My dread of transmigration is at an end Since God displayed His love for me. The light hath dawned, the darkness is dispelled ; I have obtained the jewel God by meditation on Him. When He conferreth happiness sorrow fleeth away ; The jewel of my heart is absorbed in God's love. Whatever occurreth is .according to Thy will, 0 God ; He who understandeth this shall be easily absorbed in Thee.
Saith Kabir, all my sins have been blotted out, And my soul is absorbed in the Life of the world.
God is not confined as regards place to the mosque or the temple, or as regards time to any month or day.
If God dwell only in the mosque, to whom belongeth the rest of the country ?
They who are called Hindus say that God dwelleth in an idol : I see not the truth in either sect.
O Lord, show kindness unto me.
Hari dwelleth in the south, Allah hath His place in the west.
Search in thy heart, search in thy heart of hearts ; there is His place and abode.
The Brahmans yearly perform twenty-four fastings on the eleventh day of the dark and light halves of the lunar month ; the Musalmans fast in the month of Ramzan.
The latter put aside eleven months of the year, and say that the Treasure is in one alone.
What availeth the Hindus to bathe at Jagannath in Urisa (Orissa), what the Musalmans to bow their heads in a mosque ?
With deception in their hearts they repeat prayers ; what availeth them to go on a pilgrimage to Makka ?
KABIR'S HYMNS 277
The men and women Thou hast created, 0 God, are all in Thy form.
Kabir is a child of Ram and Allah, and accepteth all gurus and pirs.
Saith Kabir, hear, O men and women, seek the sanctuary of the one God ;
O mortals, only repeat God's name, and then shall you be assuredly saved.
In Kabir's presence a Brahman and a Muham- madan priest were reviling each others' sacred books. The Muhammadan expatiated on the merits of sacrifice.
Say not that the Hindu and Musalman books are false ; false is he who reflecteth not on them.
If you say that the one God is in everything, then why kill fowls ?
0 priest, say is this God's justice ? Thy mental doubts forsake thee not ;
Thou seizest and bringest living things, and takest their lives, but thou merely killest their bodies of clay.
Their souls return to the Indestructible ; say what hast thou killed.
What avail thy purifications, thy rinsings of the mouth, and thy prostrations in the mosque ?
If thou pray with deception in thy heart, what availeth thee thy pilgrimage to Makka ?
Thou art impure ; thou knowest not the Pure One ; thou knowest not His secrets.
Saith Kabir, thou hast missed heaven, and art satisfied with hell.
Kabir offered to God the following oblation in stead of incense, light, and the other accessories of Hindu worship.
Hear x me, God of gods, Supreme Lord, primal and omni present, I offer my vespers unto Thee.
The Sidhs even in deep meditation have not discovered Thy limits, but they continue to cling to Thine asylum.
Accept this oblation,1 O bright Spirit ; worship the True Guru, my brethren.
Brahma standeth and readeth the Veds, but the Unseen is seen not by him.2
With divine knowledge as mine oil and Thy name my wick I have made a lamp to illumine my body.
I have lit the lamp with the light of the Lord of the world ; he who knoweth how to do this knoweth the Omniscient.3
The unbeaten sounds of God who dwelleth with man, are my five musical instruments.
O Thou Formless and Undisturbed, Thy slave Kabir hath made Thee this oblation.4
KABIR'S SLOKS
Kabir, my rosary is my tongue, on which I repeat God's name ;
In every age it bringeth peace and comfort to all God's servants.
Kabir, everybody laugheth at my caste ;
I am a sacrifice to this caste in which I repeat the Creator's name.
Kabir, why waverest thou ? Why lettest thou thy mind vacillate ?
God is the Lord of all happiness ; quaff the essence of His name.
KABIR'S SLOKS 279
Kabir, if golden earrings were to be made and rubies set in them,
They would appear like burnt reeds if God's name were not in the wearer's heart.1
Kabir, there are few who while alive are dead,2 And who fearlessly sing God's praises ; whithersoever I look there is He to save me.
Kabir, on the day I am dead there shall be rejoicing after me ; 3
I shall then have met my God, and my friends will worship Him instead of weeping.
Kabir, I am the worst of men ; except myself everybody is good ;
He who holdeth the same opinion is my friend.
Kabir, worldly love came to me in various disguises, But my guru preserved me ; worldly love then made me obeisance and departed.
Kabir, destroy that Maya whose death shall make thee happy ;
Every one shall then say it is well ; no one shall deem it ill.
Kabir, when the nights are dark, thieves arise ; They run about with nooses for men ; know that they are accursed of God.
28o BHAGATS OF THE GRANTH SAHIB
Kabir, the sandal-tree is good even though surrounded by the dhak-tree ; 1
If the latter be near the sandal-tree, it will also become fragrant as sandal.
