Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In the night, the rainbird calls and calls, O my mother.
Longing that rises in the dark is love keeping watch for the rain.
This is the rahaa-o, the "pause" line, the center of the whole shabad. The babeehaa, or chaatrik, is the rainbird of Indian poetry. The old stories say it drinks only the raindrop that falls from the sky, so it calls out through the night, waiting. "O my mother" is the tender way a child speaks to the one closest to them.
Night is the time of being apart. The rainbird's call is hopeful. It keeps calling because it trusts the rain will come. In Raag Malaar, the raag of the monsoon, that call is the heart calling for the One.
What feelings get louder for you when everything is quiet at night?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI