avadhu, maya taji na aai - kabir

अवधू, माया तजी न आई ।

गिरह तज के बस्तर बांधा, बस्तर तज के फेरी ।

काम तजे तें क्रोध न जाई, क्रोध तजे तें लोभा ।

लोभ तजे अहँकार न जाई, मान-बड़ाई-सोभा ।

मन बैरागी माया त्यागी, शब्द में सुरत समाई ।

कहैं कबीर सुनो भाई साधो, यह गम बिरले पाई ॥ --1-63

Tell me, Brother, how can I renounce Maya?
When I gave up the tying of ribbons, still I tied my garment about me.
[--When I gave up tying my garment, still I covered my body in its folds.]
So, when I give up passion, I see that anger remains; And when I renounce anger, greed is with me still.
And when greed is vanquished, pride and vainglory remain.
When the mind is detached and casts Maya away, still it clings to the letter.
Kabir says, "Listen to me, dear Sadhu!  the true path is rarely found."

baago naa jaa re naa jaa - kabir

बागों ना जा रे ना जा, तेरी काया में गुलज़ार ।

सहस-कँवल पर बैथ के तू देखे रूप अपार ॥

Do not go to the garden of flowers! O Friend! go not there;
In your body is the garden of flowers.
Take your seat on the thousand petals of the lotus,
and there gaze on the Infinite Beauty.

saadho bhai jeevat hi karo aasaa - Kabir

साधो भाई, जीवत ही करो आसा ।

जीवत समझे जीवत बूझे, जीवत मुक्तिनिवासा ।

जीवन करम की फ़ाँस न काटी, मुये मुक्ति की आसा ।

तन छुटे जिव मिलन कहत है, सो सब झूठी आसा ।

अबहुँ मिला तो तबहुँ मिलेगा, नहिं तो जमपुरवासा ।

सत्त गहे सतगुरु को चीन्हें, सत्त-नाम विस्वासा ।

कहैं कबीर साधन हितकारी, हम साधन के दासा ॥

O friend!  hope for Him whilst you live,
know whilst you live, understand whilst you live: for in life deliverance abides.
If your bonds be not broken whilst living, what hope of deliverance in death?
It is but an empty dream, that the soul shall have union with Him because it has passed from the body:
If He is found now, He is found then, If not, we do but go to dwell in the City of Death. If you have union now, you shall have it hereafter.
Bathe in the truth, know the true Guru, have faith in the true name!
Kabir says: "It is the Spirit of the quest which helps; I am the slave of this Spirit of the quest."

Santan jaat na puCho nirguniya - Kabir

संतन जात ना पूछो निरगुनियाँ |

साध ब्राहमन साध छत्तरी, साधै जाती बनियाँ |

साधनमां छत्तीस कौम है, टेढी तोर पुछनियाँ |

साधै नाऊ साधै धोबी, साधै जाति है बरियाँ |

साधनमां रैदास संत है, सुपच ऋषि सों भंगिया |

हिंदू-तुर्क दुई दीन बने हैं, कछू ना पहचानियाँ ||

 

It is needless to ask of a saint the caste to which he belongs;
For the priest, the warrior, the tradesman;
and all the thirty-six castes, alike are seeking for God; It is but folly to ask what the caste of a saint may be;
The barber has sought God, the washerwoman, and the carpenter;
Even Raidas was a seeker after God, The Rishi Swapacha was a tanner by caste.
Hindus and Moslems alike have achieved that End, where remains no mark of distinction.

Moko kahan dhoondhe bande, - Kabir

मोको कहाँ ढूंढें बन्दे, मैं तो तेरे पास में |

ना में देवल ना में मसजिद, ना काबे कैलास में |

ना तो कौने क्रिया-कर्म में, नहीं योग-बैराग में |

खोजी होए तो तुरतै मिलिहौं, पल भर की तलास में |

कहैं कबीर सुनो भाई साधो, सब स्वांसों की स्वांस में ||

O servant, where dost thou seek Me? Lo!  I am beside thee.
I am neither in temple nor in mosque; I am neither in Kaaba nor in Kailash.
Neither am I in rites and ceremonies; nor in Yoga and renunciation.
If thou art a true seeker, thou shalt at once see Me; thou shalt meet Me in a moment of time.
Kabîr says, "O Sadhu!  God is the breath of all breath."

 

This poem is collected in "Kabir ke pad" by Shri Kshti Mohan Sen, and translated by Rabindranath Tagore in "Songs of Kabir".