Raag Prabhaatee

Though it sits at the tail of the Kalyaan folder, this hymn opens a new raag. It carries the full Mool Mantar and the header raag parbhaatee bibhaas mehlaa 1 chaupday ghar 1 — Guru Nanak's first Chaupade in the dawn raag Parbhaatee. The whole shabad is a litany of the Name: the Name carries us across, earns honor, adorns us, and is the awakened mind's one aim. The rahau names the pivot — all other cleverness is mere show; only grace makes a work whole. The Name is then heaped with every image of power — strength, support, army, king, banner of mercy — and then with sweetness: the nectar that clears the inner poison and settles all comfort in the mind. The close lists our ordinary entanglements and lets them go: when the call comes there is no delay, and whatever was only for show washes away, while the real remains.