An extended study of the words we sing and the readings used to explain them.
In many Gurdwaras, Sikhs sing a prayer known as Aarti. One of its Shabads is by Bhagat Sain Ji. A Shabad is a composition in Gurbani, the Guru’s Word. Bhagat means devotee.
A writer quoted by Professor Sahib Singh Ji says that Bhagat Sain Ji performed Aarti before the human teacher Ramanand. The writer calls Bhagat Sain Ji a committed Vaishnav, a devotee of Vishnu, and says that this worship went against Guru Nanak Sahib Ji’s teaching. Professor Sahib Singh Ji records and answers this claim in Darpan, his commentary on Gurbani. [4]
Sikhs sing Bhagat Sain Ji’s Bani as Gurbani within Shabad Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Accepting that claim would mean treating part of Gurbani as teaching against the Guru. The religious names and offerings in these compositions are also used to argue that Sikhs should worship a picture or statue.
I do not accept either claim. A Bhagat’s background gives us no reason to reject Bani received under the Guru. Nor do the passages examined here instruct Sikhs to worship a picture or statue. They teach us to remember the Creator, offer ourselves to Him and seek His grace. We need to read each complete Shabad to understand what its names and offerings mean.
Bhagat Sain Ji’s opening shows why this matters. Dr Sant Singh Khalsa’s English translation on SriGranth describes an offering of incense, lamps and ghee, or clarified butter. It also says “I am a sacrifice”. Darpan explains the second line as the meaning of the first: offering oneself to the Creator is the Aarti. Dr Sant Singh Khalsa’s translation includes both ideas but does not explain how they belong together. [4]
Bhagat Ravidas Ji also speaks of Aarti. In the very line that addresses Murari, the offering is Naam. The verses that follow explain what that worship involves.
The Roman line is only a reading aid, not the translation. The English sentence gives the plain meaning.
Panna means page. A stanza is a numbered group of lines. Names such as Dhanasari and Asa in the references are raags, the musical measures under which the Shabads are set.
Bhagat Ravidas Ji says:
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 bathing, O Murari. Without Hari’s Naam, all these displays are false.
Reference: Dhanasari, Bhagat Ravidas Ji, Panna 694. Complete Rahao; read with all four stanzas. [2]
Naam is the Creator’s Name. Darpan explains Hari and Murari here as names used to address the Creator. Rahao marks a pause. These lines give the main thought of the Shabad, and the following verses explain it.
Bhagat Ravidas Ji takes us through the objects used in worship. Naam is the seat on which the worshipper sits. Naam is the stone used to grind sandalwood, the saffron and the water. Then Naam becomes the lamp, wick and oil. The Shabad asks what we can offer the Creator when everything we bring already belongs to Him. Its closing offering is Sat Naam, the True Name. [2]
Naam takes the place of each object. Bhagat Ravidas Ji is not simply asking us to bring the same tray with more love in our hearts. Remembering the Creator is the Aarti being offered here.
Guru Nanak Sahib Ji’s Aarti at Panna 663 opens with the sky as the tray and the sun and moon as lamps. The Shabad speaks of the One present throughout creation and of the light we come to recognise through the Guru’s teaching. It ends by asking for grace, the Creator’s help and blessing. Bhagat Kabir Ji’s Aarti at Panna 1350 makes knowledge the oil, Naam the wick and light within the body the lamp. Its Rahao turns us towards the Guru and the One present everywhere. The closing stanza speaks of the Creator being near and of joy within. [3]
These are prayers full of love. They teach us to turn to the Creator and depend on Him. Understanding the words helps us put that worship into practice.
The Guru Granth Sahib Project lists longer versions of the Aarti recited today. They include five Shabads: those of Guru Nanak Sahib Ji, Bhagat Ravidas Ji, Bhagat Sain Ji, Bhagat Kabir Ji and Bhagat Dhanna Ji. The lists differ and include other compositions too. This study looks at these five Shabads and at the other passages and stories used in arguments about them. [1]
Bhagat Sain Ji’s offering
Bhagat Ravidas Ji puts Naam in place of the objects of worship. Bhagat Sain Ji names incense, lamps and ghee too. We need to read what follows those words before deciding what is being offered:
ਧੂਪ ਦੀਪ ਘ੍ਰਿਤ ਸਾਜਿ ਆਰਤੀ ॥
ਵਾਰਨੇ ਜਾਉ ਕਮਲਾ ਪਤੀ ॥੧॥
Simple reading: Dhoop deep ghrit saaj aartee.
