The paathi sings the Bani of Sant Kabir Sahib from the book: Sant Kabir, pg 238
Kabeer khet kisaan ka,
Mirago khaaya jhaad
Kabeer khet kisaan ka,
Mirago khaaya jhaad
Khet bichaara kya karei,
Jo dhani kare nahi bhaad.
THIS IS THE BANI of Param Sant Satguru Kabir Sahib. Kabir Sahib points out, “In a farm where the deer come inside the farm and eat the crop, what is the mistake of that farm?” So, Kabir Sahib says, “It is not the fault of the farm. It is the fault of the farmer who has not taken appropriate precautions and allowed his farm to get eaten away by the deer.”
So, this is similar to the life, like the precious body that is given to us, the precious jewel that is given to us. Kabir Sahib says, “I beat the drum and I say that, with each breath that we take, we are losing the three planes, the three kingdoms, with each breath.” God Almighty has given us a store of breaths. And, with each breath that we take, we are gradually eroding that store; we are completing that and emptying that store. So, if we are wasting that store, we are wasting those breaths, then it is not the mistake of the body or God Almighty. This loss is the loss of the soul. It is the loss of the mind. Both the mind and the soul have to then travel again through the ocean of life and death.
Therefore, Mahatmas say, “Use each breath very carefully and be very mindful of each breath and, while you are doing that, collect the wealth, which will go with you, not the wealth that will be left behind.” Because your store of breath, like the farm, is being eaten away by the five vices, which are lust, greed, anger, attachment, and ego. And, that way, we are depleting our store of very precious breath. So, if we do not protect our breath, our loss of breath from these thieves then, at the end time, we repent, we have to go empty-handed, like that farmer whose farm is eaten by the deer.
Basar sukh na rain,
Sukh na sukh supne maahi,
Basar sukh na rain,
Sukh na sukh supne maahi,
Jyo nar bichude naam se,
Tinko dhoop na chaayi.
Kabir Sahib says, “We are unhappy during the day. We are also unhappy during the night and, even in the dream, it is dream state.” So, Kabir Sahib says, “If we do not procure the Naam from the Masters, then we have wasted this life, we have wasted this precious store of breath.”
Most of us think that we have come to this life to enjoy, to make the most of things and luxuries available to us, and we should enjoy our life and live it to the fullest. But Mahatmas caution us, “No, you have not come here for enjoying these luxuries. You have come here to get riddance of this ocean of life and death. And this is the only opportunity that you have to use.”
We spend our times with our families. This is what all the 8.4 million life forms also do. They also procreate. They also look after their loved ones, their young ones. And they also spend a lifetime doing that. It is this precious form that we have now. We should not waste it on the same lines as the rest of the life forms.
Without Naam, we do not get happiness and enjoyment during the day or the night. Nanak Sahib says, “The whole world is unhappy. Only the person who has the support of the Naam, he is the only happy person.”
So, our karmas lead us to hell or other miseries, or they lead us back into this ocean of life and death.
Kabir sothaa kya kare,
Kyon nahi dekhai jaag
Kabir sothaa kya kare,
Kyon nahi dekhai jaag
Jaa ke sang se bichudaa,
Vaahi ke sangh laag.
Kabir Sahib says, “What will a person who is asleep do? Wake up from this delusion and remember the one who has sent you here.”
All the life forms that we have gone through and this human life we have got, all those life forms are like the night. The night has passed and the day is come. This life form has been given as a ‘day’ to you. Mahatmas say, “Wake up in this day, and get working for your true work that you have come here for.”
So, what is your work here? Your work is to get rid of all this ocean of life, and get rid of all these miseries, and go back to your True Home, to your True Father.
Kabir sothaa kya kare,
Uti kai japo dayaar
Kabir sothaa kya kare,
Uti kai japo dayaar
Ek dinaa hai sovanaaa,
Lambe paav pasaar.
Kabir Sahib says, “Wake up. Wake up and do the Simran and Bhajan of the Masters because, if you don't do that then, one day will come when you will sleep permanently. And then, after that, you will not wake up.”
We often believe that we wake up and go about our duties, go about our work, but Mahatmas say, “That is a delusion and sleep. You are in delusion, and you are asleep while you are doing all of that.” The only time you are awake is when you are really spending time for doing your Simran and trying to get connected with the Master and God within. So, Mahatmas say, “Wake up from the sleep of delusion, because every breath, every second, is very important.”
Even at the end time, a doctor may put some artificial ventilation and keep our body alive for some time longer, but that is not really staying alive.
You have come with calibrated and counted breaths that have been given to you. And you will live a life only to the exact count of those breaths that have been given. And, beyond that, there will be no life.
