Bhakthi rathnakara-2. Sant Kabir- His Philosophy

[Guest guest]

2.The

philosophy of Kabir

 

Even

though Ramananda was generally considered as the guru of Kabir, He never

conformed to the traditional beliefs of his guru. Kabir was more of a

philosopher than a devotee. He was against all superstitious beliefs of both Islam and Hinduism.

 

Kabir

once related a story to show how people are made to believe anything. Once

there was a washerman in a village who

had a donkey which used to neigh whenever the conch sounded from the nearby

temple. The washer man was convinced that the donkey must have been a saint in

its previous birth. He named it Shankeshvar , meaning, the Lord of the conch.

 

After

some time the donkey died. He went in to deep mourning and told every one who

asked the reason that Shankesvarasvami

had died. All people in the village started mourning , thinking that

Shankesvarasvami was some great saint. The news reached the king and he also

went into mourning, shaving his beard and moustache like the others. The queen

did not like it and sent the chief minister to find out who Shankesvarasvami

was. He came to the village and found out that it was a donkey. Kabir cited

this as an example how people are prepared to believe any nonsense but when it

comes to finding the truth through spirituality they reject the path not

believing that it will lead them to eternal joy.

 

Kabir

was an illiterate but the profound truths of his words contained all the

teachings of the Vedas and sastras. He was a saint by birth and the knowledge

came to him of its own accord. His language is that of a common man and contained

frank and even harsh words to turn the attention of common man. His philosophy

reflects the idea of Brahman of the Upanishads and also devotion to the Divine

Master whom he called Ram but it is not the Hindu god. It is the qualified

Brahman, may be equivalent to Naryana of Visishtadvaia becaseu in his poems he

mentions the names Govinda , Vishnu and

Narayana, all of which mean only the Ultimate reality.

 

Kabir

had a great reverence to the role of a guru and he says that if all the land

were turned into paper and all the seas in to ink and all the forests into pen

even then the glory of a guru will be

left unsaid. And further he said that if God and Guru were to appear in front

one should only touch the feet of guru first since he alone showed God to us.

 

When

he says ` kahatha kabiraa jo mukh raam naheen vo much Dhool bharee,' he does

not mean the deity Rama so also in the words bajorebhaiyaa raamgovindahari.

These are the names of the one Absolute God. Nama itself is the nami for him.

But at the same time mere chanting of the name is not what he meant. He says

that if by mere repetition of ramanam the soul can be saved then by the mere

utterance of the word sugar the mouth can be sweetened. He sang the ramanama

because he was instructed by his guru of the name but the word stands for the Supreme self

beyond the comprehension of mind and senses.

 

Thus he was the worshipper of sabdabrahman. To

him the sabd or sound is the power of Supreme being and by going deep into it

through devotion and contemplation one attains mukthi. He says `hari bolo hari

bolo hari bolo bhai' by which one can attain the Supreme is expressed as `kahatha kabira hariguna gaana gaavtha

naachatha vaikunta jaanaa.' But this is not the vaikunta northe name Hari

denotes a particular form of God but vaikunta is in the real meaning of the

term, the place where there is no impediment of

any sort for the experience of absolute happiness, the bliss of Brahman.

By saying `hari bolo,' and `gaavatha naachatha,' meaning ` say Hari and sing

His name and dance has a deeper implication. It means getting aborbed in the

name itself and forget oneself ewhich is expressed by singing and dancing. This

is the way for salvation as easy as one proceeds on a path singing and dancing

being thus unaware of the hardships of travel.

Some say Kabir is a vaishnavite

and he is one if that signifies the vaishnava described by Narsi Mehtha

in his song `vaishnava jan tho thene kahiye,' as one who is endowed with mercy,

humility, non violence and all the virtues mentioned as being the best flowers

to worship the Lord. Others say he is a mystic and he is one as he believed in

the union of the spirit with the Absolute and possessed mystic powers as he was

a saint by birth, and his actions or words are not understood by the world. He

was a great bhaktha in as much as he advocates love as the means of attaining

the Lord. Thus Kabir became a seer

adored by all.