Raag Dhanaasaree
Commentary

Raag Dhanaasaree, Panch-Pada, Mehl 5 (Guru Arjan)

A grateful bow is where countless burdens begin to lift, and a heart dyed in one color can't easily be stained by sorrow.

The Arc

This five-verse shabad (Twelfth House) opens with a doubled bow and the meeting of the Guide as great good fortune, dissolving countless faults. It moves through a mind dyed in the One that sorrow cannot reach, a crossing made in good company, and a gentle, harmless heart that need not fear. It closes with the One personally quieting the fire of wanting and carrying the sheltered heart safely through.

Key Vocabulary

  • bandnaa: reverent bowing
  • vadai bhaag: great good fortune
  • raapai: dyed, colored through
  • nirbha-o: fearless, echoing the Mool Mantar
  • tarisnaa agan: the fire of restless wanting

Themes and Cross-Connections

The dye imagery (raapai, har rangay) recurs across the raags: a heart soaked in one color resists another. The close returns to grace — the fire of craving quieted not by the self but by the One — consistent with the project's reading of Gurprasad. nirbhau directly echoes the Mool Mantar.

For Raag Dhanaasaree

Dhanaasaree's longing turns, across these five verses, into a steady color — a heart so dyed in the One that the raag's characteristic ache can find no place to settle.

Translation Notes

The line jam jandaar na aavai nayrhay (the Messenger of Death) is rendered simply as fear that cannot come near, per the project's gentle handling of death-imagery.

Last updated: 2026-07-08

Read this shabad →
← Back to Raag Dhanaasaree