Give a brief account of the life and teachings of kabira
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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
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
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Life:
Kabir’s birth is shrouded in mystery. Very likely he was born in 1440 A.D. Legends speak of his widowed Brahmin mother, fearing ignominy and dishonor, forsook him near a tank at Benares. Ironically, the honey drops dripping from the branch of a tree nearby, sustained the infant.
Early in the morning a weaver, Niru, and his wife Neema heard the weeping infant and gladly brought it to their own home. In this manner, the Brahmin child Kabir was brought up in the family of a Muslim weaver. Niru’s poverty prevented him from imparting education to Kabir. But since his early childhood Kabir snowed a remarkable inclination towards religion.
He became inquisitive to know of the mysteries surrounding life and death and particularly about God. He concluded that there should be no differences among religions. Hence he met and discussed about religion with both Hindu and Muslim saints and as a result he was deeply attracted towards religion.
In his youth Kabir was deeply influenced by Ramananda’s sermons and he became his disciple. Henceforth Kabir initiated philosophical discourses on the basic principles of Hinduism and Islam. Kabir was married and had two sons, but, though he led the life of an ordinary lay man he spent most of his time in religious discussions.
Gradually many people were attracted towards Kabir’s saintly qualities and became his disciples. Kabir’s disciples were called ‘Kabirpanthins’. Both Hindus and Muslims became his disciples. Kabir’s oral sermons were written down by his disciples and his sermons were amalgamated into a book known as ‘Vijak’. He composed hymns in extremely simple Hindi which were known as ‘Doha’.
Kabir tried determinedly to bring about unity amongst Hindus and Muslims. Very soon his religious views were propagated in every nook and comer of India. Kabir died in 1518 A.D. Legends speak that both Hindus and Muslims quarreled over his dead body. But when the shroud was removed from over his body, there were only a bunch of flowers instead of his corpse. The assembled people were taken aback by this miracle. Hindus collected some flowers and cremated them at Varanasi while the Muslims took the remaining flowers for burial at Maghar in the Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh.
Kabir’s Teachings:
Kabir’s philosophical tenets were extremely simple. He was known as the guiding spirit of the Bhakti Movement. He preached Bhakti or ‘Devotion’ through the medium of his ‘Dohas’. Kabir’s Dohas touched everybody’s heart and he was endeared by all.
Love:
Love for all was Kabir’s principal tenet. He emphasized that love was the only medium which could bind the entire human kind in an unbreakable bond of fraternity. Kabir detested the frivolities and rituals in Hinduism and Islam for, these could never bind together mankind. Hence he advised all to give up hatred and perpetuate love for one and all.
God:
God was the focal point of Kabir’s religion and Kabir addressed him in different names. In his opinion God alone was Ram, Rahim, Govind, Allah, Khuda, Hari etc. But for Kabir, ‘Saheb’ was his favorite name. He said god was everywhere and His domain is unlimited. God was pure, sacred, existing, without form, light, endless and inseparatable. Hence God was all powerful and he could only be worshipped through love and devotion. In whatever name one addresses Him, God is one and has no second. Hence Kabir preached Monotheism.
Teacher:
In Kabir’s dictum the Teacher or ‘Guru’ has been accorded the prime position. The teacher according to him was the incarnation of God. Kabirs had this realization only when he came in contact with Ramananda. It was the guidance of a teacher that led man in the proper direction and helped him in developing the right insight.
Kabir’s birth is shrouded in mystery. Very likely he was born in 1440 A.D. Legends speak of his widowed Brahmin mother, fearing ignominy and dishonor, forsook him near a tank at Benares. Ironically, the honey drops dripping from the branch of a tree nearby, sustained the infant.
Early in the morning a weaver, Niru, and his wife Neema heard the weeping infant and gladly brought it to their own home. In this manner, the Brahmin child Kabir was brought up in the family of a Muslim weaver. Niru’s poverty prevented him from imparting education to Kabir. But since his early childhood Kabir snowed a remarkable inclination towards religion.
He became inquisitive to know of the mysteries surrounding life and death and particularly about God. He concluded that there should be no differences among religions. Hence he met and discussed about religion with both Hindu and Muslim saints and as a result he was deeply attracted towards religion.
In his youth Kabir was deeply influenced by Ramananda’s sermons and he became his disciple. Henceforth Kabir initiated philosophical discourses on the basic principles of Hinduism and Islam. Kabir was married and had two sons, but, though he led the life of an ordinary lay man he spent most of his time in religious discussions.
Gradually many people were attracted towards Kabir’s saintly qualities and became his disciples. Kabir’s disciples were called ‘Kabirpanthins’. Both Hindus and Muslims became his disciples. Kabir’s oral sermons were written down by his disciples and his sermons were amalgamated into a book known as ‘Vijak’. He composed hymns in extremely simple Hindi which were known as ‘Doha’.
Kabir tried determinedly to bring about unity amongst Hindus and Muslims. Very soon his religious views were propagated in every nook and comer of India. Kabir died in 1518 A.D. Legends speak that both Hindus and Muslims quarreled over his dead body. But when the shroud was removed from over his body, there were only a bunch of flowers instead of his corpse. The assembled people were taken aback by this miracle. Hindus collected some flowers and cremated them at Varanasi while the Muslims took the remaining flowers for burial at Maghar in the Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh.
Kabir’s Teachings:
Kabir’s philosophical tenets were extremely simple. He was known as the guiding spirit of the Bhakti Movement. He preached Bhakti or ‘Devotion’ through the medium of his ‘Dohas’. Kabir’s Dohas touched everybody’s heart and he was endeared by all.
Love:
Love for all was Kabir’s principal tenet. He emphasized that love was the only medium which could bind the entire human kind in an unbreakable bond of fraternity. Kabir detested the frivolities and rituals in Hinduism and Islam for, these could never bind together mankind. Hence he advised all to give up hatred and perpetuate love for one and all.
God:
God was the focal point of Kabir’s religion and Kabir addressed him in different names. In his opinion God alone was Ram, Rahim, Govind, Allah, Khuda, Hari etc. But for Kabir, ‘Saheb’ was his favorite name. He said god was everywhere and His domain is unlimited. God was pure, sacred, existing, without form, light, endless and inseparatable. Hence God was all powerful and he could only be worshipped through love and devotion. In whatever name one addresses Him, God is one and has no second. Hence Kabir preached Monotheism.
Teacher:
In Kabir’s dictum the Teacher or ‘Guru’ has been accorded the prime position. The teacher according to him was the incarnation of God. Kabirs had this realization only when he came in contact with Ramananda. It was the guidance of a teacher that led man in the proper direction and helped him in developing the right insight.
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