[salok] Bhagat Kabeer Jeeo Kae

[lowest of the low singhni]

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh

ਕਬੀਰ ਜਗੁ ਕਾਜਲ ਕੀ ਕੋਠਰੀ ਅੰਧ ਪਰੇ ਤਿਸ ਮਾਹਿ ॥

kabeer jag kaajal kee kothree anDh paray tis maahi

Kabeer, the world is a room filled with black soot; the blind fall into its trap.

ਹਉ ਬਲਿਹਾਰੀ ਤਿਨ ਕਉ ਪੈਸਿ ਜੁ ਨੀਕਸਿ ਜਾਹਿ ॥੨੬॥

ha-o balihaaree tin ka-o pais jo neekas jaahi

I am a sacrifice to those who are thrown in, and still escape.

“jag” = world

“kaajal” = soot

“kothree” = room

“andh” = blind ones

“paray” = fall

“maahi” = into

“balihaaree” = sacrifice

“pais” = enter (in this case thrown)

“neekas” = escape

In this Salok Bhagat Kabeer Ji highlights how big a trap Maya is, and how easily we fall into it. We think we’re clever and that we know what’s going on around us, but really we are blind. We stumble around in the world and eventually get engrossed in our worries, troubles and the happenings around us. It’s like us going into a dirty room full of black soot – most of us will enter it, covering ourselves with the soot in the process. We become blind to the Truth and easily forget Maharaj when we feel stressed or pushed to the limit.

Remembering Maharaj as much as possible and truly trying our best to follow Gurbani can open our eyes so that even though we live in this world, we are not that affected by it. It is pretty useless me trying to describe that state of mind due to my lack of experience in that area :D . Bhagat Kabeer Ji says that he is a sacrifice to those rare people who have attained this peace and contentedness. Those people will escape from the room, probably with no soot on themselves at all. They key is attachment. This analogy really shows how hard it is to remain truly detached from the world around us.

The English translation of this Salok says that the world is “a room filled with dark soot.” I don’t think this means that the world is evil – how can it be, when Maharaj created it so lovingly? The world can help us a lot in remembering our Guru. Just look at the clouds in the sky…The main point is not to be so distracted by Maharaj’s creation that we bathe ourselves in soot, burying ourselves within Maya so much that we can’t escape.

When somebody asks a question and the reply comes to “Jap Naam” we underestimate this power. Sometimes we can find ourselves thinking that it’s the standard reply to all ills, but we will still look for alternatives. The truth is that if we really want to get better, or improve in any way, we WILL remember Maharaj. Deep down we need to have faith that it will work, instead of dismissing it and trying to find easier paths. Gursikhi may not be the easiest path to follow in the world, but it is the purest, simplest and the most direct path in the world.

:D:

~l~

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh