A heart that forgets its song grows restless and clouded; but the One who gave you every breath already knows you, and even the drowning can still be lifted out.
The Arc
This shabad (closing ||4||3||5||) moves from ache to reassurance. It opens with the restless burning of a heart that has forgotten the Word, then quiets that heart: you need not babble to be known, for the One knows without a word. The middle verse turns to gratitude, the One who made your ears, eyes, tongue, and kept you safe before birth, and warns that clinging and craving cloud the heart. It closes on one of Gurbani's most hopeful lines: even a person going under can be lifted, for the true One is the Giver of all.
Key Vocabulary
jee-o tapat hai: the soul burns, the restlessness of forgetting
vin bolay jaanai sabh: without our speaking, the One knows everything
kaalakh daagaa daag: black smudges, the clouding of attachment and craving
jay ko doobai fir hovai saar: even one who is drowning can be saved again
sarab daataar: the Giver of all
Themes and Cross-Connections
The shabad balances two truths held all through this project: forgetting brings restlessness (the ache of Haumai cut off from its Source), yet grace is never withdrawn. The closing rescue-of-the-drowning is the emotional peak and a strong companion to the raag's opening trust in the ever-giving One. The gratitude verse, the body as gift, echoes the Aartee that soon follows, where the whole cosmos is seen as the One's giving.
For Raag Dhanaasaree
Dhanaasaree's longing is here answered by tenderness. The restless heart is not scolded but reassured: you are already known, already given everything, and never beyond saving.
Translation Notes
The Sant Singh Khalsa rendering keeps two source images softened here for young readers: khapai bahut baykaar (ruined, falling into evil) is rendered as restlessness and ache; and jin man raakhi-aa agnee paa-ay, the mind preserved in the fire of the womb, is rendered simply as being kept safe and warm before birth, per the project's wellbeing guidance on womb imagery.
A heart that forgets its song grows restless and clouded; but the One who gave you every breath already knows you, and even the drowning can still be lifted out.
The Arc
This shabad (closing ||4||3||5||) moves from ache to reassurance. It opens with the restless burning of a heart that has forgotten the Word, then quiets that heart: you need not babble to be known, for the One knows without a word. The middle verse turns to gratitude, the One who made your ears, eyes, tongue, and kept you safe before birth, and warns that clinging and craving cloud the heart. It closes on one of Gurbani's most hopeful lines: even a person going under can be lifted, for the true One is the Giver of all.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The shabad balances two truths held all through this project: forgetting brings restlessness (the ache of Haumai cut off from its Source), yet grace is never withdrawn. The closing rescue-of-the-drowning is the emotional peak and a strong companion to the raag's opening trust in the ever-giving One. The gratitude verse, the body as gift, echoes the Aartee that soon follows, where the whole cosmos is seen as the One's giving.
For Raag Dhanaasaree
Dhanaasaree's longing is here answered by tenderness. The restless heart is not scolded but reassured: you are already known, already given everything, and never beyond saving.
Translation Notes
The Sant Singh Khalsa rendering keeps two source images softened here for young readers: khapai bahut baykaar (ruined, falling into evil) is rendered as restlessness and ache; and jin man raakhi-aa agnee paa-ay, the mind preserved in the fire of the womb, is rendered simply as being kept safe and warm before birth, per the project's wellbeing guidance on womb imagery.