7. Baani KabeerJi Ki: Ang 870 Dhan Guru Granth Sahib Ji

Ang 870: Dhan Guru Granth Sahib Ji 

 

ਗੋਂਡ ॥

ਨਰੂ ਮਰੈ ਨਰੁ ਕਾਮਿ ਨ ਆਵੈ ॥ ਪਸੂ ਮਰੈ ਦਸ ਕਾਜ ਸਵਾਰੈ ॥੧॥

ਅਪਨੇ ਕਰਮ ਕੀ ਗਤਿ ਮੈ ਕਿਆ ਜਾਨਉ ॥ ਮੈ ਕਿਆ ਜਾਨਉ ਬਾਬਾ ਰੇ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

ਹਾਡ ਜਲੇ ਜੈਸੇ ਲਕਰੀ ਕਾ ਤੂਲਾ ॥ ਕੇਸ ਜਲੇ ਜੈਸੇ ਘਾਸ ਕਾ ਪੂਲਾ ॥੨॥

ਕਹੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਤਬ ਹੀ ਨਰੁ ਜਾਗੈ ॥ ਜਮ ਕਾ ਡੰਡੁ ਮੂੰਡ ਮਹਿ ਲਾਗੈ ॥੩॥੨॥

गोंड ॥

नरू मरै नरु कामि न आवै ॥ पसू मरै दस काज सवारै ॥१॥

अपने करम की गति मै किआ जानउ ॥ मै किआ जानउ बाबा रे ॥१॥ रहाउ ॥

हाड जले जैसे लकरी का तूला ॥ केस जले जैसे घास का पूला ॥२॥

कहु कबीर तब ही नरु जागै ॥ जम का डंडु मूंड महि लागै ॥३॥२॥

 

 Summary

Kabir Ji is known for His ‘Straight Forwardness’. He is not afraid of warning ‘mere mortals’ who are engaged in lowly action by giving hard hitting examples. How can he be scared of anything, not even death which He has overcome? He experiences bliss in same as per his words in Ang 1365 of Dhan Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

ਕਬੀਰ ਜਿਸੁ ਮਰਨੇ ਤੇ ਜਗੁ ਡਰੈ ਮੇਰੇ ਮਨਿ ਆਨੰਦੁ ॥ ਮਰਨੇ ਹੀ ਤੇ ਪਾਈਐ ਪੂਰਨੁ ਪਰਮਾਨੰਦੁ ॥੨੨॥

कबीर जिसु मरने ते जगु डरै मेरे मनि आनंदु ॥ मरने ही ते पाईऐ पूरनु परमानंदु ॥२२॥

(Kabeer, the world is afraid of death - that death fills my mind with bliss.

It is only by death that perfect, supreme bliss is obtained.)

So he has found bliss, ‘The One – The God’ even in death, such is his state of mind, dedication and practice of reciting ‘Naam’. And by virtues of his realization and wisdom he is conveying following messages to people in this Shabad:

1.      Rise above Causality: What is causality? It is an idea that one action can cause other action. For example, it is generally believed and accepted if we have done good things or even if we have just thought about it, the good will return to us. The world goes to holy places only for same. That is they want something out of it. They have not overcome the temptation of ‘Fruits’. The efforts are wasted in analyzing actions and things further become bad when one wants to hear praise of his own and criticizes the actions of others. If an individual gets more than as per his expectation as per his analysis of action, he becomes egoistic. And if gets less then he just drowns himself in sorrow. Both are state of mind and eventually lead to his downfall.

But Kabeer Ji, who have liberated with help of ‘The One’, has risen over it. That is, he does not care about his actions as they have become pure, he has merged into ‘The One’. He neither believes in being appreciated for his actions nor criticizes the actions of others. He does not care of gain or loss. Thus, he is free from fruits of his actions. And that’s why he says, I don’t know what the outcome or state of my actions will be. He has left that to ‘The Almighty – The One’. He just focusses on Meditating ‘The Naam’ and inspires other to do same. He has overcome the desire of fruits else he would have been expecting something good or bad out of his action. We consider ourselves the judge of actions but as per Kabeer Ji, it is malpractice.

2.      Leave Ego Behind: A human is heavily driven by his ego. As long as he lives, he just tries to ‘satiate’ his ego. What matters to him is his physical appearance. He takes pride in it and becomes obsessed with it. So Kabeer Ji is warning such people that the body has no worth. Once it becomes corpse this body has worse state than corpse of an animal. Animal corpse can be put to use like fat can be used as fuel, skin for making jackets but can human corpse be utilized the same way? As per Indian traditions human corpse is burnt in pyre. He uses that example to strike further deep into human consciousness. Kabeer Ji says, the bone burns like bundle of wooden logs and hairs burns like bale of hay. So why we take pride in physical body which has such fate.

3.      End of Man waken him: Kabeer Ji is giving insight what happens when man is nearing his end. The end is of two types:

a.       End which brings bliss, like one which Kabeer Ji mentioned in his words on Ang 1365 of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji (cited above). Such an end kills ego and that’s why an individual is liberated; no more pain, end of miseries and unionism with ‘The One’.

b.      In this Shabad Kabeer Ji talks about the end of physical form when death of messenger strikes an individual with his club. As per Kabeer Ji such strikes wake up a person and make him realize what he has done throughout his life. He has not remembered 'The One'. He repents but what good is that? Death does not give him time to rectify his actions. And he just passes away in misery.

So, in this Shabad Kabeer Ji wants everyone to think about what they have been doing, the end is nearing and if an individual does not balance himself, does not focus on 'Meditating the Name of One' his fate is sealed for miseries.