Ask for only one thing — to love the Name — and the boat of the Sangat carries the rest.
The Arc
Imagine you could ask for one thing and only one. Most of us would need a long list. Here the list is short: love for the Naam. Set the other chasing down. Then the practice is simple. Love the One, remember the One, sing the One's praises. Stay humble, like someone happy to sit on the floor and learn from people who live this way. The Naam brings a peace that stays. Remember the One who knows you from the inside, and fear lets go. The world is a wide river. The Sangat is the boat that gets you across. At the centre, the Rahao: one request, love for the Naam, with every other chase set down.
Key Vocabulary
naam bhagat — devotion to the Name.
sagal kaamee tiaag — setting down every other pursuit.
har jan kee rayn — the dust of the feet of the Guru's people; humility.
antarjaamee — the One who knows the heart from within.
saadhsang — the Sangat — people gathered together to remember the One; pictured as a boat.
Themes and Cross-Connections
The boat-across-the-water image and the dust-of-the-feet image are two of the tradition's most recurring pictures; here they frame a single movement from asking to arriving.
For Raag Saarang
The longing raag asks for one thing and finds that the Sangat is the vessel that carries the longing home.
Translation Notes
The fear of death (jam kee taraas) loosens its grip when the One who knows the heart from within is remembered.
Hukumnama
Subject: Ask only to love the Naam Preview: every other chase set down, the dust of humble feet, a fear let go, and a boat to the far shore.
Today: Imagine you could ask for one thing and only one. Most of us would need a long list. Here the list is short: love for the Naam. Set the other chasing down. Then the practice is simple. Love the One, remember the One, sing the One's praises. Stay humble, like someone happy to sit on the floor and learn from people who live this way. The Naam brings a peace that stays. Remember the One who knows you from the inside, and fear lets go. The world is a wide river. The Sangat is the boat that gets you across.
Ask for one thing: to love the Naam.
For today: Before bed tonight, ask for just one thing in your prayer: to love the Naam.
Ask for only one thing — to love the Name — and the boat of the Sangat carries the rest.
The Arc
Imagine you could ask for one thing and only one. Most of us would need a long list. Here the list is short: love for the Naam. Set the other chasing down. Then the practice is simple. Love the One, remember the One, sing the One's praises. Stay humble, like someone happy to sit on the floor and learn from people who live this way. The Naam brings a peace that stays. Remember the One who knows you from the inside, and fear lets go. The world is a wide river. The Sangat is the boat that gets you across. At the centre, the Rahao: one request, love for the Naam, with every other chase set down.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The boat-across-the-water image and the dust-of-the-feet image are two of the tradition's most recurring pictures; here they frame a single movement from asking to arriving.
For Raag Saarang
The longing raag asks for one thing and finds that the Sangat is the vessel that carries the longing home.
Translation Notes
The fear of death (jam kee taraas) loosens its grip when the One who knows the heart from within is remembered.
Hukumnama
Subject: Ask only to love the Naam Preview: every other chase set down, the dust of humble feet, a fear let go, and a boat to the far shore.
Today: Imagine you could ask for one thing and only one. Most of us would need a long list. Here the list is short: love for the Naam. Set the other chasing down. Then the practice is simple. Love the One, remember the One, sing the One's praises. Stay humble, like someone happy to sit on the floor and learn from people who live this way. The Naam brings a peace that stays. Remember the One who knows you from the inside, and fear lets go. The world is a wide river. The Sangat is the boat that gets you across.
Ask for one thing: to love the Naam.
For today: Before bed tonight, ask for just one thing in your prayer: to love the Naam.