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Kabir
From Wikipedia( View original Wikipedia Article )Last modified on 9 January 2015 at 04:20.

Kabir

An 1825 CE painting depicts Kabir

with a disciple

Born c. 1440
Lahartara near Kashi
(present-day Varanasi)

Died c. 1518
Maghar

Occupation Weaver, poet

 Known for influencing the Bhakti
movement,Sikhism, Sant
Mat and Kabir Panth

Kabīr (also Kabīra) (Hindi: कबीर, Punjabi: ਕਬੀਰ, Urdu: ‫( )کبير‬c. 1440 – c. 1518) [1][2][3][4]
was a mystic poet
and saint of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement. The name Kabir comes
from Arabic al-Kabīr which means "The Great" – the 37th name of God in Islam.

Kabir's legacy is today carried forward by the Kabir panth ("Path of Kabir"), a religious community that
recognises him as its founder and is one of the Sant Mat sects. Its members, known as Kabir panthis, are
estimated to be around 9.6 million. They are spread over north and central India, as well as dispersed with
the Indian diaspora across the world, up from 843,171 in the 1901 census. His writings include Bijak, Sakhi [5]

Granth, Kabir Granthawali and Anurag Sagar. [6]

Contents

 1 Early life and background

 2 Philosophies

 3 Poetry

 4 Legacy

 5 Kabir's poetry today

 6 Criticism of Kabir

 7 See also

 8 References

 9 Further reading

 10 External links
Early life and background
:14
Kabir's early life is not firmly established. [7]
In Indian tradition, he is commonly supposed to have lived for 120
years from 1398 to 1518, which "permits him to be associated with other famous figures such as Guru
:14
Nanak and Sikander Lodi", however most historians state this to be highly unlikely. [7]
Historians are uncertain
:5
about his dates of birth and death. Some state 1398 as a date of birth, [8]
whereas others favour later dates, such
as 1440. Some assign his death date to the middle of the 15th century – for example, 1440
[9] [8] :5
or 1448 [7] :15
–
:106
whereas others place it in 1518. [10]
Lifespans commonly suggested by scholars include from 1398 to
:5 :27–28
1448, [8]
and from 1440 to 1518. [9]

According to one traditional version of his parentage, Kabir was born to a Brahmin widow at Lahartara near
Kashi (modern day Varanasi). The widow abandoned Kabir to escape dishonour associated with births outside
marriage. [11][12]
He was brought up in a family of poor Muslimweavers Niru and Nima. Vaishnava saint Swami [13]

Ramananda accepted Kabir as his disciple. When Swami Ramananda died, Kabir was 13 years old. [11]
In his hymns, Kabir does not call himself born as Brahmin, but he refers to himself as born a Julaha many times
in his hymns. Bhagat Ravidas, the contemporary of Kabir, also mentioned in his hymn that Kabir was born to
[14]

Muslims who were cow killers. [15]

According to influential American Indologist Wendy Doniger, Kabir was born into a Muslim family and "all
these stories attempt to drag Kabir back over the line from Muslim to Hindu". [16]

Kabir was initiated by Swami Ramananda- a major exponent of Vishishtadvaita philosophy who considered
lord Rama as Iṣṭa-devatā. Kabir too often refers to Rama as his lord. He did not become a sadhu, nor did he
entirely abandon worldly life. Kabir chose instead to live the balanced life of a householder and mystic, a
tradesman and contemplative. However, there are conflicting views of whether he actually entered into a formal
marriage or not.

Kabir's family is believed to have lived in the locality of Kabir Chaura in Varanasi. Kabīr maṭha (कबीरमठ),
a maṭha located in the back alleys of Kabir Chaura, celebrates his life and times. Accompanying the property
[17]

is a house named Nīrūṭīlā (नीरू टीला) which houses Niru and Nima's graves. The house also accommodates
[18]

students and scholars who live there and study Kabir's work.

