
The Guru Granth Sahib - Shaloks Of Devotee Kabeer Jee

Section 40 - Shaloks Of Devotee Kabeer Jee - Part 001
I would cross the oceans, mountains, wilderness, forests
and the nine regions of the earth in a single step, O Musan,
for the Love of my Beloved. ||3||
O Musan, the Light of the
Lord's Love has spread across the sky;
I cling to my Lord,
like the bumble bee caught in the lotus flower. ||4||
Chanting
and intense meditation, austere self-discipline, pleasure and
peace, honor, greatness and pride
- O Musan, I would dedicate and sacrifice all these for a
moment of my Lord's Love. ||5||
O Musan, the world does not
understand the Mystery of the Lord; it is dying and being plundered.
It is not pierced through by the Love of the Beloved Lord; it
is entangled in false pursuits. ||6||
When someone's home
and property are burnt, because of his attachment to them, he
suffers in the sorrow of separation.
O Musan, when mortals
forget the Merciful Lord God, then they are truly plundered.
||7||
Whoever enjoys the taste of the Lord's Love, remembers
His Lotus Feet in his mind.
O Nanak, the lovers of God do
not go anywhere else. ||8||
Climbing thousands of steep hillsides,
the fickle mind becomes miserable.
Look at the humble, lowly
mud, O Jamaal: the beautiful lotus grows in it. ||9||
My
Lord has lotus-eyes; His Face is so beautifully adorned.
O Musan, I am intoxicated with His Mystery. I break the necklace
of pride into bits. ||10||
I am intoxicated with the Love
of my Husband Lord; remembering Him in meditation, I am not
conscious of my own body.
He is revealed in all His Glory,
all throughout the world. Nanak is a lowly moth at His Flame.
||11||
Shaloks Of Devotee Kabeer Jee:
One Universal Creator
God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:
Kabeer, my rosary is
my tongue, upon which the Lord's Name is strung.
From the
very beginning, and throughout the ages, all the devotees abide
in tranquil peace. ||1||
Kabeer, everyone laughs at my social
class.
I am a sacrifice to this social class, in which I
chant and meditate on the Creator. ||2||
Kabeer, why do you
stumble? Why does your soul waver?
He is the Lord of all
comforts and peace; drink in the Sublime Essence of the Lord's
Name. ||3||
Kabeer, earrings made of gold and studded with
jewels,
look like burnt twigs, if the Name is not in the
mind. ||4||
Kabeer, rare is such a person, who remains dead
while yet alive.
Singing the Glorious Praises of the Lord,
he is fearless. Wherever I look, the Lord is there. ||5||
Kabeer, on the day when I die, afterwards there shall be
bliss.
I shall meet with my Lord God. Those with me shall
meditate and vibrate on the Lord of the Universe. ||6||
Kabeer,
I am the worst of all. Everyone else is good.
Whoever understands
this is a friend of mine. ||7||
Kabeer, she came to me in
various forms and disguises.
My Guru saved me, and now she
bows humbly to me. ||8||
Kabeer, kill only that, which, when
killed, shall bring peace.
Everyone shall call you good,
very good, and no one shall think you are bad. ||9||
Kabeer,
the night is dark, and men go about doing their dark deeds.
Section 40 - Shaloks Of Devotee Kabeer Jee - Part 002
They take the noose and run around; but rest assured that
God shall destroy them. ||10||
Kabeer, the sandalwood tree
is good, even though it is surrounded by weeds.
Those who
dwell near the sandalwood tree, become just like the sandalwood
tree. ||11||
Kabeer, the bamboo is drowned in its egotistical
pride. No one should drown like this.
Bamboo also dwells
near the sandalwood tree, but it does not take up its fragrance.
||12||
Kabeer, the mortal loses his faith, for the sake of
the world, but the world shall not go along with him in the
end.
The idiot strikes his own foot with the axe by his own
hand. ||13||
Kabeer, wherever I go, I see wonders everywhere.
But without the devotees of the One Lord, it is all wilderness
to me. ||14||
Kabeer, the dwelling of the Saints is good;
the dwelling of the unrighteous burns like an oven.
Those
mansions in which the Lord's Name is not chanted might just
as well burn down. ||15||
Kabeer, why cry at the death of a Saint? He is just going
back to his home.
Cry for the wretched, faithless cynic,
who is sold from store to store. ||16||
Kabeer, the faithless
cynic is like a piece of garlic.
Even if you eat it sitting
in a corner, it becomes obvious to everyone. ||17||
Kabeer,
Maya is the butter-churn, and the breath is the churning-stick.
The Saints eat the butter, while the world drinks the whey.
||18||
Kabeer, Maya is the butter-churn; the breath flows
like ice water.
Whoever does the churning eats the butter;
the others are just churning-sticks. ||19||
Kabeer, Maya
is the thief, which breaks in and plunders the store.
