Saturday, September 12, 2009

Kabir Bani


Kabir, a thirteenth century poet-saint, from the Bhakti tradition of India, sang the ideals of seeing all of humanity as one. He viewed all life as an interplay of two principles: the personal (Aatma or Jeevatma) and the God (Paramatma). According to Kabir, salvation is the process of bringing into union these two divine principles. Kabir’s works resonate with praise for the true guru who reveals the divine through direct experience, and it denounced the conventional ways of attempting god-union such as chanting, austerities etc. His verses, which being illiterate he never expressed in writing and were spoken in Hindi, often began with some strongly worded insult to get the attention of passers-by. Kabir Bani comprises of 7 Bhajans*, the interpretations of which are presented here are provided by noted Kabir-scholar Prof. S. M. Paralikar.

1 comment: