Raag Todee
Commentary

Raag Todee, Shabad 9, Mehl 5 (Guru Arjan)

"O True Guru, I have come to Your Sanctuary; remove my anxiety."

The Arc

A short, aching prayer of refuge. Ask for peace and the lifting of anxiety (v.0); the collapse — "weary, fallen at Your door; ignore my account; I am worthless, save me" (v.1); the answer in the One's very character — "always forgiving, always merciful" — and the plea "save me this time" (v.2).

Key Vocabulary

  • sharan — sanctuary, refuge.
  • chintaa — anxiety; what the prayer specifically asks to have lifted.
  • sadaa bakhsind — ever-forgiving; forgiveness as constant nature, not rare exception.

Translation Notes

"I am worthless" (nimaanaa/gunahagaar) reads as honest empty-handedness, not self-hatred — the recognition that rescue is given, not earned. Rendered in the children's text as collapsing and being caught, per the project's voice rules against self-abasement.

Themes and Cross-Connections

"Ignore my account" (don't tally the ledger) links to Aasaa/Sukhmani's account-erased grace (B00C805, 909). The exhausted-being-caught posture recurs in Jaitsree (B00C1500).

For Raag Todee

The raag's most vulnerable prayer — and its clearest statement that forgiveness is the One's steady nature, which is exactly why the empty-handed can trust it.

Read this shabad →
← Back to Raag Todee