j~nAna and bhakti - Kabir

[Guest guest]

namaste.

 

Continuing on saint Kabir's mysticism, I give below two

couplets which are full of bhakti and advaitic anubhUti.

 

 

The propitious moment

 

People in India try to find an auspicious day and time for

undertaking new projects. Kabir says that for a true seeker

of the Lord, the day, hour and moment when he meets his Master

(guru) are the most propitious. Trying to recount the numerous

blessings of the guru, Kabir says that through the guru's grace

the disciple's inner eye is opened, enabling him to see the divine

light within; his inner ear is opened, enabling him to hear the

divine melody within; he is rid of duality and is freed from the

bondage of karmA-s. In a word, his entire being is purified and

transformed, turning him into a true devotee.

 

Blessed is that day, that hour,

That propitious moment

When the man of God came

And graced my home.

 

Such was the effect of his darshan

That the veil fell from my eyes,

I heard the divine melody within

And duality came to an end.

The gates that blocked my hearing

Were hard as granite,

Yet they broke to pieces

When the man of God came

And blessed my home.

 

One touch from my Master remolded

The ill=shaped pot of my being;

The chains of karma

Fell from my body

When the man of God came

And graced my home.

 

Says Kabir: I love, I adore the Saint;

Through his grace I found the Supreme One

The diadem of all, within my own body.

Blessed indeed is the day, the hour,

The precious moment, when

The man of God, my Master,

Came and graced my home.

 

Kabir GranthAvali

Dhanni so ghari mahuratya dinA

 

 

 

 

A warning

 

Kabir, like all other Saints, warns man of the transient nature

of the world and its relationships. The human body is subject

to disease and death. Man lavishes it with care, feels proud

of it and does everything possible to preserve it, but cannot

avoid the inevitable fate.

 

Why be proud of your body -

A body that is fickle and false;

When death overtakes it,

It is not allowed to remain

In its own home a moment longer.

 

With milk and sugar,

With butter and cheese,

You nurture the body with care;

When life departs, that same body

Is cast out from the house

And consigned to flames.

 

The body, once cosseted

With creams and perfumes,

Will one day

Burn on the pyre

In the company of logs of wood.

 

Thus does Kabir the slave ruminate:

One day this will also be my fate.

 

Kabir granthAvali

JhooTe tan ko kahA garbaiye

 

 

[excerpted from Kabir: the weaver of God's name by V.K. Sethi]

 

 

 

Regards

Gummuluru Murthy

------

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

The following site has a good introduction:

 

http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/kabir.html

 

Guru Nanak adopted many of his poems for the Sikh

scripture 'Guru Granth Sahib'.

 

Many of his songs have been set to soul-stirring music, and

continue to enthrall audiences.

 

Ravindranath Tagore has translated several of Kabir poems; here

are two samples.

 

Translated by Rabindranath Tagore

http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~achatt1/Bio/rabi.html

 

baagon naa jaa re naa jaa

 

Do not go to the garden of flowers!

O friend! go not there;

In your body is the garden of flowers.

Take your seat on the thousand petals of the

lotus, and there gaze on the infinite beauty.

 

koi prem ki peng jhulaao re

 

Hang up the swing of love today!

Hang the body and the mind between the

arms of the beloved, in the ecstasy of love's joy:

Bring the tearful streams of the rainy clouds

to your eyes, and cover your heart with

the shadow of darkness:

Bring your face nearer to his ear, and speak

of the deepest longings of your heart.

Kabir says: `Listen to me brother! bring the

vision of the Beloved in your heart.'

 

 

Regards,

 

Sunder

 

 

 

advaitin, Gummuluru Murthy <gmurthy@m...>

wrote:

> If anyone is familiar with Kabir's

> life history, I would like to hear about it.