An extended companion study of the Aarti Shabads and the readings used to explain them. Allow about 25 minutes for reading and reflection.
What are we saying when we sing the Aarti? Words for incense, lamps and offerings occur in the Shabads, alongside names familiar from Hindu worship. Read on their own, those words can seem to settle what the Bhagats believed. Read within the Shabads, they require much closer attention. The question is how these Shabads should be read when they are used either to challenge Bhagat Bani’s standing or to justify image worship.
This matters for Sikhs because the Bani of the Bhagats is received as Gurbani under the same Guru, Shabad Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Its authority is not conditional on a commentator approving the Bhagats’ backgrounds. Nor does its presence make every practice associated with those backgrounds authoritative in Sikhi. Shared vocabulary cannot, by itself, establish that Sikhi is a Hindu tradition. We have to understand what the Guru has given us.
Five Shabads from Shabad Guru Granth Sahib Ji appear together in the longer Aarti sequences listed by the Guru Granth Sahib Project: those of Guru Nanak Sahib Ji, Bhagat Ravidas Ji, Bhagat Sain Ji, Bhagat Kabir Ji and Bhagat Dhanna Ji. The complete sequences vary and include further compositions. Here the question concerns these five Shabads and the readings attached to them. [1]
Murari, Gopal and Kamala’s Master are names familiar from Hindu worship. Their meaning here must be examined within each complete Shabad.
The Roman line is only a reading aid, not the translation. The English sentence gives the plain meaning.
Bhagat Ravidas Ji gives us a clear starting point:
ਨਾਮੁ ਤੇਰੋ ਆਰਤੀ ਮਜਨੁ ਮੁਰਾਰੇ ॥
ਹਰਿ ਕੇ ਨਾਮ ਬਿਨੁ ਝੂਠੇ ਸਗਲ ਪਾਸਾਰੇ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
Simple reading: naam tero aartee majan muraare.
har ke naam bin jhoothe sagal paasaare.
Plain meaning: Your Naam is my aarti and my bathing, O Murari. Without the Creator’s Naam, all these displays are false.
Reference: Dhanasari, Bhagat Ravidas Ji, Panna 694. Complete Rahao; read with all four stanzas. [2]
Murari addresses the Creator in the reading followed here. The stanzas explain the Rahao, the pause carrying the central thought. Naam, the Creator’s Name, takes the place of the worshipper’s seat, the stone for grinding sandalwood, the saffron and the water. Naam is the lamp, wick and oil. The Shabad then asks what we can offer the Creator when everything already belongs to Him. Its closing offering is Sat Naam. This is more than advice to add sincere feeling to an otherwise unchanged ceremony. The objects themselves are being replaced in the account of worship.
Guru Nanak Sahib Ji’s Aarti at Panna 663 opens with the sky as the tray and the sun and moon as lamps. It proceeds through the One present throughout creation to the light recognised through the Guru’s teaching, and ends in a prayer for grace. Bhagat Kabir Ji’s Aarti at Panna 1350 likewise makes knowledge the oil, Naam the wick and illumination within the body the lamp. Its Rahao directs us to the Guru and the all-pervading One; its closing stanza speaks of Divine nearness and inward joy. These Shabads give us worship to practise, with understanding and love. [3]
Reading Bhagat Sain Ji in context
Bhagat Sain Ji’s opening can appear to say something different:
ਧੂਪ ਦੀਪ ਘ੍ਰਿਤ ਸਾਜਿ ਆਰਤੀ ॥
ਵਾਰਨੇ ਜਾਉ ਕਮਲਾ ਪਤੀ ॥੧॥
Simple reading: dhoop deep ghrit saaj aartee.
vaarane jaau kamalaa patee.
Plain meaning: O Master of Kamala, I am a sacrifice to You; this is my gathering of incense, lamps and ghee for Your aarti.
