Kabir: The Weaver's Songs

by Kabir, Vinay Dharwadker (Translator)

Knowledge ahead, knowledge behind,
knowledge to the left and right. The knowledge that knows what knowledge
that's the knowledge that's mine. -Bijak, sakhi 188 One of India's greatest mystics, Kabir (1398-1448) was also a satirist and philosopher, a poet of timeless wit and wisdom. Equally immersed in theology and social thought, music and politics, his songs have won devoted followers from every walk of life through the past five centuries. He was a Muslim by name, but his ideas stand at the intersection of Hinduism and Islam, Bhakti and Yoga, religion and secularism. And his words were always marked by rhetorical boldness and conceptual subtlety. This book offers Vinay Dharwadker's sparkling new translations of one hundred poems, drawing for the first time on major sources in half a dozen literary languages. They closely mimic the structure, voice and style of the originals, revealing Kabir's multiple facets in historical and cultural contexts. Finely balancing simplicity and complexity, this selection opens up new forms of imagination and experience for discerning readers around the world.

Genres: Poetry, India, Hinduism, Islam, Religion, Spirituality, Indian Literature

328 pages, Paperback

First published October 21, 2003

About the author

Kabīr was a mystic poet and saint of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement. The name Kabir comes from Arabic al-Kabīr which means "The Great" – the 37th name of God in Islam. Kabir's legacy is today carried forward by the Kabir panth ("Path of Kabir"), a religious community that recognises him as its founder and is one of the Sant Mat sects. Its members, known as Kabir panthis, are estimated to be around 9.6 million. They are spread over north and central India, as well as dispersed with the Indian diaspora across the world, up from 843,171 in the 1901 census.[5] His writings include Bijak, Sakhi Granth, Kabir Granthawali and Anurag Sagar.

Kabir's early life is not firmly established. In Indian tradition, he is commonly supposed to have lived for 120 years from 1398 to 1518, which "permits him to be associated with other famous figures such as Guru Nanak and Sikander Lodi" Historians are uncertain about his dates of birth and death. Some state 1398 as a date of birth,5 whereas others favour later dates, such as 1440Some assign his death date to the middle of the 15th century – for example, 1440 or 1448whereas others place it in 1518Lifespans commonly suggested by scholars include from 1398 to 1448, and from 1440 to 1518.

According to one traditional version of his parentage, Kabir was born to a Brahmin widow at Lahartara near Kashi (modern day Varanasi). The widow abandoned Kabir to escape dishonour associated with births outside marriage. He was brought up in a family of poor Muslim weavers Niru and Nima. They could not afford formal education for Kabir and initiated him into their trade of weaving.According to American Indologist Wendy Doniger, Kabir was born into a Muslim family and "all these stories attempt to drag Kabir back over the line from Muslim to Hindu".[Kabir's family is believed to have lived in the locality of Kabir Chaura in Varanasi. Kabīr maṭha (कबीरमठ), a maṭha located in the back alleys of Kabir Chaura, celebrates his life and times.

Reviews

[Chris brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew I had to purchase this book when I saw it sitting on two shelves at my former Borders bookstore. The first shelf was in religion: right after the books on Rumi and wedged in between the end of the Qu’rans perched a shelf above various versions of The Bhagavad Gita and The Upanishads. In reflection, I see how a more proper placement could not have been found except for its other home in the poetry section. However now I would argue against its flippant placement on the various poetry shelf. I am a bit backlogged in my reading so it to me a while to get to this, but the wonders that awaited me when I opened this clandestine masterpiece and unfurled its pages I was awe-inspired to say the least.

From the extensive introduction, we gather that the man that is accredited with these poems, songs, and sayings was alleged to have lived anywhere from 120 years to 700 years today; most scholars say he lived to about 50. He was a weaver by trade and found god in it and jubilantly sang it aloud as a bard traveling and selling his textiles. He is said to have not been able to read or write so all of his wisdom has been transmitted orally until recorded centuries ago. History has also accredited him with being one of the spiritual founding fathers of Sikhism but also one of the first recorded and documented poets of the Hindu language.

Storm

My good brothers,
Knowledge swept through
Like a hurricane.
It completely blew away
The reed-curtain
Of confusion and error
It didn’t let Māyā
Stay tied down.

