Do you know that famous Sufi Saint and poet Kabir , was the Weaver? Find out about his life and teachings
Answers
Kabir was one of the chief exponents of the Bhakti movement in the medieval period. His early life is shrouded in mystery.
According to a prevailing legend he was the son of a Brahmin widow who had left him by the side of a tank in Benares.
A Muslim weaver Niru and his wife Nima picked up the baby and brought him up. Thus Kabir spent his early life in the house of his Muslim parents.
As they were quite poor, they could not provide him with formal education. But from his childhood Kabir had a spiritual bent of mind. Then in later years he became the disciple of a great saint named Ramananda in Uttar Pradesh. He followed the profession of his foster father and led a family life after his marriage to a lady named Loi.
In spite of this, his deep interest in religious affairs attracted many people. Gradually the number of his disciples increased. Both Hindus and Muslims became his followers who were later known as Kabirpanthis. His oral sermons were anthologized into a book by his disciples name Vijak. Kabir composed simple hymns in Hindi in the honour Almighty and these hymns called doha became extremely popular because of their lyrical beauty and simplicity of ideas.
Teachings of Kabir:
Kabir spent much of his time in the company of Hindu ascetics, saints and Muslim sufis. So he imbibed the tenets of both the religions and realized the best of both. Allah and Ram were but names of the same God. He was to be found neither in temples nor in mosques, neither in Benares nor in Mecca but only in the heart of a true devotee.
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