Vaarane jaau kamalaa patee.
Plain meaning, following Darpan’s interpretation: O Master of Kamala, I am a sacrifice to You. This self-offering is my Aarti, my offering of incense, lamps and ghee.
Reference: Dhanasari, Bhagat Sain Ji, Panna 695. Complete stanza 1; read with the Rahao and all four stanzas. “This self-offering” is added in English to show how Darpan explains the two lines together. [4]
Kamala is a name of Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess. The next stanza again names the lamp and its wick:
ਊਤਮੁ ਦੀਅਰਾ ਨਿਰਮਲ ਬਾਤੀ ॥
ਤੁਹੀਂ ਨਿਰੰਜਨੁ ਕਮਲਾ ਪਾਤੀ ॥੨॥
Simple reading: Ootam dee-araa nirmal baatee.
Tuheen niranjan kamalaa paatee.
Plain meaning, following Darpan’s interpretation: O Master of Kamala, You alone, Niranjan, are for me the finest lamp and the pure wick.
Reference: Dhanasari, Bhagat Sain Ji, Panna 695. Complete stanza 2; read with stanza 1, the Rahao and the remaining stanzas. [4]
Niranjan is a name for the One untouched by Maya. Maya is the pull of worldly things. Darpan again explains the two lines together: the Creator Himself is the lamp and wick. In this reading, the joy in the Rahao comes through the Creator’s grace. The closing stanza asks the mind to remember the One who carries us beyond fear. [4]
We also need to look at Ramanand in stanza 3, since the writer takes it to be the human teacher’s name.
Professor Sahib Singh Ji explains the names in this Shabad as names for the Creator, rather than a human teacher. In Darpan’s reading, Ramanand in stanza 3 means the joy of being united with Ram, a name for the Creator here. It explains madan moorati in stanza 4 as a beautiful form that brings joy to the person seeing it. [4]
Dr Sant Singh Khalsa’s translation takes Ramanand to be a person’s name. I follow Darpan because its explanation lets us read the prayer as a whole. Bhagat Sain Ji offers himself to the Creator, then names Him as the lamp and wick. The prayer also speaks of joy through grace and asks the mind to remember Him. Even if Ramanand is a person’s name, the line does not say that Bhagat Sain Ji is performing Aarti before him.
The other Shabads on the same Panna also show why we need to read beyond a familiar name or object. Bhagat Peepa Ji speaks of the body as the temple and places the deity and offerings within it. The Shabad speaks of the One who is within us and throughout creation, whom we come to know through the Guru. Bhagat Trilochan Ji recalls stories from the Puranas, Hindu religious books, about deities who themselves suffer. Those stories ask us to think about why we depend on them. The closing lines turn to the Creator’s Naam. [5]
What the Guru says about the Bhagats
Guru Arjan Sahib Ji also speaks about Bhagat Sain Ji. Those words matter when a later writer says that Bhagat Sain Ji’s worship went against Guru Nanak Sahib Ji. The Shabad runs across Pannas 487–488. Just before it comes Bhagat Dhanna Ji’s own Shabad, on Panna 487, describing devotion to the Creator.
Bhagat Dhanna Ji begins with a mind caught in greed and desire, forgetting the Creator. In stanza 3, the Guru gives the understanding that Bhagat Dhanna Ji describes as wealth. Through loving devotion, the mind becomes united with the Creator and is satisfied. The closing stanza says:
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: Asa, Bhagat Dhanna Ji, Panna 487. Complete stanza 4; read with the Rahao and all four stanzas. [6]
Immediately afterwards is a Shabad headed Mahalla 5. This tells us that it is by the Fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Sahib Ji. Its Rahao speaks of Bhagat Namdev Ji’s mind absorbed in the Creator. A poor cloth printer becomes worth lakhs, or hundreds of thousands. The Shabad is speaking of the worth he gains through devotion, rather than promising him money. The following stanzas describe Bhagat Kabir Ji’s love for the Creator’s feet and Bhagat Ravidas Ji’s freedom from attachment to Maya. Then come these two stanzas, one after the other:
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: Asa, Mahalla 5, Guru Arjan Sahib Ji, Pannas 487 and 488. Stanza 3 is on Panna 487 and stanza 4 is on Panna 488, both complete and given together. Read with the Rahao and stanzas 1 and 2. [6]
Jat is the name of a community linked with farming. The meanings “did people’s errands” and “poor Jat” follow Darpan’s explanations of the words in the Shabad. Bhagat Dhanna Ji heard about this life of devotion and followed it. [6]
Guru Arjan Sahib Ji tells us that the Creator dwelt in Bhagat Sain Ji’s heart and that Bhagat Sain Ji was counted among the Bhagats. We cannot put those words aside and dismiss him because a later writer calls him a Vaishnav.