Only
Kabeer is not plundered; he has cut her into twelve pieces.
||20||
Kabeer, peace does not come in this world by making
lots of friends.
Those who keep their consciousness focused
on the One Lord shall find eternal peace. ||21||
Kabeer,
the world is afraid of death - that death fills my mind with
bliss.
It is only by death that perfect, supreme bliss is
obtained. ||22||
The Treasure of the Lord is obtained, O
Kabeer, but do not undo its knot.
There is no market to sell
it, no appraiser, no customer, and no price. ||23||
Kabeer,
be in love with only that one, whose Master is the Lord.
The Pandits, the religious scholars, kings and landlords - what
good is love for them? ||24||
Kabeer, when you are in love
with the One Lord, duality and alienation depart.
You may
have long hair, or you may shave your head bald. ||25||
Kabeer,
the world is a room filled with black soot; the blind fall into
its trap.
I am a sacrifice to those who are thrown in, and
still escape. ||26||
Kabeer, this body shall perish; save
it, if you can.
Even those who have tens of thousands and
millions, must depart bare-footed in the end. ||27||
Kabeer,
this body shall perish; place it on the path.
Either join
the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, or sing the Glorious
Praises of the Lord. ||28||
Kabeer, dying, dying, the whole
world has to die, and yet, none know how to die.
Section 40 - Shaloks Of Devotee Kabeer Jee - Part 003
Let those who die, die such a death, that they shall never
have to die again. ||29||
Kabeer, it is so difficult to obtain
this human body; it does not just come over and over again.
It is like the ripe fruit on the tree; when it falls to the
ground, it cannot be re-attached to the branch. ||30||
Kabeer,
you are Kabeer; your name means great.
O Lord, You are Kabeer.
The Jewel of the Lord is obtained, when the mortal first gives
up his body. ||31||
Kabeer, do not struggle in stubborn pride;
nothing happens just because you say so.
No one can erase
the actions of the Merciful Lord. ||32||
Kabeer, no one who
is false can withstand the Touchstone of the Lord.
He alone
can pass the test of the Lord's Touchstone, who remains dead
while yet alive. ||33||
Kabeer, some wear gaudy robes, and
chew betel leaves and betel nuts.
Without the Name of the
One Lord, they are bound and gagged and taken to the City of
Death. ||34||
Kabeer, the boat is old, and it has thousands
of holes.
Those who are light get across, while those who
carry the weight of their sins on their heads are drowned. ||35||
Kabeer, the bones burn like wood, and the hair burns like straw.
Seeing the world burning like this, Kabeer has become sad. ||36||
Kabeer, do not be so proud of your bones wrapped up in skin.
Those who were on their horses and under their canopies, were
eventually buried under the ground. ||37||
Kabeer, do not
be so proud of your tall mansions.
Today or tomorrow, you
shall lie beneath the ground, and the grass shall grow above
you. ||38||
Kabeer, do not be so proud, and do not laugh
at the poor.
Your boat is still out at sea; who knows what
will happen? ||39||
Kabeer, do not be so proud, looking at
your beautiful body.
Today or tomorrow, you will have to
leave it behind, like the snake shedding its skin. ||40||
Kabeer, if you must rob and plunder, then plunder the plunder
of the Lord's Name.
Otherwise, in the world hereafter, you
will regret and repent, when the breath of life leaves the body.
||41||
Kabeer, there is no one born, who burns his own home,
and burning his five sons, remains lovingly attuned to the Lord.
||42||
Kabeer, how rare are those who sell their son and
sell their daughter
and, entering into partnership with Kabeer,
deal with the Lord. ||43||
Kabeer, let me remind you of this.
Do not be skeptical or cynical.
Those pleasures which you
enjoyed so much in the past - now you must eat their fruits.
||44||
Kabeer, at first, I thought learning was good; then
I thought Yoga was better.
I shall never abandon devotional
worship of the Lord, even though people may slander me. ||45||
Kabeer, how can the wretched people slander me? They have no
wisdom or intelligence.
Kabeer continues to dwell upon the
Lord's Name; I have abandoned all other affairs. ||46||
Kabeer,
the robe of the stranger-soul has caught fire on all four sides.
The cloth of the body has been burnt and reduced to charcoal,
but the fire did not touch the thread of the soul. ||47||
Kabeer, the cloth has been burnt and reduced to charcoal, and
the begging bowl is shattered into pieces.
The poor Yogi
has played out his game; only ashes remain on his seat. ||48||
Section 40 - Shaloks Of Devotee Kabeer Jee - Part 004
Kabeer, the fish is in the shallow water; the fisherman has
cast his net.
You shall not escape this little pool; think
about returning to the ocean. ||49||
Kabeer, do not leave
the ocean, even if it is very salty.
If you poke around searching
from puddle to puddle, no one will call you smart. ||50||
Kabeer, those who have no guru are washed away. No one can help
them.