Apne pahre jaagiye,
Naa padi rahiye soy
Apne pahre jaagiye,
Naa padi rahiye soy
Naa jaanau chin ik mein,
Kis ka pahara hoy.
Kabir Sahib says, “Wake up and use the time. The time given to you is between 3:00 AM to 6:00 AM. And that is the time that you should spend for doing your meditation and Simran.”
So, Kabir Sahib says, “Use that prahar, or use that time, and use it for this practice of waking up.” Because this time, which is given to you, is the time that you have. After this, you don't know whether the next time is there with you, or it is not there.
Chakvi bichuri rain ki
Aan mile parbaath,
Chakvi bichuri rain ki
Aan mile parbaath,
Jo nar bichude naam
Se divas mile nahi raath.
Kabir Sahib gives an example, and He talks about a particular type of bird, a chakor. And in this, the male and female, during the day, stay together, but it appears that they are cursed by someone so that, during the night time, they both sit and stay separately. If one is at this side of the lake, the other one is at the other side of the lake. And they both keep calling out to each other in the night.
So, Kabir Sahib says, “Those birds are cursed in the night. They are separate, but during the day they, nevertheless, come together. But, unfortunately, their soul without Naam is separated from the God Almighty, and it stays completely away unless it is connected by Naam.”
The other quality of this bird is also that it does not drink water from any other source. With the first drop of the swati nakshatra, it only takes that drop and drinks only that drop of water. And, otherwise, it remains thirsty throughout the year. So, these birds, they do not drink any other water.
Once, Kabir Sahib was strolling on the bank of the Ganges, and there He saw this bird, which was very thirsty, and it was crying out for that water, which it required. And, because of the thirst, it fell in the Ganges; it fell in the river. But, because of this quality of only drinking that one first drop of rain, it did not open its beak, and it did not drink that water of the river. Had it drunk that water, it would have stayed alive. But it gave away its life; it sacrificed its life, for that particular quality, which it wanted to maintain.
So, Kabir Sahib has written a poem on this. When He saw this He was very touched by this, the quality of this bird, and then He wrote a poem saying that this quality of this bird, that when it fell in the river, it didn't open its beak, and that is a quality, which few others would imbibe.
So, that is a quality, which devotees should also imbibe. They should also have the quality of this kind of bird.
Deen gavaayo dhuni sangh,
Duni na chaali saath;
Deen gavaayo dhuni sangh,
Duni na chaali saath;
Paav kulhaadi maariyaa,
Moorakh apne haath.
We get so intoxicated, or we get so outwardly tied up in this world and all the activities, that we have made the world our God; we have made our conscience a manifestation of this outside world. And this is akin to a person who strikes an axe on his own foot and who cuts his own foot. This world has never become anyones. We can never hold this world. It has never belonged to anybody. And so, when we spend our precious time and follow this, and make this world everything that we have, then we are being foolish, and we are cutting our own foot.
So, again and again, Mahatmas point this out, that we should get out of this obsession of this world, and get our attention and focus at the Feet of the Masters.
And Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj has said this also. Sawan Singh Ji‘s mother, she was unwell, and Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj had his duty at the ashram. So, Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj manifested within Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj’s mother, and He indicated to her that her time had come and that He would come the day after to take her soul. Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj had given Darshan on Saturday and He had told her that, “I will come and take you on Monday.”
And she then telephoned Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj and informed him of this. She informed him, “Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj is going to come and take me on Monday in the afternoon. So, I think you should come.”
Now, it so happened that, Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj was doing his duty in the ashram, and there were some committee meetings, and there were a lot of discussions and other seva. So, in all that, he was not able to go and meet her on Monday.
At the designated time, Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj came again within the mother, and He asked her whether this gentleman has come, her son has come, to meet her. He asked her, and she said, “No, it seems he couldn't make it today.”
He said, “Okay, never mind, I will come tomorrow afternoon to take you.”
So, on Tuesday, Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj came and he met her and he spent time with her. And, in the afternoon then, Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj came and He took her soul.
So, the Master comes within two to three days before death, and He informs the soul that He is going to come and take the soul. This is for those who meditate, who spend time doing meditation regularly. To them, the Master comes, and He informs two or three days before death that He is going to come and take their soul, and then, He illuminates them within, and they can hear the Sound and see the Light within for those three or four days before death.
So, our mind is otherwise outwardly focused. Once the Master comes and He shows the Light within and the Sound, then the mind hears that Sound and then forgets all about the outside world and gets focused inward. So, we should do our meditation. The Master, Who has given us initiation, He in the Shabd form, in the form of Sound, is sitting at the back of the Eye Center.
