[ p. 321 ]
God being light and the soul also light, there is no difference between them except that the soul is encumbered with a body.
SKI RAG
Between Thee and me, between me and Thee what difference can there be ?
The same as between gold and the bracelet, between water and its ripples.
If I did not commit sin, O Eternal One,
How shouldst Thou have gained the name of Purifier of sinners ?
Thou who art the Lord, art the Searcher of hearts :
The servant is known from his master, and the master from his servant.
Grant me the wisdom to worship Thee with my body.
Rav Das, some rare person who destroyeth his evil passions, [1] may explain this.
Though Rav Das’s birth is low, he is a candidate for God’s favour.
GAURI
I
My associations are low — I think of it day and night —
My birth is mean, mine acts are crooked.
O God, Lord of the earth, Giver of life to men, Forget me not, I am Thy slave ;
Remove my troubles, make Thy servant full of love for Thee.
I will not forsake Thy feet even though, my body perish to-morrow.
Saith Rav Das, I seel Thy protection, O God.
Quickly come to Thy servant, delay not.
[ p. 322 ]
Rav Das’s conception of heaven.
II
There is a city named Beghampur, [2]
Where pain and sorrow find no place ;
There is no fear of tribute or of tax ;
There is nor care, nor sin, nor dread nor death,
Now have I found an excellent abode
Where ceaseless happiness doth reign, my friends.
There firm and for aye is sovereignty of God,
No second or third is there adored, [3] He ruleth alone ;
Inhabited and ever famous is that city ;
Its people are full dowered with wealth.
Theirs it is to wander as they please ;
None restraineth them known in the palace,
Saith Rav Das, emancipated tanner,
My friends become my fellow citizens there. [4]
It is said that a Labana offered an ox to Rav Das. On refusing the present, the saint wrote the following : —
III
The road to God is very difficult and steep, and I have already one useless ox. [5]
My one prayer to God is, ‘ Preserve my capital,[6] O God.’
Is there any merchant of God who will join me ? My goods are laden and about to start. [7]
I am a merchant of God, and deal in divine knowledge.
The wealth I have loaded is God’s name ; the world hath loaded poison. [ p. 323 ]
Ye recording angels, who know this world and the next, write whatever nonsense you please about me, I care not ;
The club of death will not touch me since I have cast away all entanglements.
This world is like the fleeting colour of safflower,
But the colour of my God is the permanent dye of madder, saith the tanner Rav Das.
Rav Das prays for divine favour.
IV
As a pit full of frogs [8] which know nothing of different countries,
So my mind infatuated with evil passions taketh no thought of this world or the next.
O Lord of all the world, grant me a sight of Thee for a moment ;
My mind is not clear, O God, and so I cannot understand Thy condition.
Take pity on me that my doubts may be dispelled, and teach me right understanding.
Even supreme Jogis cannot explain Thine attributes which are beyond expression.
The tanner Rav Das prayeth for Thy love and service.
The following was Rav Das’s reply to a holy man who asked the questions contained in the hymn.
V
In the Sat age was truth, in the Treta sacrifice, and in the Dwapar the performance of worship.
In the three ages these three observances were established, but in the Kal age the Name is the only support.
How shall I be saved ?
No one explaineth to me
How my transmigration may cease.
There are many forms of religion described, but everyone appeareth to adopt his own.
What are those acts by which I may be saved, and by the performance of which I may obtain all things ? [ p. 324 ]
If what are merits and what demerits be decided by listening to the Veds and Purans, [9] doubt shall result ;
Doubt shall thus ever dwell in the heart ; who shall dispel pride ?
Man washeth his body with water, but in his heart there is evil of every description.
How shall purity result ? My purity is such as the elephant practiseth.
