Having come from a Sikh Family, our early mornings would begin at about 4.30 am and my Late Father would make sure that we start with the reciting of the Bani Nitnam and followed by listening to Gurbani Shabads, and some of the Dohas of Bhagat Kabir Das and other several Gurus in Gurmukhi (childhood habits sometimes die hard and am happy that I still continue this and that this has also been followed by my children). Of the evenings would end with the evening prayers be for our dinner for which we (ten of us sitting in a circle) reciting the Prayers.
Since I had really liked Guru Kabi Das’s Dohas, thought I might as well know about his life history and share it with all those who too like to listen to the these Dohas and sincerely hope you will appreciate it
Kabir was born in Muslim family in Banaras . It is widely accepted that he was born in 1398 AD (71 years before Guru Nanak), and adopted by Neeru and his wife Neema who named him Kabir (the Most High). Kabir had a son who he named Kamal and a daughter named Kamali by Mata Loi. Though a Hindu by tradition, he was a Muslim by upbringing. A weaver by profession, Kabir said he had been sent by the Lord himself.
The followers of Guru Kabir Das are known as Kabirpanthis and they believe that he lived upto the age of 120 years and give date of his death as 1518, but relying on the research of Hazari Prased Trivedi, a British Scholar Charlotte Vaudenville is inclined to lend credence to these dates and has proven that 1448 is probably the correct date of Saint Kabir's demise.
He is revered (admired profoundly) by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. He played the role of a teacher and social reformer by the means of his writings. Like other Devotees, Kabir did not believe in Ritualism, the worshiping of Dieties, Brahmanism, Caste System and illusioned concepts of Hindu and Muslim priests.
Bhagat Kabir (Gurmukhi: ਭਗਤ ਕਬੀਰ) was a Devotee and Spiritual Poet lived in Uttar Pardesh, India. He was a strict monotheist (believer of one God) and follower, probably founder, of Gurmat. In Guru Granth Sahib, There are many slokas of Kabir.
Sikhs also follow the teaching of Kabir, as in Gurmat, Kabir, Nanak, Ravidas, Bhatts all are same and all are treated as Guru and Sikhs bow before Guru Granth Sahib which include the teaching of these Gurus.
In the fifteenth century, Benaras was the seat of Brahmin orthodoxy and their learning center. The Brahmins believed themselves to have a strong hold on all the spheres of life in this city. Thus Kabir belonging to a low caste of Julaha had to go through an immensely tough time of preaching his idealogy. So he and his followers would gather at one place in the city and meditate. Brahmins ridiculed him for preaching to prostitutes and other low castes. Kabir satirically denounced Brahmins and thus won hearts of people around him. There is no doubt that the single most famous important person from the city of Benaras today is none other than Saint Kabir.
Even though he was in Banaras (Shivpuri), he had not found Gurmat knowledge and all he found was a bunch of hypocrites, (Sagal Janam Shivpuri Gavaya), there he wrote Bijak. He went to Maghar. There he founded Gurmat (meaning, "in company of holy men") and again wrote Bani which is present in Guru Granth Sahib. He preached the same bani when he returned to Benaras. He died at Magahar.
Although Ramanand Ji was his outer Guru, ultimately it was Kabir who gave Ramanand Ji true knowledge. In fact, in the previous 3 ages, he revealed his names as: Sat Sukrit, Munindra and Karunamaya.
Hope you do enjoy reading this. There must be quite a lot of you who must be knowing a lot more than this but still felt like sharing with you what little I had learnt.
Good Night!
Parsan Narang
Kolkata
24th February 2016
No comments:
Post a Comment