Sant Ji used to always say, “The Master is immortal and the soul is immortal. And it is these outward bodies that have to be shed. And the Masters then are in the form of the Sound and Shabd within.”
So, the Masters, after They leave the body, Their soul sits in the Brahm. And, from the Brahm, They are then managing all of Their devotees. When the Masters leave the body, we should not get disappointed, because the Master is always within us and in the form of Shabd within.
So, just like before, when They are in the body, even after They leave the body, we should continue to have the same love and affection for Them. And we should do the Simran of the Five Names that They have given us.
Kul khoye kul ubarai,
Kul raakho kul jaay;
Kul khoye kul ubarai,
Kul raakho kul jaay;
Naam akul ko bhetiyaa,
Sab kul gayaa bilaay.
Kabir Sahib says, “Oftentimes, because of our egos, we do not want to show that we are doing meditation or we are doing Simran.”
Oftentimes, people feel that because, if I do meditation, or I do the devotion of my Guru outside, then it will not reflect well on my family, it will not reflect well on my clan.
Kabir Sahib says, “Those who do this to safeguard, or to protect their ego or their clan, those clans will no longer continue. Only when you do your meditation and you focus and have your love and devotion to the Master, those clans will flourish.”
So, when the soul does the meditation and goes within and gets connected to the Sound Current, that is the real clan. Outside, all these are not really clans. The real clan is God Almighty and the soul being connected with God Almighty because God has not created any caste. He has not created any clan here. He has only created two forms, a male and female.
Sikhism started only about six hundred years back. Likewise, the Mohammedans, or the Muslim culture, were not there about sixteen hundred years back. Only after Mohammed Sahib came, then the Muslim religion started. Likewise, also Christianity started about two thousand and fifteen years back. So, it was after Jesus Christ came that Christianity started. Likewise, about three thousand years back, Buddhism started after Buddha. So, therefore, all these religions, castes, clans, all of these, have been created by us. And God has not created any of this.
Therefore, we should rise above all of these religions and all of these other caste-isms, etc., and do the practice, as told by the Masters, and go within and get connected with God Almighty.
Outside in the world, maybe caste-ism is not so much but, in north India, there is a lot of caste-ism. There's upper caste, lower caste, and all of that, but all this caste remains only during the time the body is there. Once the person dies then, after the funeral, only you are left with two handfuls of ash, and all this caste is left behind here. And you do not carry this caste to the Lord of Judgment. With the Lord of Judgment, there is no caste there. So, the Lord of Judgment only asks two things, “What have you done good, and what have you done, which is bad?”
Duniyaa ke dhoke muyaa,
Chaala kul ki kaani;
Duniyaa ke dhoke muyaa,
Chaala kul ki kaani;
Tab kya kul ki laaz hai,
Jab lai dharai masaan.
Kabir Sahib says, “We now are not doing our practice, or what has been told to us, and we are carried away by our ego, and we are embarrassed with the real religion. But then, after death, there's nothing. There is no religion, and nothing is left.”
During Swami Ji Maharaj's time, His disciple Saligram was there. Now, Saligram was a brahmin by caste, and he was a very, very learned person for that time. He had done his PhD., and he was the postmaster general during that time. He was in charge of the entire post for Uttar Pradesh. Now, he used to do seva of Swami Ji Maharaj. And, in those days, there was no water in the ashram, so he used to carry water from the river Ravi, and then, he would carry it to the ashram. So, that was his seva and his duty of carrying buckets of water, every day, to the ashram.
When he would carry these buckets of water through the by-lanes of Agra, oftentimes, his relatives, who were there and staying in those by-lanes, they would taunt him, “You are a person of such high stature. You are a brahmin and of such high caste, and you are doing all of this work for a kshatriya.” Because Swami Ji Maharaj was a kshatriya by caste. So, they used to keep taunting him, but he would ignore all of this, and he continued to do the seva.
Oftentimes, they would get so irritated that they would then bang the door when he would pass. So, those family members had got very frustrated by even taunting Saligram Ji, and they used to close the doors of their houses when he would pass to belittle him.
But then, he continued to do the seva, and he wondered why these people are now not coming out and taunting him? So, he said, “Maybe they are not noticing that I'm going and I'm passing.” So, he tied these anklets. You know when you dance you tie these anklets. So, he used to tie those anklets, which made noise, and every time thereafter, he carried the buckets wearing that, so that would make noise as he passed their houses.
So then, sometimes, when they would see what was that noise outside, and they would open the door, they would see Saligram passing with these buckets of water, and they felt that this person has eaten the food of the kshatriya and he has a mental problem now.
That would encourage Saligram Ji even more to do his seva, and he kept doing his seva, and they kept getting angry at this. So, he did this to make his ego more sublime. And this is the way with the seva.
