[ p. 142 ]
Without God’s assistance men are lost in worldly love.
I
The mother thinketh that her son is growing big,
But this she thinketh not, that day by day his life is decreasing.
She calleth him her own and fondleth him excessively, while the god of death looketh on and laugheth.
So much hast Thou, O God, illuded the world ;
How can it ever know Thee since mammon hath bewitched it ?[1]
Saith Kabir, abandon the pleasure of sin, for in such companionship thou must assuredly die.
O mortal, repeat the name of the Lord, put aside mention of others, so shalt thou pass over the terrible ocean of this world.
If it please God, man feeleth divine love, The error of superstition departeth from within him, Divine knowledge is spontaneously produced, intelligence awakened,
And by the favour of the guru the heart is touched by God’s love.
In such companionship there is no death ; Obey the Master’s order and thou shalt meet Him.
The following was addressed to a Jogi who offered wine to Kabir.
II
Hear a wonderful thing, O Pandit, I cannot now describe Maya,
Who hath bewitched demigods, men, celestial heralds, and musicians, and girdled the three worlds. [ p. 143 ]
The sovereign God’s lyre playeth without being struck ;[2]
And he on whom He looketh with favour loveth its sound.
I have made my brain a furnace, the breath of my left and right nostrils two stills, and my heart the golden vat,
Into which a very pure stream hath trickled ; I have distilled the sweetest essence ;[3]
Aaid — what is without parallel — I have made suspension of my breath my wine-cup.
Say is there any Jogi in the three worlds who would be satisfied and not long for more.[4]
Such knowledge of the Supreme Being hath manifested itself ; saith Kabir, I am imbued with it.
All the rest of the world is led astray in error, but my mind is intoxicated with God’s elixir.
GAURI
Devotion is the water which has quenched Kabir’s burning thirst for God.
I
I have been on fire, and have now found the name of God as water to extinguish it :
The name of God is the water which hath cooled my burning body.
Men go to the forest to chasten their hearts, But without God they cannot find such water as will do so.
The water of God’s name hath saved His burning slave
From the fire which hath consumed demigods and men.
In the terrible ocean there is an ocean of happiness ; [5]
I continue to drink, but the water is not exhausted.
Saith Kabir, worship God.
God’s name is the water which hath extinguished my thirst.
[ p. 144 ]
Yet Kabir’s thirst for God increases.
II
O God, thirst for the water of Thy name departeth not from me ;
Nay for that water my ardour rageth the more.
Thou art the ocean, I am a fish therein ;
I dwell in the water, I perish without it.
Thou art the cage, I am Thy parrot ;
What can the cat Death do to me ?
Thou art a tree, I am the bird thereon ;
Unfortunate is he who seeth Thee not.
Thou art the True Guru, I am Thy novice.
Saith Kabir, meet me, O God, at the last moment.
A thief when hotly pressed sought refuge in Kabir’s house. It would have been foreign to Kabir’s character to refuse shelter to any one who sought it. Moreover he did not know the character of his guest, and accordingly gave him the usual permission to remain in his house. It happened that Kabir’s daughter was then on a visit to him, and when he entertained the thief at the same time, the circumstance led to much unfavourable comment. Kabir addressed the following hymn to his detractors : —
III
Since I recognized both the thief and my son-in-law as one,
Why are people distressed at it ?
If I am dishonoured and have lost my honour,
Let no one follow in my footsteps.
If I am bad the badness is confined to myself ;
I have no partnership or connexion with any of you.
You know nothing about honour or dishonour ;
But you shall know when your gilding is laid bare.[6]
Saith Kabir, that is honour which is acceptable to God ;
Forsaking all else worship only Him
[ p. 145 ]
A satire on the ritualistic practices of the Hindus.
IV
If union with God be obtained by going about naked,
All the deer [7] of the forest shall be saved.
What mattereth it whether man goeth naked or weareth a deerskin,
If he recognize not God in his heart ?
If perfection be obtained by shaving the head,
Why should not sheep obtain salvation ?
If, O brethren, the continent man is saved,
Why should not a eunuch obtain the supreme reward ?
Saith Kabir, hear, O my brethren,
Who hath obtained salvation without God’s name ?
V
They who bathe in the evening and the morning,
Are like frogs in the water.
When men have no love for God’s name,
They shall all go to the god of death.
They who love their persons and deck themselves out in various guises,
Feel not mercy even in their dreams.
Many leading religious men call them quadrupeds,
And say that only holy men shall obtain happiness in this ocean of trouble.
Saith Kabir, why perform so many ceremonies ?
Forsaking all other essences quaff the great essence of God’s name.
God ‘ prefers before all temples the upright heart and pure ’
VI
What availeth devotion, what penance, what fasting and worship
To him in whose heart there is worldly love ?
O man, apply thy heart to God ;
Thou shalt not obtain Him by artifice. [ p. 146 ]
Put away covetousness and the example of others ;
Lay aside lust, wrath, and pride.
By the religious practices of the superstitious boasting is increased ;
They join together and worship a stone.
Saith Kabir, by devotion I have obtained the Lord ;
By becoming simple in heart I have met God.
The name Brahman should only be applied to a holy man.
VII
While dwelling in the womb man hath not family or caste ;
All men have sprung from the seed of Brahm.
Say, O Pandit, since when hast thou been a Brahman ;
Waste not thy life in calling thyself a Brahman.
If thou art a Brahman born of a Brahmani mother,
Why hast thou not come by some other way ? [8]
How art thou a Brahman ? How am I Sudar ?
How am I of blood and you of milk ? [9]
Saith Kabir, only he who meditateth on God
Is a Brahman in my estimation.
‘All are men condemned alike to groan.’
VIII
Man can never sleep comfortably in spiritual ignorance ;
The rich and the poor both weep alike.
When man’s tongue no longer uttereth God’s name,
He shall continue to bewail birth and death.
Wh$n life departeth, say whose shall be man’s wealth
Which appeareth like the shadow of a tree ?[10]
As the life of a musical instrument is contained in itself,
How can any one know the secrets of the dead ?[11] [ p. 147 ]
As the swan presideth over the lake, so doth Death over the body.
Drink God’s elixir, O Kabir.
Without purification of the heart pilgrimages are of no avail.
IX
The Lord of light having created the races of men infused light into them,
Which sometimes produceth glass ornaments, and sometimes pearls.[12]
What abode is that which is called secure,
Where fear is dispelled, and one abide th without fear ?
The heart is not satisfied with pilgrimages to the banks of sacred streams ;
Man remaineth entangled with good and bad acts.
Demerits and merits are both the same ;[13]
In thine own heart is God, the philosopher’s stone ; abandon the hope of obtaining merits from any one else.
O Kabir, chide not the name of Him who is without qualities ;
Enjoy thyself in intercourse with that Lord.
Kabir desires not heaven but absorption in God.
X
The men who have no correct notion of the Supreme Being, Think of entering heaven by mere words. [ p. 148 ]
I know not where heaven is ;
Everybody saith he longeth to go there,
But there is no satisfaction in such conversation —
The heart is only satisfied when pride departeth.
As long as man desireth to go to heaven,
So long shall he find no dwelling at God’s feet.
Saith Kabir, to whom shall I tell this,
That heaven is in the company of the saints ?
The body is perishable.
XI
Man is born and groweth up, and when he hath grown up he dieth ;
We see that the world passeth away in this wise.
Diest thou not of shame talking of thy house ?
At the last moment nothing is thine.
With great efforts the body is cherished,
But after death it is burned in the fire.
The limbs to which thou appliest ground aloe-wood, sandal, and fragrant soap,
Shall all be burned with wood.
Saith Kabir, hear me, O virtuous man,[14]
While the whole world looketh on thy body shall be consumed.
Since all must die, why mourn ? There is no death for the holy.
XII
When another dieth why mournest thou ?
Do so, if thou art to live thyself.
I shall not die like the rest of the world ;
I have now met Him who reanimateth.
The body is perfumed with sandal ;
In such pleasures the Primal Joy is forgotten.
There is one well and five water-carriers ; [ p. 149 ]
Even when the well rope [15] is broken, the silly beings still draw water.[16]
Saith Kabir, I have gained one piece of wisdom by reflection —
There is no more a well or water-carriers for me. [17]
Kabir’s transmigration.
XIII
I was in immobile and mobile creatures, in worms and in moths ;
I passed through many births of various kinds.
In this way I occupied many bodies,
But when, O God, I assumed human birth,
I was a Jogi, a Jati, a penitent, a Brahmachari,
Sometimes a king, an emperor, and sometimes a beggar.
The apostates shall die, but the saints shall all live,
And drink the elixir of God with their tongues.
Saith Kabir, O God, have mercy on us ;
We have grown weary ; make us now whole !
Deadly sins veiled under allegories.
XIV
Kabir hath beheld such wonderful things —
Water churned by mistake for cream ; [18]
A donkey grazing on a green crop, [19]
Which on rising every morning killeth itself laughing and braying ;
A mad buffalo which could not be guided, [20]
Gambolling as it grazed and falling into hell ; [ p. 150 ]
A sheep ever sucking its lamb’s milk. [21]
Saith Kabir, such sport hath been shown.
By repeating God’s name my understanding hath become enlightened :
Saith Kabir, I have obtained understanding from the guru.[22]
(Hymn No. XV is in Kabir’s Life). [23]
The body is false, God alone is true.
XVI
The limbs anointed with ground aloe-wood, sandal, and fragrant soap,
Shall be burnt with wood.
What is there to be proud of in this body and in wealth ?
Both shall remain on earth and not go with the soul to the other world.
They who sleep at night and work by day,
Who utter not God’s name for a moment,
Who eat betel, and stretch out their hands for more,
Shall at the hour of death be firmly bound as thieves.
If under the guru’s instruction thou joyfully sing the praises of God,
And utter the name of Him who filleth all creation, thou shalt be happy.
He in whose heart God mercifully establisheth His name,
Giveth the odour and perfume of God a place in his heart.
Saith Kabir, think, O blind man,
God is true, all worldly occupations are false.
The blissful peace of the holy.
XVII
Instead of death it is God who hath come for me ;
Sorrow hath been removed and I have found a refuge in happiness. [ p. 151 ]
Mine enemies have turned into friends ;
The minds of the infidels have altered and become welldisposed towards me.
I have now obtained all comfort,
And peace hath come over me since I have known God.
My body suffered millions of ills ;
They have now been converted into permanent happiness and composure.
When man knoweth himself,
He shall not suffer from illness or the three fevers.
My mind hath now returned to the Eternal ;
When in life I was dead, [24] it was then I knew God.
Saith Kabir,I have now entered happiness and rest ;
I have no fear myself, and I inspire no fear in others.[25]
It is said that Krishan Das Bairagi asked Kabir :—
XVIII
When the body dieth, to what abode shall the pious man’s soul go ?
Kabir — It shall unite with Him who is beyond expression and indestructible :
He who knoweth God understandeth this,
As the dumb man when pleased with sugar must keep his pleasure to himself.
Such divine knowledge only God Himself expoundeth.
O man, arrest thy breath at the junction of the nostrils ;
Appoint such a guru as shall render another unnecessary ;
Utter such a word as shall render another unnecessary ;
Embrace such divine knowledge as shall render any more unnecessary ;
So die that thou shalt not have to die again ;
Turn back the Ganges and unite it with the Jamna ;[26] [ p. 152 ]
And think that thou art bathing without water at their confluence.[27]
Be it thy duty to look on all men as equal ;
Reflect upon the Real Thing ; what else is there to reflect on ?
Water, fire, wind, earth, and the firmament—
If thou abide like these, [28] thou shalt be near God.
Saith Kabir, meditate on the Stainless One,
And go to that place whence there shall be no returning.
How Kabir found God.
XIX
God cannot be obtained even by offering one’s weight in gold;
But I have purchased Him with my soul ; And now that I recognize Him as mine own, My mind is naturally at ease.
Brahma, however much he talketh, hath not found God’s limit ;
But by my devotion God came to me as i sat at home. Saith Kabir, I have cast off my wavering disposition ; It is only in God’s service I am now a sleeping partner.
The holy cannot die for they are saved by divine knowledge.
XX
That death which terrifieth the whole world,
The guru’s instruction hath set before me in a clear light.
Now how shall I die although my mind accepteth death ?
It is they who know not God who are always dying.
Everybody talketh of dying,
It is they who die in divine knowledge who are immortal.
Saith Kabir, my mind is happy ;
Doubt is dispelled, and supreme happiness abideth.
[ p. 153 ]
Kabir’s body is burning all over to meet God : it is useless to try to heal any particular part of it.
XXI
There is no special part of my body to which I may apply healing ointment ;
I have examined my body but found no such place.
He who feeleth pain knoweth it ;
The service of God is a barbed arrow ;
I consider all women [29] to be alike ;
Who knoweth which shall be dear to the Bridegroom ?
Saith Kabir, the Husband, forsaking all other women,
Shall meet her on whose forehead such lot hath been written.
It was believed that widows who immolated themselves on their husbands’ pyres obtained salvation. Kabir traverses this belief.
XXIII
How can a woman without chastity be a sati ?
O pandit, see and consider this in thy heart.
If a woman have no love for her husband, how can her husband’s love for her increase ?
As long as there is worldly love, there can be no divine love.
He who in his heart believeth mammon to be real,
Shall not even in his dreams meet God.
Kabir calleth her a happy wife,
Who giveth up to God her body, soul, wealth, and household.
Devotion to God is the only dispeller of the deadly sins.
XXIV
The whole world is subject to the deadly sins ;
The deadly sins have ruined whole families.
O man, where hast thou wrecked and sunk thy boat ?
Having broken with God thou hast joined the deadly sins,
In whose fire demigods and men burn.
[ p. 154 ]
Water [30] is near, but, O beasts, why not drink it, removing its scum ?[31]
By contemplation water fit for drinking issueth forth ;
That water alone is pure, saith Kabir.
Only the holy who meditate on God are useful in the world.
XXV
Why was not the mother of the family barren, [32]
Whose sons meditate not on divine knowledge ?
Why did not the wicked man who hath performed no service for God,
Die at his birth ?
Many [33] miscarriages have occurred — how is it he escaped ?
He liveth, it is true, but like a raven in the world.
Saith Kabir, they who are beautiful and shapely,
Shall become hunchbacked and deformed without God’s name.
Kabir’s devotion to the saints.
XXVI
I am ever a sacrifice
To those who repeat the Master’s name.
He is pure who singeth the praises of the pure God ;
He is my brother and dear to my heart.
I am the dust of the lotus feet
Of those whose hearts are filled with God.
My caste, it is true, is that of weaver, but my heart is resigned ;
Kabir very tranquilly repeateth God’s praises.
Kabir thus addressed a Jogi who advised him to drink wine to concentrate his thoughts.
XXVII
I collected much molasses, [34] and turned my body into firewood ; [ p. 155 ]
Then wine trickled from the roof of the house of pleasure [35] by means of the furnace of my heart.
Describe him as intoxicated with the wine of divine love
Who drinketh the sweetness of God’s name and meditateth on divine knowledge.
Since the server [36] of the wine of divine love met me and gave it to me,
My days and nights are passing away intoxicated with pleasure.
I carefully applied my thoughts to the Pure One, And then, saith Kabir, I obtained Him the Fearless.
A Jogi maintained that deliverance could not be obtained without chastening the heart, and that the heart could not be chastened without the practice of Jog. Kabir criticizes the statement.
XXVIII
Without devotion the qualities of the heart cling to the heart.
Who secureth perfection by merely chastening his heart ? [37]
What holy man hath succeeded in chastening his heart ?
Say who hath saved any one by merely chastening his heart.
Every one thinketh in his heart that he is going to chasfen it,
But the heart is not chastened without devotion.
Saith Kabir, let him who knoweth this secret,
Worship in his heart God, the Lord of the three worlds.
The following was addressed to an atheist who maintained the theory of spontaneous creation.
XXIX
Who was the painter who painted The stars which appear in the sky ?[38] [ p. 156 ]
Say, O pandit, to what is the sky attached ?[39]
Fortunate is the wise man who knoweth this.
The sun and moon diffuse light ;
God hath extended Himself in everything.
Saith Kabir, he shall know this,
In whose heart is God, and in whose mouth is God.
The evil wrought by the Simritis.
XXX
O my brethren, the Simriti is the daughter of the Veds ;
She hath brought a chain and a rope for men.
And hath of herself imprisoned them in her capital ; [40]
She hath flung the noose of worldly love, and discharged the arrow of death ;
The former cannot be cut, and the latter cannot be broken.
The Simriti hath become a serpent, eaten the world,
And plundered the whole universe before my very eyes ;
But, saith Kabir, I have escaped from her by uttering God’s name.
The following was addressed to an admirer who had offered Kabir a horse.
XXXI
Let me put a bit and bridle on my steed,[41]
And abandoning all else course him in heaven,[42]
Let me make self-reflection my saddle,
And put my foot in the stirrup of divine love.
Come, my steed, let me drive thee to heaven ;
If thou jib, I will strike thee with the whip of love.
Saith Kabir, they are good riders
Who keep themselves aloof from the Veds and the books of the Musalmans.
The following was written after witnessing a cremation : —
XXXII
I have seen fire applied to the mouth
Which used to eat the five nectars.[43] [ p. 157 ]
Remove, O God, my one misery
Of abiding in the womb and being burned in its fire.
The body is destroyed in various ways and manners —
Some burn it, and some bury it in the earth.
Saith Kabir, 6 O God, show me Thy feet ;
Afterwards why not send death ?[44]
Kabir was engaged in his devotions when a hostile neighbour took the opportunity to set his house on fire. Kabir heard of it and returning home succeeded in extinguishing the flames. It is said that the hostile neighbour’s house took fire from Kabir’s, and was totally consumed. The following hymn was composed on the occasion : —
XXXIII
God Himself is the fire, Himself the wind ;
When the Master setteth fire to the house, who can save it ?
What if even my body burn when I am repeating God’s name ?
My mind was absorbed in God’s name ;
Whose house burneth, and who suffereth loss ?[45]
God playeth like an acrobat.
Saith Kabir, utter two letters ;[46]
As sure as I have a Master, He will save me.
Kabir thinks he has not performed sufficient worship.
XXXIV
I have not applied my mind to the science of union with God or contemplation of Him ;
Without hate of the world I shall not escape from mammon.
How shall I live [ p. 158 ]
If I have not God’s name as my support ?
Saith Kabir, I have searched in heaven,
And have seen none equal to God.
The following was written on seeing ravens sitting on a skull and feeding on its contents : —
XXXV
Ravens were cleaning their beaks on the skull
On which a turban had been once very daintily bound.
Why be proud of this body and of wealth ?
Why dost thou not hold fast God’s name ?
Saith Kabir, hear, O my man,
This shall be thy condition at last.
Kabir discourses on the soul.
GAURI ASHTAPADI
XXXVI
Man prayeth for temporal happiness, but sorrow cometh to meet him.
It pleasetL me not to pray for such happiness as shall bring sorrow,
Man still intent on sin hopeth for happiness ;
How shall he find his dwelling in the Supreme God ?
The happiness which even Shiv and Brahma would dread, I supposed to be real.
Even the four sons of Brahma, the muni Narad, and Sheshnag,
Never found their minds stable in their bodies until they had given up hopes of such happiness.
O my brethren, let any one inquire into the condition of the soul.
When it escapeth from the body, where shall it be ?
By the favour of the guru, Jaidev and Namdev
Discovered that, by love and devotion to God,
The soul shall not suffer transmigration.
He whose doubts are dispelled knoweth the truth —
This soul hath no shape or outline ; [ p. 159 ]
By God’s order it was created, and by understanding God’s
order it shall be absorbed in Him. If any one understand the secret of the soul, It shall only obtain divine happiness when absorbed in God.
There is but one Soul [47] which occupieth all bodies.
Kabir worshippeth that Soul.
God’s name is the tree of life.
XXXVII
Of those who watch day and night to utter the one Name,
How many have become perfect by the love they bore to God!
Sidhs and their disciples and all the munis have grown weary in their efforts without God’s name :
The one Name like the tree of life saveth mankind.
They who are regenerated by God shall never alter.
Saith Kabir, I have recognized God’s name.
The worship of the one God inculcated.
GAURI AND SORATH
XXXVIII
O shameless man, art thou not ashamed ?
Why dost thou forsake God, and go to some one else ?[48]
It becometh not him whose God is the Most High
To go to a strange temple.
That Lord pervadeth all space,
Is ever present, and never distant.
Say, O man, what is there not in His palace
At whose feet Lakshmi taketh refuge ?
Every one speaketh of Him :
He is ommipotent, our own Lord, and our Benefactor.
Saith Kabir, that man is perfect in the world,
In whose heart no other than God abideth.
[ p. 160 ]
They who are absorbed in God feel not joy or sorrow for relations.
XXXIX
Who hath a son ? who hath a father ?
Who dieth ? who inflicteth pain ?
God is the Illusionist who hath illuded the world. [49]
If separated from God how shall I survive, my mother ?
Who hath a husband ? who hath a wife ? reflect on this truth in thy heart.
Saith Kabir, I have become reconciled with the Illusionist ;
The illusion vanished when I recognized Him.
Kabir’s satisfaction on feeling that he had obtained salvation.
XL
The sovereign God hath now become my helper ;
Having cut away birth and death I have obtained the supreme state.
God hath united me with the guild of the saints,
And freed me from the five deadly sins.
The ambrosial name I repeat with my tongue ;
God hath made me His unbought [50] slave.
The True Guru did me a favour
By rescuing me from the ocean of the world.
I have begun to love God’s lotus feet,
And God ever and ever dwelleth in my heart.
The sparks of the fire of worldly love have become extinguished,
And my mind hath obtained resignation by the support of the Name.
In sea and land the Lord God is fully contained ;
Wherever I look, there is the Searcher of hearts.
It is He Himself who implanteth His service in my heart ;
God is obtained, my brethren, according to primal destiny. [ p. 161 ]
The man to whom He showeth favour succeedeth in his affairs.
Kabir’s Lord is the Chreisher of the poor.
The following was a remonstrance to a Brahman who had found impurity and caste defilement in almost everything.
XLI
There is impurity in water, there is impurity in land, there is impurity in whatever is born. There is impurity in birth, and again in death ; God’s subjects are ruined by this impurity.[51]
O pandit, tell me who is pure ;
Explain to me such knowledge as thou hast on the subject, my friend.
There is impurity in the eyes, there is impurity in the tongue, there is impurity in the ears ;
Standing or sitting there is impurity, impurity enter eth the kitchen.
Every one knoweth how to be caught in impurity, but few how to escape from it.
Saith Kabir, no impurity attacheth to those who meditate on God in their hearts.
God is greater than any creature, and His saint than any place of pilgrimage.
XLII
Decide one controversy, O Ramanand,
If thou desire any service from thy slave.
Is this soul or He to whom it is attached the greater ?
Is God or he who knoweth God the greater ?
Is Brahma or He who created him the greater ?
Are the Veds or the source whence they came the greater ?
Is the pilgrimage or God’s saint the greater ?
Saith Kabir, I have been unhappy on this subject.
[ p. 162 ]
The effects of the influx of divine knowledge. Kabir likens his mind to a hut.
XLIII
Lo ! my brethren, a storm of divine knowledge hath come ;
The screens of doubt have all been blown away, and even the ropes of mammon have not been left ;
The two props of indecision [52] have been thrown down, and the beam [53] of worldly love hath been broken ;
The thatched roof of avarice hath fallen to the ground, and the vessel of evil inclinations hath burst.
Saith Kabir, thy slave, O Lord, hath become saturated by the rain [54] which fell after the storm.
And when next he saw the sun appear, [55] his mind was illumined.
The following was addressed to a Brahman. Kabir did not desire his followers to associate with infidels.
