VIII
Bavan Akhri by Bhagat Kabir Ji
It is from pages no 340 to 343 of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji. It is one of longer compositions of Kabir ji comprising of 45 stanzas that are included in Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji. The first five stanzas are introductory and the sixth one begins with Onkar- a word that begins with the opening vowel of Sanskrit alphabet. Of the rest thirty nine stanzas, thirty six are built around consonants, mostly in their punjabi form with certain consonants being repeated. Communion with the Supreme Being and the path leading to it forms the principal or main theme of this composition. The letters, says Kabir, expressing the spiritual bliss of communion with Supreme Reality are not the fifty two alphabets which are used in relation to mundane affairs- spiritual experience falls outside their realm.
Rag Gauri Purvi Bavan Akhri of Kabir ji
There is but one God, True is His name and creative His personality. By the Guru’s grace He is obtained. Through mere fifty two letters the three worlds and all else are described.
These letters shall perish. That Imperishable God cannot be described through letters. Where there is speech there are letters. Where there is speech, there the mind does not remain stable. Both in speech and silence, He the Lord dwells. As He is, none can know Him as such.
If I obtain the Adorable Lord, what shall I say then ? By uttering His praise, what good I do to others ? He, whose mansion is in three worlds is contained even in a seed of a Banyan tree.
He, who knows the Lord and comprehends His secret even a little, for him separation disappears.
When mortal turns away from the world his mind is pierced through the Lord’s secret and he obtains the Indestructible and Impenetrable God. A muslim (Turk) comprehends the muslim way of life and a Hindu – the Vedas and Puranas. To instruct his mind man ought to study Divine Knowledge to some extent.
I know only the One Lord who is the source of everything. I believe not in him whom the Lord creates and destroys and if someone sees the One God he perishes not by beholding Him.
K : When the rays of Divine Knowledge came into the heart lotus the moon shine of mammon cannot enter the heart. And if a man obtains the aroma of spiritual flower he would not be able to describe its indestructible relish so by narration He cannot be described and comprehended.
Kh: This soul has entered the Lord’s Cave. Leaving the soul now it does not wander in ten directions, when knowing the Master, man practises forgiveness then he becomes immortal and attains Imperishable Dignity.
G: He who understands Guru’s instruction does not lend ears to anything else. He who grasps the ungraspable God and so grasping Him, abides in tenth remains like a refugee and does not go anywhere.
Gh: He, the Lord abides in every heart when the pitcher bursts. He never gets diminished when in that heart man finds the way to the Lord. Leaving that path, why should he tread on difficult path.
Ng: Control yourself, bear love to your God and dismiss your doubts. Though you do not see the way to God . Still do not flee it is the highest wisdom.
Ch: The Master has painted the great picture of the world. Leave the painting and remember the Painter. This wonderful painting is now the bone of contention. Dismiss picture and concentrate your mind on the painter.
Chh: God, the Lord of Umbrella ( heavens) is here with you. Why and what for you do not abandon desires and remain happy. O’ mind every moment do as I instruct you. Forsaking Him, why do you entangle yourself.
J / dz/ : If a man while alive burns his body and consigns to fire his youth he finds the right way. When the man abides discarding his own wealth and the wealth of others, then proceeding on he obtains the bright Light of the God.
Jh: You are entangled with the world and do not know to disentangle yourself. You shrink back and are not acceptable to Lord. Why talk nonsense to convince others ? By stirring up controversy, you shall have only controversy.
Nj: The Lord abides near you in your heart. Why leave Him and go far to seek Him. Him, for whom I have searched the entire world I have found near me sitting in my heart.
T: The difficult way to God is within man’s mind. Opening the shutters why do not you repair to His presence. Beholding the Immutable One, you should not slip and go elsewhere. You should remain clung to God and your heart shall be glad.
Th: Keep yourself at distance from Mammon’s mirage. With great difficulty I have rendered my mind patient. I have cheated the cheat, the cheat which had cheated and devoured the entire world. My mind is now at peace.
D: When Lord’s fear is produced other fears depart. In that fear,other fears remain absorbed. When man rejects God’s fear then other fears cling to him. If he becomes fear free, the fear of his mind flees.
Dh: Why you search Him elsewhere in other directions. While searching for Him elsewhere life ends. When I returned after ascending the mountain to search Him I found Him in the body castle- that castle created by Him.
