बड़ा ना होवे गुणन बिन, बिरद बड़ाई पाय |
कहत धतूरे सो कनक, गहनो गढ़ियो ना जाय ||
Bada na hove gunan bin,birad badai paye
Kahat dhatoore so kanak, gehno gadiyo na jaye
No one’s great without qualities, how much ever they may be praised
Thornapple is called gold, ornaments cannot be made of it
Not mere praise but your character makes you great
साधू ऐसा चाहिऐ, जैसा सूप सुभाय |
सार सार को गहि रहे, थोथा देय उडाय ||
Saadhu aisa chahiye, jaisa soop subhaay
Saar saar ko gahi rahe, thotha de udaay
Saints should be, like a grain thresher in character
The essence he absorbs and the unessential he lets fly away
माया मरी ना मन मरा, मर मर गए शरीर |
आशा तृष्णा ना मरी, कह गए दास कबीर ||
Maya mari na man maraa, mar mar gaye sareer
Aasha trishna naa mari, kah gaye daas Kabir
Illusions nor desires died, bodies died over and again
Hope and wants do not die, says Kabir, that’s the game
Jeevat Samjhe Jeevat Bujhe, Jeevat He Karo Aas
Jeevat Karam Ki Fansi Na Kaati, Mue Mukti Ki Aas
Alive one sees, alive one knows, find your liberation while alive
If Alive you do not cut the noose of your attachments , how will there be liberation with death?
You need to wake up while you are alive; it is your only chance. You need to drop the ties of attachments to illusory things that bind you in illusion. This can only be done while alive, death is not a liberator.
कबिरा प्याला प्रेम का अंतर लिया लगाय |
रोम रोम में रमी रहे और अमल क्या खाय ||
Kabira pyaala prem ka, antar liya lagaye
Rom rom mein rami rahe, aur amal kya khaye
Kabir, the cup of love, I’ve ingested, assimilated
It’s in every hairstrand, nothing’s more intoxicating
जो तोको काँटा बुवे ताहे बोव तू फूल |
तोहे फूल को फूल है ताहे है तिरसूल ||
Jo toko kaanta buve,taahe bov tu phool
Tohe phool ko phool hai, taahe hai tirsool
For those who sow thorns for you, you should sow a flower
For you flower’s a flower but, for them it’s a trident
गुरु गोबिन्द दोउ खडे काके लागूँ पाँय |
बलिहारी गुरु आपने गोबिन्द दियो बताय ||
Guru gobind dou khade, kaake lagoon paay
Balihari guru aapne, gobind diyo batay
Guru and God both are here, whose feet should I touch first
All glory be unto the guru, path to God who did bestow
Chalti Chakki Dekh Kar, Diya Kabira Roye
Dui Paatan Ke Beech Mein, Sabit Bacha Na Koye
Translation
Looking at the grinding stones, Kabir cries
In the duel of wheels, nothing stays intact.
Notes:
Dui Patan (Twin stones of the grinding mill) here signify earth (Prithvi) and sky (Akash) and within the ambit of these is all creation and life as also the manifestation of all natural phenomenon of dualities: day and night, life and death, joys and sorrows, thereby making life forever in motion
Chalti Chakki (Running wheels) represent the wheels of time and an ever changing process. Trapped in this duality, whatever we see is perishable. Nothing that we comprehend is eternal.
All contradictions emerge out of dvaitha tatwa. The duality; as me and you; us and others etc, at the most basic emotional and existential level. This leads to our perception of the world in duality
This separateness breeds the emergence of ‘samsara’ whose worst form is human conflict and destruction.
In this duality in perception whole meaning and purpose of life is lost.
Kabir’s observation is seeped in sufiana and advaita.
”Dui Paatan Ke Beech Mein,Sabit Bacha Na Koye”. every one is lost in this duality.
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