XLIV
What shall one say to such people
As neither hear God’s praises nor sing His attributes,
But who knock down the heavens by their boasting ?
They whom God hath excluded from His service should always be feared.
They who give not a handful of water to the thirsty
Slander him [56] who brought down the Ganges.
Sitting or standing crooked are their ways ;
They have ruined themselves and ruined others :
They know nothing save evil converse ;
They obey not even Brahma’s bidding ;
They have gone astray themselves and are leading others astray. [ p. 163 ]
They set fire to their houses and sleep in them ; [57]
They laugh at others, though they have only one eye themselves ;
Kabir is ashamed on beholding them.
A lecture against the shradhs and idolatry of the Hindus.
XLV
Nobody obeyeth his parents when alive, yet he giveth them feasts when dead ;
Say how shall the poor parents obtain what the ravens and the dogs have eaten.
Let some one explain to me what kushal [58] means ;
The world dieth talking of kushal ; however shall kushal be obtained ?
Men make goddesses and gods of clay, and offer them living sacrifices —
As your lifeless gods, so your deceased, who ask not for what they want themselves.
You kill living things, and you worship lifeless things ; at the last moment great shall be your suffering.
You know not the worth of God’s name, and you shall be drowned in the sea of terror.
You waver and know not the supreme God, wherefore you worship gods and goddesses.
Saith Kabir, you have not thought of the Unknowable, and have become entangled in the deadly sins.
The holy obtain their great reward.
XLVI
If while living thou be dead, while dead return to life by means of divine knowledge, and thus become absorbed in God ;
If thou abide pure amid impurity, thou shalt not again fall into the terrible ocean of the world. [ p. 164 ]
My God, such milk should be churned—[59]
Keep thy mind steadfast under the guru’s instruction ; in this way shalt thou quaff nectar.[60]
The guru’s arrow hath pierced this adamantine age, and let in the light of God’s word.
The doubt which I felt, through the power of ignorance whether this world was a snake or a rope, is at an end ; I have a permanent abode in God’s house.
The guru without putting an arrow on his bow hath pierced this world, my brethren.
In all directions the kite [61] fluttereth in the wind, but its string is fixed in the love of God.
My perturbed mind is absorbed in God ; duality and evil inclinations depart.
Saith Kabir, I have seen the Fearless One by fixing my attention on His name.
Rather than practise Jog search for God through the guru.
XLVII
When I turned my thoughts towards God, I restrained my mind and my senses [62], and my attention became lovingly fixed on Him.
O Bairagi, search for Him who neither cometh nor goeth, who neither dieth nor is born.
My soul turning away from sin is absorbed in the universal Soul ;
By the favour of the guru I have now obtained a different understanding ; otherwise I should become estranged from God.
What was near [63] hath become distant, what was distant [64] hath become near for him who accepteth God as He is. [ p. 165 ]
As sharbat made from sugar — only he who drinketh it knoweth its flavour.
O Thou devoid of qualities, is there any discriminating person to whom I may speak of Thee ?
Saith Kabir, only he who applieth the spiritual fuse seeth the blast.
Heaven described by negatives.
XLVIII
There (with God) is no rainy season, no ocean, no sunshine, no shade ; there is no creation and no destruction ;
No life, no death ; nor are sorrow and joy felt ; nor is there either retirement or contemplation —
A description of celestial rest would be impossible and peculiar, to itself —
There nothing is weighed in the balance, and nothing is exhausted ; there is nothing light, nothing heavy.
There are no nether or upper regions, neither night nor day ;
There is no water, wind, or fire ; the True Guru is there contained.
Inaccessible and inapprehensible, He dwelleth uninterruptedly in everything ;
He is found by the favour of the guru.
Saith Kabir, I am a sacrifice to my guru ; may I remain attached to his society !
Human life under the allegory of an ox and his burden.
XLIX
With merits and demerits an ox is purchased ; [^65] life appeareth as the capital ;[65]
In this way a herd is purchased ; [66] covetousness which filleth man’s heart is as a sack on the ox’s back.
So potent a master is my God [ p. 166 ]
Who made the whole world dealers.[67]
Lust and wrath are both tax-gatherers ; [68] the whims of the mind are highway robbers.
The herd, which spring from the five elements, pay the tax, [69] and are saved.
Saith Kabir, hear, O saints, this is nowthe state of things —
One ox [70] hath grown weary of travelling the steep road, and dropping his sack, proceedeth on his journey.[71]
The world under the allegory of a well, human life under that of a well-rope.
L
A woman hath four days in her father’s house ; she must then go to her father-in-law’s —
The blind, the stupid, and the silly know not this —
The bride with her sarhi round her is ready to go ;
The guests arrive ; her husband hath come to take her home. [72] [ p. 167 ]
Who is that we see letting down the rope into the well ?
When the rope breaketh by the weight of the water-pot, the water-drawer departeth.
If the Lord be compassionate and show mercy, woman shall settle her affairs ;
She is known as a happy wife who pondereth on the guru’s instructions.
All men bound by their acts transmigrate ; attentively consider this.
Why blame woman ? what can the poor creature do ?
Without hope she departeth ; she hath not the firmness of faith in her heart.
Cling to the feet of God, and flee to His asylum, O Kabir.
It is the truly pious and not the Jogis or Hindu sectaries who shall be saved.
LI
The Jogi says that jog and nothing else is good and sweet ;
They who shave their bodies, and the Ekshabdis, say that they alone have obtained perfection.
Without God thou art lost in error, O blind one ;
They to whom I go to release myself, are themselves bound by many toils.
You call yourselves pandits, virtuous, brave, generous, and assert that you alone are great ;
It is only when this pride of yours is forgotten that you shall be absorbed in Him from whom you sprang.
Only he understandeth whom Thou, O God, causest to understand ; how can man obtain permanence without understanding ?
When the true guru is found, darkness is dispelled ; in this way the gem [73] is obtained.
Lay aside the sins of thy left hand and thy right ; [74] take firm hold of God’s feet. [ p. 168 ]
Saith Kabir, if a dumb man eat molasses, what can he say if questioned ?[75]
The following was composed by Kabir on the death of a Jogi : —
LII
Where there was something there is nothing thy body of five elements is no more.
What availeth thee now the suspension of thy breath in the left and right nostrils and their junction ?
The string [76] is broken, thy brain destroyed ; whither hath thy speech gone ?
I feel this anxiety night and day ; who will explain and ease my mind ?
Thy body is no longer in the world ; thy creative mind is no more.
The Joiner dwelleth ever separate from the world ; say who else hath this power ?
If I try to join the elements of the body, I cannot join them ; if I try to separate them, they will not be separated until they perish.
Who hath a master ? who hath a servant ? who waiteth on any one else ?[77]
Saith Kabir, my attention is directed to that place where God dwelleth night and day ;
His secret He Himself fully knoweth ; He is ever imperishable.
Kabir was advised to become a Jogi ; the following was his reply : —
LIII
Meditation and remembrance of God are my two earrings, independence of the world my patched coat ;
Dwelling in a silent cave my devotional posture, the abandonment of worldly desires my sect. [ p. 169 ]
My king, [78] I am a Jogi without temporal love ; I repine not at death and separation.
In the regions of the universe I find my horn ; the whole world, which I hold as ashes, is my wallet ;
Riddance of the three qualities and release from the world are my contemplative attitude.
I have made my heart and breath the two gourds of my lyre, and unbroken attention on God its frame.
The strings are strong and break not ; the lyre playeth spontaneously ;
On hearing it the perfect are enraptured, and I no longer feel the swaying of worldly love.
Saith Kabir, the soul which hath played in this way shall not be born again.
The body under the allegory of a full piece of cloth
LIV
Reason went to the soul to order a body to be woven— Let a full piece of nine yards, ten yards, and twenty-one yards be woven.[79]
Let there be sixty threads, nine joinings, and seventytwo cross threads [80] added ;
The weaver [81] then cometh, leaving his last abode
Is not the body measured by yards, weighed by weight, and starched by two and a half sers of flour ?[82] [ p. 170 ]
If the body obtain not starch quickly, it will quarrel and destroy its abode.[83]
O man, how many days are there for thee to sit idly ? When shalt thou, who art adverse to the Lord, again have the present opportunity ?
The vessels [84] and the wetted bobbins shall fall to pieces, and the weaver depart in anger ;
Thread cometh not out of an empty bobbin, [85] and the cloth will not remain wound around the beam.
O wretched man, abide in the world, but renounce display — Kabir giveth thee this advice.[86]
[ p. 171 ]
The light of God has an affinity for the light of man.
LV
Can one light whieh is absorbed in another be separated from it ?
May that man burst and die in whose heart the name of God springeth not up !
Dark and beautiful God, my soul is attached to Thee.
When a holy man is found, supernatural perfection is obtained ; this is both union with God and worldly enjoyment.
When two, the guru and the disciple, meet by means of God’s name, the disciple’s business is accomplished. [87]
People think this is a song ; it is a meditation on God,
Like the instruction given to men at Banaras when they are on the point of death.
He who attentively heareth or singeth God’s name,
Saith Kabir, shall certainly obtain the supreme state at last.
Salvation can only be obtained by true devotion.
LVI
The deceits of the world.
LVII
Like the semblance of a female elephant, O foolish man, the Lord of the world made this play.[88]
The elephant impelled by the sweets of love is captured, O foolish man, and his head hath to endure the goad.
Flee from evil passions, attach thyself to God ; heed this advice, O foolish man.
Why dost thou not, O foolish man, fearlessly worship God, and take possession of His ship ?[89]
The monkey stretcheth out his hand, O foolish man, and taketh a handful of corn ;[90]
He is anxious to escape, O foolish man, but he shall be made to dance at the door of every house.
As the parrot is caught by a trap, [91] O foolish man, so is man by worldly occupations.[92]
As the fleeting dye of the safflower, O foolish man, so hath this world been shown. [ p. 173 ]
There are many places for ablutions, O foolish man, and many gods to worship.
Saith Kabir, thou shalt not be saved by -, O foolish man ; thou shalt be saved by the worship of God.
A raja offered temporal wealth to Kabir. The following was his reply—
LVIII
Lay up for yourselves the wealth of God’s name, which fire will not burn, which hot winds will not dry up,
And which thieves will not approach ; that wealth shall never depart.
My wealth is God, the Supporter of the earth ; He is the real wealth.
The pleasure obtained from the service of God is not to be found in regal state :
Shiv and the four sons of Brahma in their search for this wealth abandoned the world.
He in whose heart is God and on whose tongue is God, falleth not into Death’s noose.
The guru’s private wealth of divine knowledge and devotion is like water to the thirsty, like a prop to the fickle mind ;
The minds of those on whom He bestoweth it, conceive good resolutions, and their doubts, entanglements, and fears depart.
Saith Kabir, O you who are intoxicated with wealth, reflect in your hearts and understand this.
In your mansions are hundreds of thousands and millions of horses and elephants ; in mine is the one God.
The love of worldly things leads men to damnation.
LIX
A monkey through greed will not let go the pulse in his hand.
Man is responsible for acts done through greed.
Without devotion to God human life passeth in vain. [ p. 174 ]
Without association with the saints and worship of God, truth nowhere abideth.
As the flowers of the desert bloom, and no one enjoy eth their odour,
So men wander idly in many births, and Death destroyeth them again and again.
God hath given wealth, youth, sons, and women fair to view ;
By these man, prompted by the senses, becometh arrested and entangled.
The body is a house of grass, life’s end the fire which assaileth it on every side.
Saith Kabir, to cross over the terrible ocean I have taken the shelter of the true guru.
A brief account of the process of procreation.
LX
There is dirty water and white earth ;
From this earth a puppet is made.
I am nothing and I have nothing ;
My body, my wealth, all that is dear to me is Thine, O God—
Into this earth breath is infused,
And forcibly setteth the false contrivance in motion.
Such and such a person may have accumulated five lakhs of treasure,
But at last his pitcher bursteth. [93]
Saith Kabir, the sole foundation thou hast laid Shall be destroyed in a moment, O thou proud one.
By devotion to God through the guru Kabir has obtained salvation.
LXI
O my soul, repeat God’s name
As did Dhru and Prahlad of old.
O Thou compassionate to the poor, my reliance is on Thee. [ p. 175 ]
I have therefore embarked all my family on the gunrs raft.
If it please God He will have His order obeyed, And cause this raft to float over.
By the favour of the guru such knowledge hath filled me That all my transmigration is at an end. Saith Kabir, worship God ;
In this world and the next, everywhere, it is He alone who knoweth.[94]
The soul having obtained a human body has obtained its last chance of salvation.
LXII
When man leaveth the womb and cometh into the world,
As soon as the air toucheth him, he forgetteth his Master —
O my soul, sing God’s praises !
When thou didst penance reversed in the womb,
Thou didst escape its fire.
Having wandered through the eighty-four lakhs of existences,
If thou stumble now, thou shalt find nor house nor home.
Saith Kabir, worship God
Who is not seen coming or going, and who knoweth all things.
Think not of heaven or hell, of prosperity or adversity ; leave everything to God.
LXIII
Long not for a dwelling in heaven, and fear not to dwell in hell ;
What will be, will be ; O my soul, hope not at all. Sing the praises of God from whom the supreme reward is obtained.
What is devotion, what penance and austerities, what fasting and ablutions,
Unless thou know the way to love and serve God ? [ p. 176 ]
Be not glad at the sight of prosperity and grieve not at the sight of adversity ;
As is prosperity so is adversity; what God proposeth shall be accomplished.
Saith Kabir, through the saints I now know in my heart
That the worshipper in whose heart God dwelleth, performeth the best worship.
Commit not sin for the sake of thy relations or others and mourn not for them.
LXIV
O my soul, thou hast no helper ; drag not the weight of others’ sins behind thee.
As a bird percheth on a tree, such is the world.[95]
I have drunk the elixir of God
By which other elixirs are forgotten.
Since we are not permanent ourselves, why should we mourn the death of others ?
Whatever is born perisheth ; why should we be sorry and weep for that ?
When man become th attached to holy men, he drinketh God’s elixir, and is devoted to Him from whom he hath sprung.
Saith Kabir, I have thought of God in my heart ; resigning the world remember Him.
Kabir longs for God as a loving wife for her absent spouse.
LXV
Woman with her eyes filled with tears and heaving sighs awaiteth her lord ;
Her heart is not happy ; she retraceth not her steps in the hope of seeing him.
Why fliest thou not away, O black raven, [96] so that I may quickly meet my beloved ? [ p. 177 ]
Saith Kabir, perform God’s service to obtain the dignity of eternal life ;
The name of God is the one support ; repeat it with thy tongue.
There are many excellences in the body ; God resides within it and Kabir is delighted to behold Him.
LXVI
There are many shrubs of sweet basil ; near and within them is the village of Barsana.[97]
The milkmaid Radha on seeing Krishan’s beauty became enamoured : ‘Leave me not ; go not hither and thither.’
‘My heart is attached to thy feet ; O holder of the bow, very fortunate is she who meeteth thee.’[98]
Enchanting is Bindraban where the fascinating Krishan grazed his kine.
Since thou art my Lord, O holder of the bow, Kabir (great) is my name.
Vain is the devotion of anchorets and idolaters.
LXVII
How many wear the bark of trees as clothes, but what availeth it to dwell in the forest ?
What availeth it to man to offer incense to idols ? What to drench his body with ablutions ?
O my soul, I know that thou shalt depart ;
O silly one, think of thy fall.[98:1]
Wheresoever I look, I see none but those who are entangled in worldly love ;
Men of divine knowledge and meditation, great preachers are all engrossed in this world’s affairs.
Saith Kabir, without the name of the one God this world is blinded by mammon.
[ p. 178 ]
Fearlessly worship God
LXVIII
O man, victim of mammon, abandon doubt, come forth and dance.[99]
Doth a hero dread the conflict of the battle-field, doth a sati collect utensils when she is about to die ?
Cease to waver, O foolish man ;
Now that thou hast taken the red lead [100] in thy hand, burn and die, and obtain perfection.
The world is ruined by being absorbed in lust, wrath, and mammon.
Saith Kabir, forsake not the sovereign God who is the highest of all the high.
Kabir places himself altogether in God’s power.
LXIX
Thy commands are acceptable to men ; I consider not their propriety.
Thou art the river, Thou art the pilot, from Thee is salvation.
O man, embrace the service of God, Whether He be angry with thee or love thee.
Thy name, O God, is my support, as a woman rejoiceth on beholding her son.[101]
Saith Kabir, I am the slave of Thy house, preserve me or destroy me.
A homily against the worship of Krishan.
LXX
Nand [102] became very weary wandering through the wombs of the eighty-four lakhs of existences ; [ p. 179 ]
Through his devotion Krishan became incarnate ; great was the poor man’s good fortune.
You who say that God was the son of Nand, whose son was Nand ?
When the earth and the firmament and the ten quarters of the world were not, then where was this Nand ?
He whose name is the Bright One falleth not into trouble, and undergoeth not birth.
Kabir’s Master is such a Lord as hath neither father nor mother.
Kabir hails slander to preserve his humility and lead him to God.
LXXI
Slander, slander me, ye people, slander !
Slander is right pleasing to God’s servant.
Slander is my father, slander my mother ;[103]
If I am slandered and store in my heart
The wealth of God’s name, I shall go to heaven.
If I am slandered my heart becometh pure,
The slanderer washeth my clothes for me.[104]
He who slandereth me is my friend ;
My heart goeth out to the slanderer ;
He is the slanderer who preventeth my being slandered.
The slanderer desireth long life for me ;
I bear love and affection to him who slandereth me ;
Slander effecteth my salvation.
To God’s servant, Kabir, slander is the best thing ;
The slanderer is lost, I am saved.
Kabir feels that he has parted with egoism and become absorbed in God.
LXXII
O sovereign God, Thou art very fearless ; Thou art a raft to save the world, O God.
When I was proud, Thou wert not in me ; now that Thou art in me I am not proud. [ p. 180 ]
Now Thou and I have become one ; seeing that we are both one, my mind is satisfied.
When there is worldly wisdom, how can there be spiritual strength ?
Now I have spiritual wisdom, but no bodily strength. Saith Kabir, God hath taken away my worldly wisdom, and instead of it I have obtained perfection.
The human body under the allegory of a house,
LXXIII
The Creator made the six mystical chambers[105]into a house, and in it He put a peerless thing ;[106]
Without delay He made divine knowledge its key, spiritual ignorance its lock, and life its watchman.
Now, my brother, let thy mind remain awake ;
Through carelessness thou hast lost thy human life ; thy house is being robbed by thieves.[107]
Thy five senses stand as sentinels at the gate, but they cannot be trusted.
Carefully think of God, and thou shalt obtain the light of divine knowledge.
If woman go astray through only heeding the body of nine apertures, she shall not obtain the peerless thing — God’s name.
Saith Kabir, thieves may plunder the body of nine apertures ; God’s spirit dwelleth in the tenth.
Kabir obtained perfection and complete faith on meeting the guru.
LXXIV
O mother, I know none beside God ;
My soul dwelleth in that God whose praises Shiv and the sons of Brahma sing. [ p. 181 ]
On meeting the guru enlightenment and divine knowledge entered my heart, and I meditated on God in my brain ;
The disease of the deadly sins, fear, and worldly entanglements fled away, and my soul knew happiness in itself.
Imbued with devotion I know and obey the one God, and think of none beside.
Having abandoned the pride of my heart, my soul is perfumed with the perfume of sandal.
God dwelleth in him who hath sung and meditated on His praises.
Very fortunate are they in whose heart He dwelleth, and distinguished is the destiny recorded on their foreheads.
I have destroyed Maya, [108] divine knowledge is kindled in my heart, and I have become absorbed in the one God.
Saith Kabir, on meeting the guru I have felt great comfort ; my mind hath ceased to wander and is happy.
KABIR'S ACROSTIC
1
Everything connected with the three worlds is contained in the fifty-two letters ;
These letters shall perish, but He who is beyond letters is not in them.
2
Where there is speech, there letters are used ;
Where there is no speech there no mind abideth.
God is contained both where there is speech and where there is not ;
Nobody appeareth like unto Him.[109]
3
If I obtain God, what shall I say ? and if I say anything, what kindness do I show God, [ p. 182 ]
Who is diffused through the three worlds as well as in the tiny seed of the banyan-tree ? [110]
4
For him who hath obtained God, and knoweth to some extent God’s secret, the difference between God and himself hath disappeared.
God’s secret penetrated my heart when it turned away from the world; and I have obtained Him who is Indestructible and Impenetrable.
5
The Musalmans accept the Tariqat ; the Hindus the Veds and Purans ; but for me the books of both religions are useless.
A man ought to study divine knowledge to some extent to instruct his heart.
6
I know the one God who was in the beginning ;
I do not believe in what can be written and erased.
Whoever beholdeth the one God,
Becometh as God, and shall not pass away.
7
K. When the rays of divine knowledge fall on the lotus of the heart,
It closeth not even at the rising of the moon ; [111]
And if man obtain the sweetness of that flower,
He would grow mute in describing it, yea, to whom could he explain it ?
8
KH. My mind hath entered God’s cave ;[112]
It leaveth it not to wander in every direction.
He who, knowing the Master, practiseth resignation,
Shall become imperishable, and obtain the imperishable dignity.
[ p. 183 ]
9
G. They who understand the guru’s instruction,
Lend their ears to nothing else.
He who graspeth the Ungraspable, [113] and having grasped Him keepeth Him in his brain,
Shall abide wealthless as a bird, and wander nowhere.
10
GH. God’s dwelling is in every heart ;
Even though the heart break, God is never thereby
diminished. When man findeth a way to God in his heart,
Why should he leave that way and follow a difficult
one ?
11
NG. Grasp the love of God, dismiss doubts.
Even though thou see no way to God, flee not away ; this is the highest cleverness.
12
CH. God painted the great picture of the world ;
Dismiss the picture, and think of the Painter.
This painted picture is an abode of strife ;
Dismiss the picture, and keep thy mind on the Painter.
13
CHH. God the Lord of the umbrella is near ;
Why dost thou not abandon desires and be happy ?
O man, I admonish thee every moment ;
Why dost thou leave God and entangle thyself with the world ?
14
J. If a man burn his body alive,
And efface his youth, he shall find the right way.
When man burnetii the wealth of this and the next world,[114]
He shall then proceed and obtain God’s bright light.
[ p. 184 ]
15
JH. Thou art entangled with the world, and knowest not how to disentangle thyself ;
Thou shrinkest back, and art not accepted of God.
Why talk nonsense trying to convince others ?
Since thou stirrest up controversy, controversy thou shalt have.
16
NY. Since God dwelleth near thee in thy heart, why leave Him and go far to find Him ?[115]
Him for whom thou searchest the world, thou shalt find near thee.
17
T. The difficult way to God is in man’s heart.
Why open not the doors of thine understanding, and repair to His court ?
There shalt thou behold the Immovable One, and thou shalt not move elsewhere.
Thou shalt remain attached to God, and thy heart shall be glad.
18
TH. Keep the world, which is a deceitful mirage, at a distance —
I have with difficulty rendered my mind patient —
The cheat which cheated and devoured the whole world
I have myself cheated, and my mind is now at ease.
19
D. When the fear of God is produced, all other fears depart ;
All other fears are absorbed in that fear.
If man reject the fear of God, then he hath fear of man ;
When he no longer feareth man, the fears of his heart flee away.
20
DH. Search for God near thee ; why search elsewhere ?
While searching for Him elsewhere life departeth.
When I ascended the mountain to search for Him, and returned home disappointed, [ p. 185 ]
I found Him in the fortress [116] which He Himself had made.
21
N. The life of him is accounted happy
Who, though surrounded in the battle-field, standeth fast like a man,[117]
Who doth not quail or retreat,[118]
But killeth the opposing chief, upon which his army fleeth away.[119]
22
T. The world is unfordable ; it cannot be forded.
My soul is absorbed in the Lord of the three worlds.
