BhagatSingh
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Bani of Sant Kabir Das, Shabad #1, starts at very bottom of page 91 and goes into page 92
Introduction: Sant Kabir Das was an orphan found by a young Muslim couple who wanted to have a baby, and was taught how to weave by his father at an early age. He was into spirituality and knew that if he became a disciple of Guru Ramanand, he could learn it. Kabir somehow tricked Guru Ramanand into making him his disciple and providing him with a mantra.
Guru Ramanand took him as a disciple because of the cleverness of the trick Kabir used to obtain the Guru's Mantra (Gurmantra). Mantra is that phrase which is the closest to your heart. When we are children, our mantra is "Mom", we get hurt, we remember our mom, we get scared "Mommy!" Kabir basically got Guru Ramanand to utter out his mantra in front of Kabir. "Ram Ram!", exclaimed Guru Ramanand, thus revealing that which is closest to his heart.
Thus started Kabir's journey towards the Divine.
Sant Kabir is the 5th largest contributor to the Guru Granth Sahib.
ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
ੴ A blessing from the True Guru
ਸਿਰੀਰਾਗੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਜੀਉ ਕਾ ॥ ਏਕੁ ਸੁਆਨੁ ਕੈ ਘਰਿ ਗਾਵਣਾ
Sri Raag of Kabeer Ji. To Be Sung To The Tune Of Ek Suan/One Dog.
ਜਨਨੀ ਜਾਨਤ ਸੁਤੁ ਬਡਾ ਹੋਤੁ ਹੈ ਇਤਨਾ ਕੁ ਨ ਜਾਨੈ ਜਿ ਦਿਨ ਦਿਨ ਅਵਧ ਘਟਤੁ ਹੈ ॥
The mother thinks her son is growing up. Little does she know his age is decreasing day by day.
ਮੋਰ ਮੋਰ ਕਰਿ ਅਧਿਕ ਲਾਡੁ ਧਰਿ ਪੇਖਤ ਹੀ ਜਮਰਾਉ ਹਸੈ ॥੧॥
Calling him a pea{censored}, a beautiful boy, she loves him dearly, and seeing this display of affection for that which is dieing day by day, Yamaraj, the King of the dead, laughs.
Background: Yama was the first mortal who died thus he got to become king of all the dead. What a badass.
ਐਸਾ ਤੈਂ ਜਗੁ ਭਰਮਿ ਲਾਇਆ ॥
You have misled the world into ignorance.
ਕੈਸੇ ਬੂਝੈ ਜਬ ਮੋਹਿਆ ਹੈ ਮਾਇਆ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
How can they overcome their ignorance when they are attached to Maya? Think about this.
Background: Maya is the so-called real world. Sant Kabir and Guru Arjan describe Maya as a serpent, who poisons anyone who comes near her.
ਕਹਤ ਕਬੀਰ ਛੋਡਿ ਬਿਖਿਆ ਰਸ ਇਤੁ ਸੰਗਤਿ ਨਿਹਚਉ ਮਰਣਾ ॥
Kabir says forsake all (poisoned) pleasures or you will surely die.
ਰਮਈਆ ਜਪਹੁ ਪ੍ਰਾਣੀ ਅਨਤ ਜੀਵਣ ਬਾਣੀ ਇਨ ਬਿਧਿ ਭਵ ਸਾਗਰੁ ਤਰਣਾ ॥੨॥
Meditate on Ram, oh mortal, focus on the Bani that will give you eternal life and carry you across the ocean.
Background: Eternal life*, and crossing the ocean are metaphors used to describe union with Ram and liberation from the cycle of births and deaths.
ਜਾਂ ਤਿਸੁ ਭਾਵੈ ਤਾ ਲਾਗੈ ਭਾਉ ॥
When it pleases Him, people come to love him.
ਭਰਮੁ ਭੁਲਾਵਾ ਵਿਚਹੁ ਜਾਇ ॥
And their ignorance departs.
