Nonetheless, we can however confidently state this that he ranks amongst the world’s greatest poets. He is also a much-quoted author in India. To make it more precise, The Holy Guru Granth Sahib contains over 500 verses by Kabir. His poems and songs still remain fresh in people’s minds and are still relevant with the society we are living in because through his trademark style of writing, he conveys in his couplets what others may not be able to do in numerous pages.
One of India’s leading spiritual saints, Kabir is supposed to have lived in the northern parts of India – somewhere around Benaras – now called Varanasi. He is recognized globally for the couplets and songs he was written. His writings often connect life and spirituality in a simple yet powerful way.
Though we cannot exactly say when he was born, it is however believed that Kabir was raised by childless weavers named Niru and Nimma. They found him near the Lahara Tara Lake, adjacent to the holy city of Varanasi. Noted authors in India and the Sikh community refer to Kabir as Bhagat for the holy book of the Sikhs contains more than 500 verses by him. The major part of Kabir’s work as a bhagat was collected by the fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan Dev.
His straightforward approach in giving a new direction to Indian philosophy is the reason why Kabir is held in high esteem worldwide. He is also considered as one of early North Indian saints. Robert Bly’s The Kabir Book: Forty-Four of the Ecstatic Poems of Kabir can be taken as a source to understand the modern adaptations of Kabir’s poetry.
The first generation of North Indian saints, which included Kabir, appeared in the region of Baneras in the mid-15th century. Preceding them were two notable figures, Namdev and Ramananda, in the 13th and 14th century.
History has it that the legendary poet was influenced by the prevailing religious moods such as old Brahmanic Hinduism, Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism, teachings of the Nath yogis, and the personal devotions from South India mixed with imageless God of Islam.
The principles that he embraced were simple. According to Kabir, all life is the interplay of two spiritual principles. One is the personal soul (jivatma) and the other is God (paramatma). Kabir viewed that deliverance was the process of bringing into union these two divine principles. The presence of much of his verse in the Sikh scripture and the fact that Kabir was a predecessor of Guru Nanak has led some western scholars mistakenly to describe him as a forerunner of Sikhism.
Amongst many, his greatest work is Bijak (the Seedling). This collection of poems demonstrates Kabir’s own universal view of spirituality. His vocabulary is replete with ideas regarding Brahman and Hindu ideas of karma and reincarnation.
His poems resonate with praise for the true guru who reveals the divine through direct experience, and denounced the more usual ways of attempting god-union, such as chanting and austerities. Kabir has enjoyed a revival of popularity over the century as arguably the most acceptable and understandable of the Indian saints, with a special influence over spiritual traditions such as that of Sant Mat and Garib Das and Radha Soami. Many frequently refer to Kabir’s songs and poems as the embodiment of deep wisdom.
In order to pay tribute to him and to the legacy he has left, the Embassy of India in Nepal is hosting Kabir Festival from December 4 to 6.
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