KABIRDAS: MYSTICISM BEYOND BOUNDARIES
Akhil Vazhapilly
This paper deals with the mystical aspect of the stream of thought of the great Indian saint, Kabirdas. Kabir’s life and thought assume added significance, clarity and distinctness when the mystical side to it is delved deeper into. In this paper I try to bring out the subtle but deep relationship between mysticism and Kabir’s thought.
A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF KABIR
The historical figure Kabir is placed in the 15th century A.D when he was influenced immensely by both the thriving religions of Hinduism and Islam. His entire thought is tinged with ideas and practices of this environment. Not to be left behind is the Sufi style of thought which finds regular reference in his works.
The traditional date of Kabir’s birth is A.D 1398 when he was born to a Brahmin virgin widow but brought up by a Muhammadan weaver Niru and his wife Nima. A weaver by trade he grew up under the instruction of his guru Ramananda. According to tradition, he departed this earthly life in A. D 1518 at Maghar, not far from Gorakhpur in the Basti district.
There are probably only a few Indian authors whose verses are more on the lips of the people of north India than those of Kabir. His literature includes many passages which sound simple and yet are deeply charged with metaphysical meaningfulness. For Kabir god consciousness and poetry went hand in hand. An often-quoted verse of Kabir, which shows the profundity of his version is: “The body in which Love does not dwell is a crematorium; that heart which is without love is as the blacksmith’s bellows, breathing but lifeless.”
The literature that has come down the generations to us are his collection of poems in the Bijak, containing couplets of unsurpassed beauty, the Adi Granth, the sacred book of the Sikhs, the Kabir Kasauti and the recently appeared hundred poems of Kabir by the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore
Kabir composed his verses and songs in a mixed language of his own which is now called by Hindi scholars, Sadhukkari (language of the Sadhus). There is a roughness and ruggedness about his writing which lends it a rare charm. Most of his dohas and padas end with the composer’s name woven on it. It was a kind of copyright in those days, as there were innumerable imitators and plagiarists. Kabir is one of the rare Hindu saints who speaks the language of the Quran and he quotes approvingly many of its teachings. Most of the verses of Kabir are hymns of devotion, mysticism and discipline.
THE MYSTICAL THOUGHT OF KABIR
KABIR ON HIS MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE
Kabir’s mystical experience forms the foundation of all his later thought. He mentions the Supreme guru (the Sat guru) whose ‘word’ leads him to spiritual realization. His spiritual awakening is described in two of his verses: In fact no words can encompass that which has been realized yet Kabir tries to do so using his gift of poetic skills.
‘Kabir being beaten cried much:
In pain he cries even more.
After a blow has hit the vital part.
Kabir remained dead on the spot.’
Kabir says: The blow of the spear is easy; in being applied it takes away the breath. But he who undergoes the blow of the Sabda, of that guru I am the slave.
‘The meaning seems to be that the word (Sabda) of the guru which brought to him enlightenment seemed like a heavy blow. All his former ideas were brought to the ground under which he fainted away. The old Kabir was dead and a new Kabir arose. In many verses Kabir shows a deep self abasement. They show us Kabir with a deep consciousness of sin within him, and a profound sense of his unworthiness before God: ‘How shall I cross the sea, O master? How shall I cross the sea? I am full of many sins. How shall I serve and worship thee, how meditate on thee?
Kabir convinced of spiritual realization says, “I have met God who dwells in the heart. When a stream is lost in the Ganges. It becomes the Ganges itself. Kabir is similarly lost in God by invoking Him. Having seen the eternal beauties of the inner world, the spiritual life, he was in perfect peace and joy. Nothing could add to or subtract from the spiritual joy of his God vision. He found in the life of contemplation all he needed.
