Kabir a Saint of Saints

D.R.Bhagat
It was a Jayeshth Purnima of Bikrami Samvat 1455 falling on Monday that a strong cosmic light appeared in the Lehar Tara Sarovar near Varanasi. This cosmic light brought with it a divine soul, which was taken into its lap by a lotus flower. The buds of lotus started blossoming everywhere in the pond. Thus, Sadguru Kabir appeared in this world who would later provide the light to humanity suffering with the darkness of ignorance. Noor Ali Kori alis Neeru, a Muslim weaver was returning from his in-laws house from Mandu-Adeh village with his newly wedded wife Neema in a palanquin. They decided to take a rest under the shade of dense trees on the bank of the pond. All of a sudden, their eyes fell on a beautiful baby lying on the lotus flower. They were delighted to see this divine baby and decided to bring him home. The ancestors of Neeru were Nath Yogis who had converted to Islam not long before. He was given the name as Kabir by a Muslim cleric as per ritual. Kabir name comes from the Arabic word Al-Kabir which means ‘The Great’ and is the 37th name of God in Islam. Like his birth, his death was also a cosmic event when he left this world in Maghar without leaving his body back.
Neeru and Neema put him in their own profession of a weaver. However, he was much interested in the company of Sadhus and attending to their sermons. Day by day Kabir went on inclining towards detachment. He became the disciple of Guru Ramanand at a very tender age of 11 despite the opposition of both Hindus and Muslims as the persons born in a low caste family were not allowed to become the disciples of a spiritual Guru. Both Hindus and Muslims were performing dogmas and rituals under the influence of Brahmins and Mullahs. He denounced these superstitions and said that it has no relevance whatsoever with God. He said that if your heart is full of deceit then there is no use of visiting temples or mosques and offering prayers. According to his religious philosophy, all life is interplay of two spiritual principles soul and God i.e Atma and Parmatma. He says that salvation is the process of bringing these two divine principles in union and for this, he advocated the simple and natural way to Oneness of God without performing rituals and dogmas. In one of his couplets he says,
” Moh ko kahan dunro re bande, Mein to tere paas mein”.
He did not divide God in narrow sections of religions. He vehemently opposed the caste system and Idol worship being practised and preached by the orthodox Brahmins. He said that nobody is great or small by virtue of his birth as all of them are the creation of the same divine light. He said human beings cannot be categorized as good or bad, only their actions can be so. Kabir described that all materialism is’ Maya’ and we have completely absorbed ourselves in it forgetting our true master. In a Ramaini he said,
Maya moh sakal sansara, eh vichar na kahu vichara
Maya moh kathin hai phanda, kare vivek soi jan banda.
He says that whole world is victim of Maya and attachments, whether it is gainful or painful none is going to think over it. We have fallen in the trap of Maya, which is very painful.
He was critical of both Hindus and Muslims as regards their rituals of worship. He said that the Muslims were against the idol worship performed by the Hindus . They say that an idol cannot speak but they are also doing the same thing by offering ‘Chadar’ on graves which can also not speak. He also denounced the 24 Avtaras of Hindus and said that he who takes birth and dies is not a God. Due to his criticism of rituals of both the religions, he became a subject matter of wrath of both Pandits and Moulvis. They lodged a complaint with the king of Varanasi, Sikander Lodhi. Kabir was called before the king who ordered him the death punishment. For execution of this punishment, he was put before a mad elephant, who could not harm him and returned back after bowing his head. He was then put in a fire and also thrown into Ganga after tying his hands and feet but he survived on these occasions also. Then Sheikh Taqi, who was the spiritual advisor of Sikander Lodhi, told the king that Kabir was not an ordinary man but a man of God. Sikander Lodhi felt ashamed and asked Kabir to forgive him. Sheikh Taqi also became a staunch follower of Kabir. There are some legends about his miracles. One day when Kabir was bathing in the Ganga, a dead body came flowing in the waters. Kabir asked his disciples Suratgopal and Padamnabh to to bring the body on the bank. Then with his spiritual power he revived him. In fact, the revived man was a Yogi who had taken his Puran- Wayu without knowing the art of exhaling. So cosidering him as dead his companion sadhus had thrown him into Ganga. This revived sadhu became a disciple of Kabir and remained with him throughout his life. He was named as Kamal and is considered as the son of Kabir. Similarly, the daughter of Sheikh Taqi fell ill and could not be cured despite the best treatment. He alongwith his wife called on the Guru and prayed him to treat their daughter who had reached a near death. Kabir took some water in a vessel and after praying God, he put the water in her mouth and she regained the consciousness. The girl later expressed her desire to remain with Kabir as her disciple. This girl was named Kamali and is also regarded as the daughter of Kabir.
Kabir visited many places in India and abroad also. When he came to Punjab, he met here with the great saint Guru Nanak Ji and both of them exchanged their views on spirituality. Guru Nanak was much impressed by his spiritual thoughts. Guru Nanak even said that Kabir was a wandering God. He also visited Balkh where the king Ibrahem was imressed by his spiritual personality and teachings and became his follower.
It is believed that Kabir was an unlettered man but his literary work and his life are a subject matter of research of great scholars.His greatest literary work is the’ Kabir Bijak ‘ which was compiled by his two disciples, Dharam Das and Suratgopal and is a collection of poems of Kabir’s universal view of spirituality. The english version of Kabir Bijak has been compiled by Sh. K.C.Bhagat, a renowned writer of Jammu and Kashmir. Other two works are Kabir Granthawali and Anurag Sagar. His compositions figure in Guru Granth Sahib, the most sacred Granth of Sikhism along with the Banis of other revered saints. A total of 541 hymns of Kabir are incorporated in this holy book.
During his last days, Kabir went to Maghar near Gorakhpur on the request of king Bijli Khan to emancipate the people of the area from the curse of a saint who were suffering a lot due to this curse. He decided to go there against the wishes of the people of Kashi. He remained there for 40 days and left this world without leaving his body back. His legacy is being carried forward by his followers and spiritual sects like Radha Soami, Sant Mat, Sahib Bandgi and many others who are spreading his message throughout the world.