Raag Devgandhaari
Commentary

Raag Devgandhaari, Shabad 1, Mehl 5 (Guru Arjan)

"The One Lord is within, and the One Lord is outside; the One Lord is contained in all."

The Arc

The heart-lotus opening under grace (rahau); the plain statement of Ik Onkar — the One within, without, and filling all (v.1); the widening to vastness — none has found the One's limit, yet it remains the intimate Giver of peace (v.2).

Key Vocabulary

  • maaee / "O mother" — Guru Arjan's recurring intimate address in Devgandhaari.
  • kamal / heart-lotus — the heart that opens under grace, not force (see Upside-Down Vessel).
  • antar-baahar / within-without — the all-pervading One; Ik Onkar as omnipresence.

Themes and Cross-Connections

Holds together the two poles the whole raag will keep balancing: the One as nearest of the near (B00C3038) and as utterly beyond reach (B00C3058, B00C3061). The heart-lotus links to Gauree's Tenth Gate and inverted-lotus imagery.

For Raag Devgandhaari

Opens Guru Arjan's Devgandhaari corpus (38 shabads, the bulk of the raag). Sets his signature: intimate address, grace as opening, and the near/vast paradox of the One.

Read this shabad →
← Back to Raag Devgandhaari