Reference: Dhanasari, Bhagat Sain Ji, Panna 695. Complete stanza 1; read with the Rahao and all four stanzas. The relationship expressed by “this is” follows Darpan’s interpretation, explained below. [4]
Ghee is clarified butter. Kamala is a name of Lakshmi. Professor Sahib Singh Ji’s commentary, Darpan, reads the second line as explaining the first: being a sacrifice to the Creator is the aarti. It reads stanza 2 in the same way: the One is the lamp and wick. Niranjan names the One untouched by Maya, the lure of worldly attachments. The Rahao speaks of joy through the Creator’s grace. [4]
Darpan sets out and answers an objection that Bhagat Sain Ji performed aarti before his human Guru Ramanand, was a committed Vaishnav, a devotee of Vishnu, and therefore contradicted Guru Nanak Sahib Ji. Professor Sahib Singh Ji answers that the divine descriptions do not identify a human recipient. He reads Ramanand in stanza 3 as the bliss of union with Ram, and madan in stanza 4 as producing joy, rather than as proof of Vaishnav allegiance. [4]
Readers checking SriGranth’s displayed English will find the opening presented as an offering with incense, lamps and ghee, and Ramanand treated as a person’s name. Darpan instead reads self-offering as the Aarti. I follow Darpan because it explains the sequence from self-offering, through Divine joy and illumination, to remembrance of the One who carries us beyond fear. Even if Ramanand is read as a name, however, that line does not say that Bhagat Sain Ji is performing aarti before him. That is an additional claim, which the interpretation must establish. [4]
The neighbouring Shabads show why these words need to be read in context. Bhagat Peepa Ji places the deity, temple and offerings within the body, then directs the seeker to the One present both within and throughout creation, known through the Guru. Bhagat Trilochan Ji uses stories from the Puranas, Hindu religious texts, about deities and their afflictions to question reliance on them. He closes by turning to the Creator’s Naam. A reference to a familiar religious object or story does not tell us, by itself, whether the Shabad endorses it, challenges it or gives it another use. [5]
What the Guru says about Bhagat Dhanna Ji
The question becomes especially clear across Pannas 487 and 488. Bhagat Dhanna Ji begins with the mind wandering in greed and desire, forgetting the precious Creator. His third stanza describes the Guru giving the wealth of spiritual knowledge, bringing the mind into union with the Creator and fulfilment through loving devotion. He concludes:
ਜੋਤਿ ਸਮਾਇ ਸਮਾਨੀ ਜਾ ਕੈ ਅਛਲੀ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਪਹਿਚਾਨਿਆ ॥
ਧੰਨੈ ਧਨੁ ਪਾਇਆ ਧਰਣੀਧਰੁ ਮਿਲਿ ਜਨ ਸੰਤ ਸਮਾਨਿਆ ॥੪॥੧॥
Simple reading: jot samaai samaanee jaa kai achhalee prabh pahichaaniaa.
dhannai dhan paaiaa dharaneedhar mil jan sant samaaniaa.
Plain meaning: The one in whom the Divine Light has settled recognises the Creator who cannot be deceived. Dhanna has found the Sustainer of the earth as his wealth; meeting the saintly servants, he has merged in Him.
Reference: Aasa, Bhagat Dhanna Ji, Panna 487. Complete stanza 4; read with the Rahao and all four stanzas. [6]
Immediately afterwards, within this section, stands a Shabad with the separate heading Mahalla 5. It is Guru Arjan Sahib Ji’s composition. Its Rahao describes Bhagat Namdev Ji’s absorption in the Creator, using the image of a poor cloth printer becoming worth lakhs, or hundreds of thousands. The transformation concerns spiritual worth; the Shabad does not promise financial riches. The following stanzas describe Bhagat Kabir Ji’s love for the Creator’s feet and Bhagat Ravidas Ji’s release from attachment to Maya. Then come these two consecutive stanzas:
ਸੈਨੁ ਨਾਈ ਬੁਤਕਾਰੀਆ ਓਹੁ ਘਰਿ ਘਰਿ ਸੁਨਿਆ ॥
ਹਿਰਦੇ ਵਸਿਆ ਪਾਰਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਭਗਤਾ ਮਹਿ ਗਨਿਆ ॥੩॥
ਇਹ ਬਿਧਿ ਸੁਨਿ ਕੈ ਜਾਟਰੋ ਉਠਿ ਭਗਤੀ ਲਾਗਾ ॥
ਮਿਲੇ ਪ੍ਰਤਖਿ ਗੁਸਾਈਆ ਧੰਨਾ ਵਡਭਾਗਾ ॥੪॥੨॥
Simple reading: sain naaee butkaareeaa oh ghar ghar suniaa.
hirde vasiaa paarbrahm bhagtaa meh ganiaa.
ih bidh sun kai jaataro uth bhagatee laagaa.
mile pratakh gusaaeeaa dhannaa vadabhaagaa.