Darpan also quotes a writer who says that the Master whom Bhagat Dhanna Ji met was Swami Ramanand. The writer questions whether the Shabad is really by Guru Arjan Sahib Ji, despite the Mahalla 5 heading. The reason given is that the Guru would not have named the Bhagats’ castes and the work they did.
Professor Sahib Singh Ji points to the heading, which tells us who composed the Shabad. Darpan also gives other passages where the Gurus name the Bhagats’ castes. At Panna 74, Guru Arjan Sahib Ji’s own Bani uses Gosai for the Creator. So when the word Gosai appears here, we cannot assume that it means Ramanand. [6]
The Shabad names the work these people did, then tells us what devotion brought into their lives. The poor cloth printer, weaver, worker handling dead animals and barber are honoured here. The Guru is not teaching us to treat people as higher or lower because of their caste.
Bhagat Dhanna Ji and the stone
Guru Arjan Sahib Ji describes Bhagat Dhanna Ji following the way of devotion he had heard about. There is also a story of Bhagat Dhanna Ji offering food to a stone. Does that story teach Sikhs to worship a stone?
We cannot dismiss it as a story found only outside Sikh tradition. Bhai Gurdas Ji tells it in Vaar 10, pauri 13. A Vaar is a poetic composition made up of stanzas called pauris. In the story, a Brahmin gives Bhagat Dhanna Ji a stone. Bhagat Dhanna Ji bathes it and offers food, and the Master appears and eats. The pauri ends by saying that innocent love brought the devotee to Gobind, a name for the Creator. [7]
The story tells us about the Creator answering a devotee’s love. Before telling Sikhs to worship a stone because of it, we need to read what Shabad Guru Granth Sahib Ji teaches about trusting a stone.
Bhagat Dhanna Ji’s Shabad on Panna 487 does not mention a stone. But we cannot use that fact alone to say that the story never happened.
Guru Arjan Sahib Ji describes someone who calls a stone his Master:
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 person described in this Shabad hangs a stone around his neck while failing to recognise the Creator within. The Rahao compares his effort to churning water: it cannot produce butter. The Shabad also speaks of a stone boat that cannot carry him across. It ends by turning us to the Guru, through whom we come to know the Creator and recognise Him throughout water, land and sky. [8]
Guru Arjan Sahib Ji warns us against trusting a stone to save us. We should read the story about Bhagat Dhanna Ji with that warning in mind. The Creator’s love for a devotee does not teach Sikhs to put their trust in a stone.
Bhagat Namdev Ji’s milk Shabad
The stone story is in Bhai Gurdas Ji’s Vaar. Bhagat Namdev Ji’s offering of milk is described in Gurbani itself, at Pannas 1163–1164. There is milk in a bowl and a prayer asking Gobind to drink it. In the Rahao, there is a fear that the father of the house will otherwise be displeased. Later verses describe a golden bowl filled with nectar and the Creator taking delight in the devotee. The closing stanza speaks of giving milk and returning home, and of Bhagat Namdev Ji seeing the Creator. [9]
For Darpan, the father of the house is the inner self, the golden bowl is the heart made pure, and the nectar is Naam. Darpan understands returning home as the mind settling within itself. To explain the golden bowl, it points to the golden needle in another of Bhagat Namdev Ji’s Shabads. [9]
The words for milk and a bowl are there in the Shabad. Darpan explains them as part of a prayer of loving service, in which the Creator answers the devotee and brings peace.
