Beethal Bhaila - Namdev Asa - Wherever I go, the playful Beethal is there

I’ve been working on a musical composition for a beautiful shabad by Bhagat Naamdev, and it’s been making me think deeply about its message. The shabad, “Beethal Bhaila” in Raag Aasaa, has this incredible energy that is both playful and profoundly insightful.

Naamdev starts by listing the items of a traditional ritual offering: water for a sacred bath, flowers for a garland, milk to make a sweet pudding (kheer). But then he gently turns it all on its head. He asks: if the water is already teeming with millions of lifeforms, if a bee has already stolen the flower’s fragrance, and if a calf has already tasted the milk, then what can I possibly offer that is truly “pure” or untouched?

The answer he gives in the refrain (the rahāo) is breathtaking: “Wherever I go, my playful Beethal is already there, immersed in endless bliss.”

This is the radical, beautiful heart of the poem. When you realize the Divine is everywhere—pervading every “here and there,” as he says—then worship stops being about presenting physical things and starts being about seeing. The real offering becomes awareness (Naam itself)—the ability to recognize that Presence in every corner of existence, in every space and interspace. The ritual isn't destroyed; it’s fulfilled. The entire world becomes the garland, the bath, the food.

This vision connects deeply with our entire tradition. I hear echoes of it in Guru Nanak’s “You are everywhere I go,” in Kabir’s “Wherever I look, there You are,” and in Guru Arjan’s “Wherever I look, There You are present.” They are all singing the same truth. It is also reminding me of the shabads of offering by Guru Nanak and Kabir - what can we offer you God, when you give us everything. 

This is what I’m trying to capture in my composition and the reflective poem below. The shabad is an invitation to bring less stuff and more sight. It’s a call to meet that playful, dear Presence (Beethal) who is already here—in the hum of the bee, the nuzzle of the calf, the flow of the river, and in our very breath—and to finally join in that “mahā anand,” that great, unending play.

I hope the music can carry even a fraction of that joy and revelation.

- After Bhagat Namdev

Tell me, what do you plan to offer?

A dipper of clear water? Look closer:

already a small cosmos of beings

is dancing in each sun-warmed drop.

The flower you would thread on a string?

Its quiet secret has gone ahead,

riding a bee’s unhurried leg

to a low, humming room of gold.

And the milk for kheer?

The calf’s wet muzzle has already blessed it.

Everywhere you turn for an offering
there is only that which has been used already.

What else remains to offer but how you see?

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Lyrics

ਆਸਾ ॥

ਆਨੀਲੇ ਕੁੰਭ ਭਰਾਈਲੇ ਊਦਕ ਠਾਕੁਰ ਕਉ ਇਸਨਾਨੁ ਕਰਉ ॥
ਬਇਆਲੀਸ ਲਖ ਜੀ ਜਲ ਮਹਿ ਹੋਤੇ ਬੀਠਲੁ ਭੈਲਾ ਕਾਇ ਕਰਉ ॥੧॥

ਜਤ੍ਰ ਜਾਉ ਤਤ ਬੀਠਲੁ ਭੈਲਾ ॥
ਮਹਾ ਅਨੰਦ ਕਰੇ ਸਦ ਕੇਲਾ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

ਆਨੀਲੇ ਫੂਲ ਪਰੋਈਲੇ ਮਾਲਾ ਠਾਕੁਰ ਕੀ ਹਉ ਪੂਜ ਕਰਉ ॥
ਪਹਿਲੇ ਬਾਸੁ ਲਈ ਹੈ ਭਵਰਹ ਬੀਠਲ ਭੈਲਾ ਕਾਇ ਕਰਉ ॥੨॥

ਆਨੀਲੇ ਦੂਧੁ ਰੀਧਾਈਲੇ ਖੀਰੰ ਠਾਕੁਰ ਕਉ ਨੈਵੇਦੁ ਕਰਉ ॥
ਪਹਿਲੇ ਦੂਧੁ ਬਿਟਾਰਿਓ ਬਛਰੈ ਬੀਠਲੁ ਭੈਲਾ ਕਾਇ ਕਰਉ ॥੩॥

ਈਭੈ ਬੀਠਲੁ ਊਭੈ ਬੀਠਲੁ ਬੀਠਲ ਬਿਨੁ ਸੰਸਾਰੁ ਨਹੀ ॥
ਥਾਨ ਥਨੰਤਰਿ ਨਾਮਾ ਪ੍ਰਣਵੈ ਪੂਰਿ ਰਹਿਓ ਤੂੰ ਸਰਬ ਮਹੀ ॥੪॥੨॥


Translation and Transliteration

From: http://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.gurbani?Action=Page&Param=485&g=1&h=0&r=0&t=0&p=0&k=0

ਆਸਾ ॥
आसा ॥
Āsā.
Aasaa:

ਆਨੀਲੇ ਕੁੰਭ ਭਰਾਈਲੇ ਊਦਕ ਠਾਕੁਰ ਕਉ ਇਸਨਾਨੁ ਕਰਉ ॥
आनीले कु्मभ भराईले ऊदक ठाकुर कउ इसनानु करउ ॥
Ānīle kumbẖ bẖarāīle ūḏak ṯẖākur kao isnān karao.
Bringing the pitcher, I fill it with water, to bathe the Lord.

