Being, Kabir and therefore

Sant Kabir Das is a well-known figure in the philosophical and spiritual world; therefore, he doesn’t need any introduction. Since childhood, we have been reading his Dohawali (Verses), their translations, and interpretations. They all sound good and feel good to be followed in our lives. Still, when we live our day-to-day lives following these teachings, they seem impractical or hard to follow. We cannot ignore the fact that wisdom is nowhere related to formal education, and anybody can be wise irrespective of their background and conditions. The entire work of Kabir Das is based on his observations and awareness. He observed his surroundings and people’s reactions to different situations. If we look closely, we will find that the verses of Sant Kabir Das always talk about interactions, whether interpersonal or man and nature to space. Only a person having self-awareness can analytically comprehend these interactions.

If we look at the era of Sant Kabir Das, very few people were bilingual, and there is no mention of Kabir Das being bilingual. This means that the verses were sung by him in his native language and in the form we know today. Furthermore, if we analyse the personality of Sant Kabir Das, then we can infer that he only sang his verses and did not go beyond to interpret those verses for anybody. Sant Kabir Das did not bother to make the masses understand him. He enjoyed his freedom of expression irrespective of other’s opinions about him and also whether people would accept him or reject him. So the question arises, who translated and interpreted these verses? As far as translation is concerned, any bilingual person can translate them. But even after translation, if we look at the verses, it seems like Kabir Das was talking about general day-to-day events and situations that happened around him. Therefore, translation is not my focus in this work.

Sant Kabir Das’s verses are full of wisdom, and this wisdom can be extracted only when we try to rationally analyse the verses and also the state of day to day situations which crossed his mind. It is said that if one wants to know the philosophy of a certain person, then instead of just knowing about the person, one has to understand and explore the era in which the person lived: the thought process, morals, ethics, rules and the lifestyle of that era. To do this, we have to go back to the times of Kabir Das, when life was simple, and people were just like us but living with the means present in that era. All personality types that are present among us were present at the time of Kabir Das too. People were good, bad, just, unjust, rich and poor. Every condition that we see today was present at that time too. Technology and resources have obviously increased with every era, but people’s perception and thought process remains the same. So, amongst these people and lifestyles, if Kabir Das had observed something, the same could be observed in the present era, too.

From the times of Kabir Das to our present era, lots of things have changed. Our lifestyle, technology, and boundaries have changed. We are now global citizens rather than inhabitants of a particular cluster. This has changed our thinking ability and perspective. Following the interpretations done in past eras would be an injustice to the wisdom of Sant Kabir Das. With every change in the era, these words of wisdom must change their meanings and must be put into a domain where everyone can observe what Kabir Das had observed. When the things around us have changed when we are interacting with different cultures and adopting diverse moralities and ethical systems, then why not get help from the wisdom of Sant Kabir Das in present-day living? While working on the verses, I kept my mind free from any bias of what people would think or how they would react. In this way, I have avoided sugar-coating anything.

Enjoy the journey of Sant Kabir.