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 ?
The guru has shown man how to protect himself from ferocious animals, to which the evil passions are compared.
0 saints, my wandering mind hath obtained rest.
1 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.1
Saith Kabir, the man of God knoweth this,
And knowing it, his mind is happy.
Kabir once felt hungry and rebelled against God.
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.2
If Thou give me not of Thine own accord, I will beg for it.
1 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.
1 have never been covetous ; Thy name alone becometh me.3
L This metaphor has often occurred. The hearts of men generally are said to be inverted. The holy have theirs erect.
KABIR'S HYMNS 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
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 Garuda.
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.
Pahars are made up of gharis, days of paliars ; 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 ? l
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.2
Saith Kabir, hear, 0 mortal dismiss thy mental doubts ;
Repeat only the one Name, O mortal, and seek the asylum of the one God.
not.
Salvation depends on the state of man's heart not on the place of his death.
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 1 hath blended with God.
0 men of God, I am out of my senses —
If Kabir leave his body at Banaras, what obligation is he under to God ? 2
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.
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.
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 ;
KABIR'S HYMNS 225
But none of these shall be thine when the time of death arriveth.
Ajamal, the elephant, and the courtesan committed sin ful 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.
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.
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.1 The black flies have gone ; the white cranes have now taken their place.2
SIKH. VI Q
As water will not remain in a frail vessel,1
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.2
A dialogue between the soul and the messengers of Death. He who feels God's love needs have no apprehension.
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 ; 3
' At dawn we shall pray at an inn on the road ' .4
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 5 hath lost that birth ;
The property and wealth he hath accumulated shall become another's.
Saith Kabir, that man hath gone astray,
KABIR'S HYMNS 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.
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.
0 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.
There are five kings of one fortress ; the whole five ask for revenue1 —
1 have not tilled land belonging to any of them ; it would be hard on me to pay a tax for nothing.
Q 2
But I raised my arms aloft, complained to my guru, and he saved me.
Nine surveyors l and ten judges 2 go on tour, and will not allow the agriculturists 3 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.4
Death triumphs over all except God's sincere worshippers.
BILAWAL
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 destroyeth 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 ; 5 they never die ; God is with them.
Know in your hearts that by forsaking son, wife, wealth, and property which are perishable,
KABIR'S HYMNS 229
Saith Kabir, you shall meet the Lord ; hear this, O ye saints.
Kabir is frenzied with devotion.
I am not skilled in book knowledge, nor do I understand controversy ;
I have grown mad reciting and hearing God's praises.
0 father, I am mad ; the whole world is sane ; I am mad ;
1 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.1
Kabir's self-abasement.
Though man leave his home for the forest region and gather tubers to live on,
His sinful and evil mind even then abandoneth not mis deeds.
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 ;
This priceless human life attached itself to a kauri and became like it.
Saith Kabir, O my God, Thou art contained in every thing ;
There is none so merciful as Thou, none so sinful as I.
The superiority of God's saint.
There is no king equal to God ;
All the kings of this world are only for four days, they make false display.1
Why should the slave of Him who overshadoweth the three worlds waver ? 2
Who can lay hands on him when one cannot even speak with due respect before him ?
0 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.
Preserve me, O God, though I have offended Thee.
1 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 intelli gence of death.3
KABIR'S HYMNS 231
An appeal to God.
Who but Thee careth for me ? open Thy door and show 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 :—
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 en joyed.1
Saith Kabir, God is the only Jogi in the world.2
Kabir mourns his lukewarmness and condemns all worldly things.
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 !
0 man, firmly restrain this worldly love ; if thou subju gate it, thou shalt be saved.3
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 l bloometh ; The Supreme Being who hath neither outline nor form, the Primal Light, is within it.
0 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 2 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.
Since my attention is fixed on God, I no longer suspect that I shall suffer transmigration ; 3
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 4 in the brain I have seen Him who is awake in every heart,
KABIR'S HYMNS 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.
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,1 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
When thou meetest a saint, have some conversation with him ;
When thou meetest 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.
By incessant talking with them sin increaseth ; If I speak not to them, what harm can the wretches do me ? l
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 con tempt.
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 burneth 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.
God abideth in the heaven above, in the earth beneath, 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.
KABIR'S HYMNS 235
The soul described by negatives.
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.1
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.2
Kabir' s wife thus addressed him on the neglect of his trade and his attentions to saints.
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.3
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.