Searched the whole inner village and found the treasure hidden there all along — and the fire of wanting went out in an instant.
The Arc
A shorter, couplet-paced shabad (Second House). Guided by gurmat, the seeker searches the body-village and finds the wealth of the Name within. The Rahao names the result: peace enshrined, the thirst-fire of craving extinguished the moment the Guru is met, all hunger quieted. Then singing as the source of aliveness; the Beloved sought and found in the company of lovers; and the close — a belonging older than the self, grace drawing the heart home.
Key Vocabulary
nagree: village, city — here the body-mind searched from within
padaarath: wealth, treasure
tisnaa agan: the fire of thirst, craving
jeevaa: "I live" — praise as aliveness itself
dhoodh dhoodhaa-ee: searching and seeking
Dhur mastak laykh: the destiny written before, a belonging older than the self
Themes and Cross-Connections
"Search the inner village" is Guru Ram Das's turn on the universal Gurbani teaching that what we seek outside is already within (the musk-deer motif). The craving-fire quenched in an instant on meeting the Guru echoes the immediacy (nisany) of the meeting in the shabads nearby.
For Raag Soohee
The Rahao's saanti vasaa-ee — peace enshrined, hunger stilled — is Soohee's union felt as rest: the longing of the love-colored heart arriving home.
Translation Notes
Dhur mastak laykh (destiny written on the forehead) is rendered as a belonging older than the self drawn together by grace, not fatalism. No sensitive imagery in this shabad.
Searched the whole inner village and found the treasure hidden there all along — and the fire of wanting went out in an instant.
The Arc
A shorter, couplet-paced shabad (Second House). Guided by gurmat, the seeker searches the body-village and finds the wealth of the Name within. The Rahao names the result: peace enshrined, the thirst-fire of craving extinguished the moment the Guru is met, all hunger quieted. Then singing as the source of aliveness; the Beloved sought and found in the company of lovers; and the close — a belonging older than the self, grace drawing the heart home.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
"Search the inner village" is Guru Ram Das's turn on the universal Gurbani teaching that what we seek outside is already within (the musk-deer motif). The craving-fire quenched in an instant on meeting the Guru echoes the immediacy (nisany) of the meeting in the shabads nearby.
For Raag Soohee
The Rahao's saanti vasaa-ee — peace enshrined, hunger stilled — is Soohee's union felt as rest: the longing of the love-colored heart arriving home.
Translation Notes
Dhur mastak laykh (destiny written on the forehead) is rendered as a belonging older than the self drawn together by grace, not fatalism. No sensitive imagery in this shabad.