SRI RA
Without God's assistance men are lost in worldly love.
The mother thinketh that her son is growing big,
But this she thinketh not, that day by day his life is de creasing.
She calleth him her own and fondleth him excessively, while the god of death looketh on and laugheth.
So much hast Thou, 0 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.
0 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.
Hear a wonderful thing, 0 Pandit, I cannot now describe
Maya,
Who hath bewitched demigods, men, celestial heralds, and musicians, and girdled the three worlds.
KABIR'S HYMNS 143
The sovereign God's lyre playeth without being struck ; 1
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 ; 2
&nd — 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?
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 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 burn ing 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 ; 4
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.
I44 BHAGATS OF THE GRANTH SAHIB
Yet Kabir's thirst for God increases.
Nay for that water my ardour rageth the more. Thou art the ocean, I am a fish therein ;
1 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 com ment. Kabir addressed the following hymn to his detractors :—
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.1
Saith Kabir, that is honour which is acceptable to God ;
Forsaking all else worship only Him.
My honour or dishonour bringeth no shame on you.
You shall know who is in the right when all gilding is cast off.
KABIR'S HYMNS 145
A satire on the ritualistic practices of the Hindus.
If union with God be obtained by going about naked, All the deer l 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 ?
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 '.
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.
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.
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 ? l
How art thou a Brahman ? How am I Sudar ?
How am I of blood and you of milk ? 2
Saith Kabir, only he who meditateth on God
Is a Brahman in my estimation.
' All are men condemned alike to groan.'
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.
When life departeth, say whose shall be man's wealth
Which appeareth like the shadow of a tree ? 3
As the life of a musical instrument is contained in itself,
How can any one know the secrets of the dead ? 4
KABIR'S HYMNS 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.
The Lord of light having created the races of men infused light into them,
Which sometimes produceth glass ornaments, and some times pearls.1
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 ; 2
In thine own heart is God, the philosopher's stone ; abandon the hope of obtaining merits from any one else.
Enjoy thyself in intercourse with that Lord.
Kabir desires not heaven but absorption in God.
The men who have no correct notion of the Supreme Being, Think of entering heaven by mere words.
whither it has gone. When human life fails, the soul departs, and no mortal knows its destination.
There is a species of animal for every spark of light, and a spark of light for every species of animal.
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 pil grimage, and their pilgrimages are therefore of no avail.
L2
i48 BHAGATS OF THE GRANTH SAHIB
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 depart eth.
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.
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,1
While the whole world looketh on thy body shall be consumed.
Since all must die, why mourn ? There is no death for the holy.
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 ;
KABIR'S HYMNS 149
Even when the well rope l is broken, the silly beings still draw water.2
Saith Kabir, / have gained one piece of wisdom by reflec tion —
There is no more a well or water-carriers for me.3
Kabir's transmigration.
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.
Kabir hath beheld such wonderful things — Water churned by mistake for cream ; 4 A donkey grazing on a green crop,5
Which on rising every morning killeth itself laughing and braying ;
A mad buffalo which could not be guided,6 Gambolling as it grazed and falling into hell ;
When the well-rope (sensual desire) is broken, the water-carriers (the five organs of perception) grow weary of doing evil.
i5o BHAGATS OF THE GRANTH SAHIB
A sheep ever sucking its lamb's milk.1
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.2
(Hymn No. XV is in Kabir's Life).3 The body is false, God alone is true.
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.
Instead of death it is God who hath come for me ; Sorrow hath been removed and I have found a refuge in happiness.
KABIR'S HYMNS 151
Mine enemies have turned into friends ;
The minds of the infidels have altered and become well- disposed 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 surfer from illness or the three fevers.
My mind hath now returned to the Eternal ;
When in life I was dead,1 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.2
It is said that Krishan Das Bairagi asked Kabir ;—
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 ; 3
And think that thou art bathing without water at their confluence.1
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,2 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.
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.
That death which terrineth 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.
KABIR'S HYMNS 153
Kabir's body is burning all over to meet God : it is useless to try to heal any particular part of it.
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 l 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 salva tion. Kabir traverses this belief.
How can a woman without chastity be a sati ?
O pandit, see and consider this in thy heart.
// 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 house hold.
Devotion to God is the only dispeller of the deadly sins.
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. 1 That is, all human beings.
Water l is near, but, O beasts, why not drink it, removing its scum ? 2
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.
Why was not the mother of the family barren,3
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 4 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.
I am ever a sacrifice
To those who repeat the Master's name. He is pure who singe th 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.
I collected much molasses,5 and turned my body into firewood ;
KABIR'S HYMNS 155
Then wine trickled from the roof of the house of pleasure 1 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 2 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.
Without devotion the qualities of the heart cling to the
heart.
Who secureth perfection by merely chastening his heart ? 3 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 chasten 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.
Who was the painter who painted The stars which appear in the sky ? 4
Say, O pandit, to what is the sky attached ? l
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.
0 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 ; 2
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.