Songs of Kabir | Page 9

without me, it is falsehood. He makes the
inner and the outer worlds to be indivisibly one; The conscious and the
unconscious, both are His footstools. He is neither manifest nor hidden,
He is neither revealed nor unrevealed: There are no words to tell that
which He is.

X
I. 121. tohi mori lagan lagâye re phakîr wâ
To Thee Thou hast drawn my love, O Fakir! I was sleeping in my own
chamber, and Thou didst awaken me; striking me with Thy voice, O
Fakir! I was drowning in the deeps of the ocean of this world, and Thou
didst save me: upholding me with Thine arm, O Fakir! Only one word
and no second--and Thou hast made me tear off all my bonds, O Fakir!
Kabîr says, "Thou hast united Thy heart to my heart, O Fakir!"

XI
I. 131. nis' din khelat rahî sakhiyân sang
I played day and night with my comrades, and now I am greatly afraid.
So high is my Lord's palace, my heart trembles to mount its stairs: yet I
must not be shy, if I would enjoy His love. My heart must cleave to my
Lover; I must withdraw my veil, and meet Him with all my body: Mine
eyes must perform the ceremony of the lamps of love. Kabîr says:
"Listen to me, friend: he understands who loves. If you feel not love's
longing for your Beloved One, it is vain to adorn your body, vain to put
unguent on your eyelids."

XII
II. 24. hamsâ, kaho purâtan vât
Tell me, O Swan, your ancient tale. From what land do you come, O
Swan? to what shore will you fly? Where would you take your rest, O
Swan, and what do you seek?
Even this morning, O Swan, awake, arise, follow me! There is a land

where no doubt nor sorrow have rule: where the terror of Death is no
more. There the woods of spring are a-bloom, and the fragrant scent
"He is I" is borne on the wind: There the bee of the heart is deeply
immersed, and desires no other joy.

XIII
II. 37. angadhiyâ devâ
O Lord Increate, who will serve Thee? Every votary offers his worship
to the God of his own creation: each day he receives service-- None
seek Him, the Perfect: Brahma, the Indivisible Lord. They believe in
ten Avatars; but no Avatar can be the Infinite Spirit, for he suffers the
results of his deeds: The Supreme One must be other than this. The
Yogi, the Sanyasi, the Ascetics, are disputing one with another: Kabîr
says, "O brother! he who has seen that radiance of love, he is saved."

XIV
II. 56. dariyâ kî lahar dariyâo hai jî
The river and its waves are one surf: where is the difference between
the river and its waves? When the wave rises, it is the water; and when
it falls, it is the same water again. Tell me, Sir, where is the distinction?
Because it has been named as wave, shall it no longer be considered as
water?
Within the Supreme Brahma, the worlds are being told like beads:
Look upon that rosary with the eyes of wisdom.

XV
II. 57. jânh khelat vasant riturâj
Where Spring, the lord of the seasons, reigneth, there the Unstruck
Music sounds of itself, There the streams of light flow in all directions;
Few are the men who can cross to that shore! There, where millions of
Krishnas stand with hands folded, Where millions of Vishnus bow their
heads, Where millions of Brahmâs are reading the Vedas, Where
millions of Shivas are lost in contemplation, Where millions of Indras
dwell in the sky, Where the demi-gods and the munis are unnumbered,
Where millions of Saraswatis, Goddess of Music, play on the vina--
There is my Lord self-revealed: and the scent of sandal and flowers

dwells in those deeps.

XVI
II. 59. jânh, cet acet khambh dôû
Between the poles of the conscious and the unconscious, there has the
mind made a swing: Thereon hang all beings and all worlds, and that
swing never ceases its sway. Millions of beings are there: the sun and
the moon in their courses are there: Millions of ages pass, and the
swing goes on. All swing! the sky and the earth and the air and the
water; and the Lord Himself taking form: And the sight of this has
made Kabîr a servant.

XVII
II. 61. grah candra tapan jot varat hai
The light of the sun, the moon, and the stars shines bright: The melody
of love swells forth, and the rhythm of love's detachment beats the time.
Day and night, the chorus of music fills the heavens; and Kabîr says
"My Beloved One gleams like