Aan: The man engaged in strife should practice perseverance. He should neither quail nor should he retreat. Blessed is accounted the coming of him who conquers his one mind and roots out many desires.
T: The unnavigable world ocean can not be crossed easily. Human body is engrossed in three worlds. When the Lord of the three worlds enters into my body. Then my real self blends with the Reality and achieves the True Lord.
Th: The is Unfathomable. His depth cannot be gauged and explored as He is limitless. This body does not remain stable. Over a small space man begins to build a hamlet. Without pillars(base) he wishes to support a mansion.
D : Whatever we see is perishable. Think of Him who is invisible. When the King of Divine Knowledge is applied to the tenth gate then is the sight of Merciful Master beheld.
Dh: Everything is settled, if one from lower region soars to the higher one. Lord’s abode is on earth and heaven. When leaving the Earth a soul ascends to heaven the soul and The Oversoul God meet and peace is obtained.
N: My nights and days pass looking for God. By such awaiting my eyes have grown blood shot. When after long waiting man finds Lord in his heart abode, then he who beholds blends with Him.
P: The Master is boundless and His bounds cannot be known. I have contracted intimacy with the Supreme Light. He who controls his five senses is relieved of the idea of both evil and goodness and rises above it.
F: Without the flower the fruit is produced. If anyone looks at the slice of that fruit and reflects on it does not suffer transmigration. That section of the fruit tears up all the bodies.
B: When a drop blends with drop then these drops do not separate again. Becoming Lord’s slave man ought to hold fast His meditation. If one becomes the thinker of the Lord, God takes care of such a person like a relative.
Bh: By removing doubt the Union with God is achieved. By shattering fear, I have now gained confidence. Him, whom I thought without I have now discerned within me. When I found this secret I recognised the Lord of the World.
M: By clinging to the Root the soul is propitiated. The knower of this secret comprehends his mind. Let no mortal make any delay in attaching his soul to God. They who obtain the True Lord get immersed in delight.
M : The mortal’s business is with his mind. He who chastens his mind attains perfection.
Says Kabir I have dealings with my mind alone. I have met nothing like the mind. The mind is power, this mind is the life of five elements of the body. Restraining his mind when man dwells in the state of beatitude, then he can tell the secrets of the three worlds.
Y: If you think you know everything then destroy your evil intellect and subdue your body hamlet.
Being engrossed in battle if you do not flee you will go by the name of a Hero.
R: The worldly pleasures are considered unpalatable by me. Becoming the spurner of relishes, I have realised that spiritual bliss. By abandoning these temporal savours that spiritual bliss is attained. After tasting that Nectar the worldly relishes do not remain pleasing.
L: Man ought to imbibe such love for God in his mind that he does not go to another and obtain the Supreme Truth. And if therein he embrace affection for Him , he attains the Lord and obtaining Him he gets merged in the lotus feet of God.
W: Over and over think of your Master. By remembering Almighty you will not be defeated. I am devoted and a sacrifice unto those , who sing the praise of Lord’s sons. By meeting God the entire Truth is obtained.
W: Know Him. By knowing Him this man becomes as He is. When this soul and Lord are blended then after this union none can distinguish them.
S: Discipline the mind perfectly well. Refrain yourself from every talk that allures the mind therein the King of Three Worlds remains fully pervading.
Kh: Anyone who searches Him and he who by searching finds Him is not born again. When man searches knows and meditates on the Lord, then he crosses the frightful world ocean swiftly.
S: That maid, whose couch -He the Spouse adorns, His presence dispels her scepticism. Renouncing the paltry pleasure, she procures the supreme delight. Then she is called the Bride and He her Bridegroom.
H: God exists, but man does not know His existence when he realises His existence then is his mind propitiated. For sure the Lord exists only if someone could understand Him. In that case He alone will be seen and not this man. Everyone goes about saying “ I’ll take this, I’ll take that, because of that man is infested with great sorrow. When he comes to bear love with the Lord of Wealth, his sorrow vanishes and he gets peace.
Kh: Many have pined and perished away. In spite of such wasting away and destruction man does not even remember the Lord. If anyone, even now, understand the transient nature of the world and restrains his mind, he shall find a permanent place there from where he was separated. Man has joined fifty two alphabets but he cannot recognise the One word of God. Kabir utters the word of Truth- he, who is a Brahman remains without fear. To join letters is the business of a literate person, the divine person reflects upon the reality. Says Kabir- as is the intellect within his mind, so does he understand.
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