As by the sun’s light night departeth, as all the world knoweth ;
As copper when touched by the philosopher’s stone at once becometh gold ;
So if the supreme philosopher’s stone, the guru, be found by destiny,
The perturbed mind shall meet God who is in the heart, and the doors of adamant shall be opened. [10]
The doubts, the entanglements, and the sins of him who maketh the way of devotion firm in his heart shall be cut away ;
He shall restrain his mind, obtain happiness, and meditate on Him alone who possesseth all qualities and yet possess eth none.
Many efforts have I made to ward off the noose of doubt, but, however much I tried, I did not succeed.
Love and devotion have not sprung up in me, therefore Rav Das is sad.
Man is a prey to all the five senses and their attendant passions, and not to one predominating and overmastering sense alone like the lower animals. Hence the following hymn :—
ASA
I
The deer, the fish, the bumble-bee, the moth, and the elephant perish each for one sense ;
So what hope is there for him wht> like man hath five implacable enemies ? [ p. 325 ]
O God, man loveth ignorance ;
His lamp of discrimination hath grown dim.
The thoughtless are born again as creeping things which distinguish not between good and evil ;
They have now obtained human birth so difficult to obtain, and yet in it they associate with the base.
Men and lower animals, wherever they are, are born subject to their previous acts,
And the noose of Death which hangeth over them can by no means be warded off.
Rav Das, renounce worldly love, dispel doubt, and make the guru’s divine knowledge thy religious fervour.
O Thou, who dispellest Thy worshipper’s fear, grant me supreme bliss at last.
Rav Das prays for the saints’ virtues and devotion
II
The company of the saints, who are Thine image, is my life.
Through the divine knowledge of the guru I recognize the saints as gods of gods.
Grant me the company of the saints, a taste for the saints’ converse,
The saints’ love, O God of gods,
The saints’ good works, and the saints’ way, that I may become attached to what they are attached. [11]
I pray for one thing more, the miraculous gem of devotion. [12]
Show me not the wicked and the sinner —
Between the saints and the Infinite there is no difference ;
Rav Das saith, he who knoweth this is wise.
Rav Das is exalted by holy association.
III
Thou art sandal, I am the poor palma christi [13] plant, I dwell near Thee : [ p. 326 ]
From a humble shrub I have become a lofty tree : Thine excellent perfume abideth in me.
O God, I have sought the protection of Thy true congregation.
I am without virtues, Thou art beneficent,
Thou art white [14] and yellow twisted silk ; we are the poor worms [15] who toil and make it.
O God, may I continue to associate with the saints as the bee with the honey !
My caste is low, my lineage low, and low is my birth ;
I have not served my sovereign God, saith the tanner Rav Das.
For God’s love Rav Das would sacrifice himself.
IV
What would it matter were my body io be cut in pieces ?
Thy slave, O God, only f eareth that Thy love may depart :
Thy lotus feet are the home of my heart ! [16]
By drinking the nectar of His name, I have found God who is my wealth.
Prosperity, adversity, worldly love, and wealth screen God from man ;
In them Thy servant is not absorbed.
Thy slave is bound by the rope of Thy love ;
Saith Rav Das, what advantage is it to escape therefrom ?
God’s name saves saints and sinners.
V
God, God, God, God, God, God, God ; [17]
By remembering God, saints and sinners [18] are saved. [ p. 327 ]
Through the name of God, Kabir became renowned, and the accounts of his sins of many births were torn up.
Namdev as in duty bound [19] gave milk to god to drink ;
Wherefore he had not the pain of being born again in the world.
The slave Rav Das is dyed with God’s love, And so, through the favour of the guru, he shall not go to hell.
They who think not of God shall be condemned.
VI
How man, a puppet of clay, danceth !
He looketh and looketh, heareth, speaketh, runneth about.
When he acquireth anything he is proud,
But when his wealth is gone he beginneth to weep.
In thought, word, and deed he is fascinated by pleasures,
So when he perisheth he is contained somewhere else. [20]
Saith Rav Das, the world is a play, my brethren ;
I have established loving relations with the True Actor. [21]
The object of the following hymn is to show that nothing offered to God by idolaters, even according to their own ideas, is pure, and that the true offering to God is the sincere heart.
