CHAUPAĪ, or KABYOBĀCH BENATĪ CHAUPAĪ (kabyobāch = in the words of the poet; benatī = supplication; chaupaī = the name of the metre in which the poem has been composed), is a 25-stanza-long composition by Gurū Gobind Siṅgh occurring in the Dasam Granth at the end of the last of the tales in Charitropākhayān. Chaupaī is also recited as part of the Rahrāsi (q. v. ), the evening prayer of the Sikhs and is included among the five bāṇīs or texts which are mandatorily chanted as amrit is being prepared for the Sikh baptismal ceremony. The composition, as the title suggests, is the Gurū's invocation, in chaupaī metre, to the Supreme Lord, seeking his blessing and protection. "O God, give me Thy hand and protect me, and all my desires shall be fulfilled : May my heart be ever attached to Thy feet. . . " (1). "May the thirst for repeating Thy name abide with me. . . " (3). God is described as all-pervading and all-powerful ; He is the Master of Power and the Lord of the Sword. "Beloved Lord, Protector of the saints, Friend of the poor, Destroyer of tyrants - Thou art Lord of the fourteen worlds (6). " It is such a Lord that Gurū Gobind Siṅgh calls on to provide relief to the oppressed and the aggrieved, and it is such a Lord that he seeks to cherish always. There are in the poem allusions to figures from Indian mythology and to Hindu gods Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva who are all shown as subject to the Timeless Lord, their creator. "When the Creator projected his Being, creation of limitless variety came into existence; when He draws creation within Himself it ceases" (13). Also on cosmogony: "None can comprehend the extent of the cosmos and nobody knows how He first fashioned creation" (17). The poem concludes with some further invocatory verses: "O Thou with the sword on Thy banner, I seek Thy protection. Give me Thine own hand and save me. Be Thou everywhere my helper and save me from the designs of the malevolent" (25).