If the Lord of the three worlds enter into my heart,
My soul shall blend with Him, and I shall find the True One.
23
TH. The Unfathomable cannot be fathomed.
God is unfathomable ; this body shall not abide for ever. Though man’s span of life be brief, he beginneth to build many a mansion [120] —
But can mansions be supported without pillars ?
24
D. Everything we see is perishable ;
Meditate on Him who is Unseen.
When thou appliest the key of divine knowledge to the tenth gate,
Thou shalt then behold the merciful One.
25
DH. Everything is settled when the soul blendeth with God
Who dwelleth in earth and heaven.
When the soul leaving earth goeth to heaven,
The soul and God shall meet and happiness be obtained.
[ p. 186 ]
26
N. Man’s nights and days pass away waiting for God ;
His eyes grow blood-shot by such waiting.
When man findeth God after long waiting,
He who waiteth is blended with Him who is waited for.
27
P, The Boundless One hath no bounds ;
I am gladdened with the Supreme Light ;
I have controlled the five senses,
And relinquished all idea of demerits and merits.
28
PH. Fruit is produced without the blossom ; [121]
If any one looked at a section [122] of that fruit,
And reflected on it, he w r ould not contract duality.
That section of fruit shall destroy all bodies.[123]
29
B. Blend drop with drop,[124]
When drop is blended with drop, both cannot beseparated.
Let man, becoming God’s servant, embrace His service,
And He becoming a friend will take care of His servant.
30
BH. Remove the difference between thyself and God, and thou shalt be united with Him ;
Then shall thy fear be shattered, and thou shalt gain confidence.
Him whom I thought without me I now find within me :
When I found this secret, I recognized the Lord of the world.
[ p. 187 ]
31
M. He who graspeth the First Principle, [125] shall be happy at heart ;
He who is in this secret knoweth his own mind. Let no one delay to attach his heart to God ; He who obtaineth the True One shall be immersed in delight.
32
M. Man’s business is with his heart ; he who chasteneth it obtaineth perfection.
Kabir communeth with his heart, ‘ I have found nothing like thee, O my heart ! ’
33
This heart is power ; this mind is God ; [126]
This heart is the life of the five elements of the body.
If man restrain his heart and remain in a state of exaltation,[127]
He can tell the secrets of the three worlds.
34
Y. If thou know anything, destroy thine evil propensities and conquer the citadel of the body ;
Thou who art surrounded by foes in battle and fleest not away, shalt be called a hero.
35
R. He knoweth the real pleasure, who spurneth the pleasures of this world ;
Having spurned the pleasures of the world he recognizeth the Real Pleasure ;
When he abandoneth the former, he obtaineth the latter ;
And when he quaffeth the latter, the former please him not.
[ p. 188 ]
36
L. O man, so apply thy heart to God,
That thou mayest not go elsewhere, but obtain the primal True One.
If thou heartily love Him,
Thou shalt obtain Him, and, obtaining Him, become absorbed in His feet.
37
W. Every moment remember God ;
Remember God and defeat shall not come to thee. I am a sacrifice to those who sing the praises of the sons of God [128] ;
He who meeteth God shall obtain all truth.
38
W. Know God ; by knowing Him thou shalt become as He.
When the soul and God are blended, no one can distinguish them.
39
S. Carefully strive to know Him ;
Restrain every thought which allureth the heart.
When love for God springeth up, there is mental happiness,
And the Lord of the three worlds will fill thy heart.
40
KH. He who searcheth,
He who searcheth for God shall not return.
He who searcheth and knoweth God by meditation,
Shall cross over the terrible ocean without delay.
41
SH. She who dispelleth all doubts of her spouse’s affection for her,
Shall adorn his bed.
She resigneth a little comfort and obtaineth the highest gratification.
Then is she justly styled a wife and he a husband.
[ p. 189 ]
42
H. God exist eth, but the spiritually ignorant know not of His existence.
From the moment man knoweth that God existeth his heart is satisfied.
God certainly doth exist, if any one could see Him ;
But in that case God alone would exist, and man exist not at all.
43
Everybody goeth about saying, ‘ I will take this, and I will take that’.
They therefore feel great sorrow when they are disappointed.
He who fixeth his attention on God,
Shall obtain all happiness and his sorrows shall depart.
44
KSH. How many have pined away and perished !
But, despite such destruction, man will not even now think of God.
If any one even now know that the world is fleeting and restrain his heart,
He shall obtain an abiding place with Him from whom he is separated.
45
The Pandits have in another way joined the fifty-two letters,
But they cannot recognize one letter.[129]
Kabir uttereth the word of the True One —
He is a pandit who abideth without fear —
To join letters [130] is the business of the Pandits;
To meditate on God is the business of the holy man.
Saith Kabir, man will understand which to do
According to his intelligence.
[ p. 190 ]
Kabir’s calendar is arranged according to lunar days. The lunar month has thirty days. Fifteen of them are called shudi, the light half, and the other fifteen wadi, the dark half of the month. In this composition, however, sixteen days are counted.
KABIR'S LUNAR DAYS
I
There are fifteen lunar days and seven week days.
Saith Kabir, they have no limits. [131]
The Strivers and Sidhs who know their secrets,
Are creators and gods themselves.
II
On the day when there is no moon remove worldly desires ;
Remember God the Searcher of hearts,
So shalt thou even in life obtain the gate of salvation,
And the real word of the Fearless One, which is the essence of everything.
He who loveth God’s lotus feet,
And is night and day watchful in His praises, becometh pure in heart by the favour of the saints.
1
On the first day of the moon meditate on the Beloved ;
He who cannot be lessened, and who hath no equal, sporteth in the heart.
He who is absorbed in the primal God,
Shall never suffer the pain of death.
2
On the second day know that there are two parts of the body,
Maya and God, [132] who are contained in everything.
God doth not increase or diminish ;
He is unknowable, spotless, and changeless.
[ p. 191 ]
3
On the third day let man apply his mind to God in the three states of waking, dreaming, and sleeping[133]
Thus shall he obtain the Root of Joy and the Supreme Delight.
In the company of the saints ariseth the faith in man
That God’s light is ever within and without him.
4
On the fourth day restrain thy fickle mind ;
Never associate with lust and anger.
God is all in all in sea and land ;
He repeateth His own praises.[134]
5
On the fifth day know that the world was extended from the five elements,
And that the pursuit of gold and women form its occupation.
Whoever quaffeth the nectar of God’s love,
Shall not again feel the pains of old age and death.
6
On the sixth day the mind and the senses run in six directions ;
The mind will not be restrained without the love of God.
Efface duality and hold fast endurance ;
Endure not the torture of absurd religious ceremonies.
7
On the seventh day know that the Word is true, And the Supreme Spirit will hold thee accepted ; So shall thy doubts and troubles be effaced, And thou shalt obtain happiness in the celestial sea.
[ p. 192 ]
8
On the eighth day know that the body is made of eight ingredients.
In it is the Unknowable, the King of great treasures. The guru who is versed in divine knowledge discloseth the secret
How man may turn away from the world, and remain absorbed in the Infrangible and the Indivisible.[135]
9
On the ninth day keep watch over the nine gates,
And restrain thy flowing desires ;
Forget all covetousness and worldly love,
And thou shalt eat the immortal fruit and live through all ages.
10
On the tenth day joy prevaileth in the ten directions ; [136]
Doubts are dispelled and God is found.
God is light, the essence of all things, incomparable,
Pure without a stain ; where He dwelleth is neither shade nor sunshine.
11
On the eleventh day, if man run in one direction,[137]
He shall not again suffer the pain of birth ;
His heart shall become cool and pure,
And God, whom men say is distant, he shall find near.
12
On the twelfth day let twelve suns [138] arise for thee,
And day and night trumpets shall play spontaneous music. [ p. 193 ]
Thou shalt behold the Father of the three worlds ;
A miracle shall be wrought for thee, and from man thou shalt become God.
13
On the thirteenth day they who repeat the name of the Inaccessible escape transmigration ;
Know that God is equally diffused below and above.
God is neither low nor high, in Him is neither honour nor dishonour ;
He is equally contained in all things.
14
On the fourteenth day remember that God filleth the fourteen worlds,
And that He dwelleth in every hair of man’s body.
Meditate on truth and patience,
And recite the legend of divine knowledge.
15
On the day of the full moon the moon is full in the heavens
And there is gentle light diffused from its beams. [139]
God is firmly fixed in the beginning, the middle, and the end of all things.
Kabir is absorbed in the ocean of happiness.
KABIR'S WEEK DAYS
Sing God’s praises all the days of the week :
On meeting the guru thou shalt obtain God’s secret.
1
On Sunday begin God’s service,
Restrain the desires in the temple of thy body.
Let man day and night keep his attention on the Infrangible One,
And the lute shall tranquilly play spontaneous music.
[ p. 194 ]
2
On Monday nectar trickleth from the moon ; [140]
When tasted, it is a speedy antidote to all poison ;
He who drinketh it shall become intoxicated.
Let thy mouth remain closed to idle converse.[141]
3
On Tuesday learn what thou really art ;
Know how to guard against thine evil passions. [142]
Leave not the God who is in thine own home [143] to wander abroad ;
If thou do, He will be exceeding wroth.
4
On Wednesday let man enlighten his understanding,
So that God’s dwelling may be in the lotus of his heart.
Let him, on meeting his guru, consider both his soul and God as the same,
And set erect the inverted lotus of his heart.[144]
5
On Thursday let him throw his evil passions into the river,
And consider the three gods of the Hindus the same. [145]
Why doth he not day and night wash away his sins
At the junction where the three rivers [146] meet ?
6
On Friday by the practice of endurance man shall attain his object. [ p. 195 ]
By struggling with himself daily,
And carefully restraining all his five senses,
He shall never fall into duality.
7
On Saturday if man keep strong within him
The wick of God’s light which shineth in his heart,
He shall be illumined without and within,
And all his sins shall be erased.
8
Know that as long as man hath duality in his heart,
He shall not attain God’s court.
Let him love the omnipresent God,
And then, saith Kabir, his heart shall be pure.
ASA
The first three lines of the following were addressed by Kabir to his guru Ramanand. The remainder of the hymn contains Ramanand’s replies and instruction.
I
Touching my guru’s feet I bow and ask him why the soul was made,
Why man was born and why he shall perish — tell and explain to me.
O divine one, show mercy to me and put me in the way of escaping from worldly entanglements and the fear of transmigration.
The pain of transmigration resulteth from deeds done, and happiness cometh when the soul is released from it.
Man bursteth not the entanglements of worldly love, and therefore is not absorbed in God.
He knoweth nothing of the rank of nirvan, and so his fears are not dispelled.[147] [ p. 196 ]
The soul is not born, though men think it is ; it is free from birth and death.[148]
When the idea of birth and death [149] departeth from man’s mind, he shall for ever be absorbed in God.
As the reflection of an object in a vessel of water blendeth with the object when the vessel is broken,
So, saith Kabir, through virtue doubts flee away, and the soul is absorbed in God.[150]
The following is a satire on the Brahmans of Banaras : —
II
They wear loin-cloths three and a half yards long and sacrificial threads of three strands ;
They carry rosaries on their necks and glittering brass utensils in their hands ;
They should not be called saints of God, but cheats of Banaras —
Such saints are not pleasing to me —
They gulp down trees with their branches ;
They scrub their vessels, and put them on fires whose wood hath been washed ;[151]
They dig up the earth, make two lire-places, [152] and eat up men whole !
Those sinners ever wander in evil deeds, yet they call themselves Aparas.
Ever and ever they wander about in their pride and ruin all their families.
Man is attached to what God hath attached him, and his acts correspond. [ p. 197 ]
Saith Kabir, he who meeteth the true guru shall not be born again.
Thanksgiving to God the father.
III
The Father gave me this consolation —
He made me a comfortable bed and put ambrosia into my mouth.
Why should I forget that Father ?
When I go to the next world I shall not lose my game.[153]
My mother [154] is dead, and I am quite happy.
I do not put on a beggar’s coat; I feel not the frost.
I am a sacrifice to that Father who begot me,
Who put an end to my companionship with the five deadly sins,
Who enabled me to subdue, and tramgle on them.
When I remember God, my soul and body are happy.
My Father is the great Lord of the earth.
To that Father how shall I go ?
When I met the true guru, he showed me the way —
The Father of the world then became dear to my mind ;
I am Thy son, Thou art my Father ;
We both live in the same place.
Saith Kabir, God’s slave knoweth the one God ;
By the guru’s favour I know everything.
The central idea of the following is the worship of Maya. She is represented in a hideous and repulsive guise, her nose having been cut off for her infidelity. The first two lines of the hymn describe Tantric ceremonies.
IV
Into one vessel they put a slaughtered cock, and another they fill with liquor.
Five Jogis sit round, and the noseless queen in the midst. The bell of the noseless one resoundeth in both worlds ; But some discriminating person cut off thy nose, O Maya. [ p. 198 ]
The noseless one hath her dwelling everywhere ; she killeth every one and looketh out for more.
‘I am,’ saith she, ‘the sister and niece of all ; [155] I am the handmaiden of him who weddeth me.[156]
My husband is very wise and calleth himself a saint.[157]
He standeth continually over me ; no one else cometh near me.’
It was I, saith Kabir, who cut off her nose and her ears, and assaulted and expelled her,
Because, though dear to the three worlds, she was an enemy of the saints.
All must die at last ; God’s name is their only salvation.
V
Jogis, celibates, penitents, anchorets, they who wander on many pilgrimages,
They who pluck out and shave their hair, they who practise silence, and they who wear matted locks, must all die at last ;
Wherefore worship God.
What can the Jamna do for those whose tongues love God’s name ?[158]
They who know the Shastars, the Veds, astrology, and various languages,
Who know written and spoken incantations, and all medical science, must die at last.
They who enjoy empires, umbrellas, thrones, many beautiful women,
Betel, camphor, and highly fragrant sandal, must die at last.
The Veds, Purans, and Simritis I have all searched, but there is no salvation anywhere in them.
Saith Kabir, so repeat God’s name that transmigration may be at an end.
[ p. 199 ]
Kabir was asked whether the world was real or unreal. The following hymn was his reply. His meaning is that the world is unreal like the impossibilities mentioned.
VI
Can an elephant be a rebeck-player, or an ox a drummer ? can a raven play the cymbals ?
Can an ass put on a dancer’s skirt and dance ? Can a buffalo perform worship ?
Can Raja Ram [159] cook cakes of ice ?
Can any man in his senses eat them ?
Can a lion seated in his den prepare betel ? Can a mammoth rat serve it when made up ?
Can a mouse sing a song of rejoicing from house to house ? Can a tortoise blow a shell ?
Can a barren woman’s son go to wed, and build a mansion in the sky ?
Can he marry a fair and beautiful virgin ? Can the hare and the lion sing their eulogies ?
Saith Kabir, hear, O saints, hath an ant eaten a mountain ?
Can the tortoise say, ‘ I want fire ’ ? Can the gnat proclaim God’s word ?[160]
The following was addressed to a Jogi who maintained the superiority of his sect and the advantages of its external accessories.
VII
I have one wallet which containeth seventy-two chambers and one door.[161]
In the whole world he alone is a Jogi
Who craveth for God in the earth containing nine regions.[162]
That Jogi shall obtain the nine treasures [ p. 200 ]
Who lifteth- his soul from below to heaven, Who maketh divine knowledge his patched coat, meditation his needle,
Who twisteth the thread of the Word- and putteth it therein,
Who maketh the five elements his deer-skin jacket, and walketh in the way of his guru,
Who maketh mercy his fire-shovel, his body his fire-wood, and applieth to it the light of knowledge,[163]
Who loveth God within his heart, and ever sitteth in the attitude of contemplation.
All the Jogi’s craft consisteth in the name of God, to whom belong the body and soul.
Saith Kabir, if God be merciful, He will give man a true mark.[164]
Trust to God alone and not to thy relations.
IX
As long as the oil and the wick [165] are in the lamp, everything is visible ;
When the oil is spent, and the wick goeth out, the chamber is dark.
O madman, when thy lamp is out, no one will keep thee even for a ghari,
Therefore repeat the name of God. Who hath a mother ? who hath a father ? what man hath a wife ?
When the vessel bursteth, [166] no one asketh about thee ; it is all ‘ Take him out ! Take him out ! ’
Thy mother sitteth and weepeth on the threshold, thy brother taketh away thy bier.
Thy wife openeth the plaits of her hair and weepeth ; the soul depart eth alone.
Saith Kabir, hear, ye saints, regarding this terrible ocean.
The slave man suffereth torture, and the lord of death retireth not from him, O God.
[ p. 201 ]
The body under the allegory of a churn from which salvation is obtained through the Word.
X
Sanak and Sanand, sons of Brahma, never found God’s limits.
No_r did_ Brahma himself though he spent his life reading the Veds.
Churn God’s churn, [166:1] my brethren.
Gently churn it that the butter may not be lost.[167]
Make thy body the churn, thy heart the churning-staff ;
Into the churn put the Word instead of milk ;
Make hearty meditation on God thy churning.
Pour the guru’s favour into it as thy cold water.
Saith Kabir, he on whom the King looketh with favour,
And who clingeth to His name, shall gain the shore.
When the deadly sins are subdued man arrives at a knowledge of the one God and obtains salvation.
XI
When the wick of pride is dry and the oil of worldly love is spent ;
When the drum of boasting is not heard, and the mind [168] is fast asleep,
When the fire of avarice is out, and the smoke of desires no longer issueth,
Then shall man know that one God is everywhere contained, and that there is no second.
When the strings are broken, the rebeck no longer playeth, [169] —
Man hath ruined his affairs by error —
When man obtaineth understanding he shall forget
Preaching, ranting, arguing, and intoning.
Saith Kabir, the highest dignity shall not be far from those
Who crush their deadly sins.
[ p. 202 ]
If Kabir commits sin he hopes that God will pardon him as a mother pardons her child, when he prays for forgiveness.
XII
A mother beareth not in mind
All the faults her son committeth.
O God, I am Thy child ;
Why destroyest Thou not my demerits ? [170]
If a son in great anger rush at his mother,
Even then she beareth it not in mind.
Since I have fallen into the prison of anxiety,
How shall I be saved without God’s name ?
O God, ever cleanse my mind and body,
And Kabir will tranquilly sing Thy praises.
XIII
My pilgrimage is to the bank of the Gomti,[171]
Where dwelleth the yellow-robed priest.[172]
Bravo ! bravo ! how sweetly he singeth
God’s name delighteth my soul ;
Narad and Saraswati wait on him,
And near him sits lady Lakshmi as his handmaiden.
With my rosary on my neck and God on my tongue
I repeat His thousand names and salute Him.
Saith Kabir, I sing God’s praises,
And instruct both Hindus and Musalmans.
Kabir deprecated the destruction of life in any form for idol worship.
XIV
Thou cuttest leaves, O flower-girl ; in every leaf there is life.
The stone for which thou gatherest the leaves is lifeless. Thou art in error, O flower-girl, in this ; The true Guru is a living God. [ p. 203 ]
Brahma is in the leaves, Vishnu in the branches, and Shiv in the flowers.
Thou destroy est three gods in our presence ; whom dost thou worship ?
The sculptor carving the stone turned it into an idol ; and, in doing so, put his foot upon its breast.
If it were a real God, it would have destroyed him.
Men cook rice, dal, lapasi, pancakes, kasar ;[173]
The Brahman feasters feast on these things, and put ashes into the idol’s mouth.
The flower-girl is in error, and leadeth the world astray, but I go not astray.
Saith Kabir, God hath mercifully preserved me from error.
The stages of man.
XV
Twelve years pass away in childhood ; man performeth no penance even to the age of twenty ;
Until thirty he worshippeth not God ; he repenteth when old age cometh upon him.
His life hath passed in talking about his property ;
His arms strong as the sea have dried up.
He with his own hands constructeth a fence for a tank that hath dried up and a hedge for a reaped field.
When the thief cometh, he quickly taketh what the fool hath preserved as his own.
When the feet, head, and hands begin to totter,
And water floweth copiously from the eyes ;
When words come indistinctly from the tongue,
Dost thou then, sir, hope to perform religious works ?
If God be merciful and thou love Him, thou shalt obtain His name as thy profit.
By the favour of the guru thou shalt obtain the wealth of God,[174]
Which shall go with thee as thou departest.
Saith Kabir, hear, O ye good people, ye shall not take other wealth with you ; [ p. 204 ]
When the Supreme God’s summons cometh, ye shall depart leaving your wealth and homes.
The inequality of life due to man’s own acts and not to God’s caprice.
XVI
To one man God hath given silks and satins and a niwar bed,[175]
Others have not even a ragged coat or straw in their houses to lie on.
Indulge not in envy and bickering, O my soul,
Do good deeds and gain their reward.
Out of the same earth the potter mouldeth vessels, but painteth different designs on them ;
Into one vessel is put strings of pearls, and into another filth.
God gave the miser wealth to keep, but the blockhead calleth it his own.
When Death’s mace toucheth his head, it shall be decided in a moment whose wealth it is.
God’s slave is the highest saint ; he obeyeth God’s order and obtaineth happiness.
He accepteth as true what pleaseth God, and God’s will he treasureth in his heart.
Saith Kabir, hear, O good people, to call things one’s own is untrue ;
Death, breaking the cage, taketh away the bird ; [176] its wires and strings [177] are then relaxed.
The following is a remonstrance to a Qazi who desired that Kabir should perform the usual Muhammadan fasts and ceremonies : —
XVII
I am God’s poor slave, royal state is pleasing to thee ; The Supreme God, the Lord of religions, never ordained tyranny. [ p. 205 ]
O Qazi, nothing is done by mere talk ;
It is not by fasting and repeating prayers and the creed that one goeth to heaven.
The inner veil of the temple of Makka is in man’s heart, if the truth be known.
Just decisions should be thy prayers, knowledge of God, the inscrutable One, thy creed,
The subjugation of thine evil passions the spreading of the prayer-carpet ; then shouldst thou know what religion is.
Recognize thy Master and fear Him in thy heart ; despise and destroy thy mental pride.[178]
As thou deemest thyself so deem others, then shalt thou become a partner in heaven.
Matter is one but hath assumed divers shapes ; in the midst of all recognize God.
Saith Kabir, thou hast abandoned heaven and attached thyself to hell.
The following was composed on the occasion of Kabir’s visit to the house of a Jogi friend whom he found dead : —
XVIII
Not a drop now trickleth from the citadel of thy brain — where is the music that filled it ?
The great saint hath departed with the name of the supreme Brahm, the supreme God.
O father, whither hath departed the soul which dwelt with thy body,
Which revelled in divine knowledge, expounded, and preached ?
Whither hath the player gone who played the drum of thy body ?[179]
Thy tales, thy words, thy divine instruction, are no longer heard ; all thy vital energy hath been drawn away.
Thine ears have become deaf, the vigour of thine organs hath declined ;
Thy feet have failed, thy hands are relaxed, no word issueth from thy lips ; [ p. 206 ]
The five enemies, [180] robbers all, which wander according to their own will have grown weary ;
The elephant, [181] thy mind, hath grown weary ; the heart which beat by the force of thy soul, the wire-puller, hath grown weary ;
Thou art dead; the ten breaths which kept thee together have escaped ; thou hast left thy friends and relations.
Saith Kabir, he who meditateth on God bursteth his bonds even while alive.
Mammon under the guise of a serpent.
XIX
Nothing is potent against the serpent
Which deceived Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiv.
The serpent having completely subdued the world hath entered pure water.[182]
By the guru’s favour I have seen her coming who hath stung the three worlds, and guarded myself against her.
O my brethren, why call out ‘ Serpent, serpent ’ ?
