Raag Gauree
Commentary

Raag Gauree, Ashtapadi (Du-Tukas), Mehl 5 (Guru Arjan)

Repeat the Name with love and drink its sweetness like cool water; the inner pulls of craving, anger, greed, and pride loosen and wash gently away.

The Arc

Pauri 0: remembrance undoes kalays (suffering), and the One takes up residence right inside the mind. The Rahao (Pauri 1) is a tender invitation — say the Name with love, hundreds of thousands of times, and drink its amrit ras. Pauri 2 names the harvest: peace, ease, and the greatest gladness. Pauri 3 lists four inner "thieves" — kaam, krodh, lobh, mad — loosening and washing away in good company. Pauri 4 closes in humble prayer to the deen da-i-aalaa, the One tender toward the small.

Key Vocabulary

  • uchrahu / simran: the practice of loving repetition
  • amrit ras: nectar-essence — the deeply nourishing taste of the Name
  • kaam, krodh, lobh, mad: craving, anger, greed, intoxicating pride — inner ailments to heal, not crimes to punish
  • deen da-i-aalaa: merciful to the meek — mercy that leans toward smallness
  • saadh ravaalaa: the dust of the feet of the good — humility as openness

Themes and Cross-Connections

The four pulls named here are treated throughout Gurbani as rog (disease) to be healed in the saadh sang, echoed in Shabad 143 and Shabad 144 nearby. The closing request for "the dust of the holy" recurs in Shabad 139, Shabad 141, and Shabad 149 — self-smallness reframed (per our care rules) as empty-handedness toward grace, never self-condemnation.

For Raag Gauree

The gentle, invitational tone (pi-aaree, "beloved") warms Gauree's sobriety without breaking it — reflection tinged with affection.

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