Plain meaning: Sain, the barber who did people’s errands, became known from house to house. The Supreme Creator dwelt in his heart, and he was counted among the Bhagats. Hearing of this way, the poor Jat arose and took to devotion. Dhanna met the Master directly and became greatly fortunate.
Reference: Aasa, Mahalla 5, Guru Arjan Sahib Ji, Pannas 487 and 488. Complete consecutive stanzas 3 and 4, respectively; read with the Rahao and stanzas 1 and 2. [6]
Here the Guru names Bhagat Sain Ji as one in whose heart the Creator dwelt. A reader cannot dismiss his Bani as an alien intrusion merely by attaching a religious label to him. The Guru’s testimony must be accounted for. Equally, the account of Bhagat Dhanna Ji’s devotion points to what he heard of these Bhagats and the spiritual life they embodied.
Darpan also answers an objection that identifies the Master encountered by Dhanna Ji as Swami Ramanand. The same objection disputes the authorship indicated by Mahalla 5, on the grounds that the Shabad names the Bhagats through caste descriptions. Professor Sahib Singh Ji answers from the heading and from other Shabads in which the Gurus name Bhagats and their castes. [6]
Read those descriptions with what the Shabad says about these men. The poor cloth printer, weaver, worker handling dead animals and barber are honoured through devotion. The social labels make the transformation visible. They do not establish that the Guru is endorsing caste hierarchy, and they provide no sufficient reason to set aside the heading Mahalla 5.
What the stories can and cannot establish
The stone account cannot simply be dismissed as something found outside Sikh tradition. Bhai Gurdas Ji’s tenth Vaar, pauri 13, tells of a Brahmin giving Dhanna Ji a stone, of Dhanna Ji bathing it and offering food, and of the Master appearing and eating. Its closing line credits innocent love with bringing the devotee to Gobind. [7]
That account requires acknowledgement. It also requires a distinction between a narrative about Divine response to a devotee and a rule authorising image worship for Sikhs. Bhai Gurdas Ji’s Vaar does not replace Shabad Guru Granth Sahib Ji as the authority governing that question. Nor does the absence of a stone from Panna 487, on its own, settle every historical question about Dhanna Ji’s life.
The teaching about relying on a stone is explicit elsewhere. Guru Arjan Sahib Ji says:
ਜਿਸੁ ਪਾਹਣ ਕਉ ਠਾਕੁਰੁ ਕਹਤਾ ॥
ਓਹੁ ਪਾਹਣੁ ਲੈ ਉਸ ਕਉ ਡੁਬਤਾ ॥੨॥
Simple reading: jis paahan kau thaakur kahataa.
oh paahan lai us kau dubataa.
Plain meaning: The stone he calls his Master sinks, taking him down with it.
Reference: Suhi, Mahalla 5, Guru Arjan Sahib Ji, Panna 739. Complete stanza 2; read with the Rahao and all four stanzas. [8]
The opening describes someone who fails to see the Master within and hangs a stone around his neck. The Rahao compares his labour to churning water. The following stanza names the stone boat that cannot carry him across; the closing stanza turns to knowing the Creator through the Guru and recognising Him throughout water, land and sky. The whole movement challenges reliance on the image as a means of deliverance. A story about Divine compassion cannot overturn that teaching.