It toppled the twin poles
Of vacillation,
It broke the beam
Of everyday love.
It tossed down
The thatch of craving
From the top of the roof,
It shattered the pot
Of foolishness

The rain that fell
In the wake of the storm
Soaked Your men to the skin
Kabir says, when I saw
The sun come out
My mind was filled with radiance

On the surface this song/poem is a plain as it is brilliant. Knowledge, being the thing that untied Māyā(illusion). Māyā (illusion) being the world around us that we have created within our minds and have imposed upon the natural world around us. Knowledge blowing away confusion and shattering the pot of foolishness exclaims of a master poet and hints at the mind of this great thinker. This great thinker was not from a high standing family or from one of the casts of great prestige, but was an everyday person like you and I with the equivalent of an everyday job and trade. Historically he was also one of many weavers of his time and in his city. His mother and father were not only weavers by trade but weaving was a family tradition and all the families that lived in area were weavers so again, what should have made him one of many made him stand out even further.

Ant

Beware of the world,
Brothers,
Be alert—
You’re being robbed
While wide awake
Beware of the Vedas,
Brothers
Be vigilant—
Death will carry you away
While the guard
Looks on.

The neem tree
Becomes the mango tree,
The mango tree becomes
The neem,
The banana plant
Spreads into a bush—
The fruit on the coconut palm
Ripens into a berry
Right under your noses
You dumb and foolish
Rustics

Hair becomes sugar
And scatters Himself
In the sand
No elephant can sift
The crystals from the grains
Kabir says, renounce
All family, cast, and clan
Turn into an ant,
Instead—
Pick the sugar from the sand
And eat.

Ant is one of my favorites. Here Kabir warns us of the dangers (I believe) of not discerning doctrine and dogma and letting either play the major role in our relationship in with god instead of God. I also believe he is saying instead of seeking to inflate ourselves with titles, ranks, and importance, we should be humbling ourselves in our search for self, for god, and oneness. If we believe ourselves, or allow others to place us in a demi-god position we not only fall for the tricks of our own pride but also the tricks and manipulations of the ones that seek to hinder our journey and we miss out on the very thing we are seeking.

The simple State

Listen,
You saints—
I see that the world
Is crazy.

When I tell the truth,
People run
To beat me up—
When I tell lies,
They believe me.

Ive seen
The pious ones,
The rtual mongers—
They bathe at dawn.
They kill the true Self
And worship rocks—
They know nothing

Ive seen
Many masters and teachers
They read their Book,
Their Qur’an

They teach many students
Their business tricks—
That’s all they know.

They sit at home
In pretentious poses—
Their minds are full
Of vanity

They begin to worship
Brass and stone—
They’re so proud
Of their pilgrimages
They forget the real thing.

They wear caps and beads,
They paint their brows
With cosmetics
Of holiness

They forget the true words
And songs of witness
The moment they’ve sung them—
They haven’t heard
The news of Self.

The Hindu says
Rāma’s dear to him
The Muslim says its Rahīm.

They go to war and kill each other—
No one knows
The secret of things

They do their rounds
From door to door
Selling their magical formulas—
They’re vain
About their reputations

All the students
Will drown with their teachers—
At the last moment
They’ll repent

Kabir says,
Listen,
You saintly men,
Forget all this vanity

Ive said it so many times
But nobody listens—
You must merge into the simple state
Simply

This is another one of my favorites. Here, Kabir speaks again of being religious without any connection to the self and God. He speaks of how the religious Hindu and the religious Muslim have voided any connection with their god or gods and have turned religion into nothing more than business tool. This poem has a lot of historical context that still plays into tensions in the region today. Hindu’s preferring to do business exclusively with other Hindu’s and Muslim with Muslim along with a whole tome of other issues I won’t get into here as not to detract from Kabir. The majority of us in the 21’st century west have, or had no idea that for nearly 1000 years the Hindus and Muslims did not get along and the constant warring of the two religious groups led to the creation of a place that came to be called Pakistan. Kabir points out the people that only use religion as access to people inner sanctums of their heart and minds but not for the purpose of spiritual growth but a nefarious monetary gain.

In Ant he touches on what he perceives to be the fallacy of the phony Hindu and the dangers of strict and ritualistic adherence to the Vedas. In the simple state he points out what he believes to be contradictions with those claiming Islam and holding up the Qu’ran as law yet acting opposite. He calls for everyone to come to a simplistic and humble state where truth and knowledge are the gateways to self, oneness, and god.

