The Kabir Kasauti describes how even in his childhood Kabir offended Hindus and Mohammedans alike, refus- ing to be bound by the limitations of either religion. When playing with other children he would cry “Ram, Ram” or “Hari, Hari.” To the Mohammedan who rebuked him with the warning, “Thou wilt be a great Kafir (infidel),” he answered “He who uses wicked violence or robs the world by deceit, who drinks or eats intoxicants, or seizes the goods of others, he is the Kafir; the bandit is the true Kafir.”
Again he had put the tilak on his forehead and the janeo (sacred thread) about his neck. The Brahmans expostulated— “This is not thy religion: thou hast made thyself a Vaishnavite and callest on Vishnu, Narayan, Gobind and Mukand; this is our religion.”
He answered one of their leaders thus: “On my tongue Vishnu, in my eyes Narayan, and in my heart Gobind dwells. When at the door of Yama they question thee, what wilt thou say, O mad Mukand. In my house is thread; I weave continually. The janeo is only about thy neck, thou readest ever the Gita and Gayatri but Gobind is in my heart.
“I the cow, thou the cowherd, the master. Warned from birth to birth, thou hast failed to bring me to the further shore. What manner of lord art thou to me? Thou the Brahman, I the weaver of Kashi: learn my wisdom. Ever thou seekest after kings and the wealthy: my meditation is with Hari.”
When the time came, all neighbors agreed that Kabir must be circumcised according to Mohammedan custom. Kabir resisted.
“You act with force and violence. Never will I endure it brother. If ’tis God makes thee Turk, why came not this cutting of itself? If by circumcision one becomes Turk, what then will be said of your women? Half the body, so the wife is styled. Then you still remain Hindu.”
And again, to Hindus he says, “By putting on the sacred thread one becomes Brahman. What hast thou given women to wear? She from her birth is Sudra; when she sets food before thee why dost thou eat, O Pande?
“Hindu and Moslem are on one road. This the Satguru has told me. Kabir says, Hear O Saints ! cry Ram, cry Khuda, it is one.”
Hindu and Turk, whence have they (i. e. those names) come? who started this path? Search in your heart, search well in your heart. Where is paradise? who won it?
Leave these distractions (the delusion of the extended universe); meditate on Ram, O foolish mind. You do wicked violence.
And finally he says, “With all my body I belong to the Sat-Iok. I dwell in every heart. Kabir says. Hear, O brother sadhus: I have manifested the true name.”
Excerpted from The Bijak of Kabir. The 579th birth anniversary of Kabir is being observed on June 9