KABIR’S UNDERSTANDING OF THE ABSOLUTE
In the first place Kabir taught and emphasized the unity of god. He is One, there is no second. In heaven, the realms below, in earth and waters, One alone Rama watches over all. Says Kabir I have searched in heaven and have seen none equal to God. The one name, like the tree of life saves mankind. Then shall man know that one God is every where contained, and that there is no second. He places the Lord of the Universe in the heart of man as his higher self, where alone the soul can discover Him. The following quotations from Bijak establish Kabir’s monotheism.
“He is one; there is no second.
Ram, Khuda, Shakti, Shiva are one
By the one name I hold fast”
Secondly Kabir says that Brahma and the creature are “Ever distinct, yet ever united”; The soul’s union with him is a love union, a mutual inhabitation; this essentially dualistic relationship which mystical religion expresses as not a self -mergence which leaves no place for personality rather this eternal distinction, the mysterious union in separateness of god and the soul, is a necessary doctrine whose features were preached by Ramanuja, handed down to Ramananda and then to Kabir.
‘So from beyond the Infinite, the Infinite comes; and from the Infinite the finite extend. The creature is Brahman, and Brahma is in the creature: they are ever distinct, yet ever united. Kabir says, “O how can I say he is not like this and he is like that? If I say that he is within me the universe is ashamed: if I say that he is without me it is falsehood. He makes the inner and the outer worlds to be indivisibly one; he is neither manifest nor hidden, he is neither revealed nor unrevealed: there are no words to tell which He is. The water-filled pitcher is placed upon water; it has water within and without. It should not be given a name, lest it call forth the error of dualism.
KABIR’S MYSTICAL UTTERANCES ON THE TRANSCENDENCE OF THE ABSOLUTE
Kabir’s God if omnipresent and powerful yet is without qualities. Kabir sometimes uses negatives in describing him and he speaks of him as inaccessible. He has neither day nor night. (Bijak, 98)
Attributeless
There are generally three attributes. Sat (Being), Rajas (Becoming), Tamas (Non-Being): but Brahma is neither of the three. It is never born, nor does It grow, nor does It die. It merely is (Tat-Sat). He is without form, without quality, without decay. As snow is caused by water and again snow melts into water, so whatever was, came to itself and now nothing more can be said’ (Kabir Granthavali). In as much as It is formless It is colourless and beyond sensual perception. All categories begin with It and so It cannot be categorized. Kabir turned Ramananda’s Ram with attributes into a formless and attribute less one who is beyond description; as the Gita says, ‘where words fail and the mind cannot reach.’
Bliss
All material pleasures are naught before that supreme joy. Kabir describes God intoxication as something which never subsides, never lessens. He says that this godly juice is rare and dear, everyone cannot drink it. The body and the mind cannot contain themselves when they are touched by His great joy. He is immersed in all consciousness, all joys, and all sorrows; he has no beginning and no end; he holds all within His bliss.
Knowledge
He defines it as pure and abstract. The absolute is truth to be realized, unlimited, Undivided. In this form God is light. The supreme illumination of the sufis and the stage where ‘neither sun nor moon nor stars shine and nor lightning’- as described by Kathopanishad is Kabir’s godhead.
Word (sabda)
Kabir has a very fine pada (song) describing the Anant Nad. This unlimited word is constantly vibrating. The Vedas and the Puranas describe the word, the word from which everything was born. This Word makes the gods, wise men and saints, there is no end to this fathomless word.
Void or Nothingness
Kabir describes his supreme as a void or nothingness. It is very near Shankar’s Brahma which is beyond speech. Kabir describes his God as the experience of sweetness enjoyed by a dumb person. It cannot be communicated, Many a time Kabir takes recourse to the negative terminology on the lines of the Vedantin’s ‘Not this, not that’. ‘Beyond Vedas, beyond difference, beyond sin or virtue, beyond knowledge, beyond meditation, beyond solid or void, beyond dress, beyond alms, beyond all snobbery and form. Kabir says, beyond the three worlds that essence unmatched is.’ (Kabir Granthavali 103)
THE IMMANENCE OF THE ABSOLUTE
Kabir speaks of God as an illusionist but when he recognized him the illusion vanished. God is all pervading and must not be regarded as dwelling in any confined locality. It is useless therefore to seek him specially in a temple or mosque. Everywhere he may be found whatever name is given to him. ‘God is in the world and the world is in God and he permeates everything.’ The god whom Kabir worshipped was not a mere abstraction. He used attributes to describe him. “He is the savior is merciful, joyous, bountiful, happy, perfect and may even be spoken of as father and mother, as husband, the guest, the master etc. Kabir is not merely a philosopher who stops at the logical impossibility of describing or defining the Godhead. Being a poet he sometimes personifies his God and sometimes draws parallels between God and soul and lover and beloved or beloved and lover relationships. God abides in the heaven above, in the earth beneath and in every direction.