Readers may understand the offering of milk differently from Darpan. Even so, the Shabad does not say that the milk is being given to a stone statue. At Panna 487, Bhagat Ravidas Ji also recalls Bhagat Namdev Ji and the milk while speaking of being saved through remembrance of the Creator. Neither Shabad tells Sikhs to feed a statue. We can recognise the Creator’s care for Bhagat Namdev Ji without teaching that practice. [6, 9]
Ram Chand in Bhagat Namdev Ji’s Shabad
The milk Shabad does not name a stone statue. At Panna 973, Bhagat Namdev Ji does name Ram Chand as the son of King Dasarath. The same Shabad compares strict religious practices, bathing at pilgrimage places and costly gifts with Naam. Its Rahao asks the mind to stop making a show of religion and to remember the Creator all the time. The final stanza says:
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, following Darpan’s interpretation: Hold 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. “Naam” and “this is” are added in English to explain Darpan’s reading of the whole Shabad. [10]
Professor Sahib Singh Ji does not avoid the difficult words. Naming Dasarath tells us which Ram Chand is meant. Darpan therefore does not explain this as just another name for the Creator. It also rejects “the king of Dasarath’s son”, explaining that the word means “son”, not “son’s”. [10]
Darpan explains that Naam is Bhagat Namdev Ji’s Ram Chand. The earlier verses have already called the mind to remember the Creator. An avatar is a divine figure believed to have come into the world in earthly form. Darpan puts worship of an avatar’s picture or statue alongside the strict religious practices, ceremonies with offerings, pilgrimage bathing and costly gifts discussed earlier. Darpan explains that remembering the Creator is greater than all these practices. [10]
I follow Darpan here because it faces the reference to Ram Chand, son of Dasarath, and explains it through what the rest of the Shabad says about Naam. Readers should be able to question that explanation. But we cannot take the name Ram Chand out of this prayer and use it to tell Sikhs to worship a picture or statue, while ignoring the verses that call us to remember the Creator.
Bhagat Dhanna Ji’s prayer for daily needs
Bhagat Dhanna Ji’s prayer brings us back to the Aarti sequence. To understand it, we need to know what aartaa means. Is it another word for Aarti, or does it describe someone asking for help? On Panna 695, the prayer says:
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]
Dr Sant Singh Khalsa’s translation describes worship with lamps. Darpan explains aartaa as a person in need or distress, asking for help. It says that this is a different word from aartee, the word for Aarti. The verses ask for food, clothing, animals and help in household life. These are requests to the Creator who provides for us. [11]
Darpan explains that this prayer stands beside the Aarti Shabads in Dhanasari because the words aartaa and aartee are so alike. The Guru Granth Sahib Project also explains that this Shabad is different from Aarti. That does not tell us when or how people put together the longer Aarti recited today. [1, 11]
Darpan also explains why we can ask the Creator for our daily needs. We do not have to be embarrassed by a prayer for food or clothing, or by the needs of a household. Bhagat Dhanna Ji brings these things before the One who provides for us. Singing this prayer among the Aarti Shabads does not turn these requests into worship with lamps.
Who, then, decides?
We began with a writer’s claim that Bhagat Sain Ji’s worship went against Guru Nanak Sahib Ji’s teaching. Darpan explains the offering as giving oneself to the Creator, in a prayer that goes on to name Him as the lamp and wick. Guru Arjan Sahib Ji tells us that the Creator dwelt in Bhagat Sain Ji’s heart. A later writer’s religious label gives me no reason to put those words aside.
I receive Bhagat Bani as Gurbani under Shabad Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Darpan helps me understand it, but the Guru’s Word comes first. If I add words in English to explain how two lines fit together, I must tell the reader. And readers should be able to ask whether I have understood the Bani properly.
The stone story and the milk prayer speak of the Creator responding to a devotee’s love. They do not tell Sikhs to feed a statue. Nor does the name Ram Chand erase the call to remember the Creator in the same Shabad. Words also used in Hindu worship do not make Sikhi a Hindu tradition.
In our Gurdwaras, those who teach and lead the singing should make time to explain the words in language the sangat, the congregation, understands. They can take one complete Shabad, read the Rahao with the other verses and explain how they fit together. If translations give different meanings, show the reader what the difference is. People should be able to ask what a line means and receive patient help.
We can begin that work at home too. Someone who comes to Gurbani with love deserves help to understand it more fully. A parent who was never taught cannot simply be told to teach a child. Gurdwaras and those able to explain Gurbani have a responsibility to support them.
