Crimson, crimson — that is the color of a heart soaked in love.
The Arc
A short, glowing soul-bride shabad. One soul-friend asks another: how did you come to know the One you love? Teach me. The Rahao answers in Soohee's own color — soohab soohab soohvee, crimson upon crimson, the hue of a heart dyed in the Beloved's love. The verses give the lesson: I would tend the Beloved with the tenderest care and go wherever I am sent; I would gladly set aside every discipline for one instant of union. It closes with the key that unlocks it all: the one who lets go of pride, the craving for power, and puffed-up cleverness is the soul truly united with the Beloved.
Key Vocabulary
soohab soohvee: crimson, the deep-red color of love
rang ratee: dyed/imbued in love
nain bhateeree: with the eyelashes (utter tenderness)
nimakh: an instant
ahaN-buDh: arrogant intellect
sohaagvatee: the truly united soul-bride
Themes and Cross-Connections
This shabad is where Soohee names itself: the soohee color is the color of devotion. The ranking of one instant of love above all austerities echoes the philosophy note that practices serve the meeting they aim at; and the close — union opened by dropping maan, taan, and ahaN-buDh — restates that the ego-props fall away rather than being battered down.
For Raag Soohee
No shabad in the batch is more purely Soohee than this one: its Rahao is the raag's color spoken aloud. Guru Arjan lets a child feel that love has a color you can almost see, and that the way to it is simply to set down pride.
Crimson, crimson — that is the color of a heart soaked in love.
The Arc
A short, glowing soul-bride shabad. One soul-friend asks another: how did you come to know the One you love? Teach me. The Rahao answers in Soohee's own color — soohab soohab soohvee, crimson upon crimson, the hue of a heart dyed in the Beloved's love. The verses give the lesson: I would tend the Beloved with the tenderest care and go wherever I am sent; I would gladly set aside every discipline for one instant of union. It closes with the key that unlocks it all: the one who lets go of pride, the craving for power, and puffed-up cleverness is the soul truly united with the Beloved.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
This shabad is where Soohee names itself: the soohee color is the color of devotion. The ranking of one instant of love above all austerities echoes the philosophy note that practices serve the meeting they aim at; and the close — union opened by dropping maan, taan, and ahaN-buDh — restates that the ego-props fall away rather than being battered down.
For Raag Soohee
No shabad in the batch is more purely Soohee than this one: its Rahao is the raag's color spoken aloud. Guru Arjan lets a child feel that love has a color you can almost see, and that the way to it is simply to set down pride.