Books: Songs of Kabir

R >> Rabindranath Tagore (trans.) >> Songs of Kabir

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Yet in this wide and rapturous vision of the universe Kabîr
never loses touch with diurnal existence, never forgets the
common life. His feet are firmly planted upon earth; his lofty
and passionate apprehensions are perpetually controlled by the
activity of a sane and vigorous intellect, by the alert
commonsense so often found in persons of real mystical genius.
The constant insistence on simplicity and directness, the hatred
of all abstractions and philosophizings,[Footnote: Nos. XXVI,
XXXII, LXXVI] the ruthless criticism of external religion: these
are amongst his most marked characteristics. God is the Root
whence all manifestations, "material" and "spiritual," alike
proceed; [Footnote: Nos. LXXV, LXXVIII, LXXX, XC.] and God is
the only need of man--"happiness shall be yours when you come to
the Root." [Footnote: No. LXXX.] Hence to those who keep their
eye on the "one thing needful," denominations, creeds, ceremonies,
the conclusions of philosophy, the disciplines of asceticism, are
matters of comparative indifference. They represent merely the
different angles from which the soul may approach that simple
union with Brahma which is its goal; and are useful only in so
faras they contribute to this consummation. So thorough-going is
Kabîr's eclecticism, that he seems by turns Vedântist and
Vaishnavite, Pantheist and Transcendentalist, Brâhman and Sûfî.
In the effort to tell the truth about that ineffable apprehension,
so vast and yet so near, which controls his life, he seizes and
twines together--as he might have woven together contrasting
threads upon his loom--symbols and ideas drawn from the most
violent and conflicting philosophies and faiths. All are needed,
if he is ever to suggest the character of that One whom the
Upanishad called "the Sun-coloured Being who is beyond this
Darkness": as all the colours of the spectrum are needed if we
would demonstrate the simple richness of white light. In thus
adapting traditional materials to his own use he follows a method
common amongst the mystics; who seldom exhibit any special love
for originality of form. They will pour their wine into almost
any vessel that comes to hand: generally using by preference--and
lifting to new levels of beauty and significance--the religious or
philosophic formulæ current in their own day. Thus we find that
some of Kabîr's finest poems have as their subjects the
commonplaces of Hindu philosophy and religion: the Lîlâ or Sport of
God, the Ocean of Bliss, the Bird of the Soul, Mâyâ, the Hundred-
petalled Lotus, and the "Formless Form." Many, again, are soaked
in Sûfî imagery and feeling. Others use as their material the
ordinary surroundings and incidents of Indian life: the temple bells,
the ceremony of the lamps, marriage, suttee, pilgrimage, the
characters of the seasons; all felt by him in their mystical aspect,
as sacraments of the soul's relation with Brahma. In many of these
a particularly beautiful and intimate feeling for Nature is shown.
[Footnote: Nos. XV, XXIII, LXVII, LXXXVII, XCVII.]

