Raag Gauree
Commentary

Raag Gauree, Chau-Pada, Mehl 5 (Guru Arjan)

Rest steady in your own center: the One turns aside what would harm you, keeps your dignity safe, and makes even the world's great powers unable to shake you.

The Arc

The Rahao (Pauri 0) sets the whole tone: sit steady in the home of your own self; the teacher will arrange your affairs — no anxious managing needed. Pauri 1 gives the protection: what would harm the trusting one is turned aside, their honor kept. Pauri 2 raises the stakes — even kings and emperors lose their power to intimidate the one filled with the nectar of the Name. Pauri 3 names how this grows: fearless remembrance, received in the company of seekers. Pauri 4 closes in refuge fully taken: the inner-knower is both the One who sees all and the support to hold onto.

Key Vocabulary

  • thir ghar baishu: sit steady in the home (of the self) — Arjan's image for inner stillness
  • paij rakhee: kept the honor — the One guards the trusting one's dignity
  • amrit naam mahaa ras: the ambrosial Name, the highest essence/taste — outweighs any threat
  • nirbha-o: without fear — remembrance that is free, not anxious (echoes the Mool Mantar)
  • antarjaamee: the inner-knower, who sees within every heart

Themes and Cross-Connections

This shabad joins Arjan's refuge-and-protection cluster in Gauree (B00C419, B00C426, B00C427), all turning on paij rakhai. The move from thir ghar (settled home) to saran paray / ot pakree (refuge entered and held) is the arc of the whole batch: steadiness within, safety in the One. Nirbha-o links back to the Mool Mantar's fearlessness, and saadhsangat to the recurring truth that this steadiness is received in fellowship, not achieved alone.

Translation Notes

Sant Singh Khalsa renders dusat doot parmaysar maaray as the wicked being "struck down." The Gurmukhi centers on the protection of the trusting one; per wellbeing rules we render the harm as "turned aside" rather than staging enemies being struck. Baadisaah saah (kings/emperors) is kept as an image of worldly power, read as "loses its hold" rather than domination.

For Raag Gauree

Gauree's reflective steadiness perfectly fits a shabad whose keynote is thir — steadiness itself. The mood is reassurance, not triumph: the settled calm of one who has stopped scrambling.


Last updated: 2026

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