ਕਬੀਰਾ (kabeeraa)
Meaning: noun: A 15th Century saint-poet, whose many hymns are present in the Guru Granth Sahib.
Quote:
ਬੁਨਨਾ ਤਨਨਾ ਤਿਆਗਿ ਕੈ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਿ ਚਰਨ ਕਬੀਰਾ॥ ਨੀਚ ਕੁਲਾ ਜੋਲਾਹਰਾ ਭਇਓ ਗੁਨੀਯ ਗਹੀਰਾ॥
bun-naa tan-naa tiaag kai preet charan kabeeraa.
neech kulaa jolaahraa bhaio guneey gaheeraa.
Abandoning attachment to merely weaving and stretching thread, Kabir enshrined love for the Lord’s feet. In this way, a weaver belonging to a lower caste became an ocean of virtues. – Guru Arjan Sahib, Guru Granth Sahib, 487
Message: Bhagat Kabir is a mystic poet and saint of India, whose writings greatly influenced the bhakti movement. He was born in 1398 in Benaras, India, to a Brahmin woman and was brought up by a Muslim weaver family. A disciple of Bhagat Ramanand, Kabir belonged to a poor and lower social order.
He spread the word that the person who is kind and practices righteousness, who remains detached while carrying out the affairs of the world, who considers creatures of the world as one’s own self, attains the Divine. The true Lord is ever with such a person.
He set an example of how to remain detached while leading a life, carrying out his worldly tasks. He went against ritualistic and ascetic methods to gain salvation. So full of love for the Divine was he, that this conviction led a low caste weaver to become known as a revolutionary saint all over Northern India. His contribution included 294 hymns in 16 different raags and 238 of his saloks (couplets) are compiled in the Guru Granth Sahib.
He stands out as an example of a righteous man whose simple but strong devotion to the Divine and detachment from excessive worldly desires, led him to become renowned. It is indeed the human spirit – the spark of the Divine within us – that is indomitable in its fight for a truthful living. Despite being from a low social class, he stood for the truth, against the established ritual practices of the Hindus and Muslims.
In this day and age, we are so wrapped up in the race to get ahead personally, that truth, righteousness and simplicity is ignored. Given due space in our lives and the reverence it deserves, the divine spirit in us will reward us with something way more valuable and satisfying than what we are hankering for.
You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips. -Oliver Goldsmith, author, 1728 – 1774