GUJARI
The calf hath defiled the milk in the cow’s udder by tasting it ;
The bumble-bee hath spoiled the flowers, and the fish the water —
My mother, where shall I find anything to offer in God’s worship ?
I cannot find other flow r ers superior to these.
Serpents twine round the sandal-tree ; [22] [ p. 328 ]
Poison and ambrosia dwell together ;
Incense, lamps, and consecrated bread are polluted. [23]
How shall thy slave perform Thy worship ?
Let me dedicate and offer my body and soul as my worship,
Thus, by the guru’s favour, shall I find the Pure One. I cannot perform Thine adoration and worship according to Hindu rites ; Saith Rav Das, in what condition am I ? [24]
Rav Das concludes that everything is God.
SORATH
I
When there was egoism in me, Thou wert not with me ; now that Thou art with me, there is no egoism.
Huge waves are raised by the wind in the ocean, but they are only water in water. [25]
O God, what shall I say? Through illusion things are not as they are supposed to be.
A king sleepeth on his throne ; in a dream he becometh a beggar ;
He suffereth pain at losing his empire, though it is intact : such hath been my condition.
Like the story of the rope and the serpent, I have now had the secret [26] explained to me.
On seeing several [27] bracelets I erroneously supposed that they were distinct from the gold ; but what I then said I now say no longer.
In all things the one Lord assumeth various shapes ; God sporteth in all hearts. [ p. 329 ]
Saith Rav Das, God is nearer to us than our hands and feet ; it is what taketh place by His will that taketh place.
Rav Das so loves God that he feels he has a claim on His mercy.
II
When Thou didst bind us with a noose of illusion, we bound Thee with a bond of love ;
Try to release Thyself ; we have been released by adoring Thee.
O God, Thou knowest how we feel towards Thee ;
Now what wilt Thou do with us, such being our love for Thee?
Man catcheth a fish, sliceth it, cutteth it up, and cooketh it in various ways ;
He biteth and eateth it, still it forgetteth not the water. [28]
The Supreme Ruler is no man’s heritage ; He belongeth to him who loveth Him.
Though the screen of illusion be spread over the whole world, yet it troubleth not the saint.
Saith Rav Das, my devotion to the one God hath increased ; to whom shall I tell this now ?
Shall I still suffer misery for the removal of which I worship Thee ?
Rav Das on introspection finds himself wanting.
III
I obtained this birth difficult of attainment as the reward of merit, but it passeth away in vain on account of my want of discrimination.
Say of what account would a palace and a throne like King Indar’s be without devotion to God ?
I have not thought of the pleasure in the Supreme God’s name, a pleasure in which all other pleasures are forgotten.
What we ought to have known we knew not ; we have [ p. 330 ] become mad, and not considered what we ought to have considered, and so our days have passed away.
Our passions are strong, and our discrimination weak ; our understanding cannot enter into God’s designs.
We say one thing, and do another ; worldly love hindereth us from understanding.
Saith Rav Das, I, Thy slave, am sad at heart ;
Avert Thine anger from me and have mercy on my soul.
We should 'fix our attention on God who can adequately reward us.
IV
God is an ocean of pleasure ; in His power are the miraculous tree, and gem, and cow.
The four advantages, the eighteen miraculous powers, and the nine treasures are in the palm of His hand.
Why repeat not, ‘ God, God, God,’ with thy tongue,
And abandon all other device of words ?
The epic poems, the Purans, the Veds of Brahma, are all composed out of thirty-four letters. [29]
Bias having reflected expressed his conviction that there was nothing equal to the name of God.
Very fortunate are they who tranquilly contemplate and fix their attention upon God ; they shall afterwards be freed from their troubles.
Saith Rav Das, the fear of death and birth fleeth from him who hath put the light of divine knowledge into his heart.
The saint’s relation to God.