He who knoweth the True One hath destroyed the serpent ;
No one else is free from her attack. [183]
When the serpent is vanquished what can Death do to man ?
This serpent is God’s creature ; She is weak, what can she do ?
As long, however, as she abideth with man, his soul shall abide in bodies ;[184]
By the favour of the guru Kabir hath easily escaped from her.
‘Throw not pearls before swine’
XX
What availeth it to read the Simritis to a dog ?
What to sing God’s praises to an infidel ? [ p. 207 ]
Continue to repeat God’s name ;
Speak not to the infidel even by mistake.
What availeth it to give a raven valuable camphor to eat ?[185]
What to give milk to a viper ?[186]
Discrimination and understanding are obtained in the company of the saints.
By the touch of the philosopher’s stone iron becometh gold.
The dog of an infidel acteth in everything as he is caused to act ;
His acts are in accordance with his original destiny. Wert thou to take nectar and water the nim-tree with it, Saith Kabir, its natural bitter qualities would not depart.
Worldly greatness secures not salvation.
XXI
There is no trace of Rawan or his line,
Though Ceylon was his fortress and the ocean its moat.
What shall I pray for ? nothing remaineth stable ;
While I look on, the world passeth away.
Though Rawan had a lakh of sons and a lakh and a quarter of grandsons,
Yet at last he had neither lamp nor wick in his house.
The sun and moon used to heat his kitchen, [187] the fire to wash his clothes.[188]
He who through the guru’s instruction putteth God’s name in his heart,
Shall remain permanent and be released from transmigration.[189]
Saith Kabir, hear, O ye people,[190]
Without the name of God there is no salvation.
[ p. 208 ]
A mystical hymn with its interpretation.
XXII
Hear these wonderful things, my brethren —
First a son [191] was born, and afterwards his mother ; [192]
The guru [193] worshipped his disciple’s [194] feet ;
I have seen a lion [195] herding kine ; [196]
A fish [197] out of water give birth upon a tree ; [198]
I have seen a cat [199] taking away a dog ; [200]
The branches of a tree [201] below, its roots [202] above ;
And its trunk bearing fruit [203] and blossom ; [204]
A buffalo [205] on horseback going to graze a horse ; [206]
An ox [207] on his way while his burden [208] arrived at home before him.
Saith Kabir, he who understandeth this hymn, Shall know everything on repeating God’s name.
The soul’s toil to obtain a human body shall all be lost if God be not remembered.
XXIII
God maketh the body from seed and placeth it in the pit of fire ;
For ten months He keepeth it in the mother’s womb ; worldly love attacheth to it on emerging.
O mortal, why attaching thyself to covetousness losest thou the jewel of thy life ?
In former births thou didst not sow the seed in this world :
From childhood thou hast grown to old age ; what was to be hath been. [ p. 209 ]
When Death cometh and catcheth thee by the top-lock, [209] why then weep ?
Thou hopest for longer life, while he waiteth for thy last breath —
The world is a game, O Kabir, carefully throw the dice.[210]
Kabir was invited to a marriage feast. He said his own marriage was being celebrated, and he could not go elsewhere. The following is a description of it.
XXIV
I turned my body into a dyer’s vat and then dyed my heart therein ; [211] the five virtues [212] I made my marriage guests ;
With God I made my marriage circumambulations, [213] my soul being dyed with His love.
Sing, sing, ye brideswomen, the marriage song :
The sovereign God hath come to my house as my husband.
I made the bridal pavilion [214] in the lotus of my heart, and divine knowledge the recitation [215] of my lineage ;
I obtained God as my bridegroom ; so great hath been my good fortune.
Demigods, men, saints, and the thirty-three karors of gods in their chariots came as spectators
Saith Kabir, the one God, the divine Male, hath wed and taken me with Him.
[ p. 210 ]
In the following again Kabir represents himself as a wedded woman : —
XXV
I am plagued by my mother-in-law, [216] beloved by my father-in-law ; [217] I dread the very name of my husband’s eldest brother.[218]
O my friends and companions, my husband’s sister [219] hath seized me, and I burn by separation from my husband’s youngest brother.[220]
My mind hath become insane since T have forgotten God ; how can I abide ?
I behold not with mine eyes Him who enjoyeth me on the couch ; to whom shall I tell my sorrow ?
My step-father quarrelleth with me ; my mother is ever intoxicated ;[221]
As long as I remained with my elder brother [222] I was dear to my Spouse.
Saith Kabir, I have lost my life struggling with the five evil passions —
Deceitful Maya hath led captive the whole world, but I have obtained immunity by repeating God’s name.
Mammon a thieving courtesan.
XXVII
Worldly life is like a dream,
But, believing the world to be real, I attached myself to it, and abandoned the Supreme Treasure.
O father, I made love to the courtesan mammon,
And she stole from me the jewel of divine knowledge.
With its eyes open the moth becometh entangled ; the insect regardeth not the flame ; [ p. 211 ]
So, stupid man attached to gold and women heedeth not Death’s noose.
Reflect, abandon sin ; and God will save thee.
Saith Kabir, such is the Life of the world ; He hath no equal.
Kabir has found God and put an end to his transmigration.
XXVIII
Though I have assumed many shapes, this is my last. [223] The strings and wires of the musical instrument are all
worn out ; I am now in the power of God’s name ; I shall not have again to dance to the tune of birth and death ;
Nor shall my heart accompany on the drum.[224]
I have taken and destroyed my bodily lust and anger ;
the pitcher of avarice hath burst ; Lust’s raiment hath grown old, and all my doubts are
dispelled.
I recognize one God in all creatures ; vain wranglings on this subject are at an end.
Saith Kabir, when God was gracious unto me, I obtained Him, the Perfect One.
The following was addressed to a Qazi : —
XXIX
Thou fastest to appease God, yet thou destroyest life to please thy palate.[225]
Thou regardest not others as thou dost thyself ; why pratest thou ?
O Qazi, thy one God is in thee, but thou beholdest Him not by thought and reflection.
Mad on religion, thou heedest not, wherefore thy life is of no account. [ p. 212 ]
Thy books tell thee that God is true, and that He is neither male nor female ;
Thou gainest nothing by thy reading and study, O madman, since thou regardest Him not at heart :
God is concealed in every heart ; reflect on this in thy mind
Kabir loudly proclaimeth — there is the same God for the Hindu as for the Muhammadan.
God becomes not propitious by the mere wearing of religious garbs.
XXX
I decorated myself to meet my Spouse.
But God the Life and Lord of the world met me not.
God is my husband, I am his wife ;
He is big ; I am little.
The wife and her husband dwell together, but to cohabit is difficult.
Blessed the woman who is pleasing to her husband ; Saith Kabir, she shall not be born again.
God under the allegory of a diamond.
XXXI
When the soul meeteth God, [226] the once fickle mind is easily absorbed in Him.
This diamond God filleth everything with light ; I have found this by the instruction of the true guru —
The praise of God were an endless story —
When a man becometh perfect he recognizeth the Diamond.
Saith Kabir, I have seen such a Diamond as filleth the world with its light ;
The concealed Diamond became manifest ; when I met the guru he showed it to me.
In the following allegory Kabir refers to his early [ p. 213 ] understanding as his first wife and to his conversion as his second wife : —
XXXII
My first wife was ugly, of low caste, and bad character, evil both in her father’s house and mine.
My present wife is handsome, sensible, of good character ; I naturally took her to my heart.
It turned out well that my first wife departed ;
May she whom I have now taken live for ever !
Saith Kabir, when the young wife came I ceased to cohabit with the old one ;
The young wife is with me now, the elder hath taken another husband.
Kabir’s mother addresses him in the first four lines of the following hymn. Kabir was married to Dhania. The holy men who frequented the house called her Ramjania, or worshipper of God. But the name is also applied to courtesans dedicated to idols, and it was consequently offensive to Kabir’s mother. She also complains that Kabir had devoted himself to religion and neglected his business : —
XXXIII
My daughter-in-law was called Dhania ;
They have now given her the name of Ramjania.
These shaven fellows have ruined my family ;
They have set my son uttering the name of God.
Saith Kabir, hear, O my mother,
These shaven men have done away with my caste.[227]
The following is a lecture against the veiling of women. It was addressed to the second wife of Kamal, Kabir’s son : —
XXXIV
Stay, stay, my daughter-in-law, veil not thy face ;
At the last moment it wall not avail thee the eighth of a paisa. [ p. 214 ]
She who preceded thee used to veil her face ;
Follow not thou in her footsteps.
The only advantage of veiling thy face is
That for five or ten days people will say a good daughterin-law hath come.
Thy veil will only be real
If thou sing God’s praises and skip and dance in His service.
Saith Kabir, O daughter-in-law, thou shalt be victorious [228]
When thou passest thy life in singing God’s praises.
Kabir’s wife Loi refused to prepare a meal for a holy visitor, upon which Kabir manifested his displeasure. The following hymn except the last two lines is Loi’s pleading for forgiveness : —
XXXV
Better would it be to be cut in twain with the saw than that thou shouldst turn thy back on me.
Hear my entreaty and embrace me ;
I am a sacrifice unto thee ; turn thy face towards me, my beloved.
Why killest thou me by turning thy back on me ?
Even though thou cut my body I will not turn it away from thee ;[229]
My body may perish, but I will not cease to love thee. There hath been no quarrel between thee and me ; Thou art the same good husband and I the same wife as before.
Saith Kabir, hear, O Loi,
I shall believe in thee no longer.
The following was Kabir’s reply to a Brahman who had advised him to bathe in the sacred rivers of the Hindus.
XXXVII
He who is foul within will not go to heaven by bathing at a place of pilgrimage : [ p. 215 ]
Nothing is gained by pleasing men ; [230] God is not a simpleton.
Worship the Lord, the only God ;
Serving the guru is the true ablution.
If salvation be obtained by bathing in water, the frogs which are continually bathing will obtain it ;
But as the frogs so the pilgrims ; they shall be born again and again.
If a hardened sinner die in Banaras, he cannot escape hell. If a saint of God die in Haramba, [231] he saveth a whole multitude.
Where there is neither day nor night, Veds nor Shastars, there dwelleth the Formless One.
Saith Kabir, meditate on Him, ye foolish denizens of the world.
GUJARI
The following was addressed to a Brahman who Kabir supposed would be turned into an ox for his idleness and gluttony. The Hindus believe that they who live on others’ wealth without any exertion on their own parts will become oxen, in which condition they will have to labour and suffer for their idleness in human lives.
I
With four legs, two horns, and a dumb mouth, how wilt thou sing God’s praises ?
Standing or lying down the stick will fall on thee ; then where wilt thou hide thy head ?
Without God thou shalt become somebody [232] else’s bullock ;
Thy nose shall be torn, thy shoulders maimed, and thou shalt eat worthless straw ;
All day shalt thou wander in the forest, but even then thy belly shall not be satisfied. [ p. 216 ]
Thou didst not listen to the advice of holy men, and thou shalt suffer for thine omissions.
Overwhelmed with great superstition thou shalt endure hardship, and wander in many births.
Thou hast lost thy precious life by forgetting God ; when wilt thou again have such an opportunity ?
Thou shalt turn and revolve like an oilman’s bullock [233] round his press, and restless shalt thou pass the night.
Saith Kabir, for not having repeated God’s name thou shalt smite thy head and repent.
Kabir’s mother was distressed at his conduct in relinquishing his trade and adopting a religious life. The following is a conversation between the mother and son on the subject.
II
Kabir’s mother sobbeth and weepeth —
O God, how shall these children live ? [234]
Kabir hath given up all his weaving,
And hath inscribed God’s name on his body.
Kabir replieth —
While the thread was passing through the bobbin
I forgot my Beloved God.[235]
My understanding is mean, my caste is that of weaver ;
I have gained the name of God as my profit.
Saith Kabir, hear, O my mother,
The one God will provide for us and them.
SORATH
All are lost without devotion.
I
The Hindus kill themselves worshipping idols, the Musalmans make prostrations ;
The former are burned, the latter buried ; but neither sect knoweth anything of Thee, O God. [ p. 217 ]
O my soul, the world is stark blind ;
On all sides Death’s noose is thrown, but men see it not.
Poets kill themselves reciting verses ; the Kaparis kill themselves going to Kedarnath ;
Jogis kill themselves wearing matted hair ; but they know nothing of Thee, O God.
Kings kill themselves amassing wealth and burying masses of gold ;
Pandits kill themselves reading the Veds, and women in gazing on their beauty —
Without the name of God all these are lost ; think and ponder upon this, O man.
Without the name of God who hath obtained salvation ? Kabir giveth his admonition.
The body is frail, yet it attaches itself to worldly things which desert it.
II
When the body is burnt, it becometh ashes ; when it is not burnt, a host of worms eat it up.
A soft clay vessel will break when water is put into it — such is the nature of the body.
Why, O brother, goest thou about puffing and blowing thyself out ?
How hast thou forgotten the ten months thou didst remain inverted in the womb ?
As the bee collecteth honey with great zest, so the fool collecteth wealth.
When a man is dead, they say ‘ Take him away ! take him away !
‘ Why allow a ghost to remain ?’
His wedded wife accompanieth him to the door, and after that his male friends.
All the other members of his family go as far as the cremation-ground ; the soul departeth alone.
Saith Kabii, hear, O mortals, they who have entangled themselves with the deceitful world,
Are seized by Death, and fall into the pit like the parrot deceived by the trap.
[ p. 218 ]
None may escape physical death, but it brings salvation to the holy.
III
Man hearing all the instructions of the Veds and the Purans, desireth to perform religious ceremonies to overcome death.
Death hath seized all people, even the wise ; the pandits too depart without hope.
O man, thou hast not succeeded in thy sole object [236] Since thou hast not worshipped the supreme God.
Men have gone to the forests, practised jog, performed austerities, and lived on the tubers and roots they picked up.
The Nadis, [237] the readers of the Veds, the Ekshabdis, and the Monis [238] are all enrolled in Death’s register.
Loving service [239] entereth not into man’s heart ; he pampereth his body and giveth it to Death ;
He hypocritically singeth hymns, but what can he obtain from God ?
Death hath fallen on the whole world ; in his register the sceptical theologian is recorded.
Saith Kabir, they who know God’s love and devotion to God are pure.[240]
The holy are completely saturated with God.
IV
With both mine eyes I look,
But I behold nothing save God ;
Mine eyes gaze affectionately on Him ;
There is now no other subject mentioned.
My doubts have departed, my fear hath fled
Since I applied my mind to God’s name :
When the Actor beateth the drum, [ p. 219 ]
Everybody cometh to see the show.[241]
When the Actor collecteth the stage properties,[242]
He abideth alone in His happiness.
Doubts are not dispelled by the use of words ;
Everybody continueth to talk.
God filleth the heart of him
To whom through the guru’s instruction He hath revealed Himself.
When the guru bestoweth even a little kindness,
Bodies and minds are all absorbed in God.
Saith Kabir, I am dyed with the dye of God,
And have found the munificent Life of the world.
Man under the allegory of a milkmaid is won by the guru from neglect of God.
V
The words of the sacred texts are as seas of milk :
For that ocean let the guru be the churning-staff.
Be thou the churner of that milk ;
Why shouldst thou be despoiled of thy butter ?
O damsel, why makest thou not God thy husband ?
He is the life of the world and the support of the soul.
The strait collar [243] is on thy neck and chains on thy feet ;
God hath sent thee wandering from birth to birth.
Thou heedest not even yet, O damsel ;
Thou art the wretched victim of Death.
It is God who acteth and causeth men to act ;
What power hath the poor handmaiden ?
The damsel whom God awaketh
Attendeth to the duties He assigneth her.
O damsel, where hast thou obtained that wisdom
By which thou hast erased the line of doubt ?
Kabir feeleth great delight,
And by his guru’s favour his mind is happy.
[ p. 220 ]
In reply to an inquiry Kabir describes the happiness he obtained from humility and devotion.
VI
When He without whom one cannot live
Is found, man’s toil is productive.
Men call it a good thing to live for ever,
But there is no life without death.[244]
Where divine knowledge is discussed what more remaineth to be said ?[245]
As we look on, the things of this world pass away ;
As men rub and mix saffron and sandal, so man’s soul is blended with God,
And thus seeth the world without bodily eyes.[246]
Abandonment of the world as a father hath begotten divine knowledge as a son.
Though placed in an unsubstantial city,[247]
I a beggar have found the Giver.
He hath given me so much that I cannot eat it ;
I cannot leave off eating [248] or finish it ;
And I have ceased to go to strangers.
The elect who know life to be death,
Have obtained a mountain of happiness.
Kabir hath obtained that wealth,
And effaced his pride on meeting God.
The lamp of holiness, not the Veds and Purans, lights tip man’s heart.
VII
What availeth reading, what studying, What hearing the Veds and Purans ? What avail reading and listening If divine knowledge be not obtained ? [ p. 221 ]
Thou repeatest not the name of God, O ignorant man ;
Every moment of what thinkest thou ?
A lamp [249] is required in this darkness
To find the One Incomprehensible Thing.[250]
The lamp hath lit up my heart,
And I have found the Incomprehensible Thing.
Saith Kabir, I now recognize Him ;
And when I recognize Him my mind is happy.
People do not believe that my mind is happy ;
But even if they do not, of what consequence is it ?
The following was addressed to a hypocritical Brahman who advised Kabir to bathe at Hindu places of pilgrimage.
VIII
In thy heart is deception, in thy mouth religion ; False man, why churnest thou water ? What advantage is it to bathe the body If there be filth in the heart ?
It the gourd be washed at the sixty-eight places of pilgrimage,
Even then its bitterness will not depart.
Thus saith Kabir deliberately—
Cause me to cross over the terrible ocean, O God.
Men should not practise deceit for the advantage of relations.
IX
With great deceit man acquireth other men’s wealth,
And taketh it and lavisheth it on his son and wife.
O my man, practise not deception even by mistake ;
At the last moment it is thine own soul that shall have to render an account.
Every moment the body wasteth away and old age warneth thee ;
Then no one will pour water into thy hands,
Saith Kabir, thou shalt have no friend then ;
Why not repeat God’s name in thy heart betimes ?
[ p. 222 ]
The guru has shown man how to protect himself from ferocious animals, to which the evil passions are compared.
X
O saints, my wandering mind hath obtained rest.
I reckon that I have obtained my deserts.
The guru hath shown me the passage
Through which wild animals surreptitiously enter.
I have closed the gates thereof,
And spontaneous music playeth for me.
The pitcher of my heart was filled with the water of sin ;
When I upturned it, the water was spilled.[251]
Saith Kabir, the man of God knoweth this,
And knowing it, his mind is happy.
Kabir once felt hungry and rebelled against God.
XI
A hungry man cannot perform service ;
Take back this rosary of Thine.
I only ask for the dust of the saints’ feet,
Since I owe not any man.[252]
O God, how shall I fare if I am shamed before Thee ?
If Thou give me not of Thine own accord, I will beg for it.
I beg for two sers of flour,
A quarter of a ser of clarified butter and salt ;
I beg for half a ser of dal
Which will feed me twice a day.
I beg for a bed with four legs to it,
A pillow and a mattress ;
I beg for a quilt over me,
And then thy slave will cheerfully serve Thee.
I have never been covetous ;
Thy name alone becometh me.[253] [ p. 223 ]
Saith Kabir, my soul is happy ;
And when my soul is happy, then I recognize God.
The gods of the Hindus are ignorant of the Creator.
DHANASARI
I
Beings like Brahma’s four sons, Shiv,
And Sheshnag know not Thy secret.
Through association with the saints God dwelleth in the heart.
Beings like Hanuman and Garnda.
Indar and Brahma, know not, O God, Thine attributes.
The four Veds, the Simritis, and the Purans.
Vishnu, and Lakshmi know them not.
Saith Kabir, he who toucheth God’s feet and seeketh His shelter,
Shall not wander in transmigration.
Life gradually draws to a close : man should practise devotion betimes.
II
Pahars are made up of gharis, days of pahars ; life draweth to a close ; the body pineth away ;
Death wandereth about like a poacher in quest of game : say what shall man do to escape ?
The last day approacheth ;
Mother, father, brother, son, wife— say whose are they ?[254]
As long as the light of life remaineth in man’s body, the brute knoweth not himself.
He is anxious to obtain a long life, but he seeth not Death who is at hand.[255]
Saith Kabir, hear, O mortal dismiss thy mental doubts ;
Repeat only the one Name, O mortal, and seek the asylum of the one God.
[ p. 224 ]
Salvation depends on the state of man’s heart not on the place of his death.
III
What is strange to him who knoweth something of the love and service of God ?
As water when blended with water separateth not again, so the weaver [256] hath blended with God.
O men of God, I am out of my senses —
If Kabir leave his body at Banaras, what obligation is he under to God ?[257]
Saith Kabir, hear, O people, let no one make a mistake ;
What difference is there between Banaras and the barren Magahar, if God be in the heart ?
Kabir requires nothing but God’s name.
IV
It is through insufficient devotion men go
To the heavens of Indra and Shiv and are born again.
What shall I pray for ? nothing is stable.
Keep God’s name in thy heart ;
Fame, power, wealth, and greatness
Help no one at the last moment.
Say who hath derived any happiness
From son, wife, or wealth.
Saith Kabir, nothing else availeth me ;
The name of God is sufficient wealth for my heart.
Remember and love God.
V
Remember God, remember God, remember God, my brethren !
Without remembering God’s name the majority of men shall be lost.
Wife, son, body, house, and wealth confer happiness ; [ p. 225 ]
But none of these shall be thine when the time of death arriveth.
Ajamal, the elephant, and the courtesan committed sinful acts ;
Yet they were saved by repeating God’s name.
My brethren, you have wandered in the wombs of pigs and dogs, and yet you are not ashamed.
Why forsake the ambrosia of God’s name and eat poison ?
Abandon doubt regarding acts which are prescribed as well as those which are forbidden, and take God’s name.
The slave Kabir saith, by the favour of the guru love God.
SUHI
Kabir calls on a worldly man to render an account of his life.
I
Having been born what hast thou done ? Thou hast never repeated God’s name. Thou wilt not repeat His name ; of what thinkest thou ?
What preparation art thou making for death, O luckless one ?
Though through woe and weal thou hast brought up thy family,
At the time of death thou shalt bear thy troubles alone. When Death seizeth thee by the neck, thou shalt utter loud cries.
Saith Kabir, why did I not remember God before ?
The condition of one who fears God.
II
My woman’s heart palpitateth and trembleth ;
I know not how my Spouse will treat me.
The night hath passed away ; let not the days also pass. [258]
The black flies have gone ; the white cranes have now taken their place.[259] [ p. 226 ]
As water will not remain in a frail vessel,[260]
So the soul departeth when the body hath faded.
I adorn myself like a young virgin,
But how can I enjoy dalliance without my Spouse ?
My arm is pained from driving away the crows.
Saith Kabir, this tale is at an end.[261]
A dialogue between the soul and the messengers of Death. He who feels God’s love needs have no apprehension.
III
Thy stewardship being ended, thou must give thine account,
When the cruel messengers of Death come to take thee.
They will ask thee what thou hast earned, and where thou hast squandered it ;
They will say to thee, ‘Come quickly, thou art summoned to court ;
‘ The warrant of God’s court hath come for thee.’ Thou shalt implore them, and say, ‘I have to collect some outstandings in the village,
‘ And I shall adjust my accounts to-night ;
‘ I will also pay you something for your expenses ;[262]
‘ At dawn we shall pray at an inn on the road.’ [263]
Blest, blest is he and fortunate is his lot,
Who feeleth God’s love by association with the saints.
That man shall ever be happy in this world and the next ;
He hath won the priceless prize of human birth.
He who while awake to the world is asleep to God [264] hath lost that birth ;
The property and wealth he hath accumulated shall become another’s.