The last part of the book is composed of various sayings attributed to Kabir

#6
Kabir, a fire raging on every side
Consumed the house built of wood:
Paṇḍit after paṇḍit perished in the blaze,
While every idiot got away

I'm not fluent in Hindi or Sanskrit so I looked up the word Paṇḍit. Thankfully the this editions glossary is very handy. With new understanding of the word, (A paṇḍit (Hindi; Devanagari: पण्डित; Bengali: পন্ডিত, Sanskrit: paṇḍita) is a scholar, a teacher, particularly one skilled in Sanskrit language, mastered vedic scriptures in the four vedas, Hindu rituals and Hindu law, religion, music or philosophy under a Guru in a Gurukul or tutored under the vedic ancient Guru Shishya tradition of learning. The English loan word pundit is derived from it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandit) how true is it that the world, as the house built of wood, were to be burning down the scholarly learned one would parish while those called simple, dumb, and idiots would be the ones to get away.

#32
The one who stays within the limits assigned to him is a man.
The one whom roams beyond those limits is a saint.

To reject both limits and their absence:
That’s a thought with immeasurable depths.

This is one of my favorites and needs no explanation

Kabir’s: The weaver’s song is a masterful contribution to the world of poetry, song, prose, and philosophy. The man sat at the spiritual intersection of Islam and Hinduism, at times rejected them both, and at others praised them both at a time with saying anything about either was certain death in the wrong company. Today being a moderate of anything in America is seen as some sort of ambivalence. Today one not only must shout for an extreme view left or right but it is also one’s duty to sway everyone they come in contact with to the side they reside on. It is tragic in my eyes because, as is shown in American politics, with no one willing to reside and see truth in the middle no one will take steps to meet there.

The only modern equivalent I can think of what today’s version of what Kabir would look like would be someone marrying evangelical Christianity with Kabbalah. If said person were around today, would said thought last for almost six centuries as it did with Kabir? Would said poetry and prose be quoted on the streets by the everyday man and woman as it was in his time? Would we even remember said mystic to first shed light on the new thought as Kabir shed light on the weaver’s song? Pick up this book and ask yourself the questions, read the words, and hear the centuries old songs sung in your mind and let the thought behind them sink into your soul and meditate.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads readers, note that the cover shown is not the cover for this book or this author.

Having met Kabir's poetry through Tagore's translations, I had to prepare myself for new consideration and surprises in Vinay Dharwadker's translations - both of which were required and delivered. Those differences are why I like to read different translations, especially of poetry. This one is well worth reading for form and because it may grant new ways of living with cherished poems.

[Darrell Kinney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kabir cuts through all dogmas by making verbal incisions in the fabric of our reality tunnels.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will admit that I had never heard of this work, and only read it because I found myself in the Delhi airport looking for additional reading material, and the fact that it is published by Penguin classics sold me. I am very happy that I have read it, as it is filled with philosophical insights on the simple life, written in beautiful poetic form. Dharwadker's introductory notes are exceptional. They are smart and straightforward, and frankly serve as a collegiate-level introduction.

My favorite verses are:
Meditation
Recollect Him, first, in your mind:
No one else compares with Him.
Nobody can measure His full extent:
He knows no beginning and no end.
Impossible to tell if He has a form or not:
His lightness or heaviness can’t be weighed.
Neither hunger nor thirst, neither sun nor shade:
He exists in everything without sorrow, without happiness.
He’s Brahman: unmanifest, unlimited.
He permeates everything as absolute knowledge.
I’ve contemplated Him at length:
there’s no one else like Rama.” (148)

Moth
Joy is brief.
Sorrow and grief are endless.
The mind’s an elephant,
mad, amnesiac.

Air and flame burn as one,
just as when the moth, its eye enchanted by light,
flies straight into the lamp,
and wing and fire flare together.

Who hasn’t found
restful peace in a moment of pleasure?
So you brush aside the truth,
and chase the lies you hold so dear.

At the end of your days
you feel the temptation, you covet joy,
even though old age and death
are close at hand.

The world’s embroiled in illusion, error:
this is the process always in motion.
Man attains a human birth:
why does he waste and destroy it? (151)

From ‘Neither Line Nor Form’
22
Everybody understands
the single drop merging into the ocean.

One in a million comprehends
the ocean merging into a single drop. (181)

Neither This Nor That
I’m neither pious nor impious—
I’m neither an ascetic nor a hedonist.

I don’t dictate and I don’t listen—
I’m neither a master nor a servant.

I’m neither a captive nor a free man—
I’m neither involved nor indifferent.

I haven’t been estranged from anyone—
and I’m no one’s close companion.

I’m not going to place called hell—
and I’m not going to heaven.

I’m the agent of all my actions—
yet I’m different from my deeds.

A few in a million can grasp this notion—
they sit with poise, ensconced in immortality.