V
If Thou art a hill, then I am Thy peacock ; [30]
If Thou art the moon, then I am Thy chakor ;
O God, if Thou break not with me, I will not break with Thee ; [ p. 331 ]
If I break with Thee, whom shall I join ?
If Thou art a lamp, then I am Thy wick ;
If Thou art a place of pilgrimage, then I am Thy pilgrim.
I have joined true love with Thee ;
Joining Thee I have broken with all others.
Wherever I go there is Thy service ;
There is no other Lord like Thee, O God.
By worshipping Thee Death’s noose is cut away.
Rav Das singeth to obtain Thy service.
Man is too proud of his body though its origin and its end are contemptible.
VI
The body is a wall of water supported by a pillar of air ; blood [31] and semen are its mortar.
The poor soul dwelleth in a skeleton of bones, flesh, and veins ;
O mortal, what is mine and what is thine ?
As a bird percheth on a tree, so doth the soul on the body.
Thou layest foundations and buildest thyself a house ;
Three and a half cubits shall be thy measure at last
Thou curlest thy hair, and wearest thy turban on the side of thy head ;
But thy body shall become a heap of dust.
Even though thou possess lofty palaces and beautiful women,
Without the name of God thy game is lost.
My caste is low, my lineage low, and base is my birth :
I have sought Thy shelter, O God, saith the tanner Rav Das.
The following was addressed to some one who reproached Rav Das for not following his trade : —
VII
I a cobbler know not how to mend shoes,
Yet people want me to mend their shoes. [ p. 332 ]
I have no awl to stitch with ;
I have no knife to patch with.
People have been thoroughly ruined by mending shoes [32] —
I have attained my object without mending shoes.
Rav Das repeateth God’s name ;
I have now no concern with Death.
Rav Das’s devotion and hope in God.
DHANASARI
I
There is none so poor as I, none so compassionate as Thou ; for this what further test is now necessary ?
May my heart obey Thy words ! fill Thy servant therewith.
I am a sacrifice to Thee, O God ;
Why art Thou silent ?
For many births have I been separated from Thee, O God :This birth is on Thine own account. [33]
Saith Rav Das, putting my hopes in Thee I live ; it is long since I have seen Thee.
Rav Das’s love for God.
II
I remember Thee, O God, in my heart ; I behold Thee with mine eyes ; I fill mine ears with Thy hymns [34] and praises ;
I make my mind the honey-bee, I put Thy lotus feet into my heart, and with my tongue I utter Thine ambrosial name.
May my love for God not decrease !
I have bought it dear in exchange for my soul.
Without the companionship of the saints no love is produced, and without love no service is performed for Thee.
Rav Das offereth one prayer to God — preserve mine honour, O my sovereign Lord.
[ p. 333 ]
God’s name is for Rav Das equal to all the Hindu oblations.
III
Thy name, O God, is mine Arati and mine ablutions ;
Without the name of God all display is vain.
Thy name is my prayer-mat, Thy name my saffrongrater,
Thy name the saffron which I sprinkle for Thee ;
Thy name is the water, Thy name the sandal, the repetition of Thy name the grating thereof ; [35] taking it I offer it unto Thee ;
Thy name is the lamp, Thy name the wick, Thy name the oil I pour therein ;
Thy name is the light which I have applied to it, and which hath enlightened the whole world ;
Thy name is the string, Thy name the necklace of flowers ; all the eighteen loads of vegetables are too impure [36] to offer Thee.
Why should I offer Thee the work of Thy hands ? Thy name is the chauri which I wave over Thee.
The whole world is engrossed in the eighteen Purans, the sixty-eight places of pilgrimage, and the four sources of life.
Saith Rav Das, Thy name is the Arati ; the true Name is the food I offer unto Thee, O God. [37]
God alone can save man from his evil passions.
JAITSARI
O Lord, I know nothing ;
I have sold my soul to mammon.
Thou art styled the great Lord of the world, and we the sensualists of the Kal age.
The five evil passions which have corrupted my heart,
Have at every .moment thrown a barrier between Thee and me.