ਬਇਆਲੀਸ ਲਖ ਜੀ ਜਲ ਮਹਿ ਹੋਤੇ ਬੀਠਲੁ ਭੈਲਾ ਕਾਇ ਕਰਉ ॥੧॥
बइआलीस लख जी जल महि होते बीठलु भैला काइ करउ ॥१॥
Baiālīs lakẖ jī jal mėh hoṯe bīṯẖal bẖailā kāe karao. ||1||
But 4.2 million species of beings are in the water - how can I use it for the Lord, O Siblings of Destiny? ||1||

ਜਤ੍ਰ ਜਾਉ ਤਤ ਬੀਠਲੁ ਭੈਲਾ ॥
जत्र जाउ तत बीठलु भैला ॥
Jaṯar jāo ṯaṯ bīṯẖal bẖailā.
Wherever I go, the Lord is there.

ਮਹਾ ਅਨੰਦ ਕਰੇ ਸਦ ਕੇਲਾ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
महा अनंद करे सद केला ॥१॥ रहाउ ॥
Mahā anand kare saḏ kelā. ||1|| rahāo.
He continually plays in supreme bliss. ||1||Pause||

ਆਨੀਲੇ ਫੂਲ ਪਰੋਈਲੇ ਮਾਲਾ ਠਾਕੁਰ ਕੀ ਹਉ ਪੂਜ ਕਰਉ ॥
आनीले फूल परोईले माला ठाकुर की हउ पूज करउ ॥
Ānīle fūl paroīle mālā ṯẖākur kī hao pūj karao.
I bring flowers to weave a garland, in worshipful adoration of the Lord.

ਪਹਿਲੇ ਬਾਸੁ ਲਈ ਹੈ ਭਵਰਹ ਬੀਠਲ ਭੈਲਾ ਕਾਇ ਕਰਉ ॥੨॥
पहिले बासु लई है भवरह बीठल भैला काइ करउ ॥२॥
Pahile bās laī hai bẖavrah bīṯẖal bẖailā kāe karao. ||2||
But the bumble bee has already sucked out the fragrance - how can I use it for the Lord, O Siblings of Destiny? ||2||

ਆਨੀਲੇ ਦੂਧੁ ਰੀਧਾਈਲੇ ਖੀਰੰ ਠਾਕੁਰ ਕਉ ਨੈਵੇਦੁ ਕਰਉ ॥
आनीले दूधु रीधाईले खीरं ठाकुर कउ नैवेदु करउ ॥
Ānīle ḏūḏẖ rīḏẖāīle kẖīraʼn ṯẖākur kao naiveḏ karao.
I carry milk and cook it to make pudding, with which to feed the Lord.

ਪਹਿਲੇ ਦੂਧੁ ਬਿਟਾਰਿਓ ਬਛਰੈ ਬੀਠਲੁ ਭੈਲਾ ਕਾਇ ਕਰਉ ॥੩॥
पहिले दूधु बिटारिओ बछरै बीठलु भैला काइ करउ ॥३॥
Pahile ḏūḏẖ bitārio bacẖẖrai bīṯẖal bẖailā kāe karao. ||3||
But the calf has already tasted the milk - how can I use it for the Lord, O Siblings of Destiny? ||3||

ਈਭੈ ਬੀਠਲੁ ਊਭੈ ਬੀਠਲੁ ਬੀਠਲ ਬਿਨੁ ਸੰਸਾਰੁ ਨਹੀ ॥
ईभै बीठलु ऊभै बीठलु बीठल बिनु संसारु नही ॥
Ībẖai bīṯẖal ūbẖai bīṯẖal bīṯẖal bin sansār nahī.
The Lord is here, the Lord is there; without the Lord, there is no world at all.

ਥਾਨ ਥਨੰਤਰਿ ਨਾਮਾ ਪ੍ਰਣਵੈ ਪੂਰਿ ਰਹਿਓ ਤੂੰ ਸਰਬ ਮਹੀ ॥੪॥੨॥
थान थनंतरि नामा प्रणवै पूरि रहिओ तूं सरब मही ॥४॥२॥
Thān thananṯar nāmā paraṇvai pūr rahio ṯūʼn sarab mahī. ||4||2||
Prays Naam Dayv, O Lord, You are totally permeating and pervading all places and interspaces. ||4||2||


Reminds me of:

Guru Nanak's "Tu Sabni Thai Jithai Haun Jaayi"
Kabir's "Jit Dakhaon Tit Tu"

Kabir's

Kaagad likhe so kaagadi, kee byohaari jeev.
Aatam drishTi kahan likhe, jit dekhe tit peev.


Guru Arjan's

ਧਨਾਸਰੀ ਮਹਲਾ ੫ ॥
धनासरी महला ५ ॥
Ḏẖanāsrī mėhlā 5.
Dhanaasaree, Fifth Mehl:

ਜਹ ਜਹ ਪੇਖਉ ਤਹ ਹਜੂਰਿ ਦੂਰਿ ਕਤਹੁ ਨ ਜਾਈ ॥
जह जह पेखउ तह हजूरि दूरि कतहु न जाई ॥
Jah jah pekẖao ṯah hajūr ḏūr kaṯahu na jāī.
Wherever I look, there I see Him present; He is never far away.

ਰਵਿ ਰਹਿਆ ਸਰਬਤ੍ਰ ਮੈ ਮਨ ਸਦਾ ਧਿਆਈ ॥੧॥
रवि रहिआ सरबत्र मै मन सदा धिआई ॥१॥
Rav rahiā sarbaṯar mai man saḏā ḏẖiāī. ||1||
He is all-pervading, everywhere; O my mind, meditate on Him forever. ||1||

More writings on Where God Lives.