Raag Dhanaasaree, Aartee (Four-Verse Hymn), Bhagat Ravi Daas Jee
Your Name is my aartee — the mat, the sandalwood, the lamp, the garland, the fan; the True Name is the food I set before You.
The Arc
Picture a tray set for worship. A mat to sit on. Sandalwood, ground into a sweet paste. Saffron to sprinkle. A lamp, a wick, the oil. A garland of flowers. A fan to wave. Look at each one closely. Each one is the Naam. The Naam is the mat. The Naam is the lamp and its flame. And that one small flame lights up the whole world. Anything else you could offer, the One already made. It is like buying your mom a gift with her own money. So the gift is the Naam itself, held in your heart. It goes with you wherever you are. At the centre, the Rahao: the Naam itself is the whole worship.
Key Vocabulary
aartee: the ceremony of waving lights
majan: the ritual cleansing bath
ursaa / chandno: grinding stone / sandalwood
jot: the kindled light
chavar: the ceremonial fan of honor
bhaar athaarah: the eighteen loads of vegetation
sat naam / bhog: the True Name / food offered
Themes and Cross-Connections
The Inward Turn — worship relocated from the temple tray to the heart. Connects directly to the Aartee thread (the Dhanaasaree Mehl 1 Aartee, "Gagan mai thaal") and to "The Inward Turn (ritual relocated to the heart)" and "The Merchant of the Name."
For Raag Dhanaasaree
Dhanaasaree carries the GGS's celebrated Aartee shabads; this is Ravi Daas's contribution to that inward worship.
Translation Notes
Ritual imagery is rendered as the fulfilment of form, not as a rejection of Hindu practice. jhoothay paasaaray ("useless displays") is framed as empty outer show — a critique of empty formalism in any tradition, not of temple worship itself. Interfaith care at full strength.
Hukumnama
Subject: The Naam itself is the whole worship Preview: a prayer mat, sandalwood and saffron, a lamp with its wick and oil, a garland and a waving fan.
Today: Picture a tray set for worship. A mat to sit on. Sandalwood, ground into a sweet paste. Saffron to sprinkle. A lamp, a wick, the oil. A garland of flowers. A fan to wave. Look at each one closely. Each one is the Naam. The Naam is the mat. The Naam is the lamp and its flame. And that one small flame lights up the whole world. Anything else you could offer, the One already made. It is like buying your mom a gift with her own money. So the gift is the Naam itself, held in your heart. It goes with you wherever you are.
The Naam itself is your whole worship.
For today: Before you eat today, pause to say the Naam and give thanks.
Your Name is my aartee — the mat, the sandalwood, the lamp, the garland, the fan; the True Name is the food I set before You.
The Arc
Picture a tray set for worship. A mat to sit on. Sandalwood, ground into a sweet paste. Saffron to sprinkle. A lamp, a wick, the oil. A garland of flowers. A fan to wave. Look at each one closely. Each one is the Naam. The Naam is the mat. The Naam is the lamp and its flame. And that one small flame lights up the whole world. Anything else you could offer, the One already made. It is like buying your mom a gift with her own money. So the gift is the Naam itself, held in your heart. It goes with you wherever you are. At the centre, the Rahao: the Naam itself is the whole worship.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The Inward Turn — worship relocated from the temple tray to the heart. Connects directly to the Aartee thread (the Dhanaasaree Mehl 1 Aartee, "Gagan mai thaal") and to "The Inward Turn (ritual relocated to the heart)" and "The Merchant of the Name."
For Raag Dhanaasaree
Dhanaasaree carries the GGS's celebrated Aartee shabads; this is Ravi Daas's contribution to that inward worship.
Translation Notes
Ritual imagery is rendered as the fulfilment of form, not as a rejection of Hindu practice. jhoothay paasaaray ("useless displays") is framed as empty outer show — a critique of empty formalism in any tradition, not of temple worship itself. Interfaith care at full strength.
Hukumnama
Subject: The Naam itself is the whole worship Preview: a prayer mat, sandalwood and saffron, a lamp with its wick and oil, a garland and a waving fan.
Today: Picture a tray set for worship. A mat to sit on. Sandalwood, ground into a sweet paste. Saffron to sprinkle. A lamp, a wick, the oil. A garland of flowers. A fan to wave. Look at each one closely. Each one is the Naam. The Naam is the mat. The Naam is the lamp and its flame. And that one small flame lights up the whole world. Anything else you could offer, the One already made. It is like buying your mom a gift with her own money. So the gift is the Naam itself, held in your heart. It goes with you wherever you are.
The Naam itself is your whole worship.
For today: Before you eat today, pause to say the Naam and give thanks.