In the collection of songs here translated there will be found
examples which illustrate nearly every aspect of Kabîr's thought,
and all the fluctuations of the mystic's emotion: the ecstasy,
the despair, the still beatitude, the eager self-devotion, the
flashes of wide illumination, the moments of intimate love. His
wide and deep vision of the universe, the "Eternal Sport" of
creation (LXXXII), the worlds being "told like beads" within the
Being of God (XIV, XVI, XVII, LXXVI), is here seen balanced by
his lovely and delicate sense of intimate communion with the
Divine Friend, Lover, Teacher of the soul (X, XI, XXIII, XXXV, LI,
LXXXV, LXXXVI, LXXXVIII, XCII, XCIII; above all, the beautiful
poem XXXIV). As these apparently paradoxical views of Reality
are resolved in Brâhma, so all other opposites are reconciled in
Him: bondage and liberty, love and renunciation, pleasure and pain
(XVII, XXV, XL, LXXIX). Union with Him is the one thing that
matters to the soul, its destiny and its need (LI, I, II, LIV, LXX,
LXXIV, XCIII, XCVI); and this union, this discovery of God, is the
simplest and most natural of all things, if we would but grasp it
(XLI, XLVI, LVI, LXXII, LXXVI, LXXVIII, XCVII). The union, however,
is brought about by love, not by knowledge or ceremonial observances
(XXXVIII, LIV, LV, LIX, XCI); and the apprehension which that union
confers is ineffable--"neither This nor That," as Ruysbroeck has it
(IX, XLVI, LXXVI). Real worship and communion is in Spirit and in
Truth (XL, XLI, LVI, LXIII, LXV, LXX), therefore idolatry is an
insult to the Divine Lover (XLII, LXIX) and the devices of
professional sanctity are useless apart from charity and purity
of soul (LIV, LXV, LXVI). Since all things, and especially the
heart of man, are God-inhabited, God-possessed (XXVI, LVI, LXXVI,
LXXXIX, XCVII), He may best be found in the here-and-now: in the
normal. human, bodily existence, the "mud" of material life (III,
IV, VI, XXI, XXXIX, XL, XLIII, XLVIII, LXXII). "We can reach the
goal without crossing the road" (LXXVI)--not the cloister but the
home is the proper theatre of man's efforts: and if he cannot find
God there, he need not hope for success by going farther afield.
"In the home is reality." There love and detachment, bondage and
freedom, joy and pain play by turns upon the soul; and it is from
their conflict that the Unstruck Music of the Infinite proceeds.
Kabîr says: "None but Brahma can evoke its melodies."

"This version of Kabîr's songs is chiefly the work of
Mr. Rabîndranâth Tagore, the trend of whose mystical genius makes
him--as all who read these poems will see--a peculiarly
sympathetic interpreter of Kabîr's vision and thought. It has
been based upon the printed Hindî text with Bengali translation
of Mr. Kshiti Mohan Sen; who has gathered from many sources--
sometimes from books and manuscripts, sometimes from the lips of
wandering ascetics and minstrels--a large collection of poems
and hymns to which Kabîr's name is attached, and carefully
sifted the authentic songs from the many spurious works now
attributed to him. These painstaking labours alone have made
the present undertaking possible.

We have also had before us a manuscript English translation of
116 songs made by Mr. Ajit Kumâr Chakravarty from Mr. Kshiti
Mohan Sen's text, and a prose essay upon Kabîr from the same
hand. From these we have derived great assistance. A
considerable number of readings from the translation have been
adopted by us; whilst several of the facts mentioned in the essay
have been incorporated into this introduction. Our most grateful
thanks are due to Mr. Ajit Kumar Chakravarty for the extremely
generous and unselfish manner in which he has placed his work at
our disposal.

E. U.

The reference of the headlines of the poems is to:

Sântiniketana; Kabîr by Srî Kshitimohan Sen, 4 parts,
Brahmacharyâsrama, Bolpur, 1910-1911.

For some assistance in normalizing the transliteration we are
indebted to Professor J. F. Blumhardt.

KABIR'S POEMS

I

I. 13. mo ko kahân dhûnro bande

O servant, where dost thou seek Me?
Lo! I am beside thee.
I am neither in temple nor in mosque: I am neither in Kaaba nor
in Kailash:
Neither am I in rites and ceremonies, nor in Yoga and
renunciation.
If thou art a true seeker, thou shalt at once see Me: thou shalt
meet Me in a moment of time.
Kabîr says, "O Sadhu! God is the breath of all breath."

II

I. 16. Santan jât na pûcho nirguniyân

It is needless to ask of a saint the caste to which he belongs;
For the priest, the warrior. the tradesman, and all the
thirty-six castes, alike are seeking for God.
It is but folly to ask what the caste of a saint may be;
The barber has sought God, the washerwoman, and the carpenter--
Even Raidas was a seeker after God.
The Rishi Swapacha was a tanner by caste.
Hindus and Moslems alike have achieved that End, where remains no
mark of distinction.