THE IMMANENCE OF THE ABSOLUTE IN BHAKTI
Kabir is in the line of succession of those religious leaders who advocated Bhakti, or loving faith & devotion, for those who would find God. In connection with this, he speaks often of repeating the name of God, especially the name of Rama. Kabir finds love or bhakti the easiest way to realize the Infinite within one’s own self. He is positive that God can be seen only in the being of man and that then the whole universe becomes a mirror reflecting the bliss and beauty of God. However this is not merely a magic formula. The mere repetition of the name of God would not bring salvation any more, than a man can taste sweetness by repeating the word ‘sugar’. The repetition of the name of God, seems rather to be a means by which he reminds himself of God’s reality and brings to recollection all that the name connotes and so it helps him to realize his union with God.
THE NAME OF THE ABSOLUTE
Call it by any appellation it matters little. Jaydev invoked Ram and Govind. Namdev, Vitthal and the various saints have used various names. Kabir in one of his padas, enumerates all such names and comes to the conclusion. “Called by any name, You remain the same!”
Many of the most beautiful hymns of Kabir are the expressions of his heart’s devotion to the Lord immanent. The name of God dearest to Kabir is Ram. The repetition of the name of Ram, according to the saint, removes all the sins of man and makes him fit to see God in his heart.
KABIR’S UNDERSTANDING OF THE RELATION BETWEEN SELF AND THE REAL
The soul and the goal of the soul (moving towards spiritual consciousness)
Kabir’s conception of the soul is enigmatic and full of apparent contradictions. It is the living being, the breath, the self, the ego, the sexless entity, the Atman.
The Atman is formless, boundless beyond all change. ‘It is like a drop in the ocean it cannot be separated, the ocean-ness is in the drop-ness.’ The soul is non-dual self-illuminated, ever living, and the finest of the fine. It leaves the cage called body.
He makes a distinction in the states of the soul- surati- stands for the bound or attached soul and nirati for the free or the non – attached one. Kabir discusses the causes of the error bound soul, the directionless soul, and the soul which is trying to break through. Ultimately to be free of all attachments and to reach the higher stage, the soul has to be ego- less, without enmity, seeking enlightenment. The goal of salvation according to Kabir is re-absorption into God as the soul of the world. He does not desire heaven nor does he fear hell, but he longs for this union. Kabir again says ‘one knows oneself by oneself’. For Kabir knowledge of the self is the supreme discipline the be-all and end- all of every human life.
The concept of love, renunciation and ultimate emancipation
Kabir says “Some contemplate the formless, and others meditate on form: but the wise man knows the brahma is beyond both.
That beauty of his is not seen of the eye: that metre of his is not heard of the ear. Kabir says: ‘he who has found both love and renunciation never descends to death.” Once the devotee is engaged in helping and serving all and has achieved equanimity of vision he need not be afraid of any thing. If one has to be afraid of anything, it is of the evil within. To break away from the revolving wheel of birth copulation and death and to let the flame pass into the bigger Flame is what he calls the great meeting with the Infinite. Kabir calls the state of nirvana (the ultimate meaningful truth) a safe and fearless condition. For Kabir the bondage is only a subjective illusion. Once it is broken the non – duality is the only experience left. ‘The pitcher is in water and water is in the pitcher; once the pitcher is broken, water is mingled in water.’ If a reflection falls in two pitchers full of water floating in the water, and the pitchers break, the reflection is scattered and yet reflected in larger water- the reflection remains one.