Kabir, the bamboo is drowned in its pride ; 2 may nobody be drowned so !
It may grow near the sandal, but it is never perfumed by it.3
Kabir, man hath lost his faith through mammon, but mammon will not accompany him ;
He hath carelessly struck his foot with an axe by his own hand.
The following is said to have been written in reply to some one who had invited Kabir to attend a religious fair : —
Kabir, wherever I wandered I saw spectacles everywhere ; Without the saint who loveth God, the world is in my opinion a desert.
Kabir, the hut of the saints is comfortable ; the village of the false is a furnace.
May fire prey upon that mansion where the name of God is not !
Kabir, why weep when a saint dieth, since he is merely going home ?
Weep rather for the poor infidel who is sold at every shop.4
KABIR'S SLOKS 281
Kabir, the infidel is like a dinner of garlic ; One may sit in the corner and eat it, but its smell becometh manifest at last.
Kabir, the body * is a churn, the breath of life its churning- staff ;
The saints eat the butter, the world drinketh the butter milk.
Kabir, the body is the churn, the breath of life the stream of iced water ; 2
He who hath churned shall eat the butter, and so shall his helpmates also.
Kabir, Maya is a thief who breaketh into and robbeth the shop ; 3
One man, Kabir, who hath chased her in every direction,4 she shall not rob.5
Kabir, they who make many friends are not happy in this world ;
But they who keep their minds fixed on the one God ever enjoy happiness.
Kabir, while the world feareth death, my heart is pleased therewith ;
Since it is only by death supreme bliss is obtained.
Kabir, when thou obtainest the jewel of God's name keep it to thyself,6
For there is no bazaar to sell it in, no connoisseur, no purchaser, no price for it.
Kabir, love him who hath made God his master ; Learned men, kings, lords of the soil — of what avail is love for them ?
Kabir, by loving the one God all other love departeth, Whether thou wearest long hair, or shavest thy head clean.1
Kabir, the world is a chamber of soot ; blind are they who enter it, and they become defiled.
I am a sacrifice to those who have entered it, and come forth clean.
Kabir, this body shall depart ; if possible detain 2 it : They who had hundreds of thousands and millions departed barefooted.
Kabir, this body shall depart ; put it on some road On which it may either hold converse with saints, or sing God's praises.
Kabir, everybody dieth in his turn, but no one even knoweth how to die ;
When thou diest, so die that thou shalt not have to die again.3
Kabir, it is difficult to obtain human birth ; it cometh not again and again ;
As the ripe fruit of the forest, when it falleth to the ground returneth not to the parent-branch.
KABIR'S SLOKS 283
Somebody came to visit Kabir, and asked him if Kabir (great) was his name. The following, addressed to God, was his reply :—
It is Thou, 0 God, who art Kabir (great), and whose name is Kabir (great) ;
Man shall only obtain the jewel of the Lord when he despiseth his body.
Kabir, utter not idle complaints against God ; nothing shall result from what thou sayest ;
No one can set aside what the merciful One doeth.
Kabir, nobody who is counterfeit can withstand God's touchstone ;
Only he who in life is dead can bear its ordeal.
Kabir, men wear gaudy robes, and eat betel leaves and betel nut ;
But without the name of the one God they shall be bound and taken to the city of Death.
Kabir, my boat is old, and leaketh in a thousand chinks ;
Boats very lightly laden cross over, but those with heavy cargoes 1 founder.
Kabir, man's bones burn like firewood, his hair burneth like grass ;
Kabir is sad on seeing everybody burning.2
Kabir, be not proud of thy bones wrapped up in skin ; They who rode excellent horses, and under umbrellas, were at last buried in the earth.
XXXVIII
Kabir, be not proud on seeing thy lofty dwellings ; To-day or to-morrow thou shalt lie beneath the earth, and the grass shall grow over thee.
Kabir, be not proud, let none laugh at the poor ;
Now thy bark is on the sea ; who knoweth what shall happen.1
Kabir, be not proud on seeing thy beautiful body ;
Thou shalt leave it to-day or to-morrow as a serpent its slough.
Kabir, if thou must plunder, then plunder, but let thy plunder be the name of God ;
Otherwise thou shalt afterwards repent when life hath left thy body.
Kabir, few 2 have been born who have applied the fire of divine knowledge to their bodies,
Who have burnt the five evil passions, and with the same fervour continued to love God.
Is there any one who will sell me his son ; any one who will sell me his daughter ? 3
Is there any one who will go into partnership with Kabir, and deal in God's name with him ?
Kabir, I remind thee, O man — and entertain no doubt on the subject —
KABIR'S SLOKS 285
Thou canst not exchange the pleasures thou hast already enjoyed for even a morsel of coarse sugar.1
Kabir, I first thought that learning was good, then that the Jog philosophy was better than learning ;
But now I shall never forsake the service of God, even though men revile me for it.
Kabir, how can the wretched people who have no divine knowledge in their hearts, revile me ? 2
Kabir having abandoned every occupation continueth to repeat God's name.
Kabir, the wanderer's skirt hath caught fire on all sides ; 3 The tattered garment hath been burnt and reduced to charcoal, but the flame hath not touched the waist-string.4
Kabir, the tattered garment hath been burnt and reduced to charcoal, the skull hath burst into atoms ;
The poorjogi hath had his day, and dust only remaineth where he sat.
Kabir, man is like a fish in a little water ; the angler casteth in his net ;
Man shall not escape in this little pond ; he ought to think of returning to the Ocean.5
Kabir, leave not the Ocean, though it be very brackish ; 6
If thou search for shelter in every pond,1 no one shall call thee good.
Kabir, they who had no guru were wafted away ; there was no one to stop them —
Practise meekness and humility,2 come what may.
LI I
Kabir, the bitch of God's saints is good, but the mother of the infidel is bad ;
The former ever heareth the Lord's name and praises, the latter goeth to commit sin.
Kabir, man is like a lean stag ; this world is a lake sur rounded by verdure ;
There are hundreds of thousands of hunters and but one life — how long can it escape ? 3
Kabir, if thou make thine abode on the bank of the Ganges, thou mayest drink pure water ;
But thou shalt not obtain salvation without devotion to God ; the great departed have said this.4
Kabir, me whose mind is pure as Ganges water, God followeth and addresseth, ' Kabir ! Kabir ! ? 5
Kabir, turmeric is yellow and lime white ;
When both colours are blended, the beloved God is met.6
KABIR'S SLOKS 287
Kabir, turmeric then loseth its yellowness, and not a trace of the whiteness of lime remaineth ;
I am a sacrifice to that love by which tribe and caste and lineage are effaced.
Kabir, the door of salvation is narrow, the breadth of the tenth of a grain of mustard ;
The mind is as large as an elephant ; l how can it pass through ?
Kabir, if I meet a true guru and he kindly favour me,
The door of salvation shall be made wide, and I can easily pass through.
Kabir's hut once fell, and people asked him to repair it ; the following was his reply :—
Kabir, I have no hut or shed ; I have no house or village ;
1 have no caste or name that God should ask who this man is.
Kabir, I desire to die, but when I die let it be at God's gate,
So that God may ask, ' Who is this lying at My door ? '
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.2
means men of low castes, lime men of high castes. High caste men were originally fair in comparison with the brown aborigines of India. When turmeric and lime are blended, a red product used for sacrificial marks on the forehead results. When holy men of different castes meet, God is obtained by their association, and their castes disappear. 1 Man is very proud.
Kabir, the skin of my body shall be shoes for his feet From whose mouth in his muttering dream issueth God's name.
Kabir, we are puppets of clay, but bear the name of men ;
Though guests for only four days, we occupy very great space.
Kabir, I have converted myself into henna and thoroughly ground myself,
But, even so, God never inquired about me and never allowed me to touch His feet.
Kabir, the door from which no visitor is repelled How shall I leave, since such a door there is ?
Kabir, I was drowning, but the wave of good qualities quickly washed me ashore and saved me ;
When I saw the bark was rotten, I leapt from it at once.
Kabir, the saint is not pleasing to the sinner ; the latter cannot bear the worship of God ;
The fly avoideth the sandal, and goeth where there is an evil odour.
Kabir, the physician is dead, the patient is dead, the whole world is dead in spiritual ignorance ;
One person alone, Kabir, for whom none shall weep is not dead.
Kabir, man meditateth not on God ; such great sin attacheth to him :
KABIR'S SLOKS 289
The body is a wooden pot ; it cannot be put on the fire a second time.1
Kabir, it so happened to me that God did what was pleasing to my mind ; 2
Why fear death when thou hast taken the red lead 3 in thy hand ?
Kabir, as one sucketh sugar-cane, so ought one to strive most earnestly 4 for virtue :
None calleth that man good who is without virtue.
Kabir, the body is like an earthen pot filled with water ; it will burst to-day or to-morrow :
If thou remember not thy great God, thou shalt be plundered half-way.5
Kabir, I am God's dog ; Moti 6 is my name ; There is a string 7 on my neck ; where I am pulled there I go.
Kabir, why displayest thou to men thy wooden rosary ?
If thou remember not God in thy heart, what availeth this rosary ?
Kabir, separation from God, like a serpent which yieldeth to no charm, dwelleth in the heart ;