Be meek and humble; whatever happens is what the Creator
Lord does. ||51||
Kabeer, even the dog of a devotee is good,
while the mother of the faithless cynic is bad.
The dog hears
the Praises of the Lord's Name, while the other is engaged in
sin. ||52||
Kabeer, the deer is weak, and the pool is lush
with green vegetation.
Thousands of hunters are chasing after
the soul; how long can it escape death? ||53||
Kabeer, some
make their homes on the banks of the Ganges, and drink pure
water.
Without devotional worship of the Lord, they are not
liberated. Kabeer proclaims this. ||54||
Kabeer, my mind
has become immaculate, like the waters of the Ganges.
The
Lord follows after me, calling, "Kabeer! Kabeer!"||55||
Kabeer, tumeric is yelow, and lime is white.
You shall meet
the Beloved Lord, only when both colors are lost. ||56||
Kabeer, tumeric has lost its yellow color, and no trace of lime's
whiteness remains.
I am a sacrifice to this love, by which
social class and status, color and ancestry are taken away.
||57||
Kabeer, the door of liberation is very narrow, less
than the width of a mustard seed.
Your mind is larger than
an elephant; how will it pass through? ||58||
Kabeer, if
I meet such a True Guru, who mercifully blesses me with the
gift,
then the door of liberation will open wide for me,
and I will easily pass through. ||59||
Kabeer, I have no
hut or hovel, no house or village.
I hope that the Lord will
not ask who I am. I have no social status or name. ||60||
Kabeer, I long to die; let me die at the Lord's Door.
I hope
that the Lord does not ask, "Who is this, lying at my door?"||61||
Kabeer, I have not done anything; I shall not do anything; my
body cannot do anything.
I do not know what the Lord has
done, but the call has gone out: "Kabeer, Kabeer."||62||
Kabeer, if someone utters the Name of the Lord even in dreams,
I would make my skin into shoes for his feet. ||63||
Kabeer,
we are puppets of clay, but we take the name of mankind.
We are guests here for only a few days, but we take up so much
space. ||64||
Kabeer, I have made myself into henna, and
I grind myself into powder.
But You, O my Husband Lord, have
not asked about me; You have never applied me to Your Feet.
||65||
Kabeer, that door, through which people never stop
coming and going
- how can I leave such a door as that? ||66||
Kabeer, I was drowning, but the waves of virtue saved me in
an instant.
Section 40 - Shaloks Of Devotee Kabeer Jee - Part 005
When I saw that my boat was rotten, then I immediately got
out. ||67||
Kabeer, the sinner does not like devotion to
the Lord; he does not appreciate worship.
The fly abandons
the sandalwood tree, and goes after the rotten smell. ||68||
Kabeer, the physician is dead, and the patient is dead; the
whole world is dead.
Only Kabeer is not dead; there is no
one to mourn for him. ||69||
Kabeer, I have not meditated
on the Lord; such is the bad habit I have developed.
The
body is a wooden pot; it cannot be put back on the fire. ||70||
Kabeer, it came to pass, that I did whatever I pleased.
Why
should I be afraid of death? I have invited death for myself.
||71||
Kabeer, the mortals suck at the sugar cane, for the
sake of the sweet juice. They should work just as hard for virtue.
The person who lacks virtue - no one calls him good. ||72||
Kabeer, the pitcher is full of water; it will break, today or
tomorrow.
Those who do not remember their Guru, shall be
plundered on the way. ||73||
Kabeer, I am the Lord's dog;
Moti is my name.
There is a chain around my neck; wherever
I am pulled, I go. ||74||
Kabeer, why do you show other people
your rosary beads?
You do not remember the Lord in your heart,
so what use is this rosary to you? ||75||
Kabeer, the snake
of separation from the Lord abides within my mind; it does not
respond to any mantra.
One who is separated from the Lord
does not live; if he does live, he goes insane. ||76||
Kabeer,
the philosopher's stone and sandalwood oil have the same good
quality.
Whatever comes into contact with them is uplifted.
Iron is transformed into gold, and ordinary wood becomes fragrant.
||77||
Kabeer, Death's club is terrible; it cannot be endured.
I have met with the holy man; he has attached me to the hem
of his robe. ||78||
Kabeer, the physician says that he alone
is good, and all the medicine is under his control.
But these
things belong to the Lord; He takes them away whenever He wishes.
||79||
Kabeer, take your drum and beat it for ten days.
Life is like people meeting on a boat on a river; they shall
not meet again. ||80||
Kabeer, if I could change the seven
seas into ink and make all the vegetation my pen,
and the
earth my paper, even then, I could not write the Praises of
the Lord. ||81||
Kabeer, what can my lowly status as a weaver
do to me? The Lord dwells in my heart.
Kabeer, the Lord hugs
me close in His Embrace; I have forsaken all my entanglements.
||82||
Kabeer, will anyone set fire to his home
and kill
his five sons (the five thieves) to remain lovingly attached
to the Lord? ||83||
Kabeer, will anyone burn his own body?
