Raag Gauree
Commentary

Raag Gauree Gwaarayree, Du-Pada, Mehl 5 (Guru Arjan)

Asking not for a quick boost but to be carried all the way home, the seeker leans on the One as both boat and companion — and arrives cooled, calm, and content.

The Arc

Pauri 0 (Rahao) addresses the wise, then asks the One for steadfast help: see me through to the very end, bring me all the way to my destination. Pauri 1: only You know Your mystery; keep this small, unsupported one safe and lift me up. Pauri 2: Your presence is the boat across the world-ocean, and those You keep beside You cross over — together with You. Pauri 3: here and everywhere You are all-powerful; give me the one treasure that travels with me. Pauri 4: fill me with goodness, and — by the grace of the wise — the One is met, and mind and body turn cool and content.

Key Vocabulary

  • orh pahuchaavahu: 'bring me all the way to the end' — the keynote of steadfast companionship
  • maram: the mystery only the One knows — the unknowable-vastness motif
  • bohith charan: 'the boat of Your presence' — the One as the vessel across the ocean
  • seetal dharaapay: cooled and satisfied — the felt state of arrival

Themes and Cross-Connections

The plea to be carried all the way (not just rescued once) deepens the crossing-the-ocean image shared with 442, 447, 448 — salvation as being kept beside the One, crossing together. 'The treasure that travels with me' answers 441's 'empty-handed you came and go' by naming the one wealth that isn't left behind. Nirgun / gun keejai is empty-handedness toward grace (goodness asked for as gift).

For Raag Gauree

Gauree's steady, reflective mood suits a prayer whose keynote is endurance — companionship to the end — resolving in a cool, settled contentment rather than a peak of ecstasy.

Last updated: 2026

Read this shabad →
← Back to Raag Gauree