III

I. 57. sâdho bhâî, jîval hî karo âs'â

O friend! hope for Him whilst you live, know whilst you live,
understand whilst you live: for in life deliverance abides.
If your bonds be not broken whilst living, what hope of
deliverance in death?
It is but an empty dream, that the soul shall have union with Him
because it has passed from the body:
If He is found now, He is found then,
If not, we do but go to dwell in the City of Death.
If you have union now, you shall have it hereafter.
Bathe in the truth, know the true Guru, have faith in the true
Name!
Kabîr says: "It is the Spirit of the quest which helps; I am the
slave of this Spirit of the quest."

IV

I. 58. bâgo nâ jâ re nâ jâ

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.

V

I. 63. avadhû, mâyâ tajî na jây

Tell me, Brother, how can I renounce Maya?
When I gave up the tying of ribbons, still I tied my garment
about me:
When I gave up tying my garment, still I covered my body in its
folds.
So, when I give up passion, I see that anger remains;
And when I renounce anger, greed is with me still;
And when greed is vanquished, pride and vainglory remain;
When the mind is detached and casts Maya away, still it clings to
the letter.
Kabîr says, "Listen to me, dear Sadhu! the true path is rarely
found."

VI

I. 83. candâ jhalkai yahi ghat mâhîn

The moon shines in my body, but my blind eyes cannot see it:
The moon is within me, and so is the sun.
The unstruck drum of Eternity is sounded within me; but my deaf
ears cannot hear it.

So long as man clamours for the I and the Mine,
his works are as naught:
When all love of the I and the Mine is dead, then
the work of the Lord is done.
For work has no other aim than the getting of knowledge:
When that comes, then work is put away.

The flower blooms for the fruit: when the fruit comes, the flower
withers.
The musk is in the deer, but it seeks it not within itself: it
wanders in quest of grass.

VII

I. 85. Sâdho, Brahm alakh lakhâyâ

When He Himself reveals Himself, Brahma brings into manifestation
That which can never be seen.
As the seed is in the plant, as the shade is in the tree, as the
void is in the sky, as infinite forms are in the void--
So from beyond the Infinite, the Infinite comes; and from the
Infinite the finite extends.

The creature is in Brahma, and Brahma is in the creature: they
are ever distinct, yet ever united.
He Himself is the tree, the seed, and the germ.
He Himself is the flower, the fruit, and the shade.
He Himself is the sun, the light, and the lighted.
He Himself is Brahma, creature, and Maya.
He Himself is the manifold form, the infinite space;
He is the breath, the word, and the meaning.
He Himself is the limit and the limitless: and beyond both the
limited and the limitless is He, the Pure Being.
He is the Immanent Mind in Brahma and in the creature.

The Supreme Soul is seen within the soul,
The Point is seen within the Supreme Soul,
And within the Point, the reflection is seen again.
Kabîr is blest because he has this supreme vision!

VIII

I. 101. is ghat antar bâg bagîce

Within this earthen vessel are bowers and groves, and within it
is the Creator:
Within this vessel are the seven oceans and the unnumbered stars.
The touchstone and the jewel-appraiser are within;
And within this vessel the Eternal soundeth, and the spring wells
up.
Kabîr says: "Listen to me, my Friend! My beloved Lord is within."

IX

I. 104. aisâ lo nahîn taisâ lo

O How may I ever express that secret word?
O how can I say He is not like this, and He is like that?
If I say that He is within me, the universe is ashamed:
If I say that He is without me, it is falsehood.
He makes the inner and the outer worlds to be indivisibly one;
The conscious and the unconscious, both are His footstools.
He is neither manifest nor hidden, He is neither revealed nor
unrevealed:
There are no words to tell that which He is.

