Bhakthi rathnakara-2. Sant Kabir- His life continued

[Guest guest]

Kabir

had a son and a daughter who were also his disciples along with his wife Loi.

Thus it was a devoted family. Once Kamali, daughter of Kabir, was drawing water

at a well and a young Brahmin asked her for water to drink. She gave him the

water and he drank it. After that he asked her who she was and knowing that she

was a daughter of a poor muslim weaver he got angry and scolded her for not

having disclosed her caste before giving water and thus polluting his caste.

She , not knowing what to do, took him to her father.

 

Kabir

patiently heard the complaint of the Brahmin and said that the water in the

well is not contaminated by the frogs and the fish and how could it be

contaminated by the touch of a human being. Then he said that God has created

all beings with the same five elements and the flesh and blood are made of same

constituents. One reads the Vedas and becomes a pundit and another studies

Koran and becomes a moulana. They are all like the different forms of the same

clay differing only in name and form.

 

Thus

the illiterate muslim weaver has spoken the profoundest upanishadic truth,

namely `yaThaa ekena mrthpindena sarvam mrnmayam vijnaatham syaath,

vaachaarmbhaNam vikaaraH mrtthikethyeva sathyam,' (Chand. Up. 6.1) meaning,

just as all the things made of clay are different only in name and form but in

reality it is mud only, so also the whole universe of sentient and insentient

beings are different only in name and form and the only reality is Brahman.

 

This

is the greatness of devotion, as Krishna says

in the Gita, theshaam sathatahyukthaanaam bhajathaam preethpoorvakam

dhadhaami budDhiyogam tham yena maam upayaanthithe (BG.10.10), meaning , "To those who worship Me

with mind engrossed in Me with love, I give the intellectual comprehension by

which they attain Me." The Upanishad says, naayam aathmaa pravachanena

labhyaH na meDhayaana bahunaa Sruthena; yam eva esha vrNuthe thena labhyaH

thasya esha aathmaa vivrNthe tahnum svaam. The supreme reality is not known

through discourse or by intellect or by the study of Vedas. To the one who

longs for it with all

his heart the Self reveals itself. This we see in many saints who lacked formal education or the

study of sastras.

 

It

is said that the Brahmin youth was much impressed by the talk of Kabir and

started frequenting his house and ended up by marrying Kamali, who was also a

poet and wrote many poems with the signature, "thus says Kamali, daughter of Kabir.

 

But

as with all the saints Kabir had to

undergo his share of trials and tribulations. Sikkandar Lodi was ruling in Delhi at that time and he

forcibly converted non-muslims to Muslim faith and many embraced Islam to avoid

the heavy tax called Jisya which non-muslims had to pay. Lodi

also destroyed many temples and in spite of all that Hinduism flourished, says the historians.

 

Those

who were against Kabir complained to Lodi that

he had flouted both the Hindu and Muslim

rituals and spoke against the holy pilgrimage to Mecca and the fasting on Ramzan. Sikandhar Lodi believed them and

summoned Kabir to his court. Even there, Kabir laughed at the holy men who

stood before the ruler saying that those who stood before the mortal king

instead of the court of King of kings, made him laugh. Sikandar Lodi was

enraged, and accused Kabir of being an infidel but Kabir refused to apologise as he thought that it was not a sin to preach

devotion to God who is one to all.

 

The

king ordered him to be drowned in the river and he was bound by chains and

thrown into the river. But after a while the chains broke loose and he was seen

floating on the river. Then he was tied and placed on the path of an elephant

which was goaded by its mahout to tread upon him. But the elephant refused to

move. Kabir said that the Lord is present inside the elephant as well as in

himself. Then he was put on fire but emerged without a blemish. This reminds

one of the story of Prahlada and that wherever they are the saint devotees are

protected by the Lord.

 

Then

Lodi was

ashamed to perceive that he had been persecuting a divine person and asked

forgiveness. Kabir had no rancour towards him, saying that all are the leela of

the Lord. Then the king offered him land and wealth which Kabir refused.

 

Though

Kabir was living in Banares most of the time he seemed to have traveled extensively

as is known by his poems. But his last days he spent in Magahar which was

believed to be unholy because the one dying there would be born again as a

donkey while if one dies in Banaras he is not

born again. Kabir said that a hardened sinner even if he dies in Banaras will not be able to escape the result of his sins

but a saint even if he dies in Magahar will attain mukthi.

 

Magahar

was a cursed town and was sadly neglected. There was no water in the river Ami there

which was dry always. But as soon as

Kabir entered there, the river became full with water and by the manner of his

death the town became free of its bad reputation.

 

One

morning Kabir told his disciples not to disturb him and went inside his hut.

Since he never came out even by midday, the disciples went inside only to see

Kabir lying on the floor covered with white sheet with no sign of life. The desolated disciples

wanted to do the last rites but there was a dispute as to whether he should be

cremated in the manner of Hindus or

buried by the Muslim custom. The two kings, one a hindu and the other a muslim,

who were his disciples, entered into argument and when they opened the sheet

that covered Kabir, there was no body

inside but only a heap of flowers. Thus

Kabir flouted the traditions even at his death.