Nothing in any land equals a hair of my Beloved — I call Beloved, Beloved, like the bee for the lotus.
The Arc
Think of the best thing you have ever tasted. Now picture a heart that has looked in every city and every country, and found nothing that comes close to even one hair of the One it loves. Someone sets out pizza, cake, every treat you like. The heart does not even glance over. It wants one sweetness only, and keeps calling, Beloved, Beloved, the way a bee keeps circling back to a lotus. The One is a treasure of every good thing and gives peace to everyone. The Guru shows you the way there. So you ask: come close, friend, and hold me. At the centre, the Rahao: a heart that wants the One alone, with nothing anywhere to equal a single hair of the Beloved.
Key Vocabulary
aykai hee pari-a maangai — asking only for the One Beloved.
har ras — the sweet essence of the One that outshines every treat.
al kamlaa — the bee and the lotus; the image of single-pointed longing.
gun nidhaan — the treasure of all virtue; a name for the One.
Themes and Cross-Connections
The bee-and-lotus and the calling of pri-a pri-a are close cousins of Saarang's chaatrik thirsting for one raindrop. The Guru as the matchmaker who brings soul and Beloved together recurs across Guru Arjan's love-shabads.
For Raag Saarang
This shabad is Saarang's yearning in its purest form: a heart that has tasted the true sweetness and can no longer be tempted by anything else.
Hukumnama
Subject: My heart wants only the One I love Preview: every place and land searched, a table of treats left untouched, a bee circling a lotus, a friend's embrace.
Today: Think of the best thing you have ever tasted. Now picture a heart that has looked in every city and every country, and found nothing that comes close to even one hair of the One it loves. Someone sets out pizza, cake, every treat you like. The heart does not even glance over. It wants one sweetness only, and keeps calling, Beloved, Beloved, the way a bee keeps circling back to a lotus. The One is a treasure of every good thing and gives peace to everyone. The Guru shows you the way there. So you ask: come close, friend, and hold me.
Your heart can want the One above everything else.
For today: When a craving pulls at you today, pause and say the Naam once before you reach for it.
Nothing in any land equals a hair of my Beloved — I call Beloved, Beloved, like the bee for the lotus.
The Arc
Think of the best thing you have ever tasted. Now picture a heart that has looked in every city and every country, and found nothing that comes close to even one hair of the One it loves. Someone sets out pizza, cake, every treat you like. The heart does not even glance over. It wants one sweetness only, and keeps calling, Beloved, Beloved, the way a bee keeps circling back to a lotus. The One is a treasure of every good thing and gives peace to everyone. The Guru shows you the way there. So you ask: come close, friend, and hold me. At the centre, the Rahao: a heart that wants the One alone, with nothing anywhere to equal a single hair of the Beloved.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The bee-and-lotus and the calling of pri-a pri-a are close cousins of Saarang's chaatrik thirsting for one raindrop. The Guru as the matchmaker who brings soul and Beloved together recurs across Guru Arjan's love-shabads.
For Raag Saarang
This shabad is Saarang's yearning in its purest form: a heart that has tasted the true sweetness and can no longer be tempted by anything else.
Hukumnama
Subject: My heart wants only the One I love Preview: every place and land searched, a table of treats left untouched, a bee circling a lotus, a friend's embrace.
Today: Think of the best thing you have ever tasted. Now picture a heart that has looked in every city and every country, and found nothing that comes close to even one hair of the One it loves. Someone sets out pizza, cake, every treat you like. The heart does not even glance over. It wants one sweetness only, and keeps calling, Beloved, Beloved, the way a bee keeps circling back to a lotus. The One is a treasure of every good thing and gives peace to everyone. The Guru shows you the way there. So you ask: come close, friend, and hold me.
Your heart can want the One above everything else.
For today: When a craving pulls at you today, pause and say the Naam once before you reach for it.