X

I. 121. tohi mori lagan lagâye re phakîr wâ

To Thee Thou hast drawn my love, O Fakir!
I was sleeping in my own chamber, and Thou didst awaken me;
striking me with Thy voice, O Fakir!
I was drowning in the deeps of the ocean of this world, and
Thou didst save me: upholding me with Thine arm, O Fakir!
Only one word and no second--and Thou hast made me tear off all
my bonds, O Fakir!
Kabîr says, "Thou hast united Thy heart to my heart, O Fakir!"

XI

I. 131. nis' din khelat rahî sakhiyân sang

I played day and night with my comrades, and now I am greatly
afraid.
So high is my Lord's palace, my heart trembles to mount its
stairs: yet I must not be shy, if I would enjoy His love.
My heart must cleave to my Lover; I must withdraw my veil, and
meet Him with all my body:
Mine eyes must perform the ceremony of the lamps of love.
Kabîr says: "Listen to me, friend: he understands who loves. If
you feel not love's longing for your Beloved One, it is vain
to adorn your body, vain to put unguent on your eyelids."

XII

II. 24. hamsâ, kaho purâtan vât

Tell me, O Swan, your ancient tale.
From what land do you come, O Swan? to what shore will you fly?
Where would you take your rest, O Swan, and what do you seek?

Even this morning, O Swan, awake, arise, follow me!
There is a land where no doubt nor sorrow have rule: where the
terror of Death is no more.
There the woods of spring are a-bloom, and the fragrant scent "He
is I" is borne on the wind:
There the bee of the heart is deeply immersed, and desires no
other joy.

XIII

II. 37. angadhiyâ devâ

O Lord Increate, who will serve Thee?
Every votary offers his worship to the God of his own creation:
each day he receives service--
None seek Him, the Perfect: Brahma, the Indivisible Lord.
They believe in ten Avatars; but no Avatar can be the Infinite
Spirit, for he suffers the results of his deeds:
The Supreme One must be other than this.
The Yogi, the Sanyasi, the Ascetics, are disputing one with
another:
Kabîr says, "O brother! he who has seen that radiance of love,
he is saved."

XIV

II. 56. dariyâ kî lahar dariyâo hai jî

The river and its waves are one
surf: where is the difference between the river and its waves?
When the wave rises, it is the water; and when it falls, it is
the same water again. Tell me, Sir, where is the distinction?
Because it has been named as wave, shall it no longer be
considered as water?

Within the Supreme Brahma, the worlds are being told like beads:
Look upon that rosary with the eyes of wisdom.

XV

II. 57. jânh khelat vasant riturâj

Where Spring, the lord of the seasons, reigneth, there the
Unstruck Music sounds of itself,
There the streams of light flow in all directions;
Few are the men who can cross to that shore!
There, where millions of Krishnas stand with hands folded,
Where millions of Vishnus bow their heads,
Where millions of Brahmâs are reading the Vedas,
Where millions of Shivas are lost in contemplation,
Where millions of Indras dwell in the sky,
Where the demi-gods and the munis are unnumbered,
Where millions of Saraswatis, Goddess of Music, play on the vina--
There is my Lord self-revealed: and the scent of sandal and
flowers dwells in those deeps.

XVI

II. 59. jânh, cet acet khambh dôû

Between the poles of the conscious and the unconscious, there has
the mind made a swing:
Thereon hang all beings and all worlds, and that swing never
ceases its sway.
Millions of beings are there: the sun and the moon in their
courses are there:
Millions of ages pass, and the swing goes on.
All swing! the sky and the earth and the air and the water; and
the Lord Himself taking form:
And the sight of this has made Kabîr a servant.

XVII

II. 61. grah candra tapan jot varat hai

The light of the sun, the moon, and the stars shines bright:
The melody of love swells forth, and the rhythm of love's
detachment beats the time.
Day and night, the chorus of music fills the heavens; and Kabîr
says
"My Beloved One gleams like the lightning flash in the sky."

