translation Notes

The literal mar mar janmay speaks of dying and being reborn again and again. Per the wellbeing rules, the death-and-rebirth imagery is carried not as a threat but as the restless, hollow, circling feeling of forgetting the Giver of life — with the emphasis on the color and love that return with remembrance.

Last updated: 2026-07-08

Read this shabad →
← Back to Raag Bilaaval