Ask a Teacher

Search



was sufi saint and the poet kabir was a weaver???
Kabir [1440- 1518]

Kabir was a weaver and mystic poet who lived in Benares for 120 years. He was an important influence on the Hindus and Muslims [then called Mohammedans] of his time and also a profound influence on Nanaka Shah (Guru Nanak), the founder of the Sikh religion. Many poems of Kabir can be found in the Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred scriptures that form the Guru of Sikhism.

Miraculous legends surround the birth of Kabir. His mother was said to be a virgin widow who conceived through a blessing given by the great teacher of South India, Ramanand, on a visit to the spiritual guide. Ramanand, while blessing her, offered her the usual wish that she might conceive a son, not knowing her state of widowhood. The sequel is variously reported. It was impossible to recall the blessing; but, while one version states that the mother abandoned the child to escape disgrace, another relates that Ramanand contrived that the child should be miraculously born from his mother's hand. All stories agree that the child was brought up by a weaver named Niru and his wife Nima. The details of Kabir's life are mixed with legends - some say he married one by name of Loi and brought up two adopted children Kamal and Kamali, and that Emperor Sikandar Lodi, angered by Kabir's refusal to salute him tried to get him killed by drowning, burning and other means of torture.

Throughout his life Kabir preached and worked as a weaver in the neighbourhood of Benares (modern day Varanasi). Owing to his teachings he was an object of dislike both to Hindus and to Muslims [then called Mohammedans], and it is said that he was denounced to Sikandar Lodi, king of Delhi, as laying claim to divine attributes, but escaped by his ready tongue.

Kabir left his mortal coil at Maghar, near Gorakbpur, and a dispute at once arose as to the disposal of his remains, which were claimed, by Hindus and Mohammedans, the former desiring to cremate and the latter to bury them. While they wrangled, Kabir himself appeared and bade them raise the cloth which covered the corpse. When this was done, it was found that the body had vanished, but a heap of flowers occupied its place. Half of these were burnt after the Hindu custom at a spot now known as Kabir Chaura in Benares (Varanasi), and the rest were buried at Maghar, which became the headquarters of the Mohammedan (Muslim) portion of the sect that still follows Kabir. These peoples (devotees) are named Kabirpanthis. A tomb was built there which was subsequently repaired about 1867 by a Mohammedan officer of the Mughal army.

The basic religious principles Kabir espoused were simple. According to Kabir, all life is an interplay of two spiritual principles. One is the personal soul (Jivatma) and the other is God (Paramatma). It is Kabir's view that salvation is the process of bringing into union these two divine principles.

Like Gnyaneshwara (Dyaneshwar, or Janadeva) before him, like Guru Nanak and Sai Baba of Shirdi, who were to follow, Kabir strove for the One Truth. He described himself as the son of both Ram and Allah. Kabir promoted introspection and self-inquiry


comments powered by Disqus