Saith Kabir, that man hath gone astray, [ p. 227 ]
Who forgetting the Bridegroom hath mixed himself up with things of clay.
When avarice only departs with life and there is no thought of God, human birth is in vain.
IV
The eyes grow weary of seeing, the ears grow weary of hearing, this fair body groweth weary.
When old age urgeth thee, all thy senses grow weary ; the desire for wealth alone wearieth not.
O foolish man, thou hast not obtained divine knowledge and meditation ;
Thou hast lost thy human birth in vain.
O mortal, serve God as long as there is breath in thy body ;
Even though thy body perish, let not thy love for Him perish ; dwell thou at His feet.
He in whose heart God hath implanted His Word hath ceased to thirst.
Let the comprehension of God’s will be thy game of chaupar, and the conquest of thy heart the throwing of the dice.
They who know and worship God shall not perish. Saith Kabir , they who know how to throw such dice shall never lose their game.
Kabir has triumphed over his evil passions, his senses, and death itself.
V
There are five kings of one fortress ; the whole five ask for revenue [265] —
I have not tilled land belonging to any of them ; it would be hard on me to pay a tax for nothing.
O God’s people, the village accountant [266] continually worried me, [ p. 228 ]
But I raised my arms aloft, complained to my guru, and he saved me.
Nine surveyors [267] and ten judges [268] go on tour, and will not allow the agriculturists [269] to live ;
They measure not with a full tape, and they take many bribes.
The one Being who is contained in the seventy-two chambers of the body hath written off my account ;
I have searched Dharmraj’s office, and find I owe him not an atom.
Let no one revile the saints ; the saints and God are one. Saith Kabir, I have obtained that Guru whose name is Bibeko.[270]
Death triumphs over all except God’s sincere worshippers.
BILAWAL
I
This world is like a show ; none may remain here ;
Proceed the straight way, otherwise thou shalt be severely buffeted.
Children, the old, and the young, O my brethren, shall all be taken away by Death.
God hath made poor man like a mouse ; Death like a cat eateth him up ;
He payeth no regard to rich or poor ;
He destroy eth kings equally with their subjects — so mighty is Death !
They who please God become His worshippers, and theirs is a special case ;
They neither come nor go ; [271] they never die ; God is with them.
Know in your hearts that by forsaking son, wife, wealth, and property which are perishable, [ p. 229 ]
Saith Kabir, you shall meet the Lord ; hear this, O ye saints.
Kabir is frenzied with devotion.
II
I am not skilled in book knowledge, nor do I understand controversy ;
I have grown mad reciting and hearing God’s praises.
O father, I am mad ; the whole world is sane ; I am mad ;
I am ruined ; let not others be ruined likewise ;
I have not grown mad of mine own will ; God hath made me mad —
The true guru hath dispelled my doubts —
I am ruined, and have lost my intellect ;
Let nobody be led astray in doubts like mine.
He who knoweth not himself is mad ;
When one knoweth himself he knoweth the one God.
He who is not intoxicated with divine love in this human birth shall never be so.
Saith Kabir, I am dyed with the dye of God.[272]
Kabir’s self-abasement.
Ill
Though man leave his home for the forest region and gather tubers to live on,
His sinful and evil mind even then abandoneth not misdeeds.
How shall I be saved ? how cross over the great terrible ocean ?
Preserve me, preserve me, O God ; I Thy slave have come to Thine asylum.
The desire to gratify my evil passions forsaketh me not ;
Though I make many efforts to guard myself against them, I am entangled in them again and again.
My life hath passed — youth and old age — no good have I done ; [ p. 230 ]
This priceless human life attached itself to a kauri and became like it.
Saith Kabir, O my God, Thou art contained in everything ;
There is none so merciful as Thou, none so sinful as I.
The superiority of God’s saint,
V
There is no king equal to God ;
All the kings of this world are only for four days, they make false display.[273]
Why should the slave of Him who overshadoweth the three worlds waver ?[274]
Who can lay hands on him when one cannot even speak with due respect before him ?
O thoughtless and foolish mind of mine, think upon God, and the unbeaten music of ecstasy shall play for thee.
Saith Kabir, all my doubts and uncertainties are at an end ; God hath favoured me as He did Dhru and Prahlad.
Kabir depreciates himself.
VI
Preserve me, O God, though I have offended Thee.
I have not practised humility, the duties of my religion, repetition of Thy name, or worship ; I am proud, I wear my turban on the side of my head.
Believing this body immortal I have pampered the frail and perishable vessel ;
I have forgotten Him who made and favoured me, and I have attached myself to strangers.
I am Thy house-breaker and not Thy saint ; I fall at Thy feet for protection —
Saith Kabir, hear this supplication ; send me not intelligence of death.[275]
[ p. 231 ]
An appeal to God.
VII
O God, I stand wearied at Thy court ;
Who but Thee careth for me ? open Thy door and shoM’ Thyself unto me.
Thou art my wealth, O Master ; Thou art generous ; Thou art lavish ; I hear with mine ears Thy great praise.
Of whom shall I beg ? I see every one poor ; from Thee alone I obtain salvation.
Thou didst confer endless favour on Jaidev, Namdev, and the Brahman Sudama.
Saith Kabir, Thou art all powerful, Thou art generous, Thou bestowest the four blessings without delay.
The following was addressed to a Jogi : —
VIII
Thou dependest on a club, earrings, and patched coat ;
In error thou wanderest in a Jogi’s garb.
Put away thy devotional attitudes and thy suspension of breath ;
Abandon deception, and ever worship God, O fool.
The wealth thou beggest for, the three worlds have enjoyed.[276]
Saith Kabir, God is the only Jogi in the world. [277]
Kabir mourns his lukewarmness and condemns all worldly things.
IX
O Sovereign of the world, Lord of the earth, mammon hath caused me to forget Thy feet.
Even a little affection for Thee is not felt by Thy slave ; what shall Thy poor slave do ?
Curse on this body, curse on this wealth, curse on these worldly things, a double curse on this perishable intellect and understanding !
O man, firmly restrain this worldly love.; if thou subjugate it, thou shalt be saved.[278] [ p. 232 ]
What availeth agriculture ? what commerce ? false is worldly pride.
Saith Kabir, they who practise such things are ultimately ruined, and death cometh to them at last.
The soul’s dependence is on God, not on the perishable body.
X
The body is a lake in which a peerless lotus [279] bloometh ;
The Supreme Being who hath neither outline nor form, the Primal Light, is within it.
O my soul, worship that God, abandon doubt ; God is the life of the world.
The soul is not seen either coming or going, as is the body.
Where the body is born, there it perisheth [280] like the leaves of the water lily.
They who knowing the world to be transitory abandon it, are happy in the contemplation of God.
Saith Kabir, worship God in thy heart.
During life Kabir was absorbed in God as the sound of a bronze vessel is absorbed in it when broken,
XI
Since my attention is fixed on God, I no longer suspect that I shall suif er transmigration ;[281]
Even in life I am absorbed in the Infinite ; the guru’s instruction hath awakened me.
The sound which is produced from bronze blendeth again with it ;
When the bronze is broken, O Pandit, where will the sound be ?
At the union of the three breaths [282] in the brain I have seen Him who is awake in every heart, [ p. 233 ]
And now such understanding hath entered my heart that I have abandoned the world.
When I knew myself, my light was blended with God’s light—
Saith Kabir, I now know God and my mind is satisfied.
The holy man will not waver but be everywhere happy.
XII
O God, why should that man waver in whose heart abide Thy lotus feet ?
Believe that all happiness and the nine treasures are his who tranquilly repeateth God’s praises.
When God openeth the hard knot, [283] man shall be wise enough to behold Him in everything.
He who ever avoideth worldly love and weigheth his heart in the scale of meditation,
Shall be happy wherever he goeth, O Lord, and worldly love shall not sway him.
Saith Kabir, my heart is happy since it hath been absorbed in God’s love.
An inquirer asked Kabir with whom one should converse. The following was his reply : —
GAUND
I
When thou meet est a saint, have some conversation with him ;
When thou meet est a man who is not a saint, remain silent.
Kabir was asked again —
O father, if I speak what shall I speak about ?
For instance, ‘ Continue to repeat God’s name.’
They who talk to saints confer advantage on others ;
They who talk to fools talk in vain. [ p. 234 ]
By incessant talking with them sin increaseth ;
If I speak not to them, what harm can the wretches do me ?[284]
Saith Kabir, an empty vessel soundeth ;
When it is full it never giveth forth a sound.
Man’s dead body is much more worthless than that of a beast, and consequently an object of contempt.
II
When a man dieth he is of no use ;
When a beast dieth he is of ten uses.
What do I know regarding my fate ;
What do I know, O sir ?
Man’s bones burn like a heap of fire-wood ;
His hair burnetii like a bundle of grass.
Saith Kabir, man only awaketh
When the club of Death toucheth his head.
God is everywhere, even in the acts which attach to the soul.
III
God abideth in the heaven above, in the earth heneath, and in every direction.
The Supreme Being is ever the root of joy ; the body may perish, but God shall not.
I am anxious to know
Whence the soul cometh and whither it goeth.
Five elements combined form the body ; out of what were the elements formed ?
Thou sayest that the soul is bound by its acts ; who gave life to the acts ?
The body is contained in God, God in the body ; He is uninterruptedly in all things.
Saith Kabir, I will not abandon God’s name, come what may.
[ p. 235 ]
The soul described by negatives.
V
Somebody asked Kabir : —
What is that whose limit hath never been found,
Which dwelleth within the temple of the body ?
Kabir replied — It is neither man nor demigod ;
It is not a Jati or a worshipper of Shiv ;
It is not a Jogi or an Audhut ;
It hath no mother, nor is it any one’s son ;
It is not a householder or an anchoret ;
It is not a king or a beggar ;
It hath neither a body nor a drop of blood ;
It is not a Brahman or a Khatri ;
It is not an ascetic or a shaikh ;
It is not born, nor is it observed to die ;
Whoever weepeth for its death
Shall lose his honour.[285]
By the favour of the guru, I have found the steep way ;
Birth and death have both been erased for me.
Saith Kabir, this soul is a part of God,
As ink cannot be erased from paper.[286]
Kabir’s wife thus addressed him on the neglect of his trade and his attentions to saints.
VI
Thy threads are broken, thy size is at an end.
Thy reeds shine over the door,
Thy poor brush hath gone to pieces —
May death light on this shaven fellow’s head !
This shaven fellow hath lost all his property.
I am persecuted by those fakirs coming and going.[287] [ p. 236 ]
Kabir now never speaketh of his beam or his shuttle ;
His mind is only concerned with the name of God.
His daughter and sons have nothing to eat ;
Men with shaven heads are crammed night and day ;
One or two are in the house, and one or two on the way.
We have only a pallet on the ground ; they get a bed to sleep on.
They rub their heads with satisfaction and carry books in their waist-bands ;
We get parched pulse, they bread to eat.
The shaven-heads and my shaven-headed husband have become all one.
Kabir replieth — These shaven-heads are the support of the drowning.
Hear, O blind misguided Loi,
Kabir hath taken the protection of these shaven-heads.
When man dies, mammon, who is described, weeps not for him.
VII
When the husband dieth, his wife weepeth not. [288] .
She findeth another protector ;
And when that protector also dieth,
Hell awaiteth him though he have enjoyed pleasures here.
One woman [289] alone is dear to the world ;
She is the wife of all sentient beings.
With a necklace on her neck she looketh beautiful ;
She pleaseth the world, but is hateful as poison to the holy.
Adorning herself she either sitteth like an abandoned woman,
Or the wretch wandereth about accursed of the saints.
When the saints flee from her, she pursueth them ;
But, by the favour of the guru, she feareth punishment.
She is the body and soul of the infidel ;
Her dreadful witch’s eye falleth on me. [ p. 237 ]
When the merciful holy guru met me,
I became well acquainted with her secrets.[290]
Saith Kabir, I have now turned her out,
And she hath attached herself to the skirt of the world.
A further description of mammon.
VIII
The guest cometh and departeth hungry
From the house which hath no wealth.
The guest loseth patience,
And the host is blamed because he hath not means to entertain him.
Hail to the woman who hath turned the heads
Of very holy men and penitents high and low !
She is a miser’s daughter ;
Rejecting God’s worshippers she sleepeth with everybody.
At last standing at the saints’ door,
She saith, ‘ I have sought your protection, save me ! ’
The woman is very beautiful ;
Her ornaments tinkle on her feet ;
As long as man is alive she attacheth herself to him ;
When he dieth she quickly departeth without waiting for her shoes.
The woman hath conquered the three worlds ;
She hath made the eighteen Purans and the places of pilgrimage love her ;
She hath pierced the hearts of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiv,
And infatuated great kings and sovereigns.
There are no bounds to the woman ;
She is in collusion with the five evil passions.
Where the vessels of the five evil passions burst,
Saith Kabir, I was delivered thence by the favour of the guru.
Without a guru man must fall and perish.
IX
If the rafters be taken from a house, the roof will fall ; So without God’s name how can man be saved ? [ p. 238 ]
As water will not remain without a vessel,
So without a religious guide man shall go to hell.
Burn him who thinketh not on God,
But whose mind is ever absorbed in the field of his body.
As without a ploughman land cannot be tilled,
As without a thread jewels cannot be strung,
And as without a loop clothes cannot be fastened,
So without a holy guide man shall go to hell.
As a child cannot be born without a father and mother,
As clothes cannot be washed without water,
As one cannot ride without an equipage,
As without music there cannot be dancing,
So without a guru man cannot reach God’s court.
As the bad woman leaving her husband looketh for another, thus eager should man be to obtain a guru.
Saith Kabir, do one thing — Become holy and thou shalt not die again.
The following hymn was a reply to some one who had addressed vile abuse to Kabir and called him a pander, a dancer, a street- walker, and a thief : —
X
Is he a pander [291] who chasteneth his heart ?
He who chasteneth his heart shall escape from death.
The pander who thoroughly chasteneth his heart, and applieth to it the touch-stone of love,
Shall obtain complete deliverance.
Whom do you call a pander, O people ?
In everything that is spoken discrimination should be used.
Is he a dancer who danceth with his mind,
Who is not satisfied with falsehood, who is pleased with truth,
And who beateth time with his heart in the presence of God ?
God, whose mind is pure, preserveth such a dancer.[292] [ p. 239 ]
Is he a street-walker who sweepeth the market-place,[293]
And lighteth up the five wicks ?[294]
I accept as my guru that street-walker
Who embraceth the service of the lord of the nine continents.[295]
Is he a thief who is not envious,
Who uttereth God’s name and curbeth his senses ?
Saith Kabir, blessings on my divine guru,
Who possesseth all such qualities and who is very handsome and clever.
The following is an encomium on the staff of life :—
XI
Hail, O God, hail, O divine guru !
Hail to the corn by which the hearts of the hungry rejoice ! Hail to that saint who realizeth this ! He shall meet God.
Corn cometh from the Primal Being —
Repeat God’s name with the relish of corn.
Praise His name, praise His corn ;
With water pleasant is its taste.
He who abstaineth from corn,[296]
Shall lose his honour in the three worlds.[297]
She [298] who abandoneth corn and practiseth hypocrisy,
Is neither a wife nor a widow.[299]
They who publicly boast that they live on milk,
Secretly eat a whole five sers of corn.
Without corn no one is happy ;
Abandon corn and you shall not meet God.
Saith Kabir, such is what I think ;
Blessings on that corn by which man loveth his God !
[ p. 240 ]
The following was addressed to a Jogi who endeavoured to induce Kabir to drink wine.
Ramkali I
Make thy body the vat, the guru’s instruction thy molasses;
Cut up avarice, lust, wrath, pride, and envy as thy kikar bark ; thus mix thy yeast.
Is there any saint, in whose heart composure and happiness dwell, to whom I may offer my devotion and penance as commission for procuring me such wine ?
I will give my soul and body for one drop of the wine which that vat produceth.
I have made the fourteen worlds my furnace, and heated it with the fire of divine knowledge ;[300]
I have sealed the still with the gentle sound of God’s name, and plastered it with what yieldeth mental happiness.
Pilgrimage, fasting, daily religious ceremonies, purifications, and austerities at eclipses of the sun and moon I would pledge for that wine.
Make meditation thy cup, God’s ambrosial name the pure juice, and drink that elixir;
From such a still a very pure trickling stream ever issueth, and the soul is delighted therewith.
Saith Kabir, all other wines are insipid ; this is the true elixir.
On the same subject.
II
Make divine knowledge thy molasses, meditation thy bassia flow T ers, and the fear of God in thy heart thy furnace :
The drinker who is absorbed in God by means of the breath of the sukhmana imbibeth such wine.
O Jogi, my mind is intoxicated —
When that wine ascendeth to the brain man relisheth no other ; [301] there is then light in the three worlds. : [ p. 241 ]
Joining God and the soul I have prepared a furnace and drunk the excellent elixir ;
I have burnt lust and wrath as firewood, and escaped from worldliness.
The light of divine knowledge appeared to me when I met my true guru and obtained understanding.
The slave Kabir is intoxicated with that wine, and will never abstain therefrom.[302]
Kabir was likened to a Kotwal for his severity to the wicked, and to a dog for his barking. He accepted both imputations.
IV
I honour the saints and I punish the wicked ; this is my court-house.[303]
I shampoo Thy feet, O God, day and night ; I turn my hair into a chauri and wave it over Thee.
I am the dog at Thy court ;
I bark in front of it [304] putting forward my snout.
In a former birth I was Thy servant ; that position I cannot now resign.
The gentle order of Thy court was branded on my forehead.[305]
They who bear such brand fight bravely in battle ; they who bear it not flee away.
He who is holy knoweth how to serve God, and God putteth him into His treasury.[306]
In the house of the body is the chamber of the heart, which becometh the most precious chamber of all when filled with meditation on God.
The guru hath granted God’s name, the Real Thing, to Kabir, saying, ‘ Take it and guard it ’ ;
Kabir hath offered it to the world, but only he who was so destined receiveth it —[ p. 242 ]
Abiding is the married state of her who hath found the immortal elixir.
The Brahman trusts not to God but to the Veds and the Gayatri, and hence he shall be lost.
V
Why shouldst thou, O Brahman, forget Him from whose mouth the Veds and the Gayatri issued ?
Why shouldst not thou, O Pandit, utter the name of God, whose feet every one toucheth ?
O my Brahman, why not repeat God’s name ?
If thou utter not His name, O Pandit, thou shalt be cast into hell.
Thou callest thyself exalted, yet thou eatest in the houses of the low, and fillest thy belly by the exaction of alms.[306:1]
On the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the half month thou devisest tales and beggest, but even with a lamp in thy hand thou shalt fall into the pit.
Thou art a Brahman, I am a weaver of Banaras ; how can I be a match for thee ?
By repeating the name of God I have been saved, while thou, O Pandit, shalt be lost by trusting to the Veds.
A mystic hymn in which God is represented under the allegory of a tree.
VI
There is one tree ; [307] it hath endless branches and shoots ; its blossoms [308] and leaves [309] are filled with nectar.[310]
This world is a garden [311] of ambrosia ; God who is perfect hath created it.
The few holy men in whose hearts the light of God shineth,
Know the story of my beloved sovereign God.
One bumble-bee [312] intoxicated with the juice of the flowers [ p. 243 ] hath fixed his mind within the twelve petals of the lotus of the heart ;
He then raising his breath to the lotus of sixteen petals in his brain gaineth the ecstatic fruit thereof.[313]
Another tree [314] was produced in the silent vacuum ; it dried up the waters of the earth ;[315]
Saith Kabir, I am a servant of those who have seen that tree.[316]
The following was addressed to a Jogi : —
VII
Make silence thine earrings, mercy thy wallet, and meditation thy cup ;
Stitch thy body for thy patched coat, and make the Name thy support.
O Jogi, practise such Jog
That thou may est while enjoying the world perform thy devotion, penance, and austerities under the guru’s instruction.
Make the knowledge of God the ashes thou smearest on thy body, [317] and meditation thy horn ;
Abandoning the world, roam in the city of the body, and play thy heart as a kinguri ;
Plant the five virtues in thy heart so that thy contemplation may be undisturbed by the world.
Saith Kabir, hear, O saints, make honesty and mercy your garden.
[ p. 244 ]
Kabir in a fit of introspection and self-abasement addressed himself.
VIII
For what object wast thou born in the world, and what advantage hast thou gained from thy human birth ?
Thou hast not applied thy mind even for a moment to God, the Fulfiller of desires, the Vessel to take thee across the terrible ocean,
O God, such sinners are we,
That we have never performed service for that Lord who gave us our souls and bodies.
The passion to possess others’ wealth, children, and wives, and to slander and calumniate others hath not forsaken us.
We suffer transmigration again and again ; this law is not broken.
I have not wandered even for a moment to where the conversation of the saints of God is held.
Libertines, thieves, panders, and drunkards — with them have I ever consorted.
My possessions are lust, wrath, covetousness, pride, and envy.
Mercy, honesty, and service to the guru have not come to me even in my dreams.
O God, compassionate to the poor, merciful, dear to the saints, Remover of fear,
Prayeth Kabir, preserve Thine afflicted slave, O God, and I will perform Thy service.
Remember God and do Him homage.
IX
Remember in thy heart the Being,
By whose remembrance thou shalt obtain the gate of deliverance,
Go to heaven, and return not to this world.
Play the trumpets in the house of the Fearless One,
And the unbeaten strain shall ever fully resound for thee.
Without remembering Him deliverance can never be obtained. [ p. 245 ]
Heartily bow before the Being,
By remembering whom none may refuse thee ;
Who conferreth salvation by which great loads of sin drop off,
And thy transmigration is at an end.
Remember Him through whom thou en joy est thyself,
And an everburning [318] lamp shall be placed within thee —
The lamp [319] which rendereth the world immortal,
And expelleth the poison of lust and wrath.
Twine and wear on thy neck the rosary
Of Him by remembering whom Thy salvation shall be obtained.
Wear that rosary, doff it not,
And by the favour of the guru thou shalt be saved.
Remember the Beloved day and night,
And thou shalt have no regard for men ;
Thou shalt sleep at home in silken bed-clothes,
And thy heart shall be gladdened by a pleasant couch
Ever remember God in thy heart and sing His praises.
By remembering Him thy troubles shall depart,
And Maya affect thee not.
From the true guru learn how to remember God ;
Remember Him ever day and night.
Standing or sitting, at every expiration and inspiration,
Waking or sleeping, enjoy the sweets of remembering Him ;
By remembering God thou shalt be united with Him. [320]
Make the remembrance of God’s name thy support ;
By remembering Him no weight of sin shall oppress thee.
Neither wrought nor spoken incantations can prevail with Him,[321]
Saith Kabir, who hath no limit.
[ p. 246 ]
The condition of him who has put his passions under subjection.
X
He who hath captivated the captivators, [322]
Shall obtain deliverance, and the guru shall put out the fire of his passions. [323]
When I had thoroughly examined my heart,
I made my ablutions within it.
To dwell in God, the Lord of life, is the best thing ;
There is then no death, or birth, or decay.
Turning away from mammon I restrained my mind,
And I entered the region of God. [324]
I have pierced the serpent’s way, [325]
And assuredly met God.
Worldly love and mammon no more affect me ;
The sun hath restrained the moon. [326]
When I completely stopped my breath,
The lute played spontaneously.
The preacher hath communicated this instruction ;
The hearer hath heard and treasured it in his heart.
He who acteth according to it shall be saved,
Saith Kabir verily.
God is a luminous diamond whose light fills creation.
XI
The moon and sun are both forms of light ;
God the unequalled pervadeth their light.
O wise man, meditate on God
In whose light creation is contained.
Beholding God, the Diamond, I prostrate myself before Him.
Saith Kabir, He is bright and yet invisible.
