Bahut KaThin Hai Dagar PanghaT Ki*

*(The path of love is way too difficult............)

When we feel that something is missing in life and we can’t find it here in this world, we start searching for it. We give it different names but the reality is that we are searching love or intimacy which is our true nature, because as scriptures say the whole existence is ONE and we only feel alone or separated because we are trapped in this illusionary world and are not able to feel our true nature. When our journey or search starts, the things which are dear to us start being dropped one by one loosing their relevance and importance for us. But this gives us some pain also, because our impurities start burning and the layers upon our soul start dropping one by one. During this journey a soul has left its worldly home and is traveling through difficult paths, yet the true home or destiny is still far away. Fear of unknown is the main trouble and the gravity of this world pulling us down is another one. Some call it - “The Dark Night of the Soul”.

Here are some pads and dohas said by Kabir which speak about the journey.

Ham ghar jaara aapana, liya muraDa* haath.
Ab ghar jaaro taasu ka, jo chale hamaare saath.*(MuraDa-Burning wood)

Kabir says he has burnt his home, and has taken burning wood in his hand. Now he will burn homes of those who are ready to go ahead with Kabir.
Home represents not only a house but all comfort, attachment and relations as well. Those who want to walk on this path should be ready to go any where, face everything and break all kind of attachment. Home again represents our own home – means stay place of the soul- the physical, astral, casual, super casual and spiritual bodies. Kabir says we need to drop all our layers of existence to see our true self and be one with GOD. He says he burnt his home and his ego-all layers of existence are dropped now and now he will do it to all who want to follow the path. Without doing this, going ahead is impossible.

Kabira khaDa bajaar me, sabaki maange khair.
Apani sabase dosti, nahi kisi se bair.
Kabir stands in mid market (represents here the world) and prays peace to all, he is friends to all and no one is his enemy.
Till a Saint gets this equilibrium of mind to see all and everything as friend and one, he has not got ultimate enlightenment.

Unai badariyaa parigayo sanjhaa,
Aguaa bhoole bankhand manjhaa,
Dhani anate piya anate rahai,
Chaupari kaamari maathe gahai,

Phulwaa bhaar na le sake, kahe sakhin so roy,
jyon-jyon bheeje kaamari, tyon-tyon bharee hoy.

Clouds are spreading all over the sky in the dark evening. The guide is abandoned in mid jungle followed by the bride. Dear beloved lady is somewhere else far from her lover. She has covered her head with folded blanket to save herself from heavy rain and dark dangerous night but it is of no use. She can't bear the burden now and weeps bitterly. She says to her sakhee(friend)- blanket is being wet and heavier, it is just unbearable to hold it on the head!!

Here Kabir says about the journey of the soul. The dark cloudy and rainy night is the life of the soul in which she has started searching her beloved. The guide or Sakhee refers to the Guru. The blanket is the social securities and relations which the soul wants to keep with her (but it is a burden in this journey). So the soul weeps and says - it is being heavy now, I can’t keep it on head. I wanted it to save me, but it is pulling me down!!

Harau to Hari maan hai, jo jeetun to daav.
Parbrahm sau khelataa, jo sir jay to jay.
Now Kabir is all set to play this game with GOD. This game is of love and devotion, surrender and death of self. If GOD wins, it is his greatness, and I shall be proud that my master won. If I win, then sure I win (either way it is a win-win situation). So Kabir is playing this game, and he doesn’t care a bit, if he looses his head (life, ego, self, me).

Surati samaani nirati me,ajapaa maahe jaap.
Lekh samaana alekh me, yun aapa maahe aap.
My surat ( dhyan, concentration) is absorbed in nirati and jaap (bhajan, simaran) got dissolved in ajapaa(dhyan or simaran without practice, done naturally). The visible dissolved in invisible and my self got merged in my own self (supreme self).

Pahunchenge tab kahenge, utarenge us Thay.
Ajahoo beDa samand me, boli biguche kaay.
I shall tell the truth when I reach at that place, when I land on that shore. My ship is still in mid sea, why to speak and spoil the journey?? Kabir is on the way to meet his Lord, he is still traveling through this BhavSagar(Lower Worlds) and is not well aware of ultimate reality, so speaking anything will destroy the essence of the truth.

Kasturee kunDali basai, Mrig DhunDhe ban maahi.
Aise ghaTi-ghaTi Ram hain, duniyaa bujhe naahi.
The deer has Kasturi (material of sweet fragrance) in his novel, but he doesn’t know it. He runs one jungle to another searching the source of it. The same way our Lord prevails in everyone but this world is un-aware of HIM and is running one place to another to find HIM.

