Raag Goojaree
Commentary

Raag Goojaree, Fourth Mehl (Guru Ram Das)

From crow to swan — no one written off, everyone re-trainable by bathing in the good.

The Arc

The shabad opens on the enchantment of true company and a universal Giver (P0); the Pause line makes worth a gift of love and belonging — the servant beautified by the company kept (P1). Wealth and mystic powers fall at the feet of one who simply loves (P2). Then the compassionate diagnosis: those who recoil from the Name are like crows choosing dung — a taste pointed wrong (P3) — redeemed in the close, where the crow bathes in the pool of teaching and comes out a swan (P4).

Key Vocabulary

  • Govind — a name for the One, repeated like a heartbeat in the Pause (P1).
  • siddhis — the yogis' coveted powers, here falling at the feet of the lover of the One (P2).
  • crow / swan (hans) — conditioned craving vs. discernment; transformation by immersion (P3–P4).
  • Sat Sangat — the company that beautifies and enchants (P0–P1).

Themes and Cross-Connections

The crow-to-swan arc (P3–P4) is a signature Ram Das image and the raag's clearest statement that nobody is beyond change — kin to "whom shall we call bad?" (Aasaa B00C916) and the good-company alchemy of Kabir's iron-to-gold (Aasaa B00C989). "Powers fall at the feet of love" (P2) demotes the siddhis exactly as B00C1024 demoted trance-yoga: aim at love, and technique becomes a servant.

For Raag Goojaree

Ram Das gives the raag its gospel of the second chance: your taste can be retrained, your heart re-washed, your very nature changed — by bathing in the good, in good company.

Read this shabad →
← Back to Raag Goojaree