[ p. 247 ]
Some Hindus asked Kabir to give them instruction, upon which he composed the following :—
XII
O world, be alert and wakeful ; even while awake you are being robbed, my brethren.
Even while the Veds, who are alert sentinels, look on, Death will take you away.
The fool, the blockhead, and the pagan think that the nim is a mango, and the mango a nim;[326:1]
That a ripe plantain-tree [327] is but a prickly bush, and that the fruit of the coco-nut [328] is like the ripe fruit of the simmal.
God is the sugar which hath been spilled in the dust ; it cannot be picked up by the elephant.
Saith Kabir, renounce family, caste, and lineage, become an ant, and thou canst pick up and eat the sugar.
A remonstrance to a Brahman for offering animal sacrifice to an idol.
MARU
I
O Pandit, what folly meditatest thou ?
Thou shalt be ruined with all thy family for not having repeated God’s name, O luckless man.
What availeth thee to read the Veds and the Purans ? It is like loading a donkey with sandal whose perfume he valueth not.
Thou knowest not how to repeat God’s name ; how shalt thou be saved ?
Thou takest life and deemest it religious ; tell me, my brother, what thou callest irreligious.
Thou makest thyself out an excellent muni ; whom callest thou a butcher ?
Mentally blind thou knowest not thyself ;[329] [ p. 248 ]
What shalt thou cause others to know ?
Thou sellest knowledge for money, thy life passeth in vain.
Narad and Vyas declare— and thou mayest go and ask Shukdev also —
Saith Kabir, too, by uttering the name of God ye shall be delivered ; otherwise ye shall perish, my brethren.
It is the condition of the heart, not man’s garb or place of residence, which produces happiness.
II
Unless you remove evil from your hearts, how shall you find God by dwelling in the forest ?
They who deem their own homes equal to the forest are perfect among men.
You shall obtain true happiness,
If you lovingly repeat the name of the Life of the world.
What avail wearing matted hair, smearing yourselves with ashes, and dwelling in caves ?
He who hath conquered his own heart hath conquered the world, because he is free from the deadly sins.
All people use eye-wash, but there is a difference in their blandishments.
The eyes to which the surma of divine knowledge is applied, are acceptable to God.
Saith Kabir, I now know God ; the guru hath explained divine knowledge to me ;
I have met God who dwelleth in the heart ; my mind shall now no more wander.
The following was addressed to a Jogi whom Kabir found begging and boasting that he had obtained all spiritual wealth and perfection : —
III
What hath he who hath obtained spiritual wealth and supernatural power to do with any one ?
What shall I say regarding thy language ? I am much ashamed to speak to thee.
He who hath obtained God, [ p. 249 ]
Wandereth not from door to door.
This false world greatly burneth for wealth in the hope of using it for a few days.
Whosoever drinketh God’s water shall not be thirsty again ;
He who knoweth God by the favour of the guru abandoneth all worldly desires.
When the heart is withdrawn from the world, the True One appeareth everywhere.
The name of God saveth him who hath tasted its savour.
Saith Kabir, I have become gold, my doubts have fled, and I have crossed the ocean.
It was made a reproach to Kabir that he being a weaver dared preach to men of high caste. Upon this he preached equality of all men.
IV
As the bubbles of the river are accounted water and blend with the water of the ocean,
So the man who looketh on all with an equal eye, shall become pure and blend with the Infinite.
Why should I return to this world ?
Transmigration taketh place by God’s order ; he who obeyeth it shall blend with Him.
When this fabric of five elements perisheth, my wandering shall be at an end.
Forswearing sects, I look on all as equal and meditate on the one Name.
I devote myself to and perform the duties which God assigned me.
If God bestow mercy on me, I shall be absorbed in Him under the instruction of my guru.
He who in life is in death, and who from death [330] returneth to life shall not be born again.
Saith Kabir, he who is permeated with the Name fixeth his love on God.
[ p. 250 ]
Kabir in a vision beheld God and rushed to embrace Him, but was repulsed. The following was composed on the occasion : —
V
If Thou repulse me, then show me the way of deliverance ; One God in many forms, Thou art contained in everything ; why dost Thou now illude me ?
O God, whither dost Thou take me for salvation ?
I ask Thee where Thou wilt give me salvation and of what degree, [331] seeing that by Thy favour I have already obtained it ?
I called Thee my future saviour until I knew the reality ; [332] I have now become pure in heart, saith Kabir, and my mind is happy.
Kabir is said to have uttered the following to a man whom he found committing an act of immorality.
VI
Rawan had to leave the golden fortress and strongholds which he had made —
O man, why actest thou as it pleaseth thyself ?
When Death cometh and catcheth thee by the hair, only God’s name will save thee.
Death and life are the work of God ; this deceitful world is only an entanglement ;
Saith Kabir, they who have the elixir of God in their hearts shall ultimately be saved.
The body likened to a village, the soul to its headman, and the senses to its agriculturists.
VII
The body is a village ; the soul placed therein is its headman ; five husbandmen dwell in it —
The. senses — eyes, nose, ear, tongue, and touch — which obey not my orders. [ p. 251 ]
O father, I shall no longer dwell in this village ;
The accountants called Chitr and Gupt ask for an account of every moment of mine,
So when Dharmraj calleth for my account, there will be a heavy balance against me.
The five husbandmen will then have all fled, and the bailiffs will arrest the soul.
Saith Kabir, hear, O holy men, settle your accounts on the field ;[333]
Pardon for this once thy slave, so that he may not have to return to this terrible ocean.
A Bairagi who had come from Dwaraka told Kabir he had seen God there, and he asked him to go^ there too, and he would also see God. Upon this the following colloquy occurred.
VIII
O Bairagi, no one hath seen the Fearless One ;
Can the Fearless One be obtained without fearing Him ? ‘ Certainly not. ’[334]
O Bairagi, if man were to see the Lord present, he would feel fear ;
He who obeyeth God’s order is without fear — ‘ Certainly.’
O Bairagi, though all people are imbued with hypocrisy, Practise it not thou before God — ‘ Certainly not. ’
O Bairagi, men set not covetousness aside ;
Egoism hath destroyed the body — ‘ Certainly.’
O Bairagi, the fire of care hath burnt the body,
But thou shalt escape from it if thou deaden thy feelings — ‘Certainly.’
Without a true guru there can be no contempt of the world, O Bairagi,
Even though everybody desire it — ‘ Certainly.’
O Bairagi, if it be God’s will, thou shalt meet the true guru, [ p. 252 ]
And shalt easily obtain God—‘ Certainly.’
Saith Kabir, O Bairagi, address one prayer to God,
To take thee over the terrible ocean — ‘ Certainly.’
Krishan was one day going to visit Duryodhan, but he heard that Duryodhan was then holding court. Krishan, in order to avoid the regal ceremonial and entertainments connected therewith, remained the night with Vidur. Next day when Krishan and Duryodhan met, the latter upbraided him in a friendly manner for not having gone straight to him. The following is Krishan’s reply : —
IX
O king, who would go to thee ?
I have seen such affection on Vidur’s part that the poor man pleaseth me.
Beholding thine elephants, thou hast been lost in error and hast not recognized God.
I consider Vidur’s water as nectar in comparison with thy milk.
I got vegetables without condiment, but to me they were equal to khir, and the night passed in Vidur’s singing God’s praises.
Kabir’s God is joyous and happy, and payeth no attention to anybody’s caste.
SLOKS
The following two sloks in the Rag Maru are attributed to Kabir. The battle referred to is perhaps intended to represent man’s struggle with his evil passions. These are the only lines in the Granth Sahib relating to war.
When the drums sound aloud, the conspicuous warriors fall wounded ;[335] [ p. 253 ]
The brave have entered the battle-field ; now is the time for combat.
Recognize him as a hero who fighteth for the love of his religion ;
He may die cut in pieces, but will never desert the battlefield.
The following was a sharp remonstrance addressed to some men of high rank.
X
You have forgotten your religion, O madmen ; you have forgotten your religion.
You fill your bellies, you sleep like beasts, you have lost your human births ;
You have never associated with saints, but have adopted false occupations ;
You wander like dogs, pigs, and ravens ;
You deem yourselves great and others small ;[336]
I have seen you going to hell in thought, word, and deed.
The lustful, the wrathful, the deceitful, the dissemblers, [337] and the idlers,
Pass their time in doing evil and never remember God.
Saith Kabir, fools, blockheads, and pagans reflect not ;
They know not God’s name ; how shall they be saved ?
Men should remember God and not be led astray by worldly pleasures.
XI
Remember God or thou shalt repent it ;
O sinful soul, thou practisest avarice, but thou shalt depart to-day or to-morrow.
Through thine attachment to avarice and being led astray by mammon, thou hast wasted thy life.
Be not proud of thy wealth and youth ; they dissolve like paper. [ p. 254 ]
When Death cometh and seizeth thee by the hair and knocketh thee down, on that day shalt thou be powerless.
Thou hast not remembered God, or worshipped Him, or shown mercy to His creatures, therefore shalt thou be smitten on the mouth.
When Dharmraj asketh for thine account, what face shalt thou show him ?
Saith Kabir, hear, ye good men, ye shall be saved in the company of the holy.
The condition of him who has obtained salvation during life.
KEDARA
I
They who abandon praise as well as blame, who reject honour as well as dishonour,
Who consider iron and gold the same, are the image of God —
Few, O Lord, are Thy servants !
They who abandon lust, wrath, covetousness, and worldly love behold God’s feet.
What are called the qualities of impulse, ignorance, and goodness are all contained in Thy Maya.
Only they who understand the fourth degree, have obtained the supreme position ;
They never entertain love for pilgrimages, fasting, or for the religious ceremonies, purifications, and austerities of the superstitious.
By meditating on God, avarice, worldly love, and doubt depart ;
The darkness of the mansion in which the lamp of divine knowledge burneth is dispelled ;
Its owner abideth completely fearless, and his doubts have lied ; saith Kabir, I am his slave.[338]
The saint deals in holiness and is thus emancipated during life.
II
Some deal in bronze and copper, others in cloves and betel-nut ; [ p. 255 ]
The saints deal in God’s name ; that is my merchandise.
O dealers in the name of God,
The priceless diamond hath come to hand, and worldly thoughts have fled.
They whom the True One attached to truth, remain attached to it ; truth is their occupation.
They dispatched a load of the true thing, and it reached God the storekeeper.
God is Himself the gem, the jewel, and the precious stone ;
He is Himself the jeweller ;
He is in every direction immovable ;
He setteth everything in motion ;
He is a permanent dealer.
O man, make thy heart the ox, meditation the road, fill thy sack with divine knowledge, and load it on the ox ;
Saith Kabir, hear, O saints, my goods have arrived at their destination.
The following was addressed to a Jogi who fortified himself for his austerities by potations of wine.
Ill
O ignorant and stupid brawler, [339] reverse thy breath and direct it to thy brain ;
Then turn thy brain into a furnace, draw the nectareous stream, and thou shalt become divinely intoxicated.
O brother, call upon God for assistance.
O saints, ever drink this wine so difficult to obtain, and your thirst shall easily be quenched.
In the fear of God is love ; he who knoweth this shall obtain God’s elixir, my brother.
Ambrosia is in every heart ; God giveth it to whomsoever He pleaseth.
There is one city ; [340] it hath nine gates ;
Restrain thy wandering mind from issuing by them.
After the exercise of the ira, pingla, and sukhmana, the tenth gate openeth and the mind becometh intoxicated. [ p. 256 ]
When the soul obtaineth the fully fearless dignity, suffering is at an end, saith Kabir deliberately.
Turning from the way of the world I have obtained this wine, a cup of which causeth divine intoxication.
Religious instruction addressed to a dissolute fop.
IV
Thou who art saturated with lust, wrath, and covetousness, knowest not the way of the One God.
Thine eyes are burst, thou seest nothing, thou art drowned even without water.
Why walkest thou so foppishly ?
Thou art a compound of bones, skin, and filth, and saturated with evil odour.
Thou repeatest not God’s name ; in what doubts hast thou gone astray ? Death is not far from thee.
Whatever efforts thou makest to preserve thy body, shall it last when thy term of life is complete ?
Nothing resulteth from thine efforts ; what can any mortal do ?
If it be God’s will, man shall meet a true guru and repeat the One name.
Thou livest in a house of sand and puffest out thy body, O simpleton.
Saith Kabir, they, however clever, who remember not God are lost.
The following was addressed to the same person.
V
Crooked thy turban, [341] crooked thy gait, [342] thou beginnest to eat betel ;[343]
Thou hast naught to do with the love and service of God ; thou sayest ‘ I have business in court ’.
Thou hast forgotten God in thy pride ;
Ever gazing on thy gold and thy very beautiful women thou deemest them permanent ; [ p. 257 ]
Thy life passeth away in covetousness, falsehood, sin, and great arrogance. Saith Kabir, Death will attack thee at last, O fool.
Kabir reminds a worldly person of his death.
VI
Having beaten thy drum for four days, thou shalt depart.
With all thine earnings, thy ready money, and thy buried treasures, thou shalt take nothing with thee.
Thy dear wife will sit and weep in the portico ; thy mother will go as far as the gate with thee ;
All thy friends and relations will accompany thee to the burning-ground ; but thy soul shall depart alone.
Thou shalt not again behold thy sons, thy wealth, thy towns, and thy cities.
Saith Kabir, why remember not God ? thy life is passing in vain.
God’s name is Kabir’s sole property,
BHAIRO
I
The name of God is my wealth ;
I cannot tie it in a knot, or sell it for my livelihood.
The Name is my field, the Name is my garden ;
I Thy slave, O God, perform Thy service and seek Thy protection.
Thy name is my wealth, Thy name my capital ;
I know none but Thee.
Thy name is my kindred, Thy name my brethren,
Thy name my associates, who will assist me at the last moment.
Saith Kabir, I am a slave to him
Whom God keepeth in the world, but who is indifferent to it.
The following was addressed to a rich man who had offered Kabir money : —
II
Naked thou earnest and naked shalt thou depart ;
None shall remain — not even kings or rulers. [ p. 258 ]
I have the sovereign God as my nine treasures ;
Thou hast the love of property, women, and wealth ;
But they did not come with thee, nor shall they go with thee.
What availeth thee to have elephants tied at thy gate ?
The fortress of Ceylon was made of gold,
But what did the fool Rawan take with him ?
Saith Kabir, meditate some good acts :
The gambler shall depart with empty hands.
God alone is pure.
III
Impure is Brahma, impure is Indar ;
Impure is the sun and impure the moon.
This world is defiled with impurity ;
Pure is God alone who hath neither end nor limit.
Impure are the gods of the worlds ;
Impure are nights, days, and months devoted to idolatry.
Impure are pearls, impure are diamonds,
Impure are wind, fire, and water ;
Impure are Shiv, Shankar, and Mahesh ;[344]
Impure are Sidhs, Sadhiks, and those who wear religious garbs;
Impure are Jogis, and Jangams with their matted hair ;
Impure is the body with the soul —
Saith Kabir; only those who know God,
Are pure and acceptable.
The following was addressed to a hypocritical Muhammadan priest who had advised Kabir to make a pilgrimage to Makka.
IV
Make thy mind thy Kaaba, thy body its enclosing temple,
Conscience [345] its prime teacher ;
Then, O priest, call men to pray to that mosque
Which hath ten gates. [ p. 259 ]
Sacrifice [346] wrath, doubt, and malice ;
Make patience thine utterance of the five prayers.
The Hindus and the Musalmans have the same Lord ;
What can the Mulla, what can the Shaikh do for man ?
Saith Kabir, I have become mad ;
Stealing my mind away from the world I have become blended with God.
Some one represented to Kabir that he was completely spoiled by his religious exercises. The following was his reply : —
V
When a stream is lost in the Ganges,
It becometh as the Ganges itself ;
Kabir is similarly lost in God by invoking Him ;
I have become as the True One and need not go elsewhere.
The perfume of the sandal is communicated to other trees ;
They then become as the sandal itself.
When the philosopher’s stone is applied to copper,
It becometh gold ;
So Kabir having met the saints,
Hath become as God.
The following was addressed to some Brahmans who had attributed Kabir’s contempt for their religious ceremonies to madness,
VI
You wear tilaks on your foreheads, carry rosaries in your hands, and put on sectarial dresses :
eople think that God is a plaything —
If I am mad, O God, I am still Thine.
How can people know my secret ? [347]
I gather no leaves [348] and I worship no idol ; [ p. 260 ]
Without devotion to God other worship is fruitless. I worship the True Guru, and ever and ever propitiate Him ;
For such service I shall obtain happiness in His court.
People say Kabir is mad,
But only God knoweth Kabir’s secret.
Kabir renounces both the Hindu and the Muhammadan priests.
VII
Turning away from the world I have forgotten both caste and lineage ;
My weaving is now in the infinite silence.[349]
I have now no quarrel with any one ;
I have given up both the Pandits and the Mullas.
I weave clothes and I wear them myself ;
Where I see no pride [350] there I sing God’s praises.
What the Pandits and the Mullas prescribed for me,
I have received no advantage from, and have abandoned.
My heart being pure [351] I have seen the Lord ;
Kabir having searched and searched himself, hath found God within him.
Kabir when reproached with his poverty replied ; —
VIII
Nobody respecteth the poor man ; He may make hundreds of thousands of efforts, but no one will heed him.
If a poor man go to a rich man,
The latter, though opposite him, will turn his back.
If a rich man go to a poor man,
The latter respecteth, yea, inviteth him ;
Yet the poor man and the rich man are brothers :—
God’s design [352] cannot be set aside.
Saith Kabir, it is he who is poor,
In whose heart the Name abideth not.
[ p. 261 ]
Worship God betimes.
IX
When man serveth the guru and worshippeth God,
It is only then he really hath a human body.[353]
Even the demigods [354] long for this body ;
Therefore having obtained it,
Worship God ; forget Him not ;
That is the advantage of human birth.
Before the disease of old age hath come upon thee,
Before Death hath seized thy body,
Before thy voice hath grown weak,
O man, worship God.
If thou worship Him not now, when wilt thou, my brother ?
When the end cometh thou canst not do so.
Whatever thou doest, it is best to do now ;
Otherwise thou shalt not be saved, and shalt afterwards repent.
He is a worshipper whom God applieth to His worship ;
It is he who shall obtain the pure God.
The doors of his understanding shall open to him by meeting the guru,
And he shall not return again by the way of the womb.
This is thine opportunity, this thy time ;
Look into thy heart and reflect on this.
Saith Kabir, O man, whether thou win or lose,
I have many times called out to thee.
In the following Kabir appears to mean that God resides in the brain.
X
The best knowledge abideth in the city of Shiv ; [355]
Having obtained it there, meditate upon God,[356] [ p. 262 ]
And thou shalt know this world and the next.
Why should I kill myself performing works of pride ?
My attention is fixed on the special place— the brain ;
The name of the Sovereign God is my divine knowledge.
He who hath closed his sphincter ani, [357]
Hath placed the moon above the sun. [358]
At the western gate the sun is hot ; [359]
The breath then riseth to the brain from the spine.
The western gate is closed by a rock ; [360]
There is a window [361] over that rock.
Over the window is the tenth gate —
Saith Kabir, He who dwelleth there hath neither end nor limit.
Kabir gives his ideas of what a Mulla, a Qazi, and a superior of Jogis ought to be.
XI
He is a Mulla who struggleth with his heart,
Who by the instruction of the guru contendeth with Death,
And crusheth Death’s pride.
Salutation ever to that Mulla !
God is present ; why describe Him as distant ?
If thou restrain thy pugnacity, thou shalt obtain the Beautiful One.
He is a Qazi who pondereth on his body,
Who burnetii it with divine fire,
And alloweth not his seed to drop even in his dreams —
For such a Qazi there is no old age or death —
He is an emperor [362] who knoweth how to draw up his two breaths,[363] [ p. 263 ]
Who recalleth his mind when it goeth abroad, who collecteth the army of breaths [363:1] in his brain —
Such a one is an emperor, and hath an umbrella over his head.
The Jogis cry out ‘ Gorakh, Gorakh ’ ;
The Hindus repeat ‘ Ram, Ram ’ ;
The Musalmans have Khuda,
But Kabir’s God is the All-pervading.
The following hymn, which is a homily against idolatry, is said to have been composed by the fifth Guru from a theme of Kabir.
XII
Vain is his devotion,
Who saith a stone is God.
Idle shall be his labour
Who falleth at the feet of a stone.
My God always speaketh ; [364]
He bestoweth gifts on all living things.
He who is blind knoweth not God who is within him ;
He is led away by superstition, and entangleth others.
A stone speaketh not, nor bestoweth gifts ;
Vain are the ceremonies of idolaters and fruitless their service.
Say what advantage can be gained
By anointing a corpse with sandal.
If any one roll a corpse in the dirt,
What harm can it do the corpse ?
Saith Kabir, I proclaim with a loud voice
Understand me, ye infidels and pagans ;
The love of other gods hath destroyed many homes,
The saints of God are ever happy.
The universal influence of Maya and the means of counteracting it.
XIII
The fishes in the water are led by Maya ; [365] [ p. 264 ]
The moths round the lamp are influenced by Maya ;
Through Maya the elephant feeleth lust ;
Creeping things and bumble-bees [366] perish through Maya —
My brethren, Maya is so bewitching
That she illudeth all living beings —
Birds and beasts are imbued with Maya ;
She causeth great hardship to the honey-bees ; [367]
Horses and camels are saturated with Maya ;
The eighty-four Sidhs are the sport of Maya ;
The six Jatis are the slaves of Maya ;
So are the nine Naths, the sun, and the moon ;
Penitents and the supreme Rikhis are lulled by Maya ;
In the power of Maya are Death and his five messengers; [368]
Dogs and jackals are imbued with Maya ;
So are monkeys, leopards, lions, Cats, sheep, and foxes ;
Trees and tubers are subject to Maya ;
The demigods are saturated with Maya ;
So are the ocean, the firmament, and the earth.
Saith Kabir, he who hath a belly is subject to Maya ;
But man shall be freed from her influence when he hath found a saint.
Let man fix his attention on God and not on worldly things.
XIV
As long as man speaketh of things as his own,
So long not one of his affairs shall prosper.
When he ceaseth to speak of things as his own,
Then God shall come and adjust his affairs.
To that end, O man, ponder on divine knowledge.
Why rememberest thou not God, the Destroyer of misery ?
As long as lions inhabit the forest,
So long shall the forest not flourish.[369]
When the jackal eateth the lion,[370]
The whole forest bursteth out in bloom. [ p. 265 ]
They who think themselves victorious are lost : and they who think themselves defeated are saved ; [371]
By the favour of the guru they cross over.
The slave Kabir admonisheth all men
To fix their attention on God alone.
A brief description of God’s court to which Kabir craves admittance.
XV
Who will introduce poor me to Him
Who hath seven thousand commanders,
A lakh and a quarter of prophets,
Eighty-eight karors of men called Shaikhs,
And fifty-six karors of servants to amuse Him ?
His court is afar off ; who can reach His private chamber ?
He hath thirty-three karors of play-houses ;
Eighty-four lakhs of beings wander in them.[372]
He showed some favour to father Adam,
And put him into paradise for a long time.
The faces of those whose hearts are not right are pale, and their utterance is confounded ;
They forsake their books and work evil.
They who attribute blame to God and are angry with Him,
Shall obtain the fruit of their acts.
Thou art the giver, O Lord ; I ever beg of Thee :
If Thou refuse me, I am ruined.[373]
The slave Kabir is in Thy sanctuary.
Keep me, O Merciful One, near Thee.
Kabir desires not heaven but absorption in God.
XVI
Everybody saith he is going thither ; [374]
I know not where heaven is.
They who know not the secrets of their own hearts [ p. 266 ]
Glibly talk of heaven.
As long as man desireth heaven,
He shall not dwell at God’s feet.
