"Forgetting the Lord, one is ruined; but with Your Support, who can be deceived?"
The Arc
The cost of forgetting and the gift of support (v.0): life without remembrance pictured as a restless fire and a long but joyless snake's life; the deflation of ruling "the nine regions" yet losing the game of life. Then the turn: real praise is a gift grace showers, and the Guru bows to whoever has found peace (v.1).
Key Vocabulary
baazee — the game/match of life, won or lost regardless of outer scale.
naou khand — the nine regions (the whole known earth); worldly dominion.
gun nidhaan — treasure of virtue (the One).
Translation Notes
The "snake" simile (saap) reads the long-lived serpent as an emblem of restlessness — a long life without ease. SSK's "like a snake" preserves the image; the point is duration without peace, not any moral judgment on the animal.
Themes and Cross-Connections
"Rule the world and lose the game" is a Gurbani constant — cf. Aasaa's "thousands" shabad (B00C689), Siree Raag's beggar-king. Praise-as-gift-not-effort is the gurprasad logic shared with Anand Sahib.
For Raag Todee
Sets up the raag's recurring diagnosis-then-door structure: name the ruin of forgetting plainly, then open onto grace.
"Forgetting the Lord, one is ruined; but with Your Support, who can be deceived?"
The Arc
The cost of forgetting and the gift of support (v.0): life without remembrance pictured as a restless fire and a long but joyless snake's life; the deflation of ruling "the nine regions" yet losing the game of life. Then the turn: real praise is a gift grace showers, and the Guru bows to whoever has found peace (v.1).
Key Vocabulary
Translation Notes
The "snake" simile (saap) reads the long-lived serpent as an emblem of restlessness — a long life without ease. SSK's "like a snake" preserves the image; the point is duration without peace, not any moral judgment on the animal.
Themes and Cross-Connections
"Rule the world and lose the game" is a Gurbani constant — cf. Aasaa's "thousands" shabad (B00C689), Siree Raag's beggar-king. Praise-as-gift-not-effort is the gurprasad logic shared with Anand Sahib.
For Raag Todee
Sets up the raag's recurring diagnosis-then-door structure: name the ruin of forgetting plainly, then open onto grace.