Ang 660695

Raag Dhanaasaree

The Commentary

This composition opens Raag Dhanaasaree and bundles two of Guru Nanak's shabads. The first (verses closing ||4||1||) begins with the Mool Mantar and a frightened soul's cry, to whom shall I call out?, answered immediately by the ever-fresh Giver; it moves through several pause-refrains, each leaning on the same trust: without the Beloved, how could I even live? The second shabad (closing ||5||2||) is a gentle memento mori: we are beings of a single breath, so wake, look at how short the days are, give the whole self back to the One it came from, and live free of the grasping ego while still fully alive.

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