The people are blind - they do not know, although Kabeer continues
to shout at them. ||84||
Kabeer, the widow mounts the funeral
pyre and cries out, "Listen, O brother funeral pyre.
All people must depart in the end; it is only you and I."||85||
Section 40 - Shaloks Of Devotee Kabeer Jee - Part 006
Kabeer, the mind has become a bird; it soars and flies in
the ten directions.
According to the company it keeps, so
are the fruits it eats. ||86||
Kabeer, you have found that
place which you were seeking.
You have become that which
you thought was separate from yourself. ||87||
Kabeer, I
have been ruined and destroyed by bad company, like the banana
plant near the thorn bush.
The thorn bush waves in the wind,
and pierces the banana plant; see this, and do not associate
with the faithless cynics. ||88||
Kabeer, the mortal wants
to walk on the path, carrying the load of others' sins on his
head.
He is not afraid of his own load of sins; the road
ahead shall be difficult and treacherous. ||89||
Kabeer,
the forest is burning; the tree standing in it is crying out,
"Do
not let me fall into the hands of the blacksmith, who would
burn me a second time."||90||
Kabeer, when one died,
two were dead. When two died, four were dead.
When four died,
six were dead, four males and two females. ||91||
Kabeer,
I have seen and observed, and searched all over the world, but
I have found no place of rest anywhere.
Those who do not
remember the Lord's Name - why do they delude themselves in
other pursuits? ||92||
Kabeer, associate with the Holy people,
who will take you to Nirvaanaa in the end.
Do not associate
with the faithless cynics; they would bring you to ruin. ||93||
Kabeer, I contemplate the Lord in the world; I know that He
is permeating the world.
Those who do not contemplate the
Name of the Lord - their birth into this world is useless. ||94||
Kabeer, place your hopes in the Lord; other hopes lead to despair.
Those who dissociate themselves from the Lord's Name - when
they fall into hell, then they will appreciate its value. ||95||
Kabeer has made many students and disciples, but he has not
made God his friend.
He set out on a journey to meet the
Lord, but his consciousness failed him half-way. ||96||
Kabeer,
what can the poor creature do, if the Lord does not give him
assistance?
Whatever branch he steps on breaks and collapses.
||97||
Kabeer, those who only preach to others - sand falls
into their mouths.
They keep their eyes on the property of
others, while their own farm is being eaten up. ||98||
Kabeer,
I will remain in the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy,
even if I have only coarse bread to eat.
Whatever will be,
will be. I will not associate with the faithless cynics. ||99||
Kabeer, in the Saadh Sangat, love for the Lord doubles day by
day.
The faithless cynic is like a black blanket, which does
not become white by being washed. ||100||
Kabeer, you have
not shaved your mind, so why do you shave your head?
Whatever
is done, is done by the mind; it is useless to shave your head.
||101||
Kabeer, do not abandon the Lord; your body and wealth
shall go, so let them go.
My consciousness is pierced by
the Lord's Lotus Feet; I am absorbed in the Name of the Lord.
||102||
Kabeer, all the strings of the instrument I played
are broken.
What can the poor instrument do, when the player
has departed as well. ||103||
Kabeer, shave the mother of
that guru, who does not take away one's doubt.
Section 40 - Shaloks Of Devotee Kabeer Jee - Part 007
He himself is drowning in the four Vedas; he drowns his disciples
as well. ||104||
Kabeer, whatever sins the mortal has committed,
he tries to keep hidden under cover.
But in the end, they
shall all be revealed, when the Righteous Judge of Dharma investigates.
||105||
Kabeer, you have given up meditating on the Lord,
and you have raised a large family.
You continue to involve
yourself in worldly affairs, but none of your brothers and relatives
remain. ||106||
Kabeer, those who give up meditation on the
Lord, and get up at night to wake the spirits of the dead,
shall be reincarnated as snakes, and eat their own offspring.
||107||
Kabeer, the woman who gives up meditation on the
Lord, and observes the ritual fast of Ahoi,
shall be reincarnated
as a donkey, to carry heavy burdens. ||108||
Kabeer, it is
the most clever wisdom, to chant and meditate on the Lord in
the heart.
It is like playing on a pig; if you fall off,
you will find no place of rest. ||109||
Kabeer, blessed is
that mouth, which utters the Lord's Name.
It purifies the
body, and the whole village as well. ||110||
Kabeer, that
family is good, in which the Lord's slave is born.
But that
family in which the Lord's slave is not born is as useless as
weeds. ||111||
Kabeer, some have lots of horses, elephants
and carriages, and thousands of banners waving.
But begging
is better than these comforts, if one spends his days meditating
in remembrance on the Lord. ||112||
Kabeer, I have wandered
all over the world, carrying the drum on my shoulder.
No
one belongs to anyone else; I have looked and carefully studied
it. ||113||
The pearls are scattered on the road; the blind
man comes along.