Bhagat Namdev Ji’s milk Shabad at Panna 1163 needs the same care. It really does describe milk in a bowl and an appeal to Gobind to drink. Its Rahao includes the fear that the father of the house will otherwise be displeased. The Shabad proceeds through a golden bowl filled with nectar to the Creator’s delight in His devotee and the devotee receiving Divine vision. We should not conceal those details. [9]
Darpan reads the father of the house as the inner self, the golden bowl as the purified heart, and the nectar as Naam. It supports the bowl’s imagery by comparison with Bhagat Namdev Ji’s use of a golden needle in another Shabad. This is an interpretation of the imagery, not a claim that the words for milk and a bowl are absent. Its account preserves the love expressed in offering service and finding peace through the Creator’s response. [9]
Whatever view a reader takes of the event described, the Shabad does not identify a stone image as its recipient. Bhagat Ravidas Ji’s reference to Namdev Ji and the milk at Panna 487 also places the account within the saving power of remembrance. Neither passage gives us a command to feed an image. Rejecting the claim that these passages require feeding an image does not require us to deny the Creator’s care for a devotee. [6, 9]
A further difficulty occurs at Panna 973. Bhagat Namdev Ji weighs austerities, pilgrimage bathing and costly gifts against Naam. The Rahao addresses his own mind, asking it to abandon pretence and remember the Creator continually. Yet the final stanza names Ram Chand as the son of King Dasarath:
ਮਨਹਿ ਨ ਕੀਜੈ ਰੋਸੁ ਜਮਹਿ ਨ ਦੀਜੈ ਦੋਸੁ ਨਿਰਮਲ ਨਿਰਬਾਣ ਪਦੁ ਚੀਨੑਿ ਲੀਜੈ ॥
ਜਸਰਥ ਰਾਇ ਨੰਦੁ ਰਾਜਾ ਮੇਰਾ ਰਾਮ ਚੰਦੁ ਪ੍ਰਣਵੈ ਨਾਮਾ ਤਤੁ ਰਸੁ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤੁ ਪੀਜੈ ॥੪॥੪॥
Simple reading: maneh na keejai ros jameh na deejai dos nirmal nirbaan pad cheenh leejai.
jasrath raai nand raajaa meraa raam chand pranavai naamaa tat ras amrit peejai.
Plain meaning: Harbour no resentment in the mind and do not blame the messenger of death; recognise the pure state free from desire. Namdev prays: drink the nectar of Naam, the essential sweetness; for me, this is King Ram Chand, son of King Dasarath.
Reference: Ramkali Ghar 2, Bhagat Namdev Ji, Panna 973. Complete stanza 4; read with the Rahao and all four stanzas. The English follows Darpan’s interpretation of the final line. [10]
Professor Sahib Singh Ji refuses to erase the difficulty. Naming the father identifies a particular figure; he therefore rejects treating the whole expression as merely another unrestricted name for the Creator. He also rejects “the king of Dasarath’s son”, because the grammar does not supply that possessive relationship. He reads the line as making Naam the devotee’s Ram Chand, continuing the Shabad’s direction away from dependence on religious acts and towards remembrance. [10]
I follow that reading because it accounts for the named figure while keeping the final stanza connected to the Rahao and the preceding argument. It is a reasoned interpretation, open to examination. The name cannot fairly be suppressed, but neither can it be detached from the Shabad and made sufficient proof that image worship governs Sikh practice.
Returning to the prayer we sing
Bhagat Dhanna Ji’s Shabad at Panna 695 brings us back to the Aarti sequence and to a quieter part of the question:
ਗੋਪਾਲ ਤੇਰਾ ਆਰਤਾ ॥
ਜੋ ਜਨ ਤੁਮਰੀ ਭਗਤਿ ਕਰੰਤੇ ਤਿਨ ਕੇ ਕਾਜ ਸਵਾਰਤਾ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
Simple reading: gopaal teraa aartaa.
jo jan tumree bhagat karante tin ke kaaj savaartaa.
Plain meaning: O Sustainer of the world, I am Your needy petitioner. You bring to fulfilment the affairs of those who practise devotion to You.