I know not where heaven’s gate is,
Nor its moat, nor its plastered fortress.
Saith Kabir, what more can I now say
Than that the society of saints is heaven ?
Kabir tells how he subdued his evil passions.
XVII
How shall I subdue this beautiful fortress, [375] my brother,
Which hath double walls [376] and triple moats,[377]
Whose entrenchments are the five subtle elements, the twenty-five categories[378] worldly love, pride, jealousy, and very powerful Maya ?
I who am poor cannot obtain strength to take that fortress; what shall I do, O God ?
Lust is its folding doors, woe and weal its gate-keepers, demerits and merits its gates ;
Anger, which is very quarrelsome, its commander ; and the heart its rebel king.
The defenders had dainties for their coats of mail, egoism for their helmets, and evil understanding for the bows they drew ;
Covetousness, which dwelleth in the quiver of the heart, became their arrows ; thus the fortress was impregnable ;
But I made divine love the fuse, meditation the howitzer, and divine knowledge the shells ;
I gently lit the fuse with the fire of God’s name, and captured the fortress with one shot.
I began to fight assisted by truth and contentment, and battered both its doors ; [ p. 267 ]
By the favour of the congregation of the saints and of the guru I made its king a prisoner.
By dint of remembering God I, a coward, have cut the noose of Death.
The slave Kabir hath scaled the fortress, and secured an imperishable empire.
The following refers to another persecution of Kabir : —
XVIII
The Ganges is a deity deep and profound ;
I, Kabir, was made to stand in it with chains on my feet.
My spirits fell not ; why should my body fear ?
My mind was absorbed in God’s lotus feet ;
My chains were broken by the ripples of the Ganges,
And I found myself seated on a deer-skin.
Saith Kabir, I had no friend or companion
But God the Protector both by water and land.
God and His residence.
ASHTAPADI
I
God constructed an inaccessible fortress [379] for His residence,
Which He illumined with His light.
The lightning playeth and pleasure reigneth
Where the youthful [380] Lord God reposeth.
If the soul love God’s name,
Man shall be released from old age and death, and his doubts shall flee away.
He whose mind loveth to consider whether a man’s caste is high or low,
Chanteth the hymn of egoism.
The sound of the unbeaten music is heard
Where the Lord God reposeth.
He who fashioned continents and different countries,
The three worlds, the three gods, and the three qualities, [ p. 268 ]
Though styled inaccessible and invisible, dwelleth within the heart.
None can find the limit or the secret of the Sustainer of the earth ;
He shineth in the plantain blossom and in the sunshine,
And hath taken His dwelling in the pollen of the lotus.
God’s spell is within the twelve petals of the heart
Where the holy Lord of Lakshmi reposeth.
The great God reacheth from the lower to the upper regions of the firmament ;
He illumineth the silent realm,
Where there is neither sun nor moon.
He was in the beginning ; He is without stain and happy.
Know that he pervadeth the body as well as the universe ;
He batheth in Mansarowar ; [381]
His pass-word is ‘ Soham ’ (I am He) ;
He is not subject to merits or demerits,
Nor concerned with caste, with sunshine, or with shade ;
He is only found in the guru’s asylum.
He who fixeth his attention on Him removeth it not, becometh released from transmigration,
And absorbed in the Infinite.
He who knoweth God in his heart
And repeateth His name, becometh as He.
Saith Kabir, that mortal shall be saved
Who fixeth in his heart God’s light and spell.
God, God’s servants, and God’s court.
II
Millions of suns shine for Him ;
He hath millions of Shivs and Kailases ;[382]
Millions of Durgas shampoo His limbs ;
Millions of Brahmas recite the Veds for Him—
If I beg, let me beg only of God ;
I have naught to do with any other god- —
Millions of moons form His lamps ;
Thirty-three demigods cook His food ; [ p. 269 ]
The nine planets [383] multiplied millions of times stand on duty in his court ;
Millions of Dharmrajas are His porters ;
Millions of winds from the four cardinal points fan Him ;
Millions of Sheshnags lay His bed ;
Millions of oceans are His water-carriers ;
The eighteen million loads of vegetables are His hair ;
Millions of store-keepers fill His store-houses ;
Millions of Lakshmis decorate Him —
He removeth many millions of demerits and merits —
Millions of Indars wait on Him ;
The fifty-six millions of clouds are His messengers ;
He is celebrated and unrivalled in every land.
With His tresses loose and with terrible aspect He moveth —
God playeth in millions of ways —
There are millions of feasts at His court ;
Millions of celestial singers hail Him ;
Millions of sciences all describe His attributes,
But even then they cannot find His end.
In His hair are millions of Bawans,
And Rams who out-generalled Rawan’s army,
And Krishans who humbled the pride of Duryodhan,
Greatly extolled by a thousand million Purans.
Millions of Cupids cannot compete with Him in beauty —
He stealeth away the inmost heart.
Saith Kabir, hear me, O God,
Grant me the fearless dignity, the gift I crave.
The following was written under the grateful influence of early spring in the north of India.
BASANT
I
The earth bloometh, the firmament rejoiceth ;
Every heart is gladdened by God’s light.
The Lord God rejoiceth in endless ways ;[ p. 270 ]
Whithersoever I look, there is He contained.
The four Veds rejoice in worldliness ;
So do the Simritis with the books of the Musalmans.
Shiv practising Jog rejoiceth —
Kabir’s Lord bloometh equally in all things.
Kabir accepts as saints Shukdev, Akrur, Hanuman, and Shiv, famous for their continence, and rejects the hypocritical Brahmans, Jogis, Sanyasis, and Penitents of his time.
II
The Pandits grow proud reciting the Purans, The Jogis in practising Jog,
The Sanyasis in saying there is no one like themselves ;
The Penitents even in their different penances
Are all intoxicated with pride ; none of them is awake.
The thieves [384] who rob houses are already with them.
Shukdev and Akrur [385] are awake ;
Hanuman with the tail is awake ;
Shiv is awake and worshippeth God’s feet ;
In this Kal age Namdev and Jaidev are awake.[386]
There are several forms of waking and sleeping : —
He who is awake under the guru’s instruction is the best.
The most important duty of this body,
Saith Kabir, is to repeat God’s name.
To obtain salvation without a guru would be impossible.
III
Hath a wife ever given birth to her husband ?
Hath a boy ever dandled his father ?
Hath a woman without breasts ever suckled ?
See, O people, the peculiarity of this Kal age —
Hath a son ever taken his mother in marriage ?
Can a man without feet ever leap ?
Can a man without a mouth burst into laughter ?
Without sleep can man repose ? [ p. 271 ]
Can one churn milk without a churn ?
Can a cow without an udder give milk ?
Can one accomplish a long journey without a road ?
So the way cannot be found without a true guru,
Kabir saith, and admonisheth all men.
God saves his saints as He did Prahlad.
IV
Prahlad was sent to school for instruction ;
He took several boys with him as his class-fellows.
He said to his teacher : — ‘ Why teach me worldly entanglements ?
‘Rather write on my tablet the name of God.
‘I will not, sir, abandon the name of God ;
‘I have no concern with any other instruction.’
His tutor’s sons, Sanda and Marka, [387] went and reported the matter to Prahlad’s father.
He sent for Prahlad, telling them to run quickly to him ;
Then he addressed him : — ‘ Abandon the habit of repeating God’s name ;
I will let thee go at once if thou obey my words.’
Prahlad replied, ‘ Why dost thou continually annoy me ?
‘I should be a sinner were I to abandon the one God
‘ Who made the water, the dry land, the hills, and the mountains.
‘Throw me into the fire or kill me if it please thee.’
His father became angry and drawing his sword said,
‘Show me that Preserver of thine.’
Upon this God expanding came forth from a pillar,
And killed Harnakhas by tearing him with His nails.
It was the Supreme Being, the God of gods, who appeared.
For the sake of His saint He became incarnate as the man-lion.
Saith Kabir, He whose limit cannot be seen
Saved Prahlad several times.[388]
[ p. 272 ]
Kabir prays to be protected from lust.
V
Within this body and mind is the thief Cupid,
Who hath stolen my jewel of divine knowledge.
I have no patron, O God, to whom I may make my complaint.
Whom hath Cupid not ruined ? Who am I that I should escape ?
O God, this terrible pain cannot be endured ;
What power hath my fickle mind against Cupid ?
Sanak Sanandan, the sons of Brahma, Shiv, Shukdev,
Vishnu, Brahma, and others know his power.
The poets, the Jogis, the wearers of matted hair,
Passed their lives guarding themselves against him.
Thou, O God, art unfathomable ; I cannot find Thy depth.
O God, Lord of the poor, to whom else may I tell my woes ?
Let the pain of birth and death subside, and grant me continence.
Kabir singeth the praises of the Ocean of happiness. The body under the allegory of a merchant.
VI
There is one head of the firm and five traders,[389]
Who take with them spurious wares on twenty-five oxen.[390]
There are ten bags [391] and nine poles [392] to lift them ;
The body is bound by seventy-two ropes.
I have nothing to do with that commerce
By which my capital is lessened, and my interest ever increased.
I have trafficked by joining the seven threads ;[393] [ p. 273 ]
I have joined with them good acts and God’s love.
The three tax-gatherers [394] wrangle for their share ;
But I a trader put them aside and departed.
The capital of the five traders is lost, their trade is ruined,
And the oxen disperse in every direction.
Saith Kabir, O man, thy business shall prosper,
And thy doubts depart when thou art absorbed in God.
A Brahman had censured Kabir for not having paid due attention to caste rules in eating. The following was his reply : —
VII
Thy mother was impure, thy father was also impure, and impure is the fruit they have borne.
The unlucky people came impure, they departed and died impure.
Tell me, O Pandit, what place is pure Where I may sit and take my food.
My tongue is impure, what it saith is impure, the ears and eyes are all impure.
The impurity of the senses departeth not, O thou who art burning with Brahmanical wrath.
Fire is also impure, water is impure, and impure the place where thou sittest and cookest it.
With an impure ladle it is served up, and impure are those who sit and eat it.
Impure thy cow-dung, impure thy cooking-square, and impure the lines which mark it out.
Saith Kabir, that man is pure who hath obtained true knowledge.
[ p. 274 ]
Kabir’s wife had ground com and gone out without collecting the flour. Kabir being left alone in the house paid more attention to his devotion than to his housekeeping. A dog came and began to lick the flour on the hand-mill. The following was addressed to the intruding animal : —
VIII
Thy stride is like that of a cow ;
The hair over thy tail is shiny.
Search for and eat anything in this house ;
Go not to another’s house,
Lick the hand-mill, eat the flour ;
Whither takest thou the towel [395] of the hand-mill ?
Thou gazest very intently on this safe ;
Take care that the stick fall not on thy back.[396]
Saith Kabir, thou hast fared well ;
Take care that no one throw a brick or a clod at thee.[397]
Kabir endeavours to recall man to a sense of his insignificance.
SARANG
I
Why, O man, art thou proud of a small matter ?
With a store of only ten mans of corn and four double paise in thy pocket thou swaggerest along.
Even if thou obtain greatness, yea, a hundred villages, and have an income of two lakhs of rupees,
Thy authority shall only last for four days like the green leaves of the forest.
No one hath brought wealth with him, and no one shall take it away.
Greater sovereigns than even Rawan departed in a moment ; God’s saints who worship Him and repeat His name abide for ever. [ p. 275 ]
They to whom God is merciful meet the society of the saints.
Neither mother, father, wife, son, nor wealth shall go with thee at the last moment.
Saith Kabir, worship God, O fool, or thy life shall pass away in vain.
God’s omnipotence.
II
O God, I know not the measure of Thy regal authority ;
I am the handmaiden of Thy saints.
They who go laughing return weeping, and they who go weeping return laughing ;
What is inhabited becometh deserted, and what is deserted becometh inhabited.
God turneth water into dry land, dry land He turneth into wells, and wells into mountains ;
He can raise man from earth to heaven, and when he hath ascended to heaven dash him down.
He can turn a beggar into a king, and a king into a beggar.
He can turn an idiot into a pandit, and a pandit into an idiot.
He can turn a woman into a man, and a man into a woman.
Saith Kabir, God is beloved of the saints ; I am a sacrifice unto Him.
Man should rely on God and practise humility.
III
Without God what succour hath man ?
The love of parents, brethren, sons, and wife is all fleeting.
Construct a raft for the other world ; what reliance can be placed on wealth ?
What confidence can be reposed in this vessel, if it be chinked in the slightest ?[398]
Thou shalt obtain the fruit of all religion and good works if thou desire to become the dust of everybody’s feet…
Saith Kabir, hear, O saints, the mind is like the flying bird of the forest.
[ p. 276 ]
Kabir’s bliss in feeling that he is saved—
PRABHATI
I
My dread of transmigration is at an end
Since God displayed His love for me.
The light hath dawned, the darkness is dispelled ;
I have obtained the jewel God by meditation on Him.
When He conferreth happiness sorrow fleeth away ;
The jewel of my heart is absorbed in God’s love.
Whatever occurreth is according to Thy will, O God ;
He who understandeth this shall be easily absorbed in Thee.
Saith Kabir, all my sins have been blotted out,
And my soul is absorbed in the Life of the world.
God is not confined as regards place to the mosque or the temple, or as regards time to any month or day.
II
If God dwell only in the mosque, to whom belongeth the rest of the country ?
They who are called Hindus say that God dwelleth in an idol : I see not the truth in either sect.
O God, whether Allah or Ram, I live by Thy name,
O Lord, show kindness unto me.
Hari dwelleth in the south, Allah hath His place in the west.
Search in thy heart, search in thy heart of hearts ; there is His place and abode.
The Brahmans yearly perform twenty-four fastings on the eleventh day of the dark and light halves of the lunar month ; the Musalmans fast in the month of Ramzan.
The latter put aside eleven months of the year, and say that the Treasure is in one alone.
What availeth the Hindus to bathe at Jagannath in Urisa (Orissa), what the Musalmans to bow their heads in a mosque ?
With deception in their hearts they repeat prayers ; what availeth them to go on a pilgrimage to Makka ? [ p. 277 ]
The men and women Thou hast created, O God, are all in Thy form.
Kabir is a child of Ram and Allah, and accepteth all gurus and pirs.
Saith Kabir, hear, O men and women, seek the sanctuary of the one God ;
O mortals, only repeat God’s name, and then shall you be assuredly saved.
In Kabir’s presence a Brahman and a Muhammadan priest were reviling each others’ sacred books. The Muhammadan expatiated on the merits of sacrifice.
IV
Say not that the Hindu and Musalman books are false ; false is he who reflecteth not on them.
If you say that the one God is in everything, then why kill fowls ?
O priest, say is this God’s justice ? Thy mental doubts forsake thee not ;
Thou seizest and bringest living things, and takest their lives, but thou merely killest their bodies of clay.
Their souls return to the Indestructible ; say what hast thou killed.
What avail thy purifications, thy rinsings of the mouth, and thy prostrations in the mosque ?
If thou pray with deception in thy heart, what availeth thee thy pilgrimage to Makka ?
Thou art impure ; thou knowest not the Pure One ; thou knowest not His secrets.
Saith Kabir, thou hast missed heaven, and art satisfied with hell.
Kabir offered to God the following oblation instead of incense, light, and the other accessories of Hindu worship.
V
Hear [399] me, God of gods, Supreme Lord, primal and omnipresent, I offer my vespers unto Thee. [ p. 278 ]
The Sidhs even in deep meditation have not discovered Thy limits, but they continue to cling to Thine asylum.
Accept this oblation, [400] O bright Spirit ; worship the True Guru, my brethren.
Brahma standeth and readeth the Veds, but the Unseen is seen not by him.[401]
With divine knowledge as mine oil and Thy name my wick I have made a lamp to illumine my body.
I have lit the lamp with the light of the Lord of the world ; he who knoweth how to do this knoweth the Omniscient.[402]
The unbeaten sounds of God who dwelleth with man s are my five musical instruments.
O Thou Formless and Undisturbed, Thy slave Kabir hath made Thee this oblation.[403]
It is explained that this passage does not cast blame on God, because it is men’s acts which really lead them astray. ↩︎
God gladdens man’s heart by divine knowledge without any perceptible interference with him. ↩︎
God’s name. ↩︎
The line is also translated — He is a unique Jogi in the three Worlds who hath tasted such essence. Is there any king equal io him ? ↩︎
The terrible ocean is very bitter — within it is found the sweet water of God’s name. ↩︎
Also translated —
My honour or dishonour bringeth no shame on you.
You shall know who is in the right when all gilding is cast off. ↩︎
Mirg also means beasts generally. ↩︎
That is, why wert thou born of woman? The Brahmans are supposed to have issued from Brahma’s mouth. ↩︎
Among the Hindus blood is considered impure, and milk pure. ↩︎
Man’s wealth shall pass away with his life like the shadow of a tree. ↩︎
The life or sound of a musical instrument is contained within it. If the string breaks, no life or sound remains, and no one can tell whither it has gone. When human life fails, the soul departs, and no mortal knows its destination. ↩︎
Good and bad fruit spring from human acts, which again proceed from the light or understanding that God has given. The first verse of this hymn is also translated : —
There is a species of animal for every spark of light, and a spark of light for every species of animal. ↩︎
Good acts are compared to gold, bad acts to iron fetters; but both good and bad acts retard man’s progress towards absorption in God. These two lines are also translated : —
They are entangled in religious ceremonies good and bad, And their acts whether bad or good have the same result. That is, they commit sins of various descriptions at places of pilgrimage, and their pilgrimages are therefore of no avail. ↩︎
Spoken ironically. ↩︎
Here the well is the body; the well-rope, life; the five watercarriers the five evil passions. Others understand the well to mean the world, and translate this line as follows : —
When the well-rope (sensual desire) is broken, the water-carriers (the five organs of perception) grow weary of doing evil. ↩︎
Even when life is drawing to a close the evil passions are still active. ↩︎
Since Kabir has obtained salvation during life. ↩︎
Stones are worshipped instead of God. ↩︎
Men in power extorting money from the poor. ↩︎
The perverse who listen not to the advice of their spiritual guides. ↩︎
Women who sell their daughters and live on the proceeds. ↩︎
The fifth Guru is said to have composed a portion of this hymn. ↩︎
Hymns missing from this collection will be found either in the Life of Kabir or that of Guru Nanak. ↩︎
When I abandoned pride. ↩︎
I do not threaten men with spiritual tortures for themselves or their deceased relatives if I do not receive money for my ministrations. ↩︎
Unite the breath of the left and right nostrils, as the Jogis do. ↩︎
Make the breath of both nostrils meet in the brain, and thus obtain exaltation of spirit without bathing at the confluence of the Ganges and Jamna, as so many pilgrims do. ↩︎
If thou adopt their properties, and remain sinless like them. ↩︎
That is, all human beings. ↩︎
Divine knowledge ↩︎
Man’s evil passions which conceal the water of divine knowledge. ↩︎
Vidhwa. Literally — a widow not allowed to marry. ↩︎
In the original much much, as in Spanish. ↩︎
From which spirits are made. ↩︎
The brain. ↩︎
Kalalin, corresponding to the European barmaid. Even in India in former times the distiller or publican used to employ a woman to serve wine to his customers. She probably here means Ramanand, KabTr’s guru. ↩︎
Man must also repeat God’s name. ↩︎
According to the Muhammadan conception of the heavens, the sky is a fixed vault on which the stars are painted. ↩︎
What supports the sky ? ↩︎
Probably Banaras is meant. ↩︎
The mind. ↩︎
The brain. ↩︎
These are bhakshya, what is masticated by the front teeth, the back teeth, and the tongue ; bhojya, what is masticated by the back teeth and the tongue ; lehiya, what is licked or sipped by the tongue alone ; peya, what is drunk ; and choshya, what is sucked.
Another list of the five nectars is — milk, cream, clarified butter, honey, and sugar. ↩︎
Kabir does not fear death provided he has first seen God’s feet. ↩︎
All property belongs to God. ↩︎
R and m which with a long vowel make Ram, God. ↩︎
The Soul of the world. ↩︎
To worship idols. ↩︎
Kabir believed with the Vedantists that everything was illusion. As all things emanated from God, it is He who continues the illusion, hence Kabir familiarly compares Him to an illusionist or actor. ↩︎
As such I shall serve Him all the better. ↩︎
When there is impurity in everything according to the Brahmans, they must be very well remunerated to purify men. ↩︎
Whether man inclines to God or the world. ↩︎
On which the rafters rested. ↩︎
Internal peace or happiness. ↩︎
When he saw God after the attainment of divine knowledge. ↩︎
Bhagirath. ↩︎
They commit sin, and feel no compunction or repentance. ↩︎
A feeling of satisfaction after repletion. ↩︎
Such good actions should be performed as shall ensure man against being born again. ↩︎
That is, obtain the great boon of unswerving faith. ↩︎
The mind. ↩︎
Chakr khat is here understood to be the mind and the five senses, not the six mystical divisions of the body. ↩︎
The deadly sins are meant. ↩︎
God. ↩︎
To earn further merits or demerits. ↩︎
The mass of mankind are born. ↩︎
Who gave every one life as his capital. ↩︎
They subject the soul to punishment. ↩︎
Are punished by the god of death. ↩︎
Kabir himself, who obtained salvation while alive. ↩︎
The following is an alternative translation of this very difficult hymn. A friend of Kabir suggested to him to speculate in bullocks. They could at the time be purchased cheap, and Kabir could afterwards sell them at a profit, and thus provide himself with funds for the entertainment of holy men. Kabir replied : —
Men have purchased the bullocks of their bodies with bad and good acts, the breath of life is their capital.
Desires are packed in the sack of the heart, and thus are the good and evil produced by which oxen are purchased.
Our God is such a head of the firm that He hath made the whole world His traders.
Both lust and wrath become tax-gatherers, and mental vagaries highway robbers.
The man who associateth with the elect who know God, payeth the tax and his ox crosseth over.
Saith Kabir, hear O ye saints, it hath now come to this with me, That in scaling the pass of divine knowledge one ox at least hath cast away his sack of desires and proceeded on his journey.
Then comes the mukalawa or ‘hauling home’. The meaning here is that Death takes away his victim. ↩︎
In the East, as still among the peasant classes in Ireland, women are allowed to remain sometime after marriage with their parents. ↩︎
God’s name. ↩︎
Thy besetting sins. ↩︎
He cannot describe his sensations. In the same way a man who has obtained God will be silent with pleasure. ↩︎
Thy life has departed. ↩︎
The meaning apparently is, that there are no earthly masters or servants, and that man should only acknowledge God as his Master. ↩︎
Applied respectfully to the Jogi. ↩︎
A full piece of cloth generally measures forty yards. The nine yards mean the nine apertures of the body; the ten yards, the ten organs of action and perception ; and the twenty-one yards, the five subtle elements, the five gross elements, the ten breaths of the body, and the mind. The twenty-one yards may also be the twenty-one vertebrae of some Indian anatomists. The whole forty make up the body which, in weaver’s parlance, is compared to a full piece of cloth. ↩︎
The sixty threads are supposed to be sixty blood-vessels, though Indian anatomists count one hundred and seventy-five blood-vessels altogether. The nine sections are the four pieces of the legs, the four of the arms, and the head ; and the seventy-two cross threads are seventy-two chambers of the body according to the Jogis. ↩︎
The soul leaves its last abode, and takes possession of a new body. ↩︎
One ser of the present standard ; as much as a man can eat daily is said to be applied as starch to the tissues of his body. ↩︎
And then the soul and body shall separate. ↩︎
Kunda is an earthen pan which holds water to wet the thread. The thread, when wetted, is put into the bobbins. Here, kunda is understood to mean worldly possessions. ↩︎
No breath issueth from the throat after death. ↩︎
The following is an alternative translation of this most difficult hymn. Some pandits spoke contemptuously of Kablr’s social position and said it was gross impudence on the part of a weaver to dare mention God’s name. KabTr replied, that every one must be a weaver in a mystical sense in order to gain salvation. The pandits inquired how all men could become weavers. Kabir explained : —
The weaver’s wife (reason) went to her spouse (the mind) to have a piece woven,
But the weaver was always leaving his home.