Philosophies

Kabir's legends describe his victory in trials by sultan, a Brahmin, a Qazi, a merchant and God. The ideological
messages in Kabir's legends appealed to the poor and oppressed. David Lorenzen describes primary purpose of
his legends as a "protest against social discrimination and economic exploitation". [19]

His greatest work is the Bijak (the "Seedling"), an idea of the fundamental one. This collection of poems
elucidates Kabir's universal view of spirituality. Though his vocabulary is replete with Hindu spiritual concepts,
such as Brahman, karma and reincarnation, he vehemently opposed dogmas, both in Hinduism and in Islam. He
often advocated leaving aside the Qur'an and Vedas and simply following Sahaja path, or the Simple/Natural
Way to oneness in God. He believed in the Vedantic concept of atman, but unlike earlier orthodox Vedantins, he
spurned the Hindu societal caste system and Murti-pujan (idol worship), showing clear belief in
both bhakti and Sufi ideas.

Kabir calls his God by the name of Rama. However, his Rama is not the Rama of Ayodhya born of Dashratha.
His Rama is Niranjan (without taint), Nirakar (formless) and Nyara (omnipresent, extraordinary). Here, his
views are in line with the best ideals exposed in the upanishads.

His Hindi was a vernacular, straightforward kind, much like his philosophies. A major part of Kabir's work as
a bhagat was collected by the fifthSikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev, and incorporated into the Sikh scripture, Guru
Granth Sahib. The hallmark of Kabir's works consists of his two line couplets, known as the 'Kabir ke Dohe'.

Poetry
Kabir composed in a pithy and earthy style, replete with surprise and inventive imagery. His poems resonate
with praise for the true guru who reveals the divine through direct experience, and denounce more usual ways of
attempting god-union such as chanting, austerities, etc. Kabir, being illiterate, expressed his poems orally in
vernacular Hindi, borrowing from various dialects including Avadhi, Braj, and Bhojpuri. [20]

Songs of Kabir is a collection of his poems, collected by Kshitimohan Sen from mendicants across India, that
has been translated to English by Rabindranath Tagore. [21]

Indian postage stamp portraying Kabir, 1952

Legacy

A considerable body of poetical work has been attributed to Saint Kabir. And while two of his disciples,
Bhāgodās and Dharmadās, did write much of it down, "...there is also much that must have passed, with
expected changes and distortions, from mouth to mouth, as part of a well-established oral tradition." [22]

Poems and songs ascribed to Kabir are available today in several dialects, with varying wordings and spellings
as befits an oral tradition. Opinions vary on establishing any given poem's authenticity. Despite this, or
[23]

perhaps because of it, the spirit of this mystic comes alive through a "unique forcefulness... vigor of thought and
rugged terseness of style." [24]

Kabir and his followers named his poetic output as "bāņīs" (utterances). These include songs, as above, and
couplets, called variously dohe, śalokā (Sanskrit: ślokā), or sākhī (Sanskrit: sākşī). The latter term, meaning
"witness", best indicates the use that Kabir and his followers envisioned for these poems: "As direct evidence of
the Truth, a sākhī is... meant to be memorized... A sākhī is... meant to evoke the highest Truth." As such,
memorising, reciting, and thus pondering over these utterances constitutes, for Kabir and his followers, a path to
spiritual awakening. [25]

Kabir's influence was so great that, similar to how different communities argued to cremate the Buddha upon his
death, after Kabir died, both the Hindus and Muslims argued to cremate his body in Varanasi or bury it in
Maghahar them according to their tradition. [26]

Kabir's poetry today

There are several allusions to Kabir's poetry in mainstream Indian film music. The title song of the Sufi fusion
band Indian Ocean's album Jhiniis an energetic rendering of Kabir's famous poem "The intricately woven
blanket", with influences from Indian folk, Sufi traditions and progressive rock.
Noted classical singer, late Kumar Gandharva, is widely recognized for his wonderful rendering of Kabir's
poetry.

Documentary filmmaker Shabnam Virmani, from the Kabir Project, has produced a series of documentaries and
books tracing Kabir's philosophy, music and poetry in present day India and Pakistan. The documentaries
feature Indian folk singers such as Prahlad Tipanya, Mukhtiyar Ali and the Pakistani Qawwal Fareed Ayaz.

The album No Stranger Here by Shubha Mudgal, Ursula Rucker draws heavily from Kabir's poetry. Kabir's
poetry has appeared prominently in filmmaker Anand Gandhi's films Right Here Right Now (2003) and
Continuum. Pakistani Sufi singer Abida Parveen has sung Kabir in a full album.

