Each keeps their own practice, but the heart's real ache is to hear word of the Beloved; as you sow you reap, and a breath without remembrance slips away.
The Arc
The opening surveys the paths — yogi, pleasure-lover, ascetic bathing at shrines — each sure of their own way. The Rahao cuts beneath them all to the real longing: tayraa sadrhaa suneejai, let me just hear word of You, Beloved. The verses hold cause and effect gently — as you sow, so you reap; carry the One's mark and there's nothing to fear in the reckoning; you are known by what you do; a breath without a thought of the One passes in vain — and the close: a life with no room for the True Name has nothing of real worth.
Key Vocabulary
jogee / bhogee / tapee-aa: the yogi, the pleasure-lover, the ascetic
sadrhaa: news, word, message
jaisaa beejai so lunay: as one sows, so one reaps
neesaanai: the mark, the insignia (of the One)
dam: breath
sachaa naa-o: the True Name
Themes and Cross-Connections
The Rahao's ache — wanting only to hear of the Beloved — is the longing that Soohee, Wadahans, and Dhanaasaree all sing: not technique but nearness. "A breath without remembrance goes in vain" is the Naam-as-living-presence thread — every breath a small chance to hold the One in mind.
For Raag Soohee
Beneath every practice named here beats the Soohee heart: the one who loves does not want a method, they want the Beloved — and would trade everything to hear word of the One.
Translation Notes
The list of practices (yoga, ascetic austerity, bathing at tirath) is presented as forms that fall short of longing, not as attacks on any tradition; the critique targets reliance on outward form, in keeping with Nanak's even-handed treatment across the raags.
Each keeps their own practice, but the heart's real ache is to hear word of the Beloved; as you sow you reap, and a breath without remembrance slips away.
The Arc
The opening surveys the paths — yogi, pleasure-lover, ascetic bathing at shrines — each sure of their own way. The Rahao cuts beneath them all to the real longing: tayraa sadrhaa suneejai, let me just hear word of You, Beloved. The verses hold cause and effect gently — as you sow, so you reap; carry the One's mark and there's nothing to fear in the reckoning; you are known by what you do; a breath without a thought of the One passes in vain — and the close: a life with no room for the True Name has nothing of real worth.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The Rahao's ache — wanting only to hear of the Beloved — is the longing that Soohee, Wadahans, and Dhanaasaree all sing: not technique but nearness. "A breath without remembrance goes in vain" is the Naam-as-living-presence thread — every breath a small chance to hold the One in mind.
For Raag Soohee
Beneath every practice named here beats the Soohee heart: the one who loves does not want a method, they want the Beloved — and would trade everything to hear word of the One.
Translation Notes
The list of practices (yoga, ascetic austerity, bathing at tirath) is presented as forms that fall short of longing, not as attacks on any tradition; the critique targets reliance on outward form, in keeping with Nanak's even-handed treatment across the raags.