"The Lord and Master is with me, but I do not know Him. Instead, I run into the forest, looking for Him."
The Arc
The first of three Mehl 9 shabads. The tangled mind, and greed-driven action tightening the knot (rahau); the great irony — the One is here, yet I run to the forest (v.1); the jewel within, unknown, and the warning against wasting a life (v.2).
Key Vocabulary
Mehl 9 — Guru Tegh Bahadur; honest description of the struggle from inside it.
lobh / greed — action from greed only tightens the knot.
ban / forest — searching far for what is near; the comedy of seeking.
naam ratan / jewel within — the raag's keynote, unknown to the one who holds it.
Themes and Cross-Connections
"The One is with me but I run to the forest" links to Devgandhaari B00C3060 ("why wander, it's everywhere") and Aasaa's aap pachhaan (the treasure at home). Greed-tightens-the-knot links to the Panch Vikaar psychology. Jewel-within links to the raag's keynote (B00C1498–99, 1506).
For Raag Jaitsree
Guru Tegh Bahadur opens the Mehl 9 coda by taking the raag's jewel-image and voicing it from inside the human struggle — the treasure present, the searching misdirected, the life at risk of being wasted for want of simply noticing.
"The Lord and Master is with me, but I do not know Him. Instead, I run into the forest, looking for Him."
The Arc
The first of three Mehl 9 shabads. The tangled mind, and greed-driven action tightening the knot (rahau); the great irony — the One is here, yet I run to the forest (v.1); the jewel within, unknown, and the warning against wasting a life (v.2).
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
"The One is with me but I run to the forest" links to Devgandhaari B00C3060 ("why wander, it's everywhere") and Aasaa's aap pachhaan (the treasure at home). Greed-tightens-the-knot links to the Panch Vikaar psychology. Jewel-within links to the raag's keynote (B00C1498–99, 1506).
For Raag Jaitsree
Guru Tegh Bahadur opens the Mehl 9 coda by taking the raag's jewel-image and voicing it from inside the human struggle — the treasure present, the searching misdirected, the life at risk of being wasted for want of simply noticing.