SANT KABIR- In Translation- Part – I

The holy scriptures of the Sikhs-Shri Guru Granth Sahib( SGGS),contains over 500 verses by Sant Kabir.

There are 243 shlokas of Shri Kabir Ji appearing on pages 1364 to 1377 of SGGS.

Kabirji had composed his hymns in 17 ragaas like,Gauri, Asa, Gujri, Sorath, Dhanasri, Tilang, Suhi, Bilawal, Gauri, Ramkali, Maru, Kedara, Bharav, Basant, Sarang , Kanra & Prabhati.

His total compositions in SGGS are 541.The Sikh community refers to Kabirji as a “Bhagat”, while others who hold the Granth Sahib in high reverence,call him a “Guru”.

The major part of Kabirji’s work as a bhagat, was collected by Fifth Sikh Guru, Shri Guru Arjun Dev Ji , and it forms a part of Sikh scriptures.

I am humbly reproducing herebelow a few of Sant Kabir’s hymns from SGGS,selected at random,and written in approximately correct English pronunciation from the original in Gurumukhi script followed by its translation,collected from various sources:

1. Kabir,soota kya karey,baitha raho aur jaag,
Jaa ke sang tey beechchda,ta hi key sang laag.
Kabir, what are you doing sleeping? Wake up, and sit up.
Attach yourself to the One, from whom you have been separated.

2. Awal Allah noor upaaya,kudrat ke sabb bandey,
Ek noor te sab jugg upjiya,kaun bhaley kaun mandey.
First , Allah created the Light ; then, by His Creative Power, He made all mortal beings.
From the One Light, the entire universe welled up. So who is good, and who is bad?

3.Kabir, jiss marney te jagg darrey,merey mann anand,
Marney hee tey paayiey, pooran parmanand.
Kabir, the world is afraid of death – that death fills my mind with bliss.
It is only by death that perfect, supreme bliss is obtained.

4.Kabir,manas janam dulambh hai,hoyey naa baaram baar,
Jiyo ban phall paakey bhoin girrey,bahur naa laagey daar.
Kabir, it is so difficult to obtain this human body; it does not just come over and over again.
It is like the ripe fruit on the tree; when it falls to the ground, it cannot be re-attached to the branch.

5.Kabir,marta marta jagg muaa,marr bhi naa jaaney koye,
Aisi marni jo marrey,bahur naa marna hoye.
Kabir, the world is dying – dying to death, but no one knows how to truly die.
Whoever dies, let him die such a death, that he does not have to die again.

6. Harr hai khaand ret mehn bhikhri,haathee chunni naa jaaye,
Keh Kabir,gur bhali bhujhai, cheenti hoi ke khaaye.
The Lord is like sugar, scattered in the sand; the elephant cannot pick it up.
Says Kabir, the Guru has given me this sublime understanding: consume it by turning into an ant.

Dwell on these gems,till I post the next part.