Raag Maaroo
Commentary

Raag Maaroo, Ashtapadees, Mehl 1 (Guru Nanak)

To belong to the Beloved in love is to walk gladly in step with the flow of life.

The Arc

The first of two Ashtapadees on the laalaa, the one who belongs to the Beloved in love. Living the truth has its own sweetness (opening); walking in step with the Beloved (rahao); a heart comforted by the teaching; the One who reunites the separated; Truth as support from the start; Truth as the air one lives in; freed from the trap by grace; pierced through with love; and setting down greed to find a home.

Key Vocabulary

  • Laalaa / laal — the devoted one and the Beloved; rendered as loving belonging
  • Jio furmaaveh tio chalaa — walking in harmony with the hukam, the flow of existence
  • Vichhurriaa ko mel la-e — the One who reunites the separated

Themes and Cross-Connections

Hukam as the flow one walks with in love, not commands one obeys in fear. Grace that reunites the separated, and Truth as the material of daily life, tie this to the raag's larger movement.

For Raag Maaroo

The battle here is inward and gentle: pride and greed set down so the heart can walk in step with the Beloved.

Translation Notes

The words for slave and servant (laalaa, golaa) are rendered as loving belonging and devotion, not servitude-as-degradation. The soul burnt to ashes is softened to cold and empty. Manmukh mat feekee is softened to a way of thinking that is less nourishing, not a condemnation.

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