"One who enters a house filled with soot is blackened... Make servant Nanak the slave of Your slave."
The Arc
Turn the mind away from the faithless cynic (rahau); the soot-house image — you absorb what you're near; the teacher frees from the three moods (v.1); the two-sided prayer — keep me from bad company, place me in good (v.2).
Key Vocabulary
saakat / faithless cynic — the ego-oriented person; corrosive company (the shadow of Sat Sangat).
kaari / soot — proximity's automatic effect; you absorb your surroundings.
trai gun / three dispositions — the qualities of Maya, escaped via the teacher (see philosophy.md).
daasan daas — placed in good company; humility.
Translation Notes
The counsel to "run far from" and "break ties with" the saakat is framed as practical wisdom about influence, not contempt for any soul — consistent with the project's rule (Whom Shall We Call Bad?) that actions/influences can be named harmful but no soul written off. For Your Children stresses "don't be bound to / step back," not hatred.
Themes and Cross-Connections
The shadow-side of Sat Sangat: as good company raises, bad company drags. Soot-house links to Aasaa B00C776 (staying pure amid lamp-black). Three-moods-escaped links to Trai Gun / Chautha Paad.
For Raag Devgandhaari
Balances the raag's many good-company shabads with its one clear warning about bad company — and keeps even that warning humble (a prayer to be kept, not a boast of strength) and merciful (no soul condemned).
"One who enters a house filled with soot is blackened... Make servant Nanak the slave of Your slave."
The Arc
Turn the mind away from the faithless cynic (rahau); the soot-house image — you absorb what you're near; the teacher frees from the three moods (v.1); the two-sided prayer — keep me from bad company, place me in good (v.2).
Key Vocabulary
Translation Notes
The counsel to "run far from" and "break ties with" the saakat is framed as practical wisdom about influence, not contempt for any soul — consistent with the project's rule (Whom Shall We Call Bad?) that actions/influences can be named harmful but no soul written off. For Your Children stresses "don't be bound to / step back," not hatred.
Themes and Cross-Connections
The shadow-side of Sat Sangat: as good company raises, bad company drags. Soot-house links to Aasaa B00C776 (staying pure amid lamp-black). Three-moods-escaped links to Trai Gun / Chautha Paad.
For Raag Devgandhaari
Balances the raag's many good-company shabads with its one clear warning about bad company — and keeps even that warning humble (a prayer to be kept, not a boast of strength) and merciful (no soul condemned).