Grind the cure at home — contentment the bowl, giving the pestle.
The Arc
Pain can feel like poison. The Naam is the cure, and you make it at home. Contentment is the bowl. Giving to others is the pestle. Take a little every day, and you stay strong inside to the very end. So take the medicine, even on the days you feel foolish. It clears out whatever clouds your heart. Power, money and looks pass like shadows on a sidewalk. Your fame and your rank stay behind. So let your cravings, greed and anger burn like wood in a fire. Whatever pleases the One is what counts. Steady remembrance is the paper, and the Naam is the seal on it. Carry that, and you arrive home rich. At the centre, the Rahao: take the medicine of the Naam, and it clears your heart.
Key Vocabulary
dukh mahuraa / har naam — pain the poison, the Naam the antidote.
silaa santokh — the mortar of contentment; daan (giving) the pestle.
hom jag / paath puraan — fire offerings and readings of the Puraanas.
gavaar — fool; a blunt word that wakes the listener up.
jannee dhannee — blessed is the mother who bore such a child.
Themes and Cross-Connections
The medicine metaphor completes the previous shabad. The inner-fire image turns outer ritual into an inner offering; the close honors the mother who bore such a child.
For Raag Malaar
The Naam as the cure the rains bring — pain dissolved, the heart made green.
Hukumnama
Subject: Take the medicine that clears your heart Preview: pain as poison, a bowl of contentment, a pestle of giving, shadows, a fire of cravings, a sealed letter
Today: Pain can feel like poison. The Naam is the cure, and you make it at home. Contentment is the bowl. Giving to others is the pestle. Take a little every day, and you stay strong inside to the very end. So take the medicine, even on the days you feel foolish. It clears out whatever clouds your heart. Power, money and looks pass like shadows on a sidewalk. Your fame and your rank stay behind. So let your cravings, greed and anger burn like wood in a fire. Whatever pleases the One is what counts. Steady remembrance is the paper, and the Naam is the seal on it. Carry that, and you arrive home rich.
Take the medicine of the Naam, and it clears your heart.
For today: Give one thing away today, then sit for one quiet minute, content with what you have.
Grind the cure at home — contentment the bowl, giving the pestle.
The Arc
Pain can feel like poison. The Naam is the cure, and you make it at home. Contentment is the bowl. Giving to others is the pestle. Take a little every day, and you stay strong inside to the very end. So take the medicine, even on the days you feel foolish. It clears out whatever clouds your heart. Power, money and looks pass like shadows on a sidewalk. Your fame and your rank stay behind. So let your cravings, greed and anger burn like wood in a fire. Whatever pleases the One is what counts. Steady remembrance is the paper, and the Naam is the seal on it. Carry that, and you arrive home rich. At the centre, the Rahao: take the medicine of the Naam, and it clears your heart.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The medicine metaphor completes the previous shabad. The inner-fire image turns outer ritual into an inner offering; the close honors the mother who bore such a child.
For Raag Malaar
The Naam as the cure the rains bring — pain dissolved, the heart made green.
Hukumnama
Subject: Take the medicine that clears your heart Preview: pain as poison, a bowl of contentment, a pestle of giving, shadows, a fire of cravings, a sealed letter
Today: Pain can feel like poison. The Naam is the cure, and you make it at home. Contentment is the bowl. Giving to others is the pestle. Take a little every day, and you stay strong inside to the very end. So take the medicine, even on the days you feel foolish. It clears out whatever clouds your heart. Power, money and looks pass like shadows on a sidewalk. Your fame and your rank stay behind. So let your cravings, greed and anger burn like wood in a fire. Whatever pleases the One is what counts. Steady remembrance is the paper, and the Naam is the seal on it. Carry that, and you arrive home rich.
Take the medicine of the Naam, and it clears your heart.
For today: Give one thing away today, then sit for one quiet minute, content with what you have.