Do you know how the moments perform their adoration?
Waving its row of lamps, the universe sings in worship day and
night,
There are the hidden banner and the secret canopy:
There the sound of the unseen bells is heard.
Kabîr says: "There adoration never ceases; there the Lord of the
Universe sitteth on His throne."
The whole world does its works and commits its errors: but few
are the lovers who know the Beloved.
The devout seeker is he who mingles in his heart the double
currents of love and detachment, like the mingling of the
streams of Ganges and Jumna;
In his heart the sacred water flows day and night; and thus the
round of births and deaths is brought to an end.

Behold what wonderful rest is in the Supreme Spirit! and he
enjoys it, who makes himself meet for it.
Held by the cords of love, the swing of the Ocean of Joy sways to
and fro; and a mighty sound breaks forth in song.
See what a lotus blooms there without water! and Kabîr says
"My heart's bee drinks its nectar."
What a wonderful lotus it is, that blooms at the heart of the
spinning wheel of the universe! Only a few pure souls know of
its true delight.
Music is all around it, and there the heart partakes of the joy
of the Infinite Sea.
Kabîr says: "Dive thou into that Ocean of sweetness: thus let all
errors of life and of death flee away."

Behold how the thirst of the five senses is quenched there! and
the three forms of misery are no more!
Kabîr says: "It is the sport of the Unattainable One: look
within, and behold how the moon-beams of that Hidden One shine
in you."
There falls the rhythmic beat of life and death:
Rapture wells forth, and all space is radiant with light.
There the Unstruck Music is sounded; it is the music of the love
of the three worlds.
There millions of lamps of sun and of moon are burning;
There the drum beats, and the lover swings in play.
There love-songs resound, and light rains in showers; and the
worshipper is entranced in the taste of the heavenly nectar.
Look upon life and death; there is no separation between them,
The right hand and the left hand are one and the same.
Kabîr says: "There the wise man is speechless; for this truth may
never be found in Vadas or in books."

I have had my Seat on the Self-poised One,
I have drunk of the Cup of the Ineffable,
I have found the Key of the Mystery,
I have reached the Root of Union.
Travelling by no track, I have come to the Sorrowless Land: very
easily has the mercy of the great Lord come upon me.
They have sung of Him as infinite and unattainable: but I in my
meditations have seen Him without sight.
That is indeed the sorrowless land, and none know the path that
leads there:
Only he who is on that path has surely transcended all sorrow.
Wonderful is that land of rest, to which no merit can win;
It is the wise who has seen it, it is the wise who has sung of
it.
This is the Ultimate Word: but can any express its marvellous
savour?
He who has savoured it once, he knows what joy it can give.
Kabîr says: "Knowing it, the ignorant man becomes wise, and the
wise man becomes speechless and silent,
The worshipper is utterly inebriated,
His wisdom and his detachment are made perfect;
He drinks from the cup of the inbreathings and the outbreathings
of love."

There the whole sky is filled with sound, and there that music is
made without fingers and without strings;
There the game of pleasure and pain does not cease.
Kabîr says: "If you merge your life in the Ocean of Life, you
will find your life in the Supreme Land of Bliss."

What a frenzy of ecstasy there is in every hour! and the
worshipper is pressing out and drinking the essence of the
hours: he lives in the life of Brahma.
I speak truth, for I have accepted truth in life; I am now
attached to truth, I have swept all tinsel away.
Kabîr says: "Thus is the worshipper set free from fear; thus have
all errors of life and of death left him."

There the sky is filled with music:
There it rains nectar:
There the harp-strings jingle, and there the drums beat.
What a secret splendour is there, in the mansion of the sky!
There no mention is made of the rising and the setting of the
sun;
In the ocean of manifestation, which is the light of love, day
and night are felt to be one.
Joy for ever, no sorrow,--no struggle!
There have I seen joy filled to the brim, perfection of joy;
No place for error is there.
Kabîr says: "There have I witnessed the sport of One Bliss!"