Reference: Dhanasari, Bhagat Dhanna Ji, Panna 695. Complete Rahao; read with both stanzas. [11]
SriGranth’s displayed English presents this as lamp-lit worship; Darpan reads aartaa as the needy or distressed person making the requests that follow. These requests concern food, clothing, livestock and household life. Darpan distinguishes aartaa from aartee and explains their association through the resemblance between the words. It also defends asking the Creator for daily needs. [11]
That distinction helps us understand what we sing. It gives no grounds for treating the prayer as an embarrassment or assuming that those who recite it have understood nothing. The Shabad brings dependence on the Creator into ordinary life. Its place in a recited sequence does not turn its requests into a lamp ceremony, and understanding its meaning allows its prayer to be heard more fully.
The practical responsibility belongs with readers and with those who teach and sing Gurbani in Gurdwaras. We should explain the words, read the Rahao with the whole Shabad, and distinguish the text from a commentator’s additions. Where translations differ, the difference should be examined openly.
These passages give no warrant for dismissing Bhagat Bani because of the Bhagats’ backgrounds, or for imposing image worship on Sikhi through vocabulary and stories. They direct us towards Naam, devotion and the Creator’s grace. Darpan helps us examine how that teaching unfolds; its explanations remain answerable to the Shabad, as ours do. Bhagat Bani already stands within the Guru we bow before. Our task is to listen and learn under that authority.
Related work
To follow: Why Sikhi Rejects Worship through Images and Sacred Rivers, the companion discussion of published claims about images, offerings and sacred rivers.
Verify
Quoted passages, in Panna order: Aasa, Bhagat Dhanna Ji, stanza 4, Panna 487; Aasa, Mahalla 5, Guru Arjan Sahib Ji, consecutive stanzas 3 and 4, Pannas 487 and 488; Dhanasari, Bhagat Ravidas Ji, complete Rahao, Panna 694; Dhanasari, Bhagat Sain Ji, stanza 1, Panna 695; Dhanasari, Bhagat Dhanna Ji, complete Rahao, Panna 695; Suhi, Mahalla 5, Guru Arjan Sahib Ji, stanza 2, Panna 739; Ramkali Ghar 2, Bhagat Namdev Ji, stanza 4, Panna 973. Read each complete Shabad.
Additional passages discussed through paraphrase, in Panna order: Aasa, Bhagat Ravidas Ji, the Shabad referring to Namdev Ji and milk, Panna 487; Dhanasari, Mahalla 1, Guru Nanak Sahib Ji’s Aarti, Panna 663; Dhanasari, Bhagat Peepa Ji and Bhagat Trilochan Ji, Panna 695; Bhairau Ghar 1, Bhagat Namdev Ji’s milk Shabad, Panna 1163; Prabhati, Bhagat Kabir Ji’s Aarti, Panna 1350. The remaining stanzas and Rahaos of quoted Shabads are also discussed in English.
“Stanza” means a numbered verse unit. Bhai Gurdas Ji’s Vaar 10, pauri 13, is discussed separately as a narrative source. Gurmukhi remains primary; the Roman readings and English meanings are learning aids.
Cross-check
Checked to 15 September 2026. The complete relevant Shabads were read in SriGranth and Professor Sahib Singh Ji’s Darpan, with the displayed Gurmukhi checked for the quoted passages. The Panna 739 quotation follows the text at its own placement, rather than the differing spelling in Darpan’s quotation within the Panna 487 commentary. The Aarti-sequence details were checked in the Guru Granth Sahib Project. Bhai Gurdas Ji’s complete pauri was read in the online reproduction identified below. No printed-Saroop comparison is claimed.
On 16 September 2026, Darpan’s explanations of butkaareeaa and jaataro were checked again. The Guru Granth Sahib Project and Dekho Ji links were also reopened.
The original publication and identity of the writer quoted by Darpan have not been independently established. This essay examines the objections as Darpan records them. It does not attribute them to a named historical writer or claim to settle the history of the recited Aarti sequence.
Correction note
PanthSeva will correct errors in Gurmukhi, Roman reading, plain meaning, attribution, Panna reference and factual claims publicly, calmly and with a dated note.
