The very person the world casts down and calls 'unclean' is exactly the one Love reaches for and raises high.
The Arc
O Love, who else could do this? Some people get pushed to the edge. Maybe you have seen it at school. They get called names and left out. People act as if even touching them is bad. The One reaches for exactly those people and shows them mercy. The lowest get raised high. A canopy of honor goes over their heads, the kind once held over kings. The One is afraid of no crowd and no custom. Namdev was a tailor. Kabir was a weaver. Sain was a barber. Every one of them crossed to the other shore. Through the One, everything gets done. At the centre, the Rahao: the One who cherishes the poor, holding a canopy of honor over my head.
Key Vocabulary
Gareeb nivaaj Cherisher of the poor — the shabad's beating heart (refrain)
Chhatar dharai the royal canopy of honor, placed over the overlooked (refrain)
Chhot... neechah ooch karai the one called 'unclean' raised high (Pauri 1)
Kaahoo tay na darai 'fears no one' — Love answers to no ranking (Pauri 1)
Naamdayv, Kabir, Tilochan, Sadhnaa, Sain humble bhagats who all crossed over (Pauri 2)
Themes and Cross-Connections
Dignity of the lowly and the dismantling of caste — Ravi Daas's signature theme; grace as the royal crowning of the overlooked; and the roll-call of humble devotees as living proof.
For Raag Maaroo
In a raag of battle, Ravi Daas fights the only fight that matters to him — against the rankings that crush human beings — and wins it by pointing to a One who bows to no custom and lifts the lowest highest.
Translation Notes
Pauri 1: chhot is the touch the world called polluting — the old practice of untouchability, which Ravi Daas, born into a family of leatherworkers, knew from the inside.
Pauri 2: the five bhagats named came from trades the world looked down on; birth and rank made no difference to their crossing.
Hukumnama
Subject: The One crowns the poor with honor Preview: a royal canopy, an 'unclean' touch, and a tailor, a weaver and a barber who all crossed over.
Today: O Love, who else could do this? Some people get pushed to the edge. Maybe you have seen it at school. They get called names and left out. People act as if even touching them is bad. The One reaches for exactly those people and shows them mercy. The lowest get raised high. A canopy of honor goes over their heads, the kind once held over kings. The One is afraid of no crowd and no custom. Namdev was a tailor. Kabir was a weaver. Sain was a barber. Every one of them crossed to the other shore. Through the One, everything gets done.
The One honors the very people the world overlooks.
For today: Find someone who usually gets left out today, and give them the best seat.
The very person the world casts down and calls 'unclean' is exactly the one Love reaches for and raises high.
The Arc
O Love, who else could do this? Some people get pushed to the edge. Maybe you have seen it at school. They get called names and left out. People act as if even touching them is bad. The One reaches for exactly those people and shows them mercy. The lowest get raised high. A canopy of honor goes over their heads, the kind once held over kings. The One is afraid of no crowd and no custom. Namdev was a tailor. Kabir was a weaver. Sain was a barber. Every one of them crossed to the other shore. Through the One, everything gets done. At the centre, the Rahao: the One who cherishes the poor, holding a canopy of honor over my head.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
Dignity of the lowly and the dismantling of caste — Ravi Daas's signature theme; grace as the royal crowning of the overlooked; and the roll-call of humble devotees as living proof.
For Raag Maaroo
In a raag of battle, Ravi Daas fights the only fight that matters to him — against the rankings that crush human beings — and wins it by pointing to a One who bows to no custom and lifts the lowest highest.
Translation Notes
Hukumnama
Subject: The One crowns the poor with honor Preview: a royal canopy, an 'unclean' touch, and a tailor, a weaver and a barber who all crossed over.
Today: O Love, who else could do this? Some people get pushed to the edge. Maybe you have seen it at school. They get called names and left out. People act as if even touching them is bad. The One reaches for exactly those people and shows them mercy. The lowest get raised high. A canopy of honor goes over their heads, the kind once held over kings. The One is afraid of no crowd and no custom. Namdev was a tailor. Kabir was a weaver. Sain was a barber. Every one of them crossed to the other shore. Through the One, everything gets done.
The One honors the very people the world overlooks.
For today: Find someone who usually gets left out today, and give them the best seat.