Kabir: Pandit, You’ve Got it Wrong
Pandit, look in your heart for knowledge.
Tell me where untouchability
came from, since you believe in it.
Mix red juice, white juice and air–
a body bakes in a body.
As soon as the eight lotuses
are ready, it comes
into the world. Then what’s untouchable?
Eighty-four hundred thousand vessels
decay into dust, while the potter
keeps slapping clay
on the wheel, and with a touch
cuts each one off.
We eat by touching, we wash
by touching, from a touch
the world was born.
So who’s untouched? Asks Kabir.
Only he who has no taint of Maya. (#41)
Pandit, you’ve got it wrong.
There’s no creator or creation there,
no gross or fine, no wind or fire,
no sun, moon, earth or water, no radiant form,
no time there, no word, no flesh, no faith,
no cause and effect, nor any thought
of the Veda. No Hari or Brahma,
no Siva or Sakti, no pilgrimage
and no rituals. No mother, father
or guru there. Is it two or one?
Kabir says, if you understand now,
you’re guru, I’m disciple. (#43)
From – “Buddhism in India: Challenging Brahmanism and Caste” by Gail Omvedt
Read also – On Kabir and Movement Away from Brahminism!
There is two more couplets of Saint Kabir which are normally ignored by the scholars. Both couplets included in Guru Granth Sahib.
In one sakhi he says : Saakat ki oh pind payan! Hamari drishti trikh dayan!!
(saakat means one who worship goddess who uses muscle power to defeat her opponents. Kali Durga Chandi Kamkhya, Vaishno devi etc are such main goddesses.) The stanza means such goddess is like soul and body of their worshipers but she is dangerous witch in saints eyes.
Despite this “Hukam” of the GGS, Sikhs have started visiting places of these dangerous witches.
Second stanza says : simran je hoye mukti dwar, Bekunth jaye bethe sansar i.e. if repeating name of god is way of salvation, whole of the world will go to heaven.
Thank you for the comment. Can you please let us know the page number from GGS? We would love to read more.