Without the Light of the Lord of the Universe,
the world just passes them by. ||114||
My family is drowned,
O Kabeer, since the birth of my son Kamaal.
He has given
up meditating on the Lord, in order to bring home wealth. ||115||
Kabeer, go out to meet the holy man; do not take anyone else
with you.
Do not turn back - keep on going. Whatever will
be, will be. ||116||
Kabeer, do not bind yourself with that
chain, which binds the whole world.
As the salt is lost in
the flour, so shall your golden body be lost. ||117||
Kabeer,
the soul-swan is flying away, and the body is being buried,
and still he makes gestures.
Even then, the mortal does not
give up the cruel look in his eyes. ||118||
Kabeer: with
my eyes, I see You, Lord; with my ears, I hear Your Name.
With my tongue I chant Your Name; I enshrine Your Lotus Feet
within my heart. ||119||
Kabeer, I have been spared from
heaven and hell, by the Grace of the True Guru.
From beginning
to end, I abide in the joy of the Lord's Lotus Feet. ||120||
Kabeer, how can I even describe the extent of the joy of the
Lord's Lotus Feet?
I cannot describe its sublime glory; it
has to be seen to be appreciated. ||121||
Kabeer, how can
I describe what I have seen? No one will believe my words.
The Lord is just as He is. I dwell in delight, singing His Glorious
Praises. ||122||
Section 40 - Shaloks Of Devotee Kabeer Jee - Part 008
Kabeer, the flamingo pecks and feeds, and remembers her chicks.
She pecks and pecks and feeds, and remembers them always. Her
chicks are very dear to her, just like the love of wealth and
Maya is dear to the mortal's mind. ||123||
Kabeer, the sky
is overcast and cloudy; the ponds and lakes are overflowing
with water.
Like the rainbird, some remain thirsty - what
is their condition? ||124||
Kabeer, the chakvi duck is separated
from her love through the night, but in the morning, she meets
him again.
Those who are separated from the Lord do not meet
Him in the day, or in the night. ||125||
Kabeer: O conch
shell, remain in the ocean.
If you are separated from it,
you shall scream at sunrise from temple to temple. ||126||
Kabeer, what are you doing sleeping? Wake up and cry in fear
and pain.
Those who live in the grave - how can they sleep
in peace? ||127||
Kabeer, what are you doing sleeping? Why
not rise up and meditate on the Lord?
One day you shall sleep
with your legs outstretched. ||128||
Kabeer, what are you
doing sleeping? Wake up, and sit up.
Attach yourself to the
One, from whom you have been separated. ||129||
Kabeer, do
not leave the Society of the Saints; walk upon this Path.
See them, and be sanctified; meet them, and chant the Name.
||130||
Kabeer, do not associate with the faithless cynics;
run far away from them.
If you touch a vessel stained with
soot, some of the soot will stick to you. ||131||
Kabeer,
you have not contemplated the Lord, and now old age has overtaken
you.
Now that the door of your mansion is on fire, what can
you take out? ||132||
Kabeer, the Creator does whatever He
pleases.
There is none other than Him; He alone is the Creator
of all. ||133||
Kabeer, the fruit trees are bearing fruit,
and the mangoes are becoming ripe.
They will reach the owner,
only if the crows do not eat them first. ||134||
Kabeer,
some buy idols and worship them; in their stubborn-mindedness,
they make pilgrimages to sacred shrines.
They look at one
another, and wear religious robes, but they are deluded and
lost. ||135||
Kabeer, someone sets up a stone idol and all
the world worships it as the Lord.
Those who hold to this
belief will be drowned in the river of darkness. ||136||
Kabeer, the paper is the prison, and the ink of rituals are
the bars on the windows.
The stone idols have drowned the
world, and the Pandits, the religious scholars, have plundered
it on the way. ||137||
Kabeer, that which you have to do
tomorrow - do it today instead; and that which you have to do
now - do it immediately!
Later on, you will not be able to
do anything, when death hangs over your head. ||138||
Kabeer,
I have seen a person, who is as shiny as washed wax.
He seems
very clever and very virtuous, but in reality, he is without
understanding, and corrupt. ||139||
Kabeer, the Messenger
of Death shall not compromise my understanding.
I have meditated
on the Lord, the Cherisher, who created this Messenger of Death.
||140||
Kabeer, the Lord is like musk; all His slaves are
like bumble bees.
Section 40 - Shaloks Of Devotee Kabeer Jee - Part 009
The more Kabeer worships Him, the more the Lord abides within
his mind. ||141||
Kabeer, the mortal has fallen into the
grip of family life, and the Lord has been set aside.
The
messengers of the Righteous Judge of Dharma descend upon the
mortal, in the midst of all his pomp and ceremony. ||142||
Kabeer, even a pig is better than the faithless cynic; at least
the pig keeps the village clean.