Source note
[1] The Aarti sequences. The Guru Granth Sahib Project distinguishes the Amrit Keertan list, citing the Khalsa Brothers edition, Amritsar, 2011, pages 835–838, from a list based on recitation at Sri Darbar Sahib on 15 December 2019. Both contain the five Shabads examined here; both include further passages. The date and manner of the sequence’s development are not established there. Aarti introduction.
[2] Bhagat Ravidas Ji. Dhanasari, Panna 694, complete Shabad. “Murari” is retained as the address in the reading aid and meaning; Darpan explains its use here for the Creator. SriGranth, Panna 694; Darpan, Panna 694.
[3] Guru Nanak Sahib Ji and Bhagat Kabir Ji. The discussion of Guru Nanak Sahib Ji’s Aarti uses its Dhanasari placement at Panna 663. The Shabad also appears at Panna 13; no Gurmukhi from either placement is quoted here. Bhagat Kabir Ji’s complete Prabhati Shabad, including its Rahao and middle stanza, is at Panna 1350. Darpan, Panna 663; SriGranth, Panna 1350; Darpan, Panna 1350.
[4] Bhagat Sain Ji. Darpan’s commentary and appended objection at Panna 695; compare the English displayed by SriGranth, particularly the opening and stanza 3. The adopted English meaning is my rendering informed by Darpan, not a quotation of SriGranth’s translation. Darpan, Panna 695; SriGranth, Panna 695.
[5] Bhagat Peepa Ji and Bhagat Trilochan Ji. Their complete Dhanasari Shabads and Rahaos at Panna 695. SriGranth, Panna 695; Darpan, Panna 695.
[6] Bhagat Dhanna Ji and Guru Arjan Sahib Ji. Read Bhagat Dhanna Ji’s complete Shabad, the following Mahalla 5 Shabad extending to Panna 488, and Bhagat Ravidas Ji’s Shabad referring to Namdev Ji and milk. Darpan records the objection concerning Ramanand, caste descriptions and the Mahalla 5 heading. Its supporting references include Suhi, Mahalla 4, Panna 733; Siri Raag, Mahalla 3, Panna 67; and Siri Raag, Mahalla 5, Panna 74. These additional passages are not quoted in this essay. “Did people’s errands” and “poor Jat” follow Darpan’s explanations of butkaareeaa and jaataro. SriGranth, Panna 487; SriGranth, Panna 488; Darpan, commentary under Panna 487.
[7] Bhai Gurdas Ji. Vaar 10, complete pauri 13, in the Gurmukhi reproduction on Dekho Ji. The narrative is paraphrased here; no claim is made that the site’s English interpretation governs its meaning. The link opens the complete Vaar; scroll to pauri 13. Vaar 10.
[8] The stone and the Master. Suhi, Mahalla 5, Panna 739, the complete Shabad beginning with the Master unseen within the home. SriGranth, Panna 739; Darpan, Panna 739.
[9] Bhagat Namdev Ji’s milk Shabad. Bhairau Ghar 1, Panna 1163, complete four-stanza Shabad and Rahao. Darpan’s explanations of the father, bowl and nectar are interpretive choices and are identified as such in the body. SriGranth, Panna 1163; Darpan, Panna 1163.
[10] Bhagat Namdev Ji’s Ramkali Shabad. Panna 973, all four stanzas and Rahao, including Darpan’s discussion of the final reference to Ram Chand. The English meaning adopts the relationship Darpan explains between Naam and that reference. SriGranth, Panna 973; Darpan, Panna 973.
[11] Bhagat Dhanna Ji’s prayer. Dhanasari, Panna 695, complete two-stanza Shabad and Rahao, with Darpan’s notes on aartaa and prayer for daily needs. SriGranth’s displayed English reads the opening as lamp-lit worship; the difference is discussed in the body. SriGranth, Panna 695; Darpan, Panna 695.
Online sources accessed on 15 September 2026, with the limited rechecks recorded above on 16 September 2026. The plain-English meanings are my learning aids, informed by the cited commentary. Practical applications and arguments in this essay are not additional words in Gurbani.
Strong disagreement is welcome. Contempt is not.
Bhul chuk maaf karni Ji.
Gurjit Singh Sandhu
PanthSeva
London