Love is the rope that binds even the Beloved, and the water the freed fish can never forget.
The Arc
Ravidas plays lovingly with the Divine. Pauri 0: if attachment binds me, I will bind You with the ropes of love, and I am already free by adoring You. The Rahao (Pauri 1) teases: You know my love, so what will You do now? Pauri 2 gives the fish that, even taken from the water and cooked, never forgets the water, unbreakable love. Pauri 3 declares the Beloved belongs to no one by birth, only to those who love, and attachment's veil never troubles the devotee. Pauri 4 closes on the sweet paradox: love keeps growing, and so does the longing.
Key Vocabulary
prem badhan: the bonds of love, the tie that frees
moh phaas: the noose of clinging attachment, contrasted with love's bond
meen... na bisario paanee: the fish that never forgets the water, love that outlasts every hardship
aapan baapai naahee kisee ko: the Divine is no one's inheritance by birth, only love's
so dukh ajahoo sahee-ai: the sweet ache of longing (viraha) that grows with love
Themes and Cross-Connections
The line that the Divine belongs to no family by birth is quiet caste-leveling, of a piece with Ravidas's whole voice: love, not lineage, brings one close. The fish-and-water image recurs across Gurbani for devotion that cannot be erased. The closing viraha (love-longing) connects to the Wadahans and Todee bani on the sweet ache of separation.
For Raag Sorath
Sorath's warmth suits this playful, intimate bhakti, love confident enough to tease the Beloved and honest enough to name its own longing.
Translation Notes
BHAGAT ATTRIBUTION: signed kahi Ravidas, ||4||2||, so titled and commented as Bhagat Ravidas.
CASTE-LEVELING (foregrounded): aapan baapai naahee kisee ko rendered as the Divine belonging to love, not to any family or rank, dignity, never shame.
WELLBEING: the fish being cut and cooked is not dwelt on; it serves only to show a love nothing can erase. The closing dukh is framed as sweet longing, not despair.
Love is the rope that binds even the Beloved, and the water the freed fish can never forget.
The Arc
Ravidas plays lovingly with the Divine. Pauri 0: if attachment binds me, I will bind You with the ropes of love, and I am already free by adoring You. The Rahao (Pauri 1) teases: You know my love, so what will You do now? Pauri 2 gives the fish that, even taken from the water and cooked, never forgets the water, unbreakable love. Pauri 3 declares the Beloved belongs to no one by birth, only to those who love, and attachment's veil never troubles the devotee. Pauri 4 closes on the sweet paradox: love keeps growing, and so does the longing.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The line that the Divine belongs to no family by birth is quiet caste-leveling, of a piece with Ravidas's whole voice: love, not lineage, brings one close. The fish-and-water image recurs across Gurbani for devotion that cannot be erased. The closing viraha (love-longing) connects to the Wadahans and Todee bani on the sweet ache of separation.
For Raag Sorath
Sorath's warmth suits this playful, intimate bhakti, love confident enough to tease the Beloved and honest enough to name its own longing.
Translation Notes
Last updated: 2026