I have known in my body the sport of the universe: I have escaped
from the error of this world..
The inward and the outward are become as one sky, the Infinite
and the finite are united: I am drunken with the sight of this
All!
This Light of Thine fulfils the universe: the lamp of love that
burns on the salver of knowledge.
Kabîr says: "There error cannot enter, and the conflict of life
and death is felt no more."

XVIII

II. 77. maddh âkas' âp jahân baithe

The middle region of the sky, wherein the spirit dwelleth, is
radiant with the music of light;
There, where the pure and white music blossoms, my Lord takes His
delight.
In the wondrous effulgence of each hair of His body, the
brightness of millions of suns and of moons is lost.
On that shore there is a city, where the rain of nectar pours and
pours, and never ceases.
Kabîr says: "Come, O Dharmadas! and see my great Lord's Durbar."

XIX

II. 20. paramâtam guru nikat virâjatn

O my heart! the Supreme Spirit, the great Master, is near you:
wake, oh wake!
Run to the feet of your Beloved: for your Lord stands near to your
head.
You have slept for unnumbered ages; this morning will you not
wake?

XX

II. 22. man tu pâr utar kânh jaiho

To what shore would you cross, O my heart? there is no traveller
before you, there is no road:
Where is the movement, where is the rest, on that shore?
There is no water; no boat, no boatman, is there;
There is not so much as a rope to tow the boat, nor a man to draw
it.
No earth, no sky, no time, no thing, is there: no shore, no ford!
There, there is neither body nor mind: and where is the place
that shall still the thirst of the soul? You shall find naught
in that emptiness.
Be strong, and enter into your own body: for there your foothold
is firm. Consider it well, O my heart! go not elsewhere,
Kabîr says: "Put all imaginations away, and stand fast in that
which you are."

XXI

II. 33. ghar ghar dîpak barai

Lamps burn in every house, O blind one! and you cannot see them.
One day your eyes shall suddenly be opened, and you shall see:
and the fetters of death will fall from you.
There is nothing to say or to hear, there is nothing to do: it is
he who is living, yet dead, who shall never die again.

Because he lives in solitude, therefore the Yogi says that his
home is far away.
Your Lord is near: yet you are climbing the palm-tree to seek
Him.
The Brâhman priest goes from house to house and initiates people
into faith:
Alas! the true fountain of life is beside you., and you have set
up a stone to worship.
Kabîr says: "I may never express how sweet my Lord is. Yoga and
the telling of beads, virtue and vice--these are naught to Him."

XXII

II. 38. Sâdho, so satgur mohi bhâwai

O brother, my heart yearns for that true Guru, who fills the cup
of true love, and drinks of it himself, and offers it then to
me.
He removes the veil from the eyes, and gives the true Vision of
Brahma:
He reveals the worlds in Him, and makes me to hear the Unstruck
Music:
He shows joy and sorrow to be one:
He fills all utterance with love.
Kabîr says: "Verily he has no fear, who has such a Guru to lead
him to the shelter of safety!"

XXIII

II. 40. tinwir sâñjh kâ gahirâ âwai

The shadows of evening fall thick and deep, and the darkness of
love envelops the body and the mind.
Open the window to the west, and be lost in the sky of love;
Drink the sweet honey that steeps the petals of the lotus of the
heart.
Receive the waves in your body: what splendour is in the region
of the sea!
Hark! the sounds of conches and bells are rising.
Kabîr says: "O brother, behold! the Lord is in this vessel of my
body."

XXIV

II. 48. jis se rahani apâr jagat men

More than all else do I cherish at heart that love which makes me
to live a limitless life in this world.
It is like the lotus, which lives in the water and blooms in the
water: yet the water cannot touch its petals, they open beyond
its reach.
It is like a wife, who enters the fire at the bidding of love.
She burns and lets others grieve, yet never dishonours love.
This ocean of the world is hard to cross: its waters are very
deep. Kabîr says: "Listen to me, O Sadhu! few there are who
have reached its end."

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4