Whithersoever I look, there is a stock of trouble. [ p. 334 ]
I am not yet satisfied, although the Veds bear witness to God.
As, for his sin, on the body of Indar, the paramour of Ahalya Gautam’s wife, a thousand vaginae formed ;
As the head of Brahma adhered to the hand of Shiv the lord of Uma [38] for his sin,
So these wicked enemies, the deadly sins, have bound and beaten me also a sinner.
I am very shameless, and have not yet grown weary of their company.
Saith Rav Das, whither shall I go ? What shall I do ?
Except God’s protection whose shall I seek ?
The saint and the sinner under the allegories of a good and a bad wife contrasted.
SUHI
I
The good wife knoweth her spouse’s worth ;
She renounceth pride and enjoyeth conjugal happiness ;
She giveth her husband her body and soul, and maketh no distinction between him and herself ;
She seeth no one else, heareth no one else, and speaketh to no one else.
How should she, into whose heart no sorrow hath entered,
Know of the woes of others ?
The bad wife [39] who hath not served her spouse continually
Is unhappy, and loseth both worlds—
The way by the bridge of Sirat [40] is difficult —
She shall have no companion, and must go alone.
In grief and in pain, O God, I have come to Thy door ; I am very thirsty, and I have received no answer from Thee.
Saith Rav Das, I have come to Thy protection ; effect my salvation as Thou thinkest best.
[ p. 335 ]
As everything here changes, man should make provision for the hereafter.
II
The days which come, pass away again ;
We must march on, nothing remaineth stable.
Our companions are going, we too must go ;
The journey is long ; Death standeth over us.
Why sleepest thou ? Awake for God’s service, O silly one ;
Thou thoughtest life a real thing in this world, when thou oughtest to have thought of God,
He who gave thee life conveyeth thee sustenance,
And in every heart openeth a shop. [41]
Worship God, lay aside egoism ;
In thy heart remember God’s name betimes.
Thy life hath come to an end, yet thou hast not prepared thy way ;
It is evening, and darkness is on every side.
Saith Rav Das, O fool and madman,
Didst thou not reflect that the world is a transitory abode ?
Man can only rely on God, not on property or relations.
Ill
Man buildeth lofty mansions with halls and kitchens,
But after Death he cannot remain in them for a ghari.
This body is like a wainscoting of grass ;
When the grass is burnt, it is blended with the dust.
Even thy relations, thy family, and thy companions Set up a cry,
‘Take him out quickly ! ’
The wife of thy house who embraced thee in life,
Crieth out, ‘ Ghost ! ghost ! ’ and runneth away from thee.
Saith Rav Das, Death hath plundered the whole world,
But I have escaped by repeating the name of the one God.
[ p. 336 ]
God’s grace is unparalleled.
BILAWAL
I
Everybody used to laugh on seeing my poverty — such was my condition ;
But I hold the whole eighteen supernatural powers in the palm of my hand through Thy favour.
Thou knowest I am nothing, O God, Destroyer of fear ;
All men have sought Thy protection, O God, Fulfiller of desires ;
They who have sought Thy protection no longer bear the load of sin.
High and low have been delivered from the shameless [42] world through Thee.
Saith Rav Das, why say more regarding the Ineffable ?
Thou, O God, art Thine own parallel ; to what can I liken Thee ?
The glorification of the saint.
II
The family in which a saint of God is born,
Whether it be of high or low caste, poor or rich, shall have its unalloyed fame blazoned through the world.
Whether man be a Brahman, a Vaisya, a Sudar, a Khatri, a Dum, a Chandal, or a Malechh,
He becometh pure by worshipping God ; he saveth himself and the families of both his parents.
Blest the village, blest the place of his birth, blest his pure family in all worlds !
He hath quaffed the supreme essence ; abandoning all others, he hath become intoxicated with it, and renounced sin.
Among pandits, heroes, and ^paperors, there is none equal to the saint. [ p. 337 ]
43As the leaves of the water-lily [43] in the water, saith Rav Das, is the saint’s existence in the world ; he remaineth uncontaminated by it.