ਉਪਜੈ ਸਹਜੁ ਗਿਆਨ ਮਤਿ ਜਾਗੈ ॥
Mental steadiness begins to bloom, and they awaken to spiritual wisdom.
ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ਅੰਤਰਿ ਲਿਵ ਲਾਗੈ ॥੩॥
Through the blessing of the Guru, one's focus turns inwards.
ਇਤੁ ਸੰਗਤਿ ਨਾਹੀ ਮਰਣਾ ॥
Doing this one does not die.
Background: That which is unaffected by Maya inside you, does not die.
ਹੁਕਮੁ ਪਛਾਣਿ ਤਾ ਖਸਮੈ ਮਿਲਣਾ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ਦੂਜਾ ॥
Only by recognizing the Hukam can you find your Husband Ram. Think about this.
Background: We will see more of Bride-husband , Man-God relationship metaphors in Kabir's bani.
Summary
Kabir Sahib lays out the essence of his philosophy in his first shabad in Guru Granth Sahib. He says that people are attached to Maya, whose pleasures are poisonous to the individual, the pleasures keep him/her in ignorance of the Ultimate reality, which is Ram. He says it is Ram Himself who has made people this way and it is Ram himself who turns them towards Him through a Guru's blessing. He Himself dispells their ignorance and brings their minds to peace.
*There was mention of Eternal Life. Let me clarify this concept. Eternal life is life in Eternity. What is Eternity?
Eternity is that time when we are bored out of our minds. We look at the clock and it stops. We want time to go faster, so we can be done with the boring task at hand. We constantly wait for the next moment and the next and the next. Each moment feels like what? Eternity!
Meditation on God gets us intimately in touch with Eternity, so it does not seem like something we want to run away from but something we begin to want to dwell in.
Questions
How does Maya lure us into her trap?
Does being unattached to Maya mean that we keep our affections to ourselves?
I believe we have free will. Why does Kabir say that it is God that does everything?
(Inspired by Ambarsaria ji's work on Sukhmani, Bani of Sheikh Faird and Siddh Gost. Thanks! )
Introduction: Sant Kabir Das was an orphan found by a young Muslim couple who wanted to have a baby, and was taught how to weave by his father at an early age. He was into spirituality and knew that if he became a disciple of Guru Ramanand, he could learn it. Kabir somehow tricked Guru Ramanand into making him his disciple and providing him with a mantra.
Guru Ramanand took him as a disciple because of the cleverness of the trick Kabir used to obtain the Guru's Mantra (Gurmantra). Mantra is that phrase which is the closest to your heart. When we are children, our mantra is "Mom", we get hurt, we remember our mom, we get scared "Mommy!" Kabir basically got Guru Ramanand to utter out his mantra in front of Kabir. "Ram Ram!", exclaimed Guru Ramanand, thus revealing that which is closest to his heart.
Thus started Kabir's journey towards the Divine.
Sant Kabir is the 5th largest contributor to the Guru Granth Sahib.
ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
ੴ A blessing from the True Guru
ਸਿਰੀਰਾਗੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਜੀਉ ਕਾ ॥ ਏਕੁ ਸੁਆਨੁ ਕੈ ਘਰਿ ਗਾਵਣਾ
Sri Raag of Kabeer Ji. To Be Sung To The Tune Of Ek Suan/One Dog.
ਜਨਨੀ ਜਾਨਤ ਸੁਤੁ ਬਡਾ ਹੋਤੁ ਹੈ ਇਤਨਾ ਕੁ ਨ ਜਾਨੈ ਜਿ ਦਿਨ ਦਿਨ ਅਵਧ ਘਟਤੁ ਹੈ ॥
The mother thinks her son is growing up. Little does she know his age is decreasing day by day.
ਮੋਰ ਮੋਰ ਕਰਿ ਅਧਿਕ ਲਾਡੁ ਧਰਿ ਪੇਖਤ ਹੀ ਜਮਰਾਉ ਹਸੈ ॥੧॥
Calling him a pea{censored}, a beautiful boy, she loves him dearly, and seeing this display of affection for that which is dieing day by day, Yamaraj, the King of the dead, laughs.
