A yogi blows a horn and carries a bowl; my horn is an awake mind, my bowl is a life of honor, and the One who never sleeps is the Maker who holds up the earth.
The Arc
Think of a uniform. A yogi wears his: a horn to say he has arrived, a bowl for gifts of food. Wear yours on the inside. Let your horn be a mind awake to the teaching. Let your bowl be a life you can be proud of, and fill it with the Naam. The One wove water and air into your breath and hung the sun and moon like lamps. Gifts that big are easy to forget. When you meet good, searching people, sing praise with them instead of competing. Then live like a lotus in a pond, right in the water and never soaked through. Death can do nothing to people like that. At the centre, the Rahao: the Maker who holds up the whole earth is always awake.
Key Vocabulary
singi — the yogi's curved horn; here, awake awareness.
jholi — the begging-bowl; here, a life of honor.
bheekhiaa — alms; here, the Name.
Gorakh — Gorakhnath, the Naths' revered master; here, the ever-awake Creator.
kamal — the lotus, rooted in water yet untouched.
Themes and Cross-Connections
The hymn's move is to relocate the sacred from the outer emblem to the inner state, while treating the yogis themselves with warmth. The lotus image is one of Gurbani's most enduring pictures of engaged non-attachment: rooted in the pond, untouched by it.
For Raag Raamkalee
This is the shabad that sets Raamkalee's whole method. Every later yogi-hymn in the set follows its lead: the horn, the bowl, the ash, the ear-rings are not rejected but re-worn as awareness, honor, and the Name.
Hukumnama
Subject: The Maker of the earth is always awake Preview: a yogi's horn and begging bowl, sun and moon like lamps, paper in ghee, and a lotus in the pond.
Today: Think of a uniform. A yogi wears his: a horn to say he has arrived, a bowl for gifts of food. Wear yours on the inside. Let your horn be a mind awake to the teaching. Let your bowl be a life you can be proud of, and fill it with the Naam. The One wove water and air into your breath and hung the sun and moon like lamps. Gifts that big are easy to forget. When you meet good, searching people, sing praise with them instead of competing. Then live like a lotus in a pond, right in the water and never soaked through. Death can do nothing to people like that.
The One who made and holds up the whole earth never sleeps.
For today: Step outside for a minute today, look at the sky, and say thank you for the sun and the air.
A yogi blows a horn and carries a bowl; my horn is an awake mind, my bowl is a life of honor, and the One who never sleeps is the Maker who holds up the earth.
The Arc
Think of a uniform. A yogi wears his: a horn to say he has arrived, a bowl for gifts of food. Wear yours on the inside. Let your horn be a mind awake to the teaching. Let your bowl be a life you can be proud of, and fill it with the Naam. The One wove water and air into your breath and hung the sun and moon like lamps. Gifts that big are easy to forget. When you meet good, searching people, sing praise with them instead of competing. Then live like a lotus in a pond, right in the water and never soaked through. Death can do nothing to people like that. At the centre, the Rahao: the Maker who holds up the whole earth is always awake.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The hymn's move is to relocate the sacred from the outer emblem to the inner state, while treating the yogis themselves with warmth. The lotus image is one of Gurbani's most enduring pictures of engaged non-attachment: rooted in the pond, untouched by it.
For Raag Raamkalee
This is the shabad that sets Raamkalee's whole method. Every later yogi-hymn in the set follows its lead: the horn, the bowl, the ash, the ear-rings are not rejected but re-worn as awareness, honor, and the Name.
Hukumnama
Subject: The Maker of the earth is always awake Preview: a yogi's horn and begging bowl, sun and moon like lamps, paper in ghee, and a lotus in the pond.
Today: Think of a uniform. A yogi wears his: a horn to say he has arrived, a bowl for gifts of food. Wear yours on the inside. Let your horn be a mind awake to the teaching. Let your bowl be a life you can be proud of, and fill it with the Naam. The One wove water and air into your breath and hung the sun and moon like lamps. Gifts that big are easy to forget. When you meet good, searching people, sing praise with them instead of competing. Then live like a lotus in a pond, right in the water and never soaked through. Death can do nothing to people like that.
The One who made and holds up the whole earth never sleeps.
For today: Step outside for a minute today, look at the sky, and say thank you for the sun and the air.