The Masters use this as a measure, as a means to reduce the ego that we build within ourselves. So, by seva, we crush this ego, and we make our mind more sublime.
Raja Bharthari and Gopi Chand were very well known kings in Rajasthan. They had renounced their kingdoms and were living ascetic life for about ten to twenty years. And once, Gopi Chand and Bharthari, they had gone out and they had stopped by at a potter’s. They used to do yoga abhyas together. They would do this practice together. And once, they had gone and they stopped by at a potter’s place.
So, they had both spent almost twelve years in the Himalayas in the practice of yoga. And then, after that, they had come down at a village. At the outskirts of the village, they had made a small hut in the landholdings of a potter. And there, they would stay and do this practice, and they would go to collect alms, both of them.
So, gradually, people came to know that this is the great king Bharthari and Gopi Chand, and they are staying in this village, and they are both yogis. People started coming to seek their blessings and, gradually, this word spread. And all that spread to the king of that area. So, the king also felt that such a great king Bharthari has left his kingdom and has sacrificed his kingdom and has taken to becoming a recluse, a yogi. So, he would have definitely got some enlightenment, and the king felt that he should also come and meet and take the blessings of Bharthari.
So, he set out a date and he and his kingsmen and his family, all of them, decided to go on that date. So, on that date, the king left for seeking the blessing of Bharthari and Gopi Chand. And, along with him, his kingsmen came, his family members came, his army came, and the people around that kingdom started coming. And there was a big procession that started towards these people.
Now, hearing that sound and the noise, Bharthari asked Gopi Chand, and they were wondering why there was so much noise and where this was coming from? So, they called that potter, and they asked him, “What is happening?”
So, he said, “The king and all the kingsmen, they are all coming. They have heard of you, and they're all coming to meet you and seek your blessing.”
So, the two of them felt alarmed and spoke to each other, and they said, “Look, we have sacrificed all our stature in order to get rid of our ego about all of that, and we have become yogis, and we have become recluses. Now, once again, this whole status and everything is coming back to us, and again, we are getting drawn back into that society. So, we should do something to get rid of this.” So, both of them decided, “Okay, we should do something to discourage all of this limelight that we are getting here.”
So they both took bags like they used to take for alms. They took one bag on each of their shoulders, and a stick with that, and they sat in preparation.
When the king and all the kingsmen came and settled down outside the hut, they all set their chairs and they sat down, waiting for them to come out.
These two came out of their hut with their bags and the stick, and Bharthari told Gopi Chand, “Look, I'm going to go to east today because, yesterday, you had gone, and you got all this puri and halvah, and you didn't give me anything. You ate it all alone.”
So, Gopi Chand said, “No, no, no, you had gone there the other day, and you had got all those sweets, and you ate all the sweets alone. So, I will go.”
So, they both started fighting with each other. They both got into this argument, and then, they got into a fistfight.
Looking at all of this, the king was bewildered, and he wondered, “How can these people be recluses and yogis? They are just fighting for food. I don't think they are really evolved souls.” So, they got disappointed, and then all of them walked away.
Once they all left, these two felt happy and satisfied with what they had done. They felt, “Okay, now all the flies have flown. So, now, we are at peace.”
So, the Mahatmas do such kind of things quite often to get rid of their ego and stay on the Path.
Kul karani ke kaarne,
Hamsa gaya bigoy;
Kul karani ke kaarne,
Hamsa gaya bigoy;
Tab kya kul ki laaz hai,
Chaar paav ka hoy.
We often don't do devotion. We don't do the practice, feeling embarrassed of what our religious outlook will be, what our clan will think, or what our families will think, or what our friends will think. But Kabir Sahib says, “What will happen when you die and you go and become a buffalo or a cow somewhere? What will you meditate at that time?” So, when you are a cow or a buffalo, what clan will you have? What friends will you have? And, at that time, you will not even be wearing clothes, so what are you embarrassed about?
So, therefore, Kabir Sahib says, “You should not stop doing your devotion and your practice and feeling embarrassed for all the outwardly caste, creed, society, and all of that.” Because, after all of this, anyways, is irrelevant. Because, if you lose this opportunity of doing it, then you can become a plant somewhere, a tree somewhere, an insect somewhere, and you have to suffer great hardship in those lives. And because of your embarrassment today, and you're feeling like this, you are standing away from your devotion. And you’re losing and missing this opportunity.
Kul karani ke kaarne,
Hamsa gaya bigoy;
Kul karani ke kaarne,
Hamsa gaya bigoy;
Tab kya kul ki laaz hai,
Chaar paav ka hoy.
Radhaswami.