When the wretched, faithless
cynic dies, no one even mentions his name. ||143||
Kabeer,
the mortal gathers wealth, shell by shell, accumulating thousands
and millions.
But when the time of his departure comes, he
takes nothing at all with him. He is even stripped of his loin-cloth.
||144||
Kabeer, what good is it to become a devotee of Vishnu,
and wear four malas?
On the outside, he may look like pure
gold, but on the inside, he is stuffed with dust. ||145||
Kabeer, let yourself be a pebble on the path; abandon your egotistical
pride.
Such a humble slave shall meet the Lord God. ||146||
Kabeer, what good would it be, to be a pebble? It would only
hurt the traveller on the path.
Your slave, O Lord, is like
the dust of the earth. ||147||
Kabeer, what then, if one
could become dust? It is blown up by the wind, and sticks to
the body.
The humble servant of the Lord should be like water,
which cleans everything. ||148||
Kabeer, what then, if one
could become water? It becomes cold, then hot.
The humble
servant of the Lord should be just like the Lord. ||149||
The banners wave above the lofty mansions, filled with gold
and beautiful women.
But better than these is dry bread,
if one sings the Glorious Praises of the Lord in the Society
of the Saints. ||150||
Kabeer, the wilderness is better than
a city, if the Lord's devotees live there.
Without my Beloved
Lord, it is like the City of Death for me. ||151||
Kabeer,
between the Ganges and Jamunaa Rivers, on the shore of Celestial
Silence,
there, Kabeer has made his home. The silent sages
and the humble servants of the Lord search for the way to get
there. ||152||
Kabeer, if the mortal continues to love the
Lord in the end, as he pledged in the beginning,
no poor
diamond, not even millions of jewels, can equal him. ||153||
Kabeer, I saw a strange and wonderful thing. A jewel was being
sold in a store.
Because there was no buyer, it was going
in exchange for a shell. ||154||
Kabeer, where there is spiritual
wisdom, there is righteousness and Dharma. Where there is falsehood,
there is sin.
Where there is greed, there is death. Where
there is forgiveness, there is God Himself. ||155||
Kabeer,
what good is it to give up Maya, if the mortal does not give
up his pride?
Even the silent sages and seers are destroyed
by pride; pride eats up everything. ||156||
Kabeer, the True
Guru has met me; He aimed the Arrow of the Shabad at me.
As soon as it struck me, I fell to the ground with a hole in
my heart. ||157||
Kabeer, what can the True Guru do, when
His Sikhs are at fault?
The blind do not take in any of His
Teachings; it is as useless as blowing into bamboo. ||158||
Kabeer, the wife of the king has all sorts of horses, elephants
and carriages.
Section 40 - Shaloks Of Devotee Kabeer Jee - Part 010
But she is not equal to the water-carrier of the Lord's humble
servant. ||159||
Kabeer, why do you slander the wife of the
king? Why do you honor the slave of the Lord?
Because one
combs her hair for corruption, while the other remembers the
Name of the Lord. ||160||
Kabeer, with the Support of the
Lord's Pillar, I have become steady and stable.
The True
Guru has given me courage. Kabeer, I have purchased the diamond,
on the banks of the Mansarovar Lake. ||161||
Kabeer, the
Lord is the Diamond, and the Lord's humble servant is the jeweller
who has set up his shop.
As soon as an appraiser is found,
the price of the jewel is set. ||162||
Kabeer, you remember
the Lord in meditation, only when the need arises. You should
remember Him all the time.
You shall dwell in the city of
immortality, and the Lord shall restore the wealth you lost.
||163||
Kabeer, it is good to perform selfless service for
two - the Saints and the Lord.
The Lord is the Giver of liberation,
and the Saint inspires us to chant the Naam. ||164||
Kabeer,
the crowds follow the path which the Pandits, the religious
scholars, have taken.
There is a difficult and treacherous
cliff on that path to the Lord; Kabeer is climbing that cliff.
||165||
Kabeer, the mortal dies of his worldly troubles and
pain, after worrying about his family.
Whose family is dishonored,
when he is placed on the funeral pyre? ||166||
Kabeer, you
shall drown, you wretched being, from worrying about what other
people think.
You know that whatever happens to your neighbors,
will also happen to you. ||167||
Kabeer, even dry bread,
made of various grains, is good.
No one brags about it, throughout
the vast country and great empire. ||168||
Kabeer, those
who brag, shall burn. Those who do not brag remain carefree.
That humble being who does not brag, looks upon the gods and
the poor alike. ||169||
Kabeer, the pool is filled to overflowing,
but no one can drink the water from it.
By great good fortune,
you have found it; drink it in handfuls, O Kabeer. ||170||
Kabeer, just as the stars disappear at dawn, so shall this body
disappear.
Only the letters of God's Name do not disappear;
Kabeer holds these tight. ||171||
Kabeer, the wooden house
is burning on all sides.
