“साधो, देखो जग बौराना । साँची कही तो मारन धावै, झूठे जग पतियाना ।“ (O saint! See the world going mad. If you say the truth, they are prepared to kill you, liars become heroes here.) Who was Kabir? A mystic? A Sufi? An enlightened being? Kabir said - The self forgets itself, as a lion jumps into the pond seeing its own reflection. More important perhaps is his story. A man born into a Muslim family accepts a Hindu guru and later discovers a path that is independent of both the sects or any sect whatsoever. At a time when secular ideologies are being threatened and a politics of color is gripping the country, the verses of Kabir and his life itself has to become a message for all of us. The west discovered him at a time when Rumi and Shams were being immigrated from Persia with their message of cosmic love. For us, however, Kabir has gradually turned into a distant voice, cocooned into the image of an enigmatic teacher, and often a holy ‘messenger’ – the very idea that he repelled. “The river that flows in you also flows in me. We are one and the same.” Kabir’s philosophy is that of an existentialist who believes in the sanctity of this life, this existence. “If you don't break your ropes while you're alive, do you think ghosts will do it after?” Kabir resonates with us. In a world shattering itself into pieces – religions, sects, ideologies, Kabir reunites us with the inner self. The self that is accountable for things and the self that has the power to change. बुरा जो देखन मैं चला, बुरा न मिलिया कोई। जो मन खोजा अपना, तो मुझसे बुरा न कोई।। (As I searched for the devil, I didn’t find one. As I looked within me, I found that I was the evilest of all.) Kabir asks us to retrospect. To break free of this carnival of dead emotions and hero worship. To seek the truth that is beyond any -ism or divided ideologies. His message is simple – as timeless has his legacy – the message of the inner truth, the self, the wonder of this life. Nothing else matters. “O Slave, liberate yourself. Where are you, and where's your home, find it in your lifetime, man. If you fail to wake up now, you'll be helpless when the end comes. Says Kabir, listen, O wise one, the siege of Death is hard to withstand.”
1 Comment
Amit Gourav Ghosh
4/9/2018 08:40:24 am
Very nice
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Rajit Roy
An existential romantic, an agnostic and a prospective biologist. Archives
September 2018
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