God as the Dispenser of salvation.
GAUND
I
Repeat the name of God, the Dispenser of salvation, ye people.
Without -the Dispenser of salvation the body groweth weary in transmigration.
The Dispenser of salvation is the Giver of deliverance ;
The Dispenser of salvation is our father and mother.
Living repeat His name, dying repeat His name ;
His worshipper is ever happy —
The Dispenser of salvation is my life.
If it have been so recorded on thy forehead, thou shalt repeat His name.
Only he who hath ceased to love the world can serve God.
That Dispenser of salvation, I, poor though I be, have obtained as my wealth.
If the one Dispenser of salvation do me a favour,
What can the world do to me ?
Having effaced my caste I have become a courtier of God—
Thou, O God, art able to save the world —
Divine knowledge hath sprung up, and I have become enlightened ;
God hath graciously accepted this worm as His slave.
Saith Rav Das, my thirst hath now ceased ;
I repeat the name of God and perform His service.
The fate of the slanderer.
II
If man bathe at the sixty-eight places of pilgrimage,
If he worship the twelve lingam stones, [ p. 338 ]
If he dedicate a well or a tank, [44]
But practise slander, all shall be in vain.
How shall the slanderer of a saint be saved ?
Know that he shall assuredly fall into hell.
If man celebrate eclipses at Kurkhetar,
Offer his wife with her decorations to the Brahmans,
And hear with his ears all the Simritis,
Yet if he practise slander, all shall be in vain.
If he prepare many feasts to Brahmans,
Make them gifts of land, and build them splendid public mansions ;
If, neglecting his own business, he perform that of others,
And yet practise slander, he shall wander in many births.
O, ye people, why do ye slander ?
The slanderer’s character is well known.
Holy men have considered and decided regarding the slanderer —
Saith Rav Das, he is a sinner, and shall go to hell.
It is the guru who communicates the Name by which God’s designs are manifested.
RAMKALI
Men read, study, and hear all God’s names, yet God’s designs are not known.
How shall iron become pure gold unless it be touched by the philosopher’s stone ?
O God, the knots of doubt unravel not ;
Lust, wrath, worldly love, pride, and jealousy — these five combined plunder the world.
‘ We are great poets, of high family, ’[45] we are Pandits, we are Jogis, Sanyasis,
‘ Gyanis, virtuous heroes, we are generous ’ — these ideas shall never perish. [ p. 339 ]
Saith Rav Das, all these men do not understand God, they go astray like madmen.
God’s name is my support, my life, my soul, and my wealth.
Rav Das in obtaining salvation acknowledges God’s favour.
MARU
Who but Thee, my Jewel, could do such a thing ?
Cherisher of the poor, Lord of the earth ; Thou hast put over my head the umbrella of spiritual sovereignty.
Thou relentest towards him whose touch defileth the world ;
The lowly dost Thou exalt, my God, and none dost Thou fear.
Namdev, Kabir, Trilochan, Sadhna, and Sain were saved —
Saith Rav Das, hear, O saints, through God everything is done.
The man of low birth and caste may be saved by devotion.
KEDARA
Though one perform the six good acts and belong to a high family, yet if he heartily worship not God,
And love not the mention of His lotus feet, he is equal to a pariah.
O thoughtless man, think upon God in thy heart ; Why not look at Balmik ? [46]
From a low caste what a high position he attained by his special devotion to God ;
Though an eater of dogs, the lowest of all, he was beloved by Krishan.
How can poor mortals praise God ? His praise extendeth to the three worlds.
Ajamal, the courtesan, Lodiya the huntsman, and the elephant went to God. [ p. 340 ]
Such degraded beings were saved ; why shouldst not thou too be saved, O Rav Das ?
The advantages of repeating God’s name.
BHAIRO
Without beholding God there is no hope ;
Everything that we see perisheth.
