Whoever comes for shelter is kept safe; even fear cannot reach them there.
The Arc
The whole shabad is built on one word — sarnaaee, sanctuary. The opening promises safety to whoever comes and grounds it in the uniqueness of the One. The anchor line answers with a choice to stay, in full trust. The middle pauris deepen the shelter: nothing can reach you there, and the true shelter never diminishes. The close names the peace of those sheltered — no pain, no endless hunger — and ends in merging with the True Word.
Key Vocabulary
sarnaaee — sanctuary, shelter, refuge — the shabad's keyword.
partipaal — to cherish and sustain, as a parent feeds a child.
jamkaal — the Messenger of Death; softened per wellbeing guidance to fear itself.
doojaa bhaao — the love of duality, of being separate.
samaahi — merging, dissolving into the True Word.
Themes and Cross-Connections
Sarnaaee anchors every pauri. The drop-into-ocean close (samaahi) is the project's recurring image for the end of separation, tying this shabad to the Ik Onkar lens.
For Raag Prabhaatee
A dawn hymn of safety — the kind of steadiness a waking heart reaches for before facing the day.
Translation Notes
jamkaal (the Messenger of Death) is set aside and its meaning kept as even fear itself cannot reach you; the literal's die-and-be-reborn cycle (pauri 3) is rendered as going in circles, restless, and bent toward hope (the way home is always open), following the project's wellbeing guidance on death and fear imagery.
Whoever comes for shelter is kept safe; even fear cannot reach them there.
The Arc
The whole shabad is built on one word — sarnaaee, sanctuary. The opening promises safety to whoever comes and grounds it in the uniqueness of the One. The anchor line answers with a choice to stay, in full trust. The middle pauris deepen the shelter: nothing can reach you there, and the true shelter never diminishes. The close names the peace of those sheltered — no pain, no endless hunger — and ends in merging with the True Word.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
Sarnaaee anchors every pauri. The drop-into-ocean close (samaahi) is the project's recurring image for the end of separation, tying this shabad to the Ik Onkar lens.
For Raag Prabhaatee
A dawn hymn of safety — the kind of steadiness a waking heart reaches for before facing the day.
Translation Notes
jamkaal (the Messenger of Death) is set aside and its meaning kept as even fear itself cannot reach you; the literal's die-and-be-reborn cycle (pauri 3) is rendered as going in circles, restless, and bent toward hope (the way home is always open), following the project's wellbeing guidance on death and fear imagery.