The Pandits, the religious scholars,
have been burnt to death, while the illiterate ones run to safety.
||172||
Kabeer, give up your skepticism; let your papers
float away.
Find the essence of the letters of the alphabet,
and focus your consciousness on the Lord. ||173||
Kabeer,
the Saint does not forsake his Saintly nature, even though he
meets with millions of evil-doers.
Even when sandalwood is
surrounded by snakes, it does not give up its cooling fragrance.
||174||
Kabeer, my mind is cooled and soothed; I have become
God-conscious.
The fire which has burnt the world is like
water to the Lord's humble servant. ||175||
Kabeer, no one
knows the Play of the Creator Lord.
Only the Lord Himself
and the slaves at His Court understand it. ||176||
Kabeer,
it is good that I feel the Fear of God; I have forgotten everything
else.
Section 40 - Shaloks Of Devotee Kabeer Jee - Part 011
The hail-stone has melted into water, and flowed into the
ocean. ||177||
Kabeer, the body is a pile of dust, collected
and packed together.
It is a show which lasts for only a
few days, and then dust returns to dust. ||178||
Kabeer,
bodies are like the rising and setting of the sun and the moon.
Without meeting the Guru, the Lord of the Universe, they are
all reduced to dust again. ||179||
Where the Fearless Lord
is, there is no fear; where there is fear, the Lord is not there.
Kabeer speaks after careful consideration; hear this, O Saints,
in your minds. ||180||
Kabeer, those who do not know anything,
pass their lives in peaceful sleep.
But I have understood
the riddle; I am faced with all sorts of troubles. ||181||
Kabeer, those who are beaten cry a lot; but the cries of the
pain of separation are different.
Struck by the Mystery of
God, Kabeer remains silent. ||182||
Kabeer, the stroke of
a lance is easy to bear; it takes away the breath.
But one
who endures the stroke of the Word of the Shabad is the Guru,
and I am his slave. ||183||
Kabeer: O Mullah, why do you
climb to the top of the minaret? The Lord is not hard of hearing.
Look within your own heart for the One, for whose sake you shout
your prayers. ||184||
Why does the Shaykh bother to go on
pilgrimage to Mecca, if he is not content with himself?
Kabeer,
one whose heart is not healthy and whole - how can he attain
his Lord? ||185||
Kabeer, worship the Lord Allah; meditating
in remembrance on Him, troubles and pains depart.
The Lord
shall be revealed within your own heart, and the burning fire
within shall be extinguished by His Name. ||186||
Kabeer,
to use force is tyranny, even if you call it legal.
When
your account is called for in the Court of the Lord, what will
your condition be then? ||187||
Kabeer, the dinner of beans
and rice is excellent, if it is flavored with salt.
Who would
cut his throat, to have meat with his bread? ||188||
Kabeer,
one is known to have been touched by the Guru, only when his
emotional attachment and physical illnesses are eradicated.
He is not burned by pleasure or pain, and so he becomes the
Lord Himself. ||189||
Kabeer, it does make a difference,
how you chant the Lord's Name, 'Raam'. This is something to
consider.
Everyone uses the same word for the son of Dasrath
and the Wondrous Lord. ||190||
Kabeer, use the word 'Raam',
only to speak of the All-pervading Lord. You must make that
distinction.
One 'Raam' is pervading everywhere, while the
other is contained only in himself. ||191||
Kabeer, those
houses in which neither the Holy nor the Lord are served
- those houses are like cremation grounds; demons dwell within
them. ||192||
Kabeer, I have become mute, insane and deaf.
I am crippled - the True Guru has pierced me with His Arrow.
||193||
Kabeer, the True Guru, the Spiritual Warrior, has
shot me with His Arrow.
As soon as it struck me, I fell to
the ground, with a hole in my heart. ||194||
Kabeer, the
pure drop of water falls from the sky, onto the dirty ground.
Section 40 - Shaloks Of Devotee Kabeer Jee - Part 012
You must acknowledge this, that without the Sangat, the Holy
Congregation, it turns into burnt ashes. ||195||
Kabeer,
the pure drop of water falls from the sky, and mixes with the
dust.
Millions of clever people may try, but they will fail
- it cannot be made separate again. ||196||
Kabeer, I was
going on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and God met me on the way.
He scolded me and asked, "Who told you that I am only there?"||197||
Kabeer, I went to Mecca - how many times, Kabeer?
O Lord,
what is the problem with me? You have not spoken to me with
Your Mouth. ||198||
Kabeer, they oppress living beings and
kill them, and call it proper.
When the Lord calls for their
account, what will their condition be? ||199||
Kabeer, it
is tyranny to use force; the Lord shall call you to account.
When your account is called for, your face and mouth shall be
beaten. ||200||
Kabeer, it is easy to render your account,
if your heart is pure.
In the True Court of the Lord, no
one will seize you. ||201||
Kabeer: O duality, you are mighty
and powerful in the earth and the sky.
