Raag Tilang
Commentary

Raag Tilang, Ninth Mehl (Guru Tegh Bahadur)

Wake up! — even the body won't come with you, and the world is like a dream.

The Arc

A direct spiritual wake-up — even the body won't accompany you (P0); the loved ones cannot keep us or cross the last door with us (P1); and the world named "like a dream," against which remembrance is the one solid act (P2).

Key Vocabulary

  • "Wake up, O mind!" — the call out of spiritual sleep (P0).
  • "everything is like a dream" — the world's dreamlike impermanence (P2).

Themes and Cross-Connections

Guru Tegh Bahadur's "world as a dream / mirage" (P2) restates his Devgandhaari shabad (B00C1135) and the raag's right-sizing of loved ones (B00C1572, B00C1587). The sober memento-mori is rendered without morbidity, per the voice rules.

For Raag Tilang

The Ninth Master wakes the sleeper gently but plainly: nothing here, not even the body, comes with you — so treasure your people, hold the dream lightly, and sing.

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