Such is the creed of Kabir—
some things it builds, some it destroys. (204)

Don’t Stay
Don’t stay—
the land’s a wilderness.

This world’s a paltry paper packet—
a spot of rain
will wash it away.

This world’s a garden of throns—
snarled and snared,
we’ll perish in pain.

This world’s all tree and tinder—
kindled, it will roast us
like sacrificial victims.

Kabir says, listen, my good men,
the True Master’s name
is our lasting abode—

our station, our destination. (208)

[Akshunya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall rating: 2.5 stars
Of all the books on Kabir written in english, I picked up this one, as usually the Penguin published books do not disappoint. This one did not quite make it, as far as the 'Poet' Kabir is concerned. This book is more like a scholarly work on Kabir with an attempt to give a vague idea of the man and the evolution of his work through hundreds of years. If we focus only on that, it is a job well done, however it makes the personality of Kabir even more inaccessible, how, i will try to cover in the review. Probably this was done on purpose, but that's the thing, you are left quite unsatisfied, at the end of it.

Kabir or Kamir?
How many of us would have thought that there is even no certainty about his name, what to say of his works! Yes, though he is known as Kabir, but he could also have been named Kamir. There are few early recorded poems of him, in which he is named as Kamir. Also going by the meaning and how people named children in his community, it is highly possible that his name was changed to Kabir (which is one of the names of God, mentioned in Quran) later on in his life, as it suited his saint like personality more than the (perhaps) original name Kamir (which refers to being deficient, base or despicable).

Multiple Interpretations of his works
The most valuable contribution of the book is in making us see, how the poet is (almost) completely
lost behind his words, due to multiple interpretations (and sometimes even multiple variants of the same poem) under three different lines of manuscripts, which are Northern line (Sikh religion -Adi Granth or Guru Granth Sahib), Western line (Dadu panthi -Panchavani) and Eastern line (Kabir panthi - Bijak).
As the writer mentions in Introduction, "The northern line edited his text and composed new poems on his behalf in order to emphasize his rejection of both Hinduism and Islam in their orthodox forms.... In contrast the western line have re-inscribed and augmented his verse in order to foreground his lyrical and emotional devotion to God, and to underplay his social radicalism, particularly his harsher attacks on Hindu and Muslim ritual - a concern specially for Dadu panth, which has attracted both Hindu and Muslim followers.... The eastern line has modified Kabir's message and added new material to it, in order to portray him chiefly as an ascetic and a philosopher."

Language of the book
My biggest concern with this book is the overly scholarly tone in which it is written. Sometimes I really wondered that the guy who wrote such a complex prose, is also the same guy who has translated the poetry of Kabir! I definitely feel that the first half (prose part) of the book could have been made more lucid. I wish one could skip that part, but the information provided in it is quite valuable, in order to understand the journey of Kabir's poetry.
Last time when I read Rumi's poetry, that also didn't feel right, as perhaps the songs or poems should be read or listened to in the original language. After reading Kabir's poetry in English, I may not pick up a book on poetry for a long time now, at least not in the translated form.

The time in which Kabir lived
To understand a poem, sometimes one must be aware of the circumstances under which the poet wrote the poem. To help us understand Kabir's circumstances, there is an interesting detail mentioned about Kabir's early life, which makes it clear why he was so rebellious in nature.
The community he was born in, belonged to low caste Shudras. The people of the same community had also converted to Islam when Muslims invaded the country. So these people were highly despised by the other communities, because in addition to being Shudras, they were now also mlechchha, i.e belonging to a foreign/outside race.
When someone is hated to such a degree, that person is ought to turn bitter and rebel against everything around him. This explains why he condemned hindu rituals and - as mentioned in the book - "...did not accept the basic tenets of Islam, such as the prophethood of Mohammed."
What i find even more fascinating is that despite belonging to such a community, how did he manage to raise himself into a saint-like figure!
Also, i wonder that since he rebelled against almost everything, why not also against the concept of God? What made him still stick to it?

Process of weaving
Kabir was a weaver by profession, and that's why many of his poems talk about weaving. A modern reader not familiar with the jargon of weaving, like loom, weft, warp, spindle etc may find it quite difficult to understand the poems. I think probably a diagram, with a little information about these terms would have helped a lot in enabling the reader to appreciate his poetry even more.

The poetry
The poetry part of the book is divided into multiple sections based on the different manuscript lines (Northern, western, eastern) and also the type of writing (poems, songs, aphorisms). I personally liked the Aphorisms the most among all the sections. Short, sweet and impactful, few are even like zen koans. Apart from that, very few poems or songs touched the heart, again may be due to being lost in translation. Overall, the book can be enjoyed, if not cover to cover, at least in parts.