Bhagat Bani already stands within the Guru we bow before. Its place is not for a later writer to approve or take away. Our responsibility is to learn what the Guru is teaching us, so that the prayer we sing becomes part of the life we lead.
Related work
The first essay in this two-part publication, Why Sikhi Rejects Worship through Images and Sacred Rivers, examines published claims about images, offerings and sacred rivers.
Sources
Checked to 16 October 2026. The quoted Gurmukhi and Panna references were checked against SriGranth on 8 October 2026. Darpan’s relevant explanations under Pannas 74, 487, 694, 695 and 973 were checked again on 16 October 2026. Gurmukhi remains primary. The Roman readings and plain-English meanings are my learning aids, informed by Professor Sahib Singh Ji’s Darpan. Where explanations differ, the essay says which one I have followed. Read each complete Shabad, including its Rahao and any continuation across Pannas.
[1] The Aarti sequences. The Guru Granth Sahib Project’s introduction distinguishes the Amrit Keertan list, citing the Khalsa Brothers edition, Amritsar, 2011, pages 835–838, from recitation at Sri Darbar Sahib on 15 December 2019. Both contain these five Shabads and further compositions. The date and manner of the sequences’ development are not established there.
[2] Bhagat Ravidas Ji, Dhanasari, Panna 694, complete Shabad. SriGranth; Darpan. Darpan explains Hari and Murari here as names used to address the Creator.
[3] Guru Nanak Sahib Ji’s Aarti, Dhanasari, Panna 663; also recorded at Panna 13. Darpan, Panna 663. Bhagat Kabir Ji’s complete Prabhati Aarti, Panna 1350: SriGranth; Darpan.
[4] Bhagat Sain Ji, Dhanasari, Panna 695, complete Shabad and the objection discussed after it in Darpan: Darpan; SriGranth. The quoted English follows Darpan. SriGranth identifies Dr Sant Singh Khalsa’s translation as its default English version in its acknowledgements. The nasal mark in ਤੁਹੀਂ is rendered in standard Unicode for display, checked against the complete Sain Ji text on Dekho Ji.
[5] Bhagat Peepa Ji and Bhagat Trilochan Ji, complete Dhanasari Shabads, Panna 695: SriGranth; Darpan.
[6] Bhagat Dhanna Ji’s Asa Shabad, the following Mahalla 5 Shabad, and Bhagat Ravidas Ji’s reference to Bhagat Namdev Ji and milk: SriGranth, Panna 487 and Panna 488; Darpan, commentary under Panna 487. “Did people’s errands” and “poor Jat” follow Darpan’s explanations of butkaareeaa and jaataro. Its Gosai comparison is from Siri Raag, Mahalla 5, stanza 17, Panna 74; compare Darpan, Panna 74. The critic’s name and original publication have not been confirmed. I have not established whether the objections quoted at Pannas 487 and 695 came from the same writer. This essay discusses them as Darpan gives them.
[7] Bhai Gurdas Ji, Vaar 10, complete pauri 13: Gurmukhi reproduction on Dekho Ji. The story is retold here separately from Gurbani. The Gurmukhi is the source; the site’s English translation does not decide its meaning.
[8] Suhi, Mahalla 5, Guru Arjan Sahib Ji, Panna 739, complete Shabad: SriGranth; Darpan.
[9] Bhagat Namdev Ji’s milk Shabad, Bhairau Ghar 1, Pannas 1163–1164: SriGranth, Panna 1163 and Panna 1164. Darpan places the complete commentary under Panna 1163. Its readings of the father, bowl and nectar are identified as interpretations in the essay.
[10] Bhagat Namdev Ji, Ramkali Ghar 2, Panna 973, complete Shabad and discussion of Ram Chand: SriGranth; Darpan. The English meaning follows Darpan. The words added to explain this reading are identified beside the quotation.
[11] Bhagat Dhanna Ji’s Dhanasari prayer, Panna 695, complete Shabad and Darpan’s notes on aartaa and daily needs: SriGranth; Darpan. The Guru Granth Sahib Project’s introduction also explains that this Shabad is different from Aarti. It suggests that aartaa was mistaken for a masculine form of aartee.
Errors will be corrected publicly with a dated note in this section.
Strong disagreement is welcome. Contempt is not.
Bhul chuk maaf karni Ji.
Gurjit Singh Sandhu
PanthSeva
London