Raag Sorath
Commentary

Raag Sorath, Mehl 5 (Guru Arjan)

A fresh start and a moment of remembrance leave mind and body well; the sung Word is the finest thing to speak, and cherishing its people has always been the One's own nature.

The Arc

Four stanzas. Pauri 0: bathe, remember, and mind and body grow well; obstacles fall and good fortune dawns. Rahau (Pauri 1): the banee sabad is the best utterance — sing, hear, read it daily, and the teaching keeps you safe; the True One loves its devotees tenderly. Pauri 2: the Name as daily food; the fever of age and endings loosens. Pauri 3: my prayer was heard; the teaching's greatness shines across every age.

Key Vocabulary

  • isnaan: the cleansing bath / fresh start
  • arogaa: free of dis-ease — wellness of mind and body
  • bhagat vachhal: 'lover of devotees' — tender as a cow to its calf
  • aad birad: the innate nature (cherishing) from the beginning
  • har amrit naam bhojan: the Name as nectar-food

Themes and Cross-Connections

Wellness of body and mind held together in plain household terms. Recitation (gaavhu sunhu parhahu) is framed with full warmth. The reassurance that cherishing is the One's birad, its innate nature since the start, gives something dependable to lean on.

For Raag Sorath

Sorath's settling reaches even the body's fears: the taap of age and endings 'loosens its hold' when the inner life is fed — pain stops ruling, even if it doesn't vanish.

Translation Notes

Jaraa maraa taap (the fever of old age and death) softened to loosening its grip, not disappearing — honest and hopeful. Bhagat vachhal glossed by its tender calf-and-cow root.

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