Background: Yama was the first mortal who died thus he got to become king of all the dead. What a badass.
ਐਸਾ ਤੈਂ ਜਗੁ ਭਰਮਿ ਲਾਇਆ ॥
You have misled the world into ignorance.
ਕੈਸੇ ਬੂਝੈ ਜਬ ਮੋਹਿਆ ਹੈ ਮਾਇਆ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
How can they overcome their ignorance when they are attached to Maya? Think about this.
Background: Maya is the so-called real world. Sant Kabir and Guru Arjan describe Maya as a serpent, who poisons anyone who comes near her.
ਕਹਤ ਕਬੀਰ ਛੋਡਿ ਬਿਖਿਆ ਰਸ ਇਤੁ ਸੰਗਤਿ ਨਿਹਚਉ ਮਰਣਾ ॥
Kabir says forsake all (poisoned) pleasures or you will surely die.
ਰਮਈਆ ਜਪਹੁ ਪ੍ਰਾਣੀ ਅਨਤ ਜੀਵਣ ਬਾਣੀ ਇਨ ਬਿਧਿ ਭਵ ਸਾਗਰੁ ਤਰਣਾ ॥੨॥
Meditate on Ram, oh mortal, focus on the Bani that will give you eternal life and carry you across the ocean.
Background: Eternal life*, and crossing the ocean are metaphors used to describe union with Ram and liberation from the cycle of births and deaths.
ਜਾਂ ਤਿਸੁ ਭਾਵੈ ਤਾ ਲਾਗੈ ਭਾਉ ॥
When it pleases Him, people come to love him.
ਭਰਮੁ ਭੁਲਾਵਾ ਵਿਚਹੁ ਜਾਇ ॥
And their ignorance departs.
ਉਪਜੈ ਸਹਜੁ ਗਿਆਨ ਮਤਿ ਜਾਗੈ ॥
Mental steadiness begins to bloom, and they awaken to spiritual wisdom.
ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ਅੰਤਰਿ ਲਿਵ ਲਾਗੈ ॥੩॥
Through the blessing of the Guru, one's focus turns inwards.
ਇਤੁ ਸੰਗਤਿ ਨਾਹੀ ਮਰਣਾ ॥
Doing this one does not die.
Background: That which is unaffected by Maya inside you, does not die.
ਹੁਕਮੁ ਪਛਾਣਿ ਤਾ ਖਸਮੈ ਮਿਲਣਾ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ਦੂਜਾ ॥
Only by recognizing the Hukam can you find your Husband Ram. Think about this.
Background: We will see more of Bride-husband , Man-God relationship metaphors in Kabir's bani.
Summary
Kabir Sahib lays out the essence of his philosophy in his first shabad in Guru Granth Sahib. He says that people are attached to Maya, whose pleasures are poisonous to the individual, the pleasures keep him/her in ignorance of the Ultimate reality, which is Ram. He says it is Ram Himself who has made people this way and it is Ram himself who turns them towards Him through a Guru's blessing. He Himself dispells their ignorance and brings their minds to peace.
*There was mention of Eternal Life. Let me clarify this concept. Eternal life is life in Eternity. What is Eternity?
Eternity is that time when we are bored out of our minds. We look at the clock and it stops. We want time to go faster, so we can be done with the boring task at hand. We constantly wait for the next moment and the next and the next. Each moment feels like what? Eternity!
Meditation on God gets us intimately in touch with Eternity, so it does not seem like something we want to run away from but something we begin to want to dwell in.
Questions
How does Maya lure us into her trap?
Does being unattached to Maya mean that we keep our affections to ourselves?
I believe we have free will. Why does Kabir say that it is God that does everything?
(Inspired by Ambarsaria ji's work on Sukhmani, Bani of Sheikh Faird and Siddh Gost. Thanks! )
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