Raag Raamkalee, Chaupada, Mehl 5 (Guru Arjan)

You are my caste, my honor, my parent, my ocean — I need no other name to know I belong.

The Arc

• Verse 1 (P0): You are my worth and honor; because You never waver, I never worry.
• The Rahau (P1): You alone are the One; by Your grace I found peace.
• Verse 2 (P2): You are the ocean, I the swan; You give without hesitating.
• Verse 3 (P3): I am the child, You the parent who feeds and plays with me.
• Verse 4 (P4): I am merged, merged, merged into You — beyond words.

Key Vocabulary

• jaat paatee — caste and honor; dignity from the One, not birth.
• adol — unwavering; the source of fearlessness.
• aikai aikai — the drumbeat of Oneness.
• saagar / hans — the ocean and its swan.
• maanak laalaa — pearls and rubies; the treasures of the Name.
• baarik / pitaa / kheer — child, parent, milk; tender nearness.

Themes and Cross-Connections

This shabad gathers the set's warmest images: the ocean and swan, the parent and child, the milk placed in the mouth. Its opening line quietly dismantles caste — You are my class and my honor — so that worth flows from belonging to the One, never from birth-rank. The ending stammer, milat milat milat, is joy outrunning language.

For Raag Raamkalee

Against the yogi's proud project of self-making, Guru Arjan sets a small child's utter trust: fed, held, played with, and finally merged into the ocean it was always part of.

Translation Notes

• "social class / jaat paatee" (P0): foregrounded as caste-leveling — dignity and honor come from the One, not from birth-rank.