The bigoted emperor Sikandar Khan Lodi, son of Bahlol Lodi, visited Banaras in Sambat 1545, the year he ascended the throne. Owing to the damp ness of the locality he contracted a severe fever and ague. Kabir' s enemies suggested that he should be called to cure the emperor. Their object was that
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Kabir should fail in his efforts, and then be punished by the despot. To the dismay of his enemies, how ever, Kabir is said to have cured the monarch by simply presenting himself.
The Musalmans, headed by Shaikh Taqi and the unbelieving Brahmans, subsequently appeared before the emperor to make a complaint against Kabir. They represented that he had so led people astray all over the city, that those who paid heed to what he said, remained neither Hindus nor Musalmans. The emperor summoned Kabir. When he appeared, the courtiers told him to salute and make obeisance to the monarch in the usual manner of subjects. Kabir replied that he was not accustomed to courts, and did not know how to make prostrations, nor had he any business with the emperor. He but knew the name of God, who was the Support of his soul, and only Sovereign of the world. The emperor became enraged on hearing this, and for getting his former obligation to Kabir, loaded him with chains and had him thrown into the river. It is related that Kabir, who had previously cut off the chains of sin, easily swam to shore leaving his chains behind him. Unbelievers attributed this miracle to magic, so setting some wood on fire they threw the saint into it. By God's favour the fire was completely extinguished, and Kabir 's body emerged from it more handsome than before. When these means of destruction failed, a furious elephant was let loose on him. The elephant, however, not only did not approach Kabir, but fled on seeing him. Kabir composed the following on the occa sion : —
They tied my arms and threw me like a ball ; They beat an infuriated elephant on the head that he might trample on me,
But he trumpeted and fled, saying,
' I am a sacrifice to that shape which appeared?
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Saith Kabir, ' 0 my God, Thou art my strength ' —
The Qazi ordered, ' Drive on the elephant,
O driver, or I will make mince-meat of thee ;
Drive on the elephant, wound him.'
The elephant did not move, but kept his attention on God,
And God took possession of his heart.
Men asked, ' What crime hath the saint committed,
That you have made a ball of him and thrown him to the elephant ? '
The elephant lifting up the ball bowed to it ;
Even then the infatuated Qazi could not comprehend.
Three times he tried to kill me but failed ;
Even then his hard heart would not be satisfied.
Saith Kabir, O God, Thou art my protector ;
Thy servant's soul is in the fourth state.1
When Kabir had successfully escaped from these ordeals, another charge was invented against him, namely, that he had been guilty of the blasphemy of calling himself God. This was deposed to by several witnesses, and the emperor was induced to give it credence. He again summoned Kabir. On Kabir's arrival the emperor caused a cow to be slaughtered and ordered Kabir to reanimate her. Kabir stroked her with his hand, and then made a noise with his lips as if driving her, upon which, it is related, the cow stood up, and all her wounds and injuries were healed.
When the emperor saw the power of Kabir's devotion, it is said he fell at his feet, and thus addressed him : ' I am thy servant and slave. Pardon my offences that I may be saved from God's wrath. Ask what thou desirest — money, lands, and other things — and I will present them to thee ; and do thou in return bestow such kindness on my poor circumstances that I may be happy in this world and the next.' Kabir replied that he had no concern
with anything but the name of God. Gold and lands were all useless to him. Saying this he went|home.
The saints of God were all overjoyed at his safety, but the Brahmans irritated at their failure began to contrive further means of annoyance. They dressed up several persons as holy men, and sent them to various dignitaries to invite them on behalf of Kabir to a banquet on a certain date. Guests came in crowds at the appointed time. Kabir on discovering the trick that had been played, and knowing that on account of his poverty he was unequal to the entertainment of such a multitude, again fled, this time with the approbation of the saint Rav Das, to a neighbouring forest for concealment.
But God did not wish that His saint should be made a laughing-stock. He sent in the guise of Kabir a holy man who performed the duties of host with such grace and dignity as was impossible for any ordinary mortal. As each party of visitors arrived, the holy man met them at the door, and performed for them all the rites of hospitality. He provided them with suitable apartments, washed their feet, and performed all necessary services. When all the guests had fared to their hearts' con tent, and the holy man obtained leisure from attend ance on them, he sat down with each group and conversed with its members on sacred subjects. In this way the festival was prolonged for several days. After that he went to Kabir, and gave him a full account of the entertainment. Kabir then went home overjoyed with God's love and kindness to him and composed the following slok : —
Kabir, I did not do this, nor will I do it again, nor am I physically able to do it ;
How do I know what God may have done ? Yet it was all Kabir.
To this Kabir in his thankfulness to God added the following hymn : —
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Endless salvation awaiteth him
Who hath such a master as God, O brother.
Say, now that my trust is in Thee, O God,
What obligation am I under to any one else ?
