The One is hidden in everything — and holding the root, not the branches, is how the days bear fruit.
The Arc
The shabad opens with the self-created, hidden One, present in all and known through self-knowledge (P0). It folds the great named powers into a single Oneness (P1), contrasts the turning world with the steady true (P2), and gives its central image: hold the root, not the branches, and a life grows sweet fruit (P3). It moves through empty-handedness before grace (P4), dwelling inside goodness (P5), the everywhere-One (P6), the treasure hidden in the body (P7-P8), the difference between talking and knowing (P9), and closes with the formless One known by grace's glance (P15).
Key Vocabulary
Parchhannaa — hidden, veiled; the One present in all yet unseen
Mool / Daalee — root and branches; the center versus the surface
Rang majeethai — the fast, permanent dye of madder; love that never washes out
Nirankaaree — the formless Oneness, without shape or image
Nadar — the glance of grace that lets the Word settle
Themes and Cross-Connections
Self-knowledge as the door to the One (P0) is the Sikh inward keynote, echoing the philosophy's reading of knowing your own self. The root-and-branches image (P3) and the fast-dye image (P8) both distinguish the enduring sach from the washable jhooth. The everywhere-One of P6 (jah daykhaa tah ayko) is one of Gurbani's great refrains and recurs across the raags.
Themes and Cross-Connections (Cosmology)
The naming of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (P1) is handled with wonder and evenhandedness: they are honored as expressions and folded past every name into one Oneness — no tradition is diminished.
For Raag Maaroo
Within Maaroo's grave key, this Solhe answers the fear of endings with the treasure hidden inside the very body that fades (P7, P14): the body is a lotus for a season and a village for a while, but the Word it carries lasts beyond every close.
Translation Notes
P7 (||8||) and P14 (||15||): the memento-mori images (kaa-i-aa kamal kumlaanaa, the withering body-lotus; kaa-i-aa nagar dhahai, the body-village crumbling to dust) are held gently — as reminders to treasure the lasting Word, not as dread of decay.
P12 (||13||): bin naavai doob mu-ay bin neeraa (drowned without water) is rendered as thirst beside a river — the odd literal image softened to a hopeful nearness.
P1 (||2||): Brahma/Vishnu/Shiva shown as created expressions, folded into one Oneness — flagged for cosmology and interfaith evenhandedness.
The One is hidden in everything — and holding the root, not the branches, is how the days bear fruit.
The Arc
The shabad opens with the self-created, hidden One, present in all and known through self-knowledge (P0). It folds the great named powers into a single Oneness (P1), contrasts the turning world with the steady true (P2), and gives its central image: hold the root, not the branches, and a life grows sweet fruit (P3). It moves through empty-handedness before grace (P4), dwelling inside goodness (P5), the everywhere-One (P6), the treasure hidden in the body (P7-P8), the difference between talking and knowing (P9), and closes with the formless One known by grace's glance (P15).
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
Self-knowledge as the door to the One (P0) is the Sikh inward keynote, echoing the philosophy's reading of knowing your own self. The root-and-branches image (P3) and the fast-dye image (P8) both distinguish the enduring sach from the washable jhooth. The everywhere-One of P6 (jah daykhaa tah ayko) is one of Gurbani's great refrains and recurs across the raags.
Themes and Cross-Connections (Cosmology)
The naming of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (P1) is handled with wonder and evenhandedness: they are honored as expressions and folded past every name into one Oneness — no tradition is diminished.
For Raag Maaroo
Within Maaroo's grave key, this Solhe answers the fear of endings with the treasure hidden inside the very body that fades (P7, P14): the body is a lotus for a season and a village for a while, but the Word it carries lasts beyond every close.
Translation Notes
Last updated: 2026-07-09