Let man fix his attention on God and not on worldly things.
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.4 When the jackal eateth the lion,5 The whole forest bursteth out in bloom.
KABIR'S HYMNS 265
They who think themselves victorious are lost : and they who think themselves defeated are saved ; 1 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.
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.2 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, 0 Lord ; I ever beg of Thee :
If Thou refuse me, I am ruined.3
The slave Kabir is in Thy sanctuary.
Keep me, O Merciful One, near Thee.
Kabir desires not heaven but absorption in God.
Everybody saith he is going thither ; 4
I know not where heaven is.
They who know not the secrets of their own hearts
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.
How shall I subdue this beautiful fortress,1 my brother,
Which hath double walls 2 and triple moats,3
Whose entrenchments are the five subtle elements, the twenty-five categories,1 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 ;
KABIR'S HYMNS 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 :—
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
God constructed an inaccessible fortress1 for His residence,
Which He illumined with His light.
The lightning playeth and pleasure reigneth
Where the youthful2 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,
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 ; 1
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.
Millions of suns shine for Him ;
He hath millions of Shivs and Kailases ;2
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 ;
KABIR'S HYMNS 269
The nine planets1 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 aspectHe 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
The earth bloometh, the firmament rejoiceth ; Every heart is gladdened by God's light. The Lord God rejoiceth in endless ways ;
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 Peni tents of his time.
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 l who rob houses are already with them.
Shukdev and Akrur 2 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?
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.
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 ?
KABIR'S HYMNS 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.
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 entangle ments ?
' 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,1 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.2
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.
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.
There is one head of the firm and five traders,1
Who take with them spurious wares on twenty-five oxen.2
There are ten bags 3 and nine poles 4 to lift them ;
The body is bound by seventy-two ropes.
1 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 ; 5
KABIR'S HYMNS 273
I have joined with them good acts and God's love.
The three tax-gatherers 1 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 : —
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, 0 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.
hearing God's name ; manan, obeying God's will ; nididkyasan, profound and continued meditation.
The six sampats or acquisitions are — Sam, restraint of the mind ; darn, restraint of the senses ; uparati, the preservation of the heart from love and hate ; tatiksha, endurance of pain ; shradha, faith ; samadhanta, attention to the guru's instruction. Others, by the seven threads, understand the five organs of perception, the mind, and the understanding.
Kabir' s wife had ground corn and gone out with out 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 : —
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 1 of the hand-mill ?
Thou gazest very intently on this safe ;
Take care that the stick fall not on thy back.2
Saith Kabir, thou hast fared well ;
Take care that no one throw a brick or a clod at thee.3
Kabir endeavours to recall man to a sense of his insignificance.
SARANG
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.
KABIR'S HYMNS 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.
1 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.
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 ? l
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.
Kabir's bliss in feeling that he is saved—