Shabd nirantar se man laaga, malin vaasanaa tyagee.
UThat baiThat kabahu na chhuTe, aisee taaree laagee.
My mind got attached to the unbroken melody, and all filthy desires are lost. Now all the time my mind is attached to that sweet melody, doesn’t matter whether I sit in mediation or do any other work.

Jin DhunDhaa tin paaiyaa, gahare paanee paiTh.
Main bauree Dooban Daree, rahee kinaare baiTh.
Whoever searched going deep into the sea, found that gems. I was ignorant and stupid(woman), I feared to go deep in water and just sat there at the shore….with empty hands………
This is an metaphor of meditation, going deep, leaving senses of this physical body and turning upwards to seek the unknown……fear grabs us that we leave this known and we don’t know about the unknown when we start the journey……..the soul fears and sometimes gives up its efforts, brave and courageous are those who dive deep and find the beloved………

Jal me kumbh, kumbh me jal hai, baahar bheetar paanee.
PhooTaa kumbh jal jalahi samaanaa, yah tat kathau gyanee.
This whole universe is like an ocean, we all are like pots in this infinite sea. As water is within the pot and water itself is around the pot, only a thin veil of the form of pot keeps the water within it apart from the water of sea. So we live in the infinite consciousness of existence which we call by different name, but it is within us, around us and we are it, only a thin veil of ego keeps us separated from that infinite ocean of consciousness. When the pot is broken, the water within it merges in the infinite water of the sea, so our consciousness merges in the infinite when we are able to drop the ego.

Sumiran man me laaiye, jaise naad kurang.
Kahe kabeer bisare nahee, pran taje tehi sang.
Withdraw your attention from outside and keep it in doing simaran (and bhajan) like a deer pays concrete attention to the melody a hunter is playing to catch it. The deer doesn’t bother a bit about upcoming danger when it gets absorbed in the melody even the hunter kills it. We should put our attention on the unstuck melody like that then we will be able to reach our source.

Sumiran surat lagaay kar, much se kachhu na bol.
Bahar ka pat band kar, andar ka pat khol.
Attach your consciousness to simaran(dhyan and bhajans), don’t speak or do simaran in words. Shut all your outer senses down and open the door within you; (there you will find a way which leads to your beloved’s palace)…….

Gyan ratan ka jatan kar, maatee ka sansaar.
Aaye kabeera phiri gayaa, pheekaa hai sansaar.
Try to collect the gems of true wisdom and knowledge. This world is so unstable, it is nothing but made of soil. Kabir visited this place and returned back knowing that this world is meaningless and without bliss.

Jaa karan jag dhundhiya, so to ghat hee maanhi.
Parda diyaa bharam kaa , taate sujhe naahi.
This world is searching madly for him, and he is within our own self!! He wants this play go on, so he has given this veil of illusion, and no one is able to see him and the reality.

Khet na chode soorama, jujhe do dal maanhi.
Ashaa jeevan maran kee, man me raakhe naahi.
The great warrior doesn’t leave the battle field. He fights between two armies. He doesn’t keep a bit hope of life or fear of death. The seeker is also like that warrior- he doesn’t hope for life or have fear of death; he just keeps fighting (for the light of truth in this illusionary world).

Jaap mare ajapaa mare, anahad hu mari jay
Ram sanehee na mare, kahe Kabeer samujhay
Those who do sumiran and jaap will die, those who do ajapaa jaap or maanas sumiran will also die. The person who has gone till the region of anahad or Sound may die. But the person who loves HIM can’t die. This is the nectar of love, which makes us immortal!!

Baitha haia ghaT Bheetre, baitha hai Saachet.
Jaisi Jisko chahiye, waisee buddhi det.
The Lord, the being of consciousness is sitting within you, he is all aware of your dreams and desires. He provides knowledge and wisdom to you what is needed to get all those dreams and desires realized. But the interesting thing is that he gives it to you according to your own wishes, he is just provider.
Ramkrishna used to give example of light. He used to say GOD is like light, he provides light to everyone and everything which is in existence, it is up to us how we make use of it. A person can write a book in this light and another one can perform murder. Light is unaffected yet it doesn’t withdraw from you irrespective to what you do. He is in everything, in everywhere.