The Transitoriness of life
We find Kabir as a man who is face to face with the great mysteries of life, one who thinks deeply with regard to the problems of death and the life beyond. He earnestly calls all men to turn away from sin and seek God before it is too late the opportunity of life be gone. Men often bestow much thought on the body, but one day it will perish. No one can escape from death, which he personifies as Yama. But for those whose minds have been filled with divine knowledge and have realized their union God death is not to be dreaded, for it is the gate, which leads to happiness. Kabir himself there fore has no fear of death.
KABIR AS A CRITIC OF RELIGIOUS PRACTICES AND SOCIAL EVILS
Kabir had nothing but condemnation for these who performed ceremonial ablutions and cleansings and went through elaborate rituals to find God but paid no attention to the purification of the heart. What is the use of all this ceremonials and rituals when men harbour deceit within and practice fraud under the guise of holiness. These mere rituals cannot in themselves expel evil, wherever man is, his heart is full of wickedness. Kabir says” whether I be in the temple or the balcony in the camp or in the flower garden, I tell you truly that every moment my lord is taking delight in me.’
Kabir has no regard for the Vedas the Quran or other so called sacred books. He may have respected in some ways their teaching but not the superstitious and unmeaning regard for them held by pandits, mullas and others. He disapproved of the rites of circumcision and discouraged pilgrimages to Mecca and even the slaughtering of animals. Kabir strongly condemns the rituals for the dead. He does so because while alive the old are not taken care of or shown love. Food and water are scarcely supplied but for the rituals all such things are included. After cremating the dead body at the burning ghat, they make a show of great love and attachment.
Kabir also had a very strong derision for social evils. It hurt him a lot when the people were ill-treated by their own fellow beings while the absolute made no such distinctions. Kabir disapproved of the caste system. Kabir was a bitter critic of all kinds of sectarian and narrow creeds and outlooks. He rose above the divisions that separated men and believing as he did in one God sought to make men realize they were all one family in him. Kabir respected the individual self and the dignity of women and hence he strongly condemns the practice of sati. Kabir held very strongly the doctrine of Ahimsa or the sin of taking life in any form; especially the sacrifice of the animals in worship, the non-destruction of flowers. For Kabir, moral life involves adherence to ahimsa.
He denounced a large number of practices of both Hindus and Moslems which seemed to him to be mere out ward forms and superstitions and to have no value in leading men into real fellowship with god.
CONCLUSION
Little as we know of the circumstances of the life of Kabir, what has been presented above suffices to help us to form a picture of the mystic he really was. We see a poor unlettered weaver in a humble home, having to struggle hard to earn his daily bread, but with a deeply religious and earnest nature which longed for union with god. In his intense eagerness to find out the reality of things eternal, and his hatred of shams, he was contemptuous of all merely formal and outward piety, and regardless of conventions of caste or society. Often misunderstood by his family, and brought into violent opposition with the society around him, because of his denunciation of its sins and exposure of its follies, he takes refuge in god and finds his solace in communion with Him.
Like other great mystics he was in many things before his age, seeing things which the world around him would take centuries to learn; and yet, like other great men also, he never shook himself entirely free from his environment and the limitations which it involved.
Kabir was not merely a mystic who dwelt in his metaphysical-abode, far away from the maddenning crowd. In Kabir's wide and rapturous vision of the universe he never loses touch with the common life. His feet are firmly planted upon earth; his lofty and passionate apprehensions are perpetually controlled by the activity of a sane and vigorous intellect, by the alert commonsense so often found in persons of real mystical genius. The constant insistence on simplicity and directness, the hatred of all abstractions and philosophisings, the ruthless criticism of external religion: these are amongst his most marked characteristics which undoubtedly give him a high place amongst the great men and mystics of India.
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