He who repeateth God’s name with due praise
Is the only Jogi free from desires.
If any one employ himself in repeating God’s name,
And God, the philosopher’s stone, touch him, his duality shall no longer remain.
He who destroyeth the duality of his mind is a muni ;
He shall be absorbed in God [47] who filleth the three worlds.
Everybody acteth according to his natural inclinations :
It is only the Creator who abideth without fear.
Vegetables blossom to produce fruit ;
When the fruit appeareth the blossoms decay.
For the sake of divine knowledge men practise religious ceremonies ;
When divine knowledge is obtained, religious ceremonies are not performed.
To make butter, knowing people churn coagulated milk ;
So those who strive for divine knowledge obtain deliverance while alive, and are ever at rest.
Saith Rav Das, having embraced supreme contempt for the world,
Why not heartily repeat God’s name, O luckless man ?
çRav Das endeavours to humiliate his body.
BASANT
Thou knowest nothing, O my body ;
On seeing thy fine clothes thou puff est thyself up.
No place can hold the proud ;
Yet over thy head the crow cav&th. [48] [ p. 341 ]
Why art thou proud, O demented body?
Thou art much more short-lived than a toadstool in the month of Bhadon.
The deer knoweth not the secret of his musk ;
He hath it in his body, yet he searcheth for it abroad.
He who understandeth his own fleeting body,
Shall never be disgraced by the myrmidons of Death.
Man is proud of his son and wife ;
It is from him God will take an account.
Thou shalt suffer for what thou thyself hast done, O soul.
Whom shalt thou afterwards address as ‘ Dear one, dear one ? ’
If thou seek the protection of holy men, Thy sins, even though millions upon millions, shall all be erased.
Saith Rav Das, he who repeateth God’s name
Hath no concern with caste, or birth, or transmigration.
The saint, no matter how low his caste, is superior even to the demigods.
MALAR
Neither the Lord of Lakshmi, [49] nor the Lord of Kailas, [50] nor any one else is equal to those who repeat God’s name :
He is one alone though diffused in many ways ; recall, recall Him to your thoughts ; He filleth creation.
He in whose house devotion to God and nothing else was seen, was by caste an untouchable calico-printer.
The greatness of God’s name was seen in Vyas ; it was observed in the sons of Brahma ; it is famous through the seven islands [51] of the earth.
He whose family [52] used to sacrifice cows at the Id and Bakr Id, and who worshipped Shaikhs, and martyrs, and pirs, [ p. 342 ]
Kabir, the son of a father who used to do such things, so succeeded that he became celebrated in the three worlds.
All the chamars [53] of my family even still go round Banaras removing dead cattle,
Yet strict Brahmans prostrate themselves before their offspring, Rav Das, the slave of God’s slaves.
The following hymn was composed in reply to a Brahman who inquired how Rav Das could obtain salvation : —
III
By what devotion shall I meet my Beloved, the Lord of souls ?
The supreme state is obtained by association with saints.
Soiled is my vesture, [54] how long shall I wash it ?
How long shall I remain in this sleep [55] which hath come upon me ?
The things [56] to which I was attached have all perished ;
The shop of spurious traffic hath closed. [57]
Saith Rav Das, when my account is taken,
I shall see whatever I have done recorded to my credit.