A music band from Mumbai known as Neeraj Arya's Kabir Cafe produces and performs the poetry of Kabir.

Criticism of Kabir

Kabir has been criticised for his depiction of women.Nikki-Guninder Kaur Singh states "Kabirs opinion of
women is contemptuous and derogatory. Women historians of religion, such as Karine Schomer and Wendy
O'Flaherty, are familiar with Kabir's mysogynist bias. Schomer has pointed out some blatant examples of
Kabir's deprecatory attitude. For Kabir woman is "Kali nagini" (a black cobra), "kunda naraka ka" (the pit of
hell), "juthani jagata ki" (the refuse of the world). She is and impediment to spiritual progress." [27]

Furthermore, Kabir states:

Woman ruins everything when she comes near man;

Devotion, liberation, and divine knowledge no longer enter his soul.

— Bhagat Kabir

[27]

This seems to be in contrast with the philosophy of Nanak who has the diametrically opposite view. [27]

See also

 List of Shudra Hindu saints

 Bhakti movement
References

1. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica
2. ^ Carol Henderson Garcia; Carol E. Henderson (2002).Culture and Customs of India. Greenwood
Publishing Group. pp. 70–. ISBN 978-0-313-30513-9. Retrieved 12 July2012.
3. ^ Hugh Tinker (1990). South Asia: A Short History. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 76–
. ISBN 978-0-8248-1287-4. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
4. ^ "Narrative Section of a Successful Application". Claflin University. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
5. ^ Westcott, G. H. (2006). Kabir and the Kabir Panth. Read Books. p. 2. ISBN 1-4067-1271-X.
6. ^ The Ocean of Love– The Anurag Sagar of Kabir
7. ^ a b c Dass, Nirmal; Dass, introduction by Nirmal (1991).Songs of Kabir from the Adi Granth.
Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0791405605.
8. ^ a b c Hess, Linda; Shukdev Singh (2002). The Bijak of Kabir. Oxford University
Press. ISBN 0199882029.
9. ^ a b Keay, Frank Ernest (1995). Kabir and His Followers. Mittal Publications. OCLC 872151.
10. ^ Lorenzen, David N. (2006). Who invented Hinduism?: essays on religion in history. New Dehli:
Yoda Press.ISBN 8190227262.
11. ^ a b Karki, Mohan Singh (2001). Kabir: Selected Couplets from the Sakhi in Transversion.
Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 15. ISBN 978-81-208-1799-9.
12. ^ Khan, Abdul Jamil (2006). Urdu/Hindi: An Artificial Divide : African Heritage, Mesopotamian
Roots, Indian Culture & British Colonialism. Algora Publishing. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-87586-439-
6.
13. ^ Jashan P. Vaswani (1 August 2008). Sketches of Saints Known and Unknown. Sterling
Publishers Pvt. Ltd. pp. 4–.ISBN 978-81-207-3998-7. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
14. ^ Page 328 Adi Granth. Page 524, Line 16, ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓਓਓ ਓ ਓਓਓ
ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓਓਓ ਓ Ocẖẖī maṯ merī jāṯ julāhā. My intellect is lowly - I am a
weaver by birth
15. ^ Adi Granth, Bhagat Ravidas, Page 1293, Line 11 ਓਓ ਓਓ ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓ ਓਓ ਓਓ
ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓ ਓ ਓਓ ਓਓ ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓ ਓਓ ਓਓ
ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓ ਓ Jā kai īḏ bakrīḏ kul ga▫ū re baḏẖ karahi
mānī▫ah sekẖ sahīḏ pīrā. And he whose family used to kill cows at the festivals of Eid and
Bakareed, who worshipped Shayks, martyrs and spiritual teachers, ਓਓ ਓਓ ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓ
ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓ ਓਓ ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓ ਓਓ ਓਓ ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓ
ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓ ਓਓ ਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓਓਓ ਓਓਓ Jā kai bāp vaisī karī pūṯ aisī sarī
ṯihū re lok parsiḏẖ kabīrā. ||2|| whose father used to do such things - his son Kabeer became so
successful that he is now famous throughout the three worlds. ||2||
16. ^ Wendy Doniger, The Hindus: An Alternative History, Oxford University Press (2010), p. 462
17. ^ Karine Schomer; W. H. McLeod (1 January 1987). The Sants: Studies in a Devotional
Tradition of India. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. pp. 291–. ISBN 978-81-208-0277-3. Retrieved 12
July 2012.
18. ^ "Jab Mein Tha Tab Hari Nahin‚ Ab". Kabirchaura.com. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
19. ^ Lorenzen, David (1991). Kabir Legends and Ananta-Das's Kabir Parachai. SUNY
Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-1127-9.
20. ^ Scudiere, Todd. "Rare Literary Gems: The Works of Kabir and Premchand at CRL". South
Asian Studies, Spring 2005 Vol. 24, Num. 3. Center for Research Libraries.
 21. ^ "Songs of Kabir in Persian : Gutenberg: Songs of Kabir by Rabindranath Tagore".
22. ^ The Vision of Kabir: Love poems of a 15th Century Weaver, (1984) Alpha & Omega, p.
47 ASIN B000ILEY3U
23. ^ The Vision of Kabir: Love poems of a 15th Century Weaver, (1984) Alpha & Omega, pp. 49–
51 ASIN B000ILEY3U
24. ^ The Vision of Kabir: Love poems of a 15th Century Weaver, (1984) Alpha & Omega, page
55 ASIN B000ILEY3U
25. ^ The Vision of Kabir: Love poems of a 15th Century Weaver, (1984) Alpha & Omega, page
48 ASIN B000ILEY3U
26. ^ The Strides of Vishnu: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective by Ariel Glucklich p. 192
27. ^ a b c Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh (24 Sep 1993). The Feminine Principle in the Sikh Vision of
the Transcendent. English: Cambridge University Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-0521432870.
Further reading

