Jai Kabir Dhan Kabir

D R Bhagat
India is a land of great saints.The period  of Bhakti movement  (13th to 17th century) was especially the period of saints. Many saints were born during this period who preached their idea of devotion to God. The prominent saints of this movement were Ramanand, Ravidas, Meerabai, Namdev, Guru Nanak and Kabir. Among all these saints, Kabir has a special place as his birth and death were cosmic events. He appeared on a lotus flower in a pond called Lehar Tara in Varanasi in 1398AD (1455BK) and left this world in Maghar in Gorakhpur without leaving his body. He was brought up by Noor Ali Kori alias Neeru and his wife Neema, the Muslim weavers of Varanasi. From his very childhood he was inclined towards spirituality. He is regarded as the most revolutionary saint of the Bhakti movement. At that time there was a great political upheaval in India. The rulers were mostly Muslims who were robbing the Hindus of their wealth. Their places of worship were destroyed and illegal taxes were imposed on them. The caste system had divided the Hindu society. Dogmas were being preached by Pandits and Mullas.  He vigorously attacked the false rituals of both the religions for which he was also persecuted.
Kabir was a great mystic poet. He preached his ideology through his poetry. The language of his poetry was straight forward and understandable by the common people. His verses were direct revelation of truth and spirituality. He believed in simple life full of purity. He was against false rituals and superstitions of both Hindu and Muslim religions and said that these have no relevance with the enrichment of the human soul. He said that both are ignorant of reality. He satirically denounced Pandits and Mullahs and thus won the hearts of poor and suppressed people who were the victims of their exploitation. He preached that salvation cannot be attained by mere performing of the rituals. It is possible by following the path of truth and spirituality. He criticized the idol worship. The leaders of both religions complained to Secunder Lodhi, the king of Varanasi about the open criticism of the religions and Kabir was called in the court of king. For his offence of criticizing both the religions, he was ordered to be killed. For execution of the punishment, he was tied and put in a burning fire, he was tied and thrown into Ganga and also put before a mad elephant but he survived every time. All this was done on the advice of Mirtaqi who was the spiritual Guru of the king.  At last both Secunder Lodhi and Mirtaqi recognized his spiritual power. They firmly believed that Kabir was not an ordinary person andbowed before him.
He said that God is not in temples, mosques or jungles. He is also not in false rituals and ceremonies. He believed that all the wealth of three worlds resides in the goodness of heart. Mercy and forgiveness are the jewels of a spiritual soul. A human being who considers all the creatures of the world as his own and practices righteousness remaining passive in the affairs of the world can attain the immortality. He said that the true worship of God is from inside of the heart and not by chanting from mouth. He has criticized the caste system prevailing in the Hindu society. He said that if I am having blood in my veins it is not that some others are having milk in their veins. He said that nobody is small or great on account of his birth. It is the karma (actions) which make him so. In one of his couplets he said,
“unche kul mein janmya, karni unch na hoye”
He says that a priest, a warrior, tradesman and people of all castes are seeking God alike. Hindu and Muslims alike have achieved that end. Where the caste matters? He says if God is in any mosque or temple, then who is looking after this world outside. He says look within your heart and you will find both Karim and Ram. All the men and women of the world are his living form. He said, Kabir is the child of Ram and Allah. He did not divide God in narrow sections of religion. In fact he gave a universal path which could be followed by both Hindus and Muslims.In another couplet he says,
Kabira kuan ek hai, pani bharen anek,
Bartan mein hi bhed hai pani sab mein ek.”
To preach his message, Kabir visited many places in India and abroad. His spiritual power was also noticed by the people on many occasions. Once Kabir happened to visit Puri along with some of his saint fellows. The famous temple of Puri had been damaged many a time  due to the violent currents of the sea and every time the king had to get it repaired. The king Dharam Pal on getting the information that Kabir is staying here, went to him along with his queen and requested Kabir to save the temple from further damages by visiting there. On their request Kabir went along with them and stood nearby the temple. The strong currents from the ocean blew towards the temple and everybody present there was feeling that the currents will sweep everybody along with Kabir and the temple. But to the surprise of all of them the currents touched the feet of Kabir and then retreated back.
After this there has never been any damage to the temple of  Puri. He also visited Balkh (Afghanistan) where the king Abrahem had imprisoned many sadhus and had allotted them the job of grinding grains in the jail. When Kabir reached there in the jail to see the sadhus, he was also imprisoned and given the same job of grinding without knowing who he was. He asked all the sadhus not to renounce the God mantra given by him while grinding. By doing so all the grains were grinded and the entire stock of grains was finished in no time. When King Abrahem came to know about this miracle, he thought that the sadhu can be none other than Kabir. He visited the jail and fell on the feet of Kabir and begged pardon and became his disciple. On the insistence of Kabir all the sadhus were released from the prison. He was known as “Vandi Chhor” by the people of that place which is still continuing in Balkh.  He also met his cotemporary saints Guru Nanak and Ravidas and exchanged spiritual knowledge with them who were also impressed by his revolutionary thoughts on spirituality. Describing Kabir Guru Nanak said, ” Nanak ki sanshay miti sadguru mile Kabir” while Ravidas in his praise said, ” tav Ravidas vichari vata, guru saman Kabir bar brata.”The writings of Kabir are subject matter of research by many Indian and foreign scholars. Kabir Bijak, Kabir Granthawali and Anurag Sagar are some of his most revered works. His writings were mostly in the shape of Ramainis, Dohas and Sakhis.The Holy scripture of Sikh religion “Guru Granth Sahib” contains the hymns of many saints of Bhakti and Sufi movement but Kabir’s contribution is the largest after the Sikh Gurus. In his writings the illustrations of moral and spiritual truth are found in incidents of everyday life. Once in a discussion Gorakhnath asked Kabir “When did you become ascetic?” Kabir’s reply was “When He who has many forms had not yet begun his play and the world was not spread out, when there was no guru and no disciple and the supreme one was alone.”
His teachings are very much relevant even today and are being preached by various sects in India and abroad alongwith Kabir Math of Varanasi. Saintly Kabir cannot be described in words; we can only say “Jai Kabir Dhan Kabir.”
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