Kabir was ihen asfad how lie could compare the body to a piece of cloth. He replied: —
It consisteth of nine yards, ten yards, and twenty-one yards.
Sixty threads of the warp, nine joinings, sixty-two cross threads.
Is not the body measured by yards, weighed by weight, and starched by two and a half sers of flour ?
If the body obtain not starch quickly, its spouse (the mind) will quarrel.
When shall such an opportunity come again ? The days of life soon end and the soul departeth.
Thou must leave thy pans and thy wet bobbins, and the soul will depart in anger.
Thread issueth not from the empty bobbin, and the cloth will not remain wound round the beam.
Saith the mind to reason, O wretched one, leave off this wrangling, abide with me here ; Kabir hath given this explanation. ↩︎
Also translated— (a) When both meet, this work is accomplished, namely, an alliance with Him whose name is God. (b) Both blessings result from meeting God or obtaining His name. ↩︎
The play of the world, A likeness of a female elephant is made out of cardboard to catch wild elephants. They are allured by the likeness to the verge of a pit into which they fall and are secured. ↩︎
To float thee over the terrible ocean of the world. ↩︎
Monkeys are caught by putting dry grain into a vessel and partially burying it in the earth. The monkey puts in his hand, and fills it with grain. He is then caught, not having wit enough to open his fingers and let go his grasp. So, too, if man would abandon his vices, he would be saved. ↩︎
The nalni is a contrivance made of bamboo put over water. When the parrot perches on it, it revolves, and the bird’s body is below it and immediately over the water. The parrot clings to the nalni so as to avoid falling into the water, and is thus caught. ↩︎
Literally — this is Maya’s doing. ↩︎
The body dies. ↩︎
The verse is also translated — I deem this world and the next all the same. ↩︎
Temporary or transitory. ↩︎
If a raven come to a woman’s casement when her husband is absent, she says ‘Fly away, O raven’. If it fly away in obedience to her order, it is an omen that her husband will soon return. Here the word raven is understood to mean man’s evil passions. ↩︎
In the neighbourhood of Mathura and Bindraban. The original has Banaras, but the word does not suit the context. Bana ras gaon is also read — In the midst of them is made an excellent village. ↩︎
Abigat means descent, but the word may also here mean God, from the Sanskrit avyakt, imperceptible, transcendental. ↩︎ ↩︎
Scorn the opinion of the world. ↩︎
It was the custom for a sati on the pyre to take some vermilion paint (sindur) in her hand, make a tilak on her forehead with it, then apply it to the foreheads of the bystanders and sprinkle it on them. After this ceremony she might not change her mind and must die. The sindur is generally carried in the rind of a coco-nut and is employed at marriages. Its use at the concremation of widows was emblematic of a second marriage to which death is likened. ↩︎
Also translated — As a flower bloometh in the water. ↩︎
The adoptive father of Krishan. ↩︎
Is dear to me as my father and mother. ↩︎
That is, he takes my impurity on himself. ↩︎
The six mystical chambers of the body are — Muladhara, the parts about the pubis ; Swadhshtkanam, or umbilical region ; Manipuram, or pit of the stomach or epigastrium ; Anahatam, the root of the nose; Yisuddham, the hollow between the frontal sinuses; and Ajrtyakhyam, the fontenelle or union of the coronal and sagittal sutures. ↩︎
The soul. ↩︎
Thy evil passions. ↩︎
Shakti Shiv. Literally— the energy of Shiv; but Shiv may also be a separate word, meaning bliss or happiness, and the next clause of the verse would then be translated— happiness was being kindled in my heart, and God naturally appeared to me. ↩︎
Also translated — No one knows Him as He is. ↩︎
Also translated — He whose expansion the three worlds are, is contained in the tiny seed of the banyan-tree. ↩︎
Once a man has obtained divine knowledge he is not again subject to spiritual ignorance. ↩︎
Has become attached to God. ↩︎
God. ↩︎
When man only thinks of God, and not of rewards in this or the next world. ↩︎
Why lead the life of an anchoret in the forest. ↩︎
My body. ↩︎
Happy are they who are victorious over their evil passions. ↩︎
The gyanis generally translate capitulate. ↩︎
When the heart is subdued, the evil passions flee away. ↩︎
Mans ambition is too great for the brief span of his life. ↩︎
If God pleases, divine knowledge may be obtained without effort. ↩︎
Phank, a natural division of fruit as seen, for instance, in the orange. ↩︎
Shall remove all transmigration. It is believed that bodies are made for the soul, but, when the soul is absorbed in God, bodies will of course not be necessary for it. ↩︎
Blend thy soul with God. ↩︎
God. ↩︎
Even Shiv and his consort are not superior to the human intellect
which decides on the worship of one God. ↩︎
Unman. The gyanis generally translate this word— to turn away from the world and direct one s thoughts to God. ↩︎
Bishantana, an equivalent of the Persian ahl-i-khuda—sorit of God, saints. ↩︎
They cannot recognize the Imperishable One (Akshar), a play on the Sanskrit word. ↩︎
To write essays and theological disquisitions. ↩︎
Literally — they have no hither and thither sides; a metaphor from the banks of a river. The meaning is that time has no limits. ↩︎
Matter and spirit. ↩︎
Also translated — Let man bring together the ira, pingla, and sukhmana. ↩︎
Contained as He is in man. ↩︎
Also translated —
When a man meeteth a guru the latter discloseth to him the secret of divine knowledge,
And man turneth away. from the world and remaineth absorbed in the Infrangible and Indivisible. ↩︎
A Hindi idiom for everywhere. ↩︎
Towards God. ↩︎
The Hindus believe that every month has a sun of its own. On the last day the twelve suns shall shine together and burn the world. The twelve suns of the text mean the bright lights of divine knowledge. ↩︎
Also translated— divisions. The Hindus divide the moon into sixteen sections. During the full moon the whole sixteen sections are seen. Solah kala sampuran — It is complete in its sixteen divisions. The same expression is applied to men of eminent virtue and goodness. ↩︎
That is, from the guru. ↩︎
Literally — let the door of thy speech be locked up. ↩︎
Literally — know the way of the five thieves, that is, the way by which they approach. ↩︎
Heart. ↩︎
Inverted owing to its devotion to the world. ↩︎
Being, as the great God’s creatures, equally impotent for good or evil. ↩︎
The ira, pingla, and sukhmana, i, e. by the practice of Jog. ↩︎
Also translated — He is not without fear and hath erred. ↩︎
This line is also translated — The guru’s words make no impression on him, he thinketh his own ideas best, he hath no love for God and no hate for Maya. ↩︎
Literally — the rising and the setting of the sun. This phrase is also translated — when the feeling of joy and sorrow is dispelled. ↩︎
Kabir means that the soul is the reflection of God, and blends with Him when the vessel of the body is broken. ↩︎
So that impurities in the wood may not remain. ↩︎
One for their bread and another for their lentils. Some strict Hindus suppose that a fireplace once used is unclean. ↩︎
If I remember God. ↩︎
Maya, or worldly love. ↩︎
Every one treats me well and cherishes me. ↩︎
I serve him who controls me. ↩︎
It is only the saint who can control her. ↩︎
The river Jamna is a place of pilgrimage. It is supposed that death cannot molest those who bathe in it. ↩︎
An eminent confectioner of Kablr’s time. ↩︎
Some begin with 'The son of a barren woman went to wed ’ and make the animals mentioned the marriage procession, putting the whole in narrative form. ↩︎
The seventy-two chambers of the body and the brain or tenth gate. ↩︎
In the body containing nine gates. ↩︎
The power of knowing the reality of things seen. ↩︎
Mark him off for salvation. ↩︎
The oil and wick mean life and breath. ↩︎
Rapid churning is believed to spoil butter. ↩︎
Nat, literally — the acrobat. ↩︎
When desires are at an end, man obtains deliverance. ↩︎
Why dost Thou not pardon my sins ? ↩︎
This apparently is not the river which flows by Lakhnau (Lucknow). ↩︎
Krishan. ↩︎
Lapasi and kasar are both made from clarified butter, flour, and sugar, but the former is made liquid by the addition of water. They are both Oriental puddings. ↩︎
God’s name. ↩︎
A niwar bed is one whose bottom is of broad cotton tape instead of the grass rope used by the poorer classes. ↩︎
That is, the soul. ↩︎
Also translated—The cups for the bird’s food and water, that is, man leaves his possessions including his food and drink behind him. ↩︎
Also translated — Despise thy lust and pride. ↩︎
Where is now the life of thy body ? ↩︎
The five evil passions. ↩︎
The mind is likened to an elephant for it heedlessly pursues pleasures as the male elephant the female. ↩︎
Has found access even to the holy. ↩︎
Also translated— There is no other creature so vile as she. ↩︎
He shall suffer transmigration. ↩︎
He will still rejoice in filth. ↩︎
It will only become the more venomous after nourishment. ↩︎
That is, to cook his food. ↩︎
So potent was he over the heavenly bodies and the elements, that he subjugated them to his private purposes. ↩︎
Literally — and go nowhere. ↩︎
Loi. This word means people, but it was also the name of Kablr’s wife. ↩︎
Purity. ↩︎
Maya. ↩︎
Soul. ↩︎
Heart or mind. ↩︎
Conscience. ↩︎
The organs of action and perception. ↩︎
Understanding. ↩︎
To the company of the saints. ↩︎
Contentment. ↩︎
Greed. ↩︎
Worldly desires. ↩︎
Meditation on God. ↩︎
Salvation. ↩︎
Worship. ↩︎
Endurance. ↩︎
Fickleness. ↩︎
Laziness. ↩︎
Good works. ↩︎
A lock of hair left unshaven on the top of a Hindu’s head. ↩︎
Also translated — Make recollection of God thy throw of the dice. ↩︎
Kabir represents himself as a bride and God the bridegroom. It is usual on occasions of marriage for people to have their clothes dyed. ↩︎
The word panckon is also translated the elect. ↩︎
The Hindu bridegroom and bride circumambulate fire, in some places seven times and in other places four times, on the occasion of a marriage. ↩︎
Four posts are erected to denote the mind, understanding, thought, and pride. The posts support a cloth covering, beneath which the very youthful Indian brides and bridegrooms are married. ↩︎
Uchar now called gotrachar, a panegyric on the families of the bride and bridegroom intoned by the ministering Brahmans. The word is also translated — the repetition of the Vedic sloks for marriage. ↩︎
Maya. ↩︎
God. ↩︎
The god of death. ↩︎
Evil thought. ↩︎
Discrimination. ↩︎
Step-father here means the body, and the mother is selfishness. Bap sawaka is also translated— my former heart, that is, when I was unregenerate. ↩︎
God’s love. Some understand contentment; others, divine knowledge. ↩︎
I have had many births, but I shall not be born again. ↩︎
At a nach, or Oriental dance, the performers are the musicians, the female singers and dancers, and the drummers. ↩︎
On the first day after the lent of Ramzan, the Muhammadans offer a sacrifice to God. Here Kabir hints that the sacrifice is made to please their palates, not to please God. ↩︎
Literally—when a diamond pierceth a diamond. There are several interpretations of this line. ↩︎
That is, I am no longer known as a weaver, but a worshipper of God. ↩︎
Thou shalt obtain salvation. ↩︎
Also translated — I will not wince. ↩︎
That is, by deferring to custom. ↩︎
Previously called Magahar. ↩︎
Thou shalt be lent to somebody who will treat thee badly, and not as he would treat his own. ↩︎
Also translated— Like a monkey after red seeds. ↩︎
How shall Kabir’s children be maintained? ↩︎
Kabir means that even that was too long a time for him to abstain from repeating God’s name, and so he gave up weaving. ↩︎
To save thyself in this human birth. ↩︎
Jogis who go about playing a small pipe. ↩︎
Men vowed to perpetual silence. ↩︎
Service such as that performed by Narad, the famous rikhi. ↩︎
The Persian word khulas, freed or delivered, was here originally written, but the tenth Guru altered its spelling to the Arabic khalis, pure. ↩︎
When God creates the world, men appear. ↩︎
When God draws the world within Himself. ↩︎
Connected by a chain with the feet and hindering the. recumbent posture. ↩︎
Without effacing oneself. ↩︎
Also translated — If man efface himself not, what use discussing divine knowledge? ↩︎
Also translated — Men grind and mix saffron and sandal and waste them by applying them to idols ;
The world appeareth to have no eyes. ↩︎
The body. ↩︎
So dear is God’s name to me. ↩︎
Divine knowledge. ↩︎
God. ↩︎
This metaphor has often occurred. The hearts of men generally are said to be inverted. The holy have theirs erect. ↩︎
I am not under an obligation to any one. ↩︎
That is, I only ask for these things that I may be able to repeat Thy name. ↩︎
Literally— does any one belong to any one ? ↩︎
Also translated— He is anxious to live longer though his eyes see not. ↩︎
Julako. There is a pun on this word. It means a weaver, and elsewhere it is applied to the soul. ↩︎
Because all people who die at Banaras must be saved, according to Hindu belief. ↩︎
That is, my youth has passed, let not my old age also pass in vain ↩︎
My dark hair has changed to grey. ↩︎
A vessel made of clay not hardened by fire. ↩︎
That is, life is at an end. ↩︎
As a bribe to the messengers of Death to allow the soul time to answer the warrant. ↩︎
That is, give me time to-day, and we shall be well on our journey early to-morrow morning. ↩︎
Also translated — He who after being awakened falleth asleep. ↩︎
Hala from hal, a plough — so much revenue levied on every plough. The five evil passions claim their shares. ↩︎
Here meant for death. ↩︎
The nine gates of the body. ↩︎
The organs of action and perception. ↩︎
Virtues or good qualities. ↩︎
Bibeko, God who makes one (ek) out of two (bib), who joins the soul of man with Himself. ↩︎
They do not suffer transmigration. ↩︎
I am imbued with God’s love. ↩︎
Also translated— They make a false claim to greatness. ↩︎
That is, allow his mind to wander from God. ↩︎
Holy men are not led off in triumph by Death ; they become insensibly blended with God. ↩︎
That is, it is the leavings of the three worlds. ↩︎
Also translated— He who is united with God is the real Jogi. ↩︎
Also translated— Thou shalt be released from thine entanglements. ↩︎
The heart. ↩︎
That is, the body is resolved into the elements whence it sprang. ↩︎
Literally — my doubts regarding birth and death have departed. ↩︎
Of the left and right nostrils and their junction. Trihdi sandhi also includes gyata, the knower; gyan, the means of knowledge; and geya, the subject of knowledge. Devout men endeavour to unite all three. ↩︎
The distance between God and the soul. ↩︎
Also translated — If I talk not io saints, how can I practise discrimination ? ↩︎
Shall only excite contempt. ↩︎
Also translated — His praise cannot be erased from paper ; that is, His praise is continually written and shall be permanent. ↩︎
This and the two preceding lines are also translated —
Death hath lighted on these shaven fellows’ heads.
They have caused us to lose ail our property.
There is no end to their coming or going. ↩︎
When man dieth, his wealth does not weep for him. ↩︎
Maya, wealth. She never becomes a widow, hence the title suhagan. ↩︎
And was thus the better able to guard against her. ↩︎
Kutan as a noun is a pander and as a verb to beat or chasten. There is a play on the word in the original. It was applied to Kabir, because when his daughter was visiting him, he allowed a strange man shelter in his house. ↩︎
Also translated — God steadieth the mind of such a dancer. ↩︎
That is, cleanses his heart. ↩︎
Illumines his five senses. This is also translated— Who arimonisheth his five evil passions. ↩︎
Also translated — Who knoweth the nine forms of devotion to God. ↩︎
As some ascetics do. ↩︎
Because he practises hypocrisy. ↩︎
The feminine gender, as usual, for man in general. ↩︎
Is neither a worldly person nor an anchoret. ↩︎
I have taken the light of divine knowledge to guide me. ↩︎
Also translated — Those who are intoxicated with celestial wine never taste earthly wine. ↩︎
Also translated — that wine whose intoxication shall never subside. ↩︎
The Kotwal in modern times is a police-officer, but in the time of Kabir the Kotwal was a magistrate and police-officer combined. ↩︎
That is, I pray to Thee. ↩︎
That is, I was branded as Thy slave in a former birth. ↩︎
Literally— by obstinate acts, by threatening suicide. &c. ↩︎ ↩︎
God. ↩︎
Saints. ↩︎
The rest of sentient beings. ↩︎
God’s name. ↩︎
In which the branches and shoots have been planted. ↩︎
The searcher for God. ↩︎
There is supposed to be a lotus with twelve petals in the heart. Kabir means that his mind as a bumble-bee has entered that lotus. There is also supposed to be another lotus in the brain which has sixteen petals, and to this again his mind ascends.
Others suppose that the numbers twelve and sixteen in the above lines mean the repetition of Oam similar numbers of times. ↩︎
This tree is divine knowledge which has its seat in the brain. ↩︎
It removed man’s earthly desires. ↩︎
In this hymn tree is also said to mean the universe, the branches and shoots are the planets and stars, the flowers are the saints, the leaves the rest of sentient beings. ↩︎
Jogis smear ashes on their naked bodies as clothing or protection against the elements. ↩︎
Literally — a lamp not fed with oil. ↩︎
Divine knowledge. ↩︎
Also translated — Thou shalt obtain good fortune. ↩︎
God is only moved by our remembering Him and repeating His naine with devotion. ↩︎
He who has put his passions under subjection. ↩︎
These two lines are also translated —
They who are attached to worldly things fall into the net of Death, While they whose avarice the guru extinguished are delivered. ↩︎
Gagan—literally, the firmament — is a word applied by Jogis to the brain or tenth gate of the body where God dwells. ↩︎
A supposed passage for air through the spinal marrow to the brain. ↩︎
They think good evil and evil good. The fruit of the mm is bitter, of the mango sweet. ↩︎ ↩︎
God’s name. ↩︎
Association with saints. ↩︎
That is, God who is in thee. ↩︎
Being dead toward God. ↩︎
There are four degrees of salvation — saloh, heaven ; samip, being near God ; sarup, assuming God’s form ; sayuj, being absorbed in God. ↩︎
That Thou hadst already saved me. ↩︎
That is, while alive. The metaphor is derived from the practice which prevailed before British rule of taking payments in kind. Creditors’ and debtors’ accounts were settled on the harvest field. ↩︎
Wana hanbai. In the Malwa dialect hanbai means yes. ↩︎
Also translated— (a) Aim is taken, and wounds are inflicted ; (b) When the guru’s drum soundeth, the disciple, at whom it is aimed, is wounded. ↩︎
Literally — you deem yourselves vowels and others consonants. ↩︎
Literally— actors. ↩︎
Also translated — The slave Kabir saith. ↩︎
Kalwar — also translated as if written kalal, a wine-seller, then a drunkard. ↩︎
The body. ↩︎
Thou wearest thy turban on the side of thy head like a fop. ↩︎
Thou walkest foppishly. ↩︎
So as to give a rosy colour to thy lips. ↩︎
Three names of Shiv. The Hindus say that there are eleven Shivs. ↩︎
Literally— thy speaker. ↩︎
Mismil a corruption of the Arabic bismillah, in the name of God, an expression used by Musalmans when slaughtering animals. ↩︎
That is, the cause of my madness. ↩︎
To offer to idols. ↩︎
In the realms of God. ↩︎
That is, in the society of the saints. ↩︎
Also translated — being freed from the world. ↩︎
In making one poor and the other rich. ↩︎
That is, it is only then his human birth is profitable. ↩︎
The demigods are proud, and do not praise God. They can only obtain deliverance by being born in human bodies. ↩︎
The brain or tenth gate. ↩︎
This and the preceding line are also translated — Men of the highest intellect raise their breath to the brain ;
Do thou meeting them contemplate God. ↩︎
So that all the breath of the body may go to the brain. This act is done mechanically by resting the anus on the heel. ↩︎
This verse is explained— He has set knowledge with its tiny light above universal ignorance. ↩︎
A piece of flesh which the Jogis suppose to be at the top of the spinal column. ↩︎
This is a second obstacle to the passage of the breath. ↩︎
Sultan — By this word is here meant a superior of Jogis. ↩︎
Who knows how to exercise the ira and pingla. Also translated — who shoots two arrows — knowledge and contempt of the world. ↩︎
The body is supposed to have ten breaths, all of which the Jogis believe they can collect in the brain. ↩︎ ↩︎
He is not silent like an idol. ↩︎
Their sense of taste, their palates. ↩︎
The lotus closes on them at night. ↩︎
In their anxiety to store honey. ↩︎
The five evil passions. ↩︎
The other animals of the forest will be unhappy. ↩︎
When divine knowledge destroys pride. ↩︎
This verse is also translated— They who are overcome by their evil passions are lost, and they who conquer them are saved. ↩︎
Also translated — wander as His jesters. ↩︎
The gyanis translate — A stain shall attach to Thee. The line is also translated— If I reply, I shall be at fault. ↩︎
To heaven. ↩︎
The body. ↩︎
The two walls are doubt and wrong-headedness. ↩︎
The three moats are the three qualities. ↩︎
The twenty-five categories of the Sankhya philosophy. See Monier Williams’s Indian Wisdom and the Introduction to Cockburn Thompson’s Bhagavat Gita. An enumeration of the categories here would not assist the Sikh student. ↩︎
The tenth gate or brain. ↩︎
Some translate this the minute or invisible. ↩︎
In the lake of the heart. ↩︎
A peak in the Himalayas where the Ganges is supposed to rise. ↩︎
These are—Suraj, Chand, Mangal, Budh, Brihaspati, Shukkar, Samchar, Rahu, and Ketu. The days of the week are named, in India, after the first seven. ↩︎
The evil passions. ↩︎
An uncle of Krishan. ↩︎
The persons mentioned did not allow worldly matters to interrupt their devotions. ↩︎
Brahma’s son was Bhrigu, Bhrigu’s son was Shukkar, Shukkar’s sons were Sanda and Marka. ↩︎
His life had been often in danger before from the bigotry and violence of his father, and the present occurrence was but the culmination of many acts of paternal cruelty. ↩︎
The head of the firm is man, the five traders the five senses. ↩︎
The spurious wares are worldly things. ↩︎
Generally understood to be the ten breaths of the body. ↩︎
The nine gates of the body. ↩︎
Bairag, contempt of the world; bibek, discrimination; khatsampal, the six acquisitions; moksk ichha, desire of deliverance; shrawan, hearing God’s name ; manan, obeying God’s will ; nididhyasan, profound and continued meditation.
The six sampats or acquisitions are — Sam, restraint of the mind; dam, restraint of the senses ; uparati, the preservation of the heart from love and hate ; tatiksha, endurance of pain ; shradha, faith ; samddhdnta, attention to the guru’s instruction. Others, by the seven threads, understand the five oigans of perception, the mind, and the understanding. ↩︎
The three qualities. ↩︎
A cloth to collect the flour as it falls from the hand-mill. ↩︎
That is, run away before my wife or my son returns ; you shall meet with a different reception from them. ↩︎
This hymn is also applied allegorically to man. ↩︎
If it receive even the slightest external pressure. ↩︎
Sun, also translated — as an epithet of God — without desires. ↩︎
Of flowers, incense, light, &c. ↩︎
That is, God does not heed him. ↩︎
Also translated — The wise man knoweth how to do this. If sujhe were read for bujhe the two words would be translated — The Omniscient would become manifest. ↩︎
This hymn is included in the Arati of the Sikhs. ↩︎