The mystical weave of Kabir
A few songs and their meanings
It was my Hindi teacher at High School. I barely knew Hindi and yet, her dramatic narration of the couplets, leaving imprints of the bold and hazy messages that stood out from the normal.
“jaake hirday saanch hai.. taake hirday aap”.
YOU reside in the noble truth dwelling in the heart..
“tanka manka daari de.. man ka manka pher”
Enough of the outward pretension and the act of maala jap, when the mind is still busy hovering over various thoughts.guru gobind do khade.. kaake laage paay?
If the guru and the god were in front, whose feet do I touch? I would bow down to guru, as he would lead me to that absolute HIM.
And there is so much more than his couplets. Perhaps his profession as a weaver helped him in weaving a beautiful tapestry of words. Soaked with wit, contradictions, and illustrations from day-to-day life, and weaved in the rustic Hindi-like language of his times.. he pours in the deep secrets of Advaita and Sankya..
Kabir’s ‘nirgun bhajans’ are spiritual outpourings celebrating the all-pervasive divinity in its impersonal and attribute-less form.
Kabir was born in the city of Kashi and many of his works are celebrated by the Sikh community.
Raam ras meetho ghano re, jogiya ji
I uprooted this house of mine.. If you have done so, follow me o dear..
What a parody.. you let it go, it flourished.. you hold it, and it diminished..
The path ahead is a trail blaze.
Have not Dhruva and Prahlad tasted this? This Rama ras is extremely sweet..
Some terminology that he uses. The ultimate advaita goal of being fearless nirbhaya.. The 5 tattva elements that we are made of. Facets of pranayama and the opposites left and right breath ida and pingala churning the chakras over the sushumna spine.. and the ultimate union at the Sahasrara chakra and victory over dualities..
This is Kabir 2.0 for me. I can see Yoga, Advaitha, Sankya so many hues reflecting in his works. Perhaps, this is the reason why schools did not teach beyond the 2 liner dohas. And all thanks to the musical Kabir videos on youtube.
Nirbhaya Nirguna: The fearless praise of the formless
Fearlessly I shall praise the formless one..
As I root myself into a padma asana, I shall experience the blissful reverse winds.
I shall still my desires and I merge into the 5 elements..
As I churn sushumna spine with my breath of ida and pingala.. I shall bathe at the triveni sangam at my crown..
Shoonya shikhar par anhada baaje.. At the peaks of Shunya Shikara, I shall sing the unheard chattis 36 tunes of my heart.. Hey Seekers.. Victory is mine..
O Sadho
Another beautiful song. Isha Music
Ho sadho.. Yaha tana thaata tambure kaa
My good fellows.. This body is like a tanpura.. 5 strings of 5 elements.. and 9 places of resonance. Tighten the strings and pegs and sing the song of the lord.The strings snap.. the pegs break and the sweet one has blended with the dust. For the swan has just flown away.
Jheeni Jheeni Beeni Chadariya — A finely woven Blanket
Through the lens of his profession, he wonders at the creation of the Lord. He compares this body to a finely weaved carpet.
Gently he weaved this fine ‘chaadar’!
With the devotional Yarn of ‘Raam Naam’
With the spin of the eight-fold lotus chakras,
With the colour of five tattvas and the
blend of three gunas..In nine to ten months, block by block he wove this firm blanket..
Gods, men and sages have worn this garb and sullied it. This servant of God Kabir, is wearing this with care to leave it untarnished.
Listen in the voice of Kumar Gandharva and a more recent style from Kabir cafe
झीनी रे झीनी रे झीनी चदरिया, झीनी रे झीनी रे झीनी चदरिया
के राम नाम रस भीनी चदरिया, झीनी रे झीनी रे झीनी चदरिया
अष्ट कमल दल चरखा डोले, पांच तत्व, गुण तीनि चदरिया
साइँ को सियत मास दस लागे, ठोंक-ठोंक के बीनी चदरिया
सो चादर सुर नर मुनि ओढ़ी, ओढ़ी के मैली कीनी चदरिया
दास कबीर जतन सो ओढ़ी, ज्यों की त्यों धर दीन चदरियाSunta hai guru gyaani gyaani
A rough translation.. Lyrics are in the Youtube video
Says the words of the Guru. The unheard sounds appear from the Sky.
You are carved and born from the celestial waters. And you forget your immortal nature and soon choose to be trapped by your desires.
The Wisemen opt for the spiritual butter while the rest are happy with the buttermilk.
When questions of “Who am I” and “So am I” are answered, the ropes of Ida and Pingala are pacified and Sushmna activated
सुनता है गुरु ज्ञानी ज्ञानी ज्ञानी
गगन में आवाज हो रही झीनी-झीनी झीनी-झीनी
Avdootha Yoga Yuga Hum Yogi
I have heard this beautiful song in Isha music. It seems just like the message in Gita. I have taken this translation
Oh unattached being, I am a yogi from many eons
I don’t come or go nor do I get erased
I relish and enjoy the un-struck Anahat Shabad
In every direction, I see only a collection and carnival of me
I am in everybody and everybody is in me. I am utterly alone
I am the Siddha, I am the Samadhi
I am the one who remains silent, I am the one who speaks
The form is my own form manifesting the formless
I am the one who plays with himself
Kabir says, listen oh Sadhu, there is no desire anymore
I am floating in myself in my own little hut playing effortlessly by own desire
Avadhuta Yugan Yugan Hum Yogi
Avayna Jay Mitaina Kabahun, Sabad Anahat Bhogi
Meri nazaroon mein moti aaya - My Vision has been Enhanced
The purpose of Scriptures, Gyaan is to correct our vision in the understanding of Self and the understanding of the World around us.
In this song, Kabir says that he has been gifted with a rare pearl of inner vision in the third eye that even Gods and Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh, Shankar, Sheesh and Sharada do the Naam jap in pursuit. Like a mini Vishnu Sahasra Namam, he keeps describing the list of formless attributes.. The lord is Indescribable, not writable, smaller than the sesame seeds.. he is worshipped by the lords, and resides in the lotus of my mind, in the cave of my mind.. in the Soham.. in the Omkara, in the murali of the lips, in the silence..
Interestingly, this song and many other Kabir songs seem to be popular bhajans for the Sikhs.
The weaver of God’s Name