[Sagheer Afzal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the translator presents a very well-researched opinion into the authenticity and structure of Kabir's poems, this book left me feeling underwhelmed. There is no doubt that some of the poems present universal truths and expose the shallowness of organised religion-as practised by Muslims and Hindus. But the poetry did not really inspire me. Perhaps that is due to the fact that the classical Hindi does not translate well into English.
One major flaw of the book is that little or no details are given about Kabir's life. That would have certainly lent more context and meaning to the poems.

[Aditi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad translation of Kabir's poems. Good for history and documentation on him.

[PTS Books Club]

Kabir(1440—1518) was a mystic poet and saint of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement.

Not much is known of Kabir's birth parents, but it is known that he was brought up in a family of Muslim weavers. He was found by a Muslim weaver named Niru and his wife, Nima, in Lehartara, situated in Varanasi. They adopted the boy and taught him the weaver's trade.

Kabir was influenced by the prevailing religious mood of his times, such as old Brahmanic Hinduism, Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism, the teachings of Nath yogis and the personal devotionalism of South India mixed with the imageless God of Islam. The influence of these various doctrines is clearly evident in Kabir's verses

The basic religious principles he espoused are 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 these two divine principles into union.

His greatest work is the Bijak (the "Seedling"), an idea of the fundamental one. This collection of poems elucidates Kabir's universal view of spirituality. Though his vocabulary is replete with Hindu spiritual concepts, such as Brahman, karma and reincarnation, he vehemently opposed dogmas, both in Hinduism and in Islam. His Hindi was a vernacular, straightforward kind, much like his philosophies. He often advocated leaving aside the Qur'an and Vedas and simply following Sahaja path, or the Simple/Natural Way to oneness in God. He believed in the Vedantic concept of atman, but unlike earlier orthodox Vedantins, he followed this philosophy to its logical end by spurning the Hindu societal caste system and worship of murti, showing clear belief in both bhakti and Sufi ideas.

The major part of Kabir's work as a bhagat was collected by the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev, and forms a part of the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib.


[Vinay Dharwadker is the winner of the 2007 Translation Prize given by the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, for Kabir: The Weaver’s Songs.

He was born in Pune in 1954, and educated at schools in Mumbai, Delhi, and Jaipur. He attended St Stephen’s College and Delhi University, earning his B.Sc. (1974) and M.Sc. (1974) degrees in physics. He began a parallel career as a poet and translator in the early 1970s, and moved to the United States in 1981. He received his Ph.D. in literature and South Asian studies from the University of Chicago in 1989, and is now a Professor in the Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

His books include Sunday at the Lodi Gardens (poems, 1994); The Collected Poems of A. K. Ramanujan (co-editor, 1995); and The Collected Essays of A. K. Ramanujan (general editor, 1999). Among his most influential works are The Oxford Anthology of Modern Indian Poetry (co-edited with Ramanujan, 1994) and Cosmopolitan Geographies: New Locations in Literature and Culture (editor, 2001).

He is a co-winner of the American Culture Association’s Ray and Pat Browne Award for the Best Reference Work in Popular Culture published in 2007, for Volume 6 of The Greenwood Encyclopedia of World Popular Culture.]

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This so isn't the cover of the book!

Anyhow, I was initially a little put off by this book since the intro section is almost as long as the body of poems it translates, and then there are additional notes at the end.... I thought, I'm getting too much apparatus and not enough poems.

But I was wrong about that, at least in the loosest sense. The notes are great-- a very lucid and focused translator's note, which is all you really need to read the poems, and then a series of smart, detailed explanations if you want to understand the poems. Really, Dharwadker's introductory notes should be taught, they were that helpful, on-point, well-conceived and -executed.

The poems are what they are-- generally great. Kabir reads really well to modern ears in this translations, which his often short paired contradictions. His ideas-- a characterless god, Maya, etc, are familiar enough to be easily recognized, but his spin on the ideas is distinct and fresh. A solid collection, highly recommended if you're like me, someone who teaches this material and is looking for a way to improve your effectiveness doing that.

[Darrell Kinney · Rating 5 out of 5]

No book has proved more durable. No book has transcended the sectarian dogmatism of metaphysical, cosmological, and phenomenonological thought more powerfully. No book has travelled with me more extensively in my days. Kabir is the sant of sants. Kill your idols! Kabir is a knife cutting through your delusions. Wake up and spread joy.