Why should God who beareth the load of the three worlds not cherish me ?
Saith Kabir, I have obtained one piece of knowledge by reflection —
If a mother will poison her child, who can restrain her ? !
It is said that the entertainment took place on the spot where since has been built the Chaura Kabir, a temple dedicated to Kabir, in which his writings are said to be preserved.
There was a renowned Brahman disputant, called Pandit Sarva Jit, who at his mother's advice went to Banaras with several ox-loads of books. He had heard of Kabir's fame and proceeded to visit him. On arriving at the Lahar Talao, he met Niru's daughter drawing water, and requested her to show him Kabir's place of residence. She said that it was on a lofty place, with a road so narrow that not even an ant could pass, much less the oxen he had brought with him. By her answer he felt sure that she knew where Kabir lived. He took a lota of water from her, and requested her to place it in front of Kabir. She did so, upon which Kabir put a needle into it and told her to carry the vessel back to Sarva Jit. There is a proverb that truth is found at the bottom of a well. By the needle Kabir meant that truth was small, exquisitely polished, and under lay much unsubstantial matter.
The Brahmans of Banaras on hearing of Sarva Jit's arrival went to Ramanand, and informed him that a Pandit had come with whom nobody could cope. Ramanand was so little impressed with the Pandit's great learning, that he told them to go out
into the street and bring in the first person they met ; and he undertook that he would vanquish Sarva Jit in argument. The Brahmans went forth into the street. Kabir happened to be the first they met, and they took him to Ramanand. Ramanand declared Kabir invincible, and the Brahmans accord ingly put him forward as their spiritual champion. Sarva Jit on seeing him inquired his caste, where upon Kabir answered that he was a weaver. The haughty Pandit turned up his nose and asked what a weaver was. Kabir replied as follows :—
No one knoweth the secret of the Weaver ;
God hath woven the warp of the whole world.
If thou listen to the Veds and Purans,
Thou shalt hear, ' I have stretched the warp so long ;
I have made the earth and firmament My workshop ;
I have set the moon and sun in alternate motion ;
Working My legs I did one work ' 1— with such a Weaver my heart is pleased.
The weaver hath looked into his own heart and there recognized God.
Saith Kabir, 4 1 have broken up my workshop,
And the weaver hath blended his thread 2 with the thread of God.3
Sarva Jit admitted himself defeated, and begged Kabir to make him a disciple. Kabir modestly referred him to his guru Ramanand, who gave him the customary initiation.
Tata and Jiwa, two Brahman brothers who lived in retirement on the bank of the river Narbada, doubting the spiritual perfection of their guru' planted a shoot of the Indian fig-tree near their dwelling, and vowed that, if it germinated when
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irrigated with the water in which a holy visitor had washed his feet, they would transfer their spiritual allegiance to such a visitor. Several reputed saints made pilgrimages to the locality, but it was only on Kabir's arrival that the desired result was attained. Upon this Tata and Jiwa had no difficulty in believing in Kabir's superhuman power.
A young woman of beautiful and bewitching form was sent by Kabir's enemies to test his virtue, but she displayed all her attractions and fascinations in vain. God's image was so firmly seated in Kabir's heart, that the charming damsel's wiles produced no effect on him. She therefore departed crestfallen and helpless. God was pleased on beholding the continence and devotion of Kabir, and appeared to him in a vision. He placed His hand on Kabir's head and invited him to go bodily to heaven. Kabir, knowing that he had obtained complete deliver ance, prepared himself to accept God's invitation ; but, to show his contempt for Hindu superstitions, and to emphasize the power of devotion to God, he performed a very unusual act before his departure to the celestial realms.
Kabir usually lived, until the last year of his life, at Banaras, the sacred city of Shiv, where alone, in the estimation of many Hindus, deliverance may be obtained. There is a town called Magahar beyond the Ganges, about eighty-five miles to the east of Ajudhia, and fifteen miles to the west of Gorakhpur, in which, according to Brahmanical belief, those who die have no hope of ultimate beatitude. Kabir's biographer says that they who believe in the religious exercises prescribed in the Shastars, migrate into the bodies of donkeys if they die in Magahar; while for those who are fortunate enough to perform the real worship of God, every country and every place is equal to thousands of cities like the Hindu Banaras. Nay, such is the power of devotion, that God's devotees who die in Magahar go to heaven.
Kabir, on arriving in Magahar, took possession of a saint's cell he found on the margin of the river Ami. The river was then dry, but water has flowed in it ever since the day Kabir hallowed it with his presence.
Kabir composed the following hymn at Magahar : —
I am as a fish out of water,
Because in a former life I performed no penance.
Now say, O God, what shall be my condition.
People tell me I had little sense to leave Banaras,
That I wasted all my life in that city of Shiv ; l
And now when about to die, I have removed to Magahar.