The six Shaastras
and the eighty-four Siddhas are entrenched in skepticism. ||202||
Kabeer, nothing is mine within myself. Whatever there is, is
Yours, O Lord.
If I surrender to You what is already Yours,
what does it cost me? ||203||
Kabeer, repeating, "You,
You", I have become like You. Nothing of me remains in
myself.
When the difference between myself and others is
removed, then wherever I look, I see only You. ||204||
Kabeer,
those who think of evil and entertain false hopes
- none
of their desires shall be fulfilled; they shall depart in despair.
||205||
Kabeer, whoever meditates in remembrance on the Lord,
he alone is happy in this world.
One who is protected and
saved by the Creator Lord, shall never waver, here or hereafter.
||206||
Kabeer, I was being crushed like sesame seeds in
the oil-press, but the True Guru saved me.
My pre-ordained
primal destiny has now been revealed. ||207||
Kabeer, my
days have passed, and I have postponed my payments; the interest
on my account continues to increase.
I have not meditated
on the Lord and my account is still pending, and now, the moment
of my death has come! ||208||
Fifth Mehl:
Kabeer, the
mortal is a barking dog, chasing after a carcass.
By the
Grace of good karma, I have found the True Guru, who has saved
me. ||209||
Fifth Mehl:
Kabeer, the earth belongs to the
Holy, but it is being occupied by thieves.
They are not a
burden to the earth; they receive its blessings. ||210||
Fifth Mehl:
Kabeer, the rice is beaten with a mallet to get
rid of the husk.
When people sit in evil company, the Righteous
Judge of Dharma calls them to account. ||211||
Trilochan
says, O Naam Dayv, Maya has enticed you, my friend.
Why are
you printing designs on these sheets, and not focusing your
consciousness on the Lord? ||212||
Naam Dayv answers, O Trilochan,
chant the Lord's Name with your mouth.
Section 40 - Shaloks Of Devotee Kabeer Jee - Part 013
With your hands and feet, do all your work, but let your
consciousness remain with the Immaculate Lord. ||213||
Fifth
Mehl:
Kabeer, no one belongs to me, and I belong to no one
else.
The One who created the creation - into Him I shall
be absorbed. ||214||
Kabeer, the flour has fallen into the
mud; nothing has come into my hands.
That which was eaten
while it was being ground - that alone is of any use. ||215||
Kabeer, the mortal knows everything, and knowing, he still makes
mistakes.
What good is a lamp in one's hand, if he falls
into the well? ||216||
Kabeer, I am in love with the All-knowing
Lord; the ignorant ones try to hold me back.
How could I
ever break with the One, who owns our soul and breath of life.
||217||
Kabeer, why kill yourself for your love of decorations
of your home and mansion?
In the end, only six feet, or a
little more, shall be your lot. ||218||
Kabeer, whatever
I wish for does not happen. What can I accomplish by merely
thinking?
The Lord does whatever He wishes; it is not up
to me at all. ||219||
Third Mehl:
God Himself makes the
mortals anxious, and He Himself takes the anxiety away.
O
Nanak, praise the One, who takes care of all. ||220||
Fifth
Mehl:
Kabeer, the mortal does not remember the Lord; he wanders
around, engrossed in greed.
Committing sins, he dies, and
his life ends in an instant. ||221||
Kabeer, the body is
like a clay vessel or a brittle metal pot.
If you wish to
keep it safe and sound, then vibrate and meditate on the Lord;
otherwise, the thing shall break. ||222||
Kabeer, chant the
Name of the Beautifully-haired Lord; do not sleep unaware.
Chanting His Name night and day, the Lord will eventually hear
your call. ||223||
Kabeer, the body is a banana forest, and
the mind is an intoxicated elephant.
The jewel of spiritual
wisdom is the prod, and the rare Saint is the rider. ||224||
Kabeer, the Lord's Name is the jewel, and the mouth is the purse;
open this purse to the Appraiser.
If a buyer can be found,
it will go for a high price. ||225||
Kabeer, the mortal does
not know the Lord's Name, but he has raised a very large family.
He dies in the midst of his worldly affairs, and then he is
not heard in the external world. ||226||
Kabeer, in the blink
of an eye, moment by moment, life is passing by.
The mortal
does not give up his worldly entanglements; the Messenger of
Death walks in and beats the drum. ||227||
Kabeer, the Lord
is the tree, and disillusionment with the world is the fruit.
The Holy man, who has abandoned useless arguments, is the shade
of the tree. ||228||
Kabeer, plant the seeds of such a plant,
which shall bear fruit throughout the twelve months,
with
cooling shade and abundant fruit, upon which birds joyously
play. ||229||
Kabeer, the Great Giver is the tree, which
blesses all with the fruit of compassion.
When the birds
migrate to other lands, O Tree, you bear the fruits. ||230||
Kabeer, the mortal finds the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the
Holy, if he has such destiny written upon his forehead.
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