 Bly, Robert, tr. Kabir: Ecstatic Poems. Beacon Press, 2004. (ISBN 0-8070-6384-3)
 Dass, Nirmal, tr. Songs of Kabir from the Adi Granth. SUNY Press, 1991. (ISBN 0-7914-0560-5)
 Duggal, [edited by]G. N. Das ; foreword by K.S. (1992). Love songs of Kabir. Sittingbourne:
Asia. ISBN 978-0-948724-33-6.
 Kabir. Compilation of Kabir's dohas in Devanagiri. Kabir ke dohey
 Masterman, David, ed/rev. Kabir says... Los Angeles: Three Pigeons Publishing, 2011.
 Tagore, Rabindranath, tr. Songs of Kabir. Forgotten Books, 1985. (ISBN 1-60506-643-5) Songs of
Kabir
 Vaudeville, Charlotte. A Weaver Named Kabir: Selected Verses with a Detailed Biographical and
Historical Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. (ISBN 0-19-563933-2)
 KavitaKosh.org Compilation of Kabir's dohas in Devanagiri Kabir Page on Kavitakosh
External links

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related to this article:

Kabir

 Gutenberg: Songs of Kabir by Rabindranath Tagore

  The Bijak of Kabir – Ahmad Shah Translation of the Entire Text
 The Anurag Sagar of Kabir

 v

 t

 e
Writers of Guru Granth Sahib

 Bhagat Kabir

 Guru Ravidas

 Bhagat Namdev

 Bhagat Beni

 Bhagat Bhikhan

 Bhagat Dhanna

 Bhagat Jaidev

 Bhagat Parmanand

 Bhagat Pipa

 Bhagat Ramanand

 Bhagat Sadhana

 Bhagat Sain

 Bhagat Surdas

 Bhagat Trilochan

 Guru Nanak

 Guru Angad

 Guru Amar Das

 Baba Sundar

 Sheikh Farid

 Guru Ram Das

 Guru Arjan

 Satta Doom

 Balvand Rai

 Bhatt Kalshar

 Bhatt Balh

 Bhatt Bhalh

 Bhatt Bhika

 Bhatt Gayand

 Bhatt Harbans
 Bhatt Jalap

 Bhatt Kirat

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Categories:

 Sikh Bhagats
 1440 births
 1518 deaths
 15th-century Indian people
 Founders of religions
 Hindi poets
 Indian philosophers
 Indian poets
 Mystic poets
 People from Sant Kabir Nagar district
 Sant Mat
 Vaishnava saints
 Vaishnavism
 Sant Mat gurus
 Bhakti movement
 Religious figures from Varanasi
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