The gyanis translate— Some rare penpn may explain that God is equally contained in everything. ↩︎
A city where there is no sorrow. This is not Begampur, a village on the left bank of the Bhima, so called because one of Aurangzeb’s daughters died and was buried there, while her father was encamped at Brahmapuri on the opposite side of the river. ↩︎
That is, no Vishnu or Shiv. ↩︎
That is, they whose lives fit them fo# that abode are my friends ; and obtain salvation. ↩︎
My body. ↩︎
That is, my life. ↩︎
That is, Lam prepared to give religious instruction to whoever will join me. ↩︎
‘ Frog in a well ’ is applied in Hindustani to an ignorant person. ↩︎
The Veds and Purans prescribe different forms of worship. ↩︎
Hardness of heart shall depart. ↩︎
Some read olag olagm and translate — That I may become their slave of slaves. ↩︎
Chintamani, a gem supposed to yield its possessor whatever he desired. In England the wishing-cap was said to possess the same virtue. ↩︎
This is the Ricinus communis, or castor-oil plant. ↩︎
Makhtul, from the Arabic maftul. ↩︎
Kira is by some gyanis translated canvas. ↩︎
Also translated — Thy feet are the lotus, my soul the bumble-bee flitting over them. This is on the supposition that bhawar is read for bkawan. ↩︎
This line is supposed to be an imitation of the devotee’s repetition of God’s name. The gyanis translate — They who repeat God’s name in their hearts, they who repeat it with their tongues, and they who cause others to repeat it, bloom afresh. ↩︎
Nistar, literally— those who ought not to be saved. ↩︎
Nimat, Sanskrit niyamit. His father, before going on a journey, enjoined him to give milk to the family idol during his absence. ↩︎
Instead of being absorbed in God’s light he is born again as an inferior animal. ↩︎
And not with the play. ↩︎
Serpents love the perfume of the sandal-tree and twine around it. They thus, in the estimation of stiict Hindus, spoil and render it; unfit to be offered in worship, as is commonly done. ↩︎
Somebody has touched them. ↩︎
Since I cannot worship Thee with all the accessories of Hindu worship. ↩︎
The meaning is, since the poet has abjured egoism, he has become a portion of God as the waves blend with the sea. ↩︎
I thought a rope was a serpent, but it was not. I thought that man existed, but now I find everything is God. ↩︎
If kanik were here read, the translation would be — As man mjistaketh by calling a thing a bracelet instead of calling it gold. ↩︎
That is, its eater becomes thirsty. ↩︎
Omitting the modifications and combinations of the Sanskrit characters and retaining only one s. The meaning apparently is that the letters which form God’s name are superior to all the other letters employed in the Hindu sacred writings. ↩︎
In India peacocks generally live on undulating lands. ↩︎
Rakat, the portion supposed to be contributed by the female instead of the ova of modern physiology. ↩︎
And neglecting God, the expression ganthi ganthi also means to be attached to worldly things. ↩︎
That I may worship Thee in human body. ↩︎
The clause is also translated — I fill my ears and my tongue with Thy praises. ↩︎
Sandal is grated and sprinkled by Hindus on their idol. ↩︎
Because the bee has tasted them. ↩︎
This hymn is recited in a collection of Sikh prayers called the Arati. ↩︎
Also called Parbati. ↩︎
Wife here is used for man in the generic sense, and the spouse is God. ↩︎
Sirat-ul-mustakim. The bridge which leads to heaven, according to Muhammadans. ↩︎
To dispense food. ↩︎
Also translated — Have been delivered from the entanglements of the world through Thee. ↩︎
The water-lily is supposed to remain dry in the water. ↩︎
Tata, here for tarag, a tank. Otiiers understand the word to mean a margin, and translate kup tata as a well with its surrounding land. ↩︎
Kulin. This word is now applied to a race of Brahmans in Bengal, who marry a large plurality of wives. ↩︎
This is the man whose feet Krishan washed, not the author of the Ramayana. ↩︎
Bindware — God who is without the organs of action. ↩︎
By some Oriental people the dead are thrown to crows, kites, and vultures. ↩︎
Vishnu. ↩︎
Where Shiv is supposed»lo reside. ↩︎
The conception of ancient Hindu geographers. ↩︎
The reference is to Nlru, Kablr’s adoptive father. This verse proves that Musalmans killed cows at the two festivals referred to long before the British occupation of India. ↩︎
Leather-cutters supposed by the higher Hindu castes to be unclean. ↩︎
Until God enters it, it is hopeless to suppose my heart can be purified. ↩︎
Spiritual ignorance. ↩︎
The pleasures of the world. ↩︎
I have no longer dealings with the world. ↩︎