Raga Tilang

 

Raga Tilang

This Raga occurs as a Ragini of Hindol. Today it belongs to Khamaj Thaat. It is and was used a lot in the Islamic Sufi tradition and in modern singing styles such as Ghazals and Thumri. Gurbani in this raga is sprinkled with Islamic vocabulary further highlighting its Islamic Sufi origin. It is used by Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Guru Ram Das Ji, Guru Arjan Dev Ji, Guru Tegh Bahadur ji, Bhagat Kabir Ji, and Bhagat Namdev Ji. It is full of the feeling of having tried hard to impress, but the feeling that the efforts made have not been appreciated. However the atmosphere is not of anger or upset, but of brooding,as the person you are trying to impress is very dear to you. In the verses composed in this raga, the question asked is why should one cling to all the evils of this life when Guru Nanak Dev ji has shown the way to true happiness and fulfilment. This raga has a Ni komal of flat in descent. Its Aroha is Sa,Ga,Ma, Pa, Ni, Sa and Avroha is Sa, Ni, Pa, Ma, Ga, Sa. Its vadi is Ga and samvadi is Ni.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji

My prayer is to You alone,O’ Lord, hear me Thou.

For You are True and Great and Beneficent and Spotless, the Sustenance of all.

The World is a passing vanity, enshrine you this Truth O my mind.

But, though my forelocks are in the Yama’s grip my mind does not know the truth, Pause.

My wife, son, father, brothers- not one will hold my hand;

And when I fall in the grave, not one will come to my rescue, when the last prayer is read.

Guru Ram Das Ji

All Creation was Created in the Lord’s Will; and all the work within His will.

True is the Lord. True, True His play and the Master of all is He alone.

Praise ye all the Truth, for over and above all is the True Lord of all.

No one is His rival: of what account am I ? pause

The air, water, the earth and the sky,are but the abodes, the temples of Lord.

Says Nanak : Within them plays He His True Play, and falsehood before Him is totally worthless.

Guru Arjan Dev Ji

O Creator Lord, seeing Your Creation, I have become Your Lover.

For, in matter as in Your spirit is Your Light, and yet You are Detached from all. Pause

In a moment, You create and then Destroy; how wonderful are Your Manifestations.

To whom can all Your Mysteries be revealed, O’ You,who are the only Light in abysmal Darkness?

You are the Master of all, the Allah of the entire universe,the Beneficent,our only God.

And he,who Dwells on You night and day, why shall he be thrown into Hell ?

Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji

Awake, Arise, O mind, why sleep lured by Ignorance?

For the body that came with you that too keep not your company in the end.

Father, mother, sons and the kindred, whom one loves,

Cast one into the flames when the Soul separates from the body.

The whole world deals with you while you are alive.

Nanak: Praise the Lord, for the rest is but a dream.

Bhagat Kabir Ji

The Vedas and Smritic Texts are a make believe. O’ dear if it does not stops the outgoings of the heart. But if one keeps one’s heart whole, even for a moment lo, there is before him the Presence of the Lord. O’ man search your heart, each day and do not live torn by Doubt.

This world is a magic show; within it no one to to hold your Soul’s hand.

Bhagat Namdev Ji

For me, the Blind one, Your Name O Creator, is the lone support:

I am a poor, meek soul, O’ Lord, and my mainstay is Your Name.

You are the Beneficent Lord, the Allah, the Contented One.

The Living Presence,here before me.