For many years I did penance at Banaras,
But, now that death is at hand, I have come to dwell in Magahar —
I consider Magahar as good as Banaras—
How shall he of scant devotion be saved ?
Saith Kabir, my guru Ramanand,2 Ganesh, Shiv,3 and all "men know,
That Kabir when dying uttered God's holy name.4
And also the following : —
Thou art my great mountain ; O Lord, I have sought Thy shelter.
Thou shakest not, nor do I fall ; Thou hast sheltered me, OGod;
Now and then and forever more there is but Thou.
By Thy favour I am ever happy.
Relying on Thee I have dwelt in Magahar ; Thou hast quenched the fever of my body.
I first obtained a sight of Thee in Banaras, and afterwards I went to live at Magahar.
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As Banaras so is Magahar ; I deem them both the same.
I a poor man have obtained this wealth on account of which the proud pandits are bursting to death with envy.
He who is proud suffereth that torture ; there is none to deliver him therefrom.
In this life he crieth bitterly under the torture, and after death he shall be burnt in a frightful hell.
What is hell and what heaven, the wretched places ? The saints have rejected them both.1
Through the favour of the guru I pay no regard to any one ;
I have claimed God's throne and met Him.
God and Kabir have become one ; no one can distinguish between them.2
After Kabir 's death a quarrel arose between the Hindus and Muhammadans for the disposal of his body. Vir Sinn Baghela, the King of Banaras, wished to cremate it, while Bijli Khan, the Nawab of Gorakhpur, desired to bury it. They fought over the matter until a voice come from heaven and separated the combatants. When the quarrel was adjusted, it was found that there was no corpse to dispose of. Fragrant flowers were found in its place. The Musalmans, however, made a grave, and the Hindus erected a shrine in friendly proximity, as if each party were in possession of Kabir' s sacred remains.
Kabir lived to such a great age — one hundred and nineteen years, five months, and twenty-seven days — that there are several fabulous accounts of his duration of life. Indeed some of his followers believe that he is still in existence. The following mnemonic lines, however, which are amply authenti cated, show that Kabir went the way of all mortals :—
Pandrahi sau pachhatar bikhe kiya Magahar ko gaun ; Magsar sudi ekadashi rali paun men paun.
Kabir went to Magahar in the Sambat year 1575 (A.D. 1518).
On the eleventh day of the bright half of the month of Maghar his spirit blended with the spirit of the world.1
Nabhaji wrote on the circumstance : —
Trusting to his devotion Kabir relinquished his body in Magahar, And now rejoiceth in the lap of the Immortal.
The Dadupanthis, or followers of the saint Dadu, also corroborate the fact of Kabir's death at the time above stated and in the town of Magahar.
It is said that Kabir after some days rose from the dead, and appeared to a disciple called Ratan in Mathura, and gave him divine instruction. Kabir then and there met Dharm Das, whom he had previously appointed his successor, and made him more completely acquainted with the principles of his religion. He laid down forty-two articles which he called the pillars of faith, and having fully ex plained them to his disciples finally departed to his eternal home.
Besides Kabir's compositions, preserved in the Granth Sahib, there is a long list of works attributed to him, the most famous of which is the Kabir Bijak. Many of his verses are repeated by wander ing faqirs.
On the subject of caste Kabir wrote : —
The courageous man who effaceth caste and pride shall prove a saint ;
On the subject of idolatry he said : —
If God be found by worshipping a stone, I will worship a mountain ;
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Better than that stone is a hand-mill which grindeth corn for the world to eat.
Many similar verses in the mouths of the populace in upper India, and indeed all Kabir's compositions, show him to have been a daring and original thinker. It must be mentioned, however, that his writings are frequently of a mystical character, and much concentration of thought and knowledge of the spiritual and social condition of his age are necessary for their elucidation. The author has accepted the interpretation of Kabir's hymns from the gyanis of the Panjab, but possibly the saint's followers in other parts of India may differ on some details.
Kabir held the doctrine of ahinsa or the non-de struction of life, which extended even to that of flowers. The Sikh Gurus, on the contrary, allowed, and even encouraged, the use of animal flesh as food.
The visitor to Kabir's temple in Banaras is shown what purports to be his picture. Dharm Das l and Surat Gopal, another of his disciples, are represented kneeling at his feet in an attitude of supplication, while his son Kamal, who, the Kabirpanthis believe, was a child re-animated by him, is fanning him. The visitor may also see a picture of Kabir and Rav Das, a friend and fellow disciple and townsman of his. Rav Das is represented as a very attenuated old man, naked except for a red cloth round his middle, wearing a rosary in two folds round his neck, and beads on his wrists and arms. The saintly royal lady, Jhali, queen of Chitaur, richly dressed, is offering him food on a platter.