Utate kou naa aata hai, jaaso poochhun dhaay.
Itate hee sab jaat hai, bhaar ldaaay ladaay.
No one returns from that land, whom I could ask about HIM. All keep going from here never to return back. Who will tell us what happens after death? Where is our home, where shall we go after final journey?? No one is able to tell us.

Lambaa maarag, doori ghar, vikaT panth bahu maar.
Kaho santo kyu paaiye, durlabh hari deedaar.
The way is too long, our home is so far and the path is way too difficult to walk on. And then there are so many troubles and sufferings in the way. Kabir says – O my dear Saints!! How will we get to him, this is very difficult to see him, to meet him!!

Jihi marane the jag dare, so mere aanand.
Kab marihu kab dekhihu, pooran parmaanand.
The world fears dieing, but this death is of my great pleasure. I pray when I will die and I will see the whole, the ocean of bliss. Here death indicates in two ways – one is to go into meditation and do beyond physical existence, but at another level it is about to drop the last cover of ego, death of existence as separate entity, only then we will be able to see the whole, the ONE. Till two exist, we can’t feel the ONENESS and this intimacy is what a soul is longing for (keep searching in so many things, relations etc.)

Ab to jujhyaa hee bane, mudi chalya ghar door.
Sir sahib ko saumpataa, soch na keeje soor.
Now it is time to do or die, you had left your home far behind. You can’t turn to way back home. Now surrender your head to your Lord, don’t keep a bit doubt and continue your fight. Kabir indicates here about the seekers who are in the way to search the Lord. When they are progressed a little, it is worse to look back and live the life they had been living earlier. Home here is a symbol of this world, this physical plane with all relations, desires and attachments. When a person totally lives in this illusion, he or she suffers through sorrows and enjoys joy as well, but then he or she is accustomed to that. People feel at ease in that case. When a soul is fully realized, it will also be at ease with forever joy and bliss. But a seeker, who has realized that this world is illusionary and has started his journey but is in mid way, is in constant danger according to Kabir. There are so many temptations and after realizing the worthlessness of this world, there is no option to return and live in this illusion again. That is why Kabir again and again emphasizes to burn the home, the danger of the journey and the courage and commitment needed for the journey.

Aapaa metya hari mile, hari metya sab jaai.
Akath kahaanee prem kee, kahe na kou patiyaai.
When you finish yourself (Ego, Identity as separate entity), only then you will be able to meet the Lord. (If you keep yourself) the Lord is ended where you begin and with the Lord everything is ended (not in reality but the person who has kept his ego is unable to see the Lord) .This story of love is unspeakable, if I say it, no one will agree with it.

TooTe girat akaas so, kaun sakat hai jhel.
Saadhu satee aur soor ka, anee upar kaa khel.
Kabir often gives the example for the dedication of a true devotee by three type of people – Sadhu – who has left everything in search of GOD and lives a true satwik life, Satee (the bride who is dedicated and committed to her husband for life and afterlife, who burns herself to ashes with her husband if her husband dies) and the warrior – who is fighting for his Lord and doesn’t have fear of death neither hope of life(fighting with negativity, temptations and for the work of Lord). When a devotee develops these three types of dedication, then his path becomes easy and he meets with Lord. But at the same time, Kabir warns that these types of devotions need certain level of caution, these are like if they fall from their path, it is hard to survive, like you fall from the great height just to be broken into pieces.

Saadhu kahaavan kaThin hai, lambaa peD khajoor.
Chadhe to chaakhe prem ras, gire to chakanaachoor.
This is very difficult to become a Saint; it is like climbing the palm-tree. If you are able to climb till the top of the palm-tree, you will be able to drink the nectar, but if you loose the grip and fall from the tree, you will be broken into pieces. Same way if you keep progressing in meditation- with love and devotion of GOD, you will be able to meet the Lord, to dink the divine love and shall become immortal forever. But if you get diverted, falling from a height will make greatest damage to you.

Satee bicharee sat kiya, sulee sej bichhay.
Lai sutee piy aapno, chahu dis agan lagaay.
Satee(dedicated and committed bride) made up her mind and decided to be with her beloved. She made a bed of thorns, and slept over it with her beloved, and put the fire on all around herself.
Satee is the symbol of devoted and single minded soul, bed of thorns is the living of the devotee who goes through all troubles and pain and the fire around the bride and her beloved is the holy fire burning all worldly desires and impurities. Sleeping with beloved is the symbol of merging with beloved.