[salok] Bhagath Kabeer Jeeo Kae

[lowest of the low singhni]

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh

ਕਬੀਰ ਗਰਬੁ ਨ ਕੀਜੀਐ ਚਾਮ ਲਪੇਟੇ ਹਾਡ ॥

kabeer garab na keejee-ai chaam lapaytay haad

Kabeer, do not be so proud of your bones wrapped up in skin.

ਹੈਵਰ ਊਪਰਿ ਛਤ੍ਰ ਤਰ ਤੇ ਫੁਨਿ ਧਰਨੀ ਗਾਡ ॥੩੭॥

haivar oopar chhatar tar tay fun Dharnee gaad

Those who were on their horses and under their canopies were eventually buried under the ground.

“garab” = ego

“chaam” = skin

“laptaytay” = wrapped

“haad” = bones

“haivar” = horse

“chatar” = umbrella

“tar” = under

“fun” = eventually

”dharnee” = ground

”gaad” = bury

Again Bhagat Kabeer Ji is reminding us that our body is a temporary gift from Maharaj. Essentially there’s no point in taking pride in ourselves or our bodies because these things aren’t even our own – nothing is. This is really hard to do but really easy to forget. We’re so wound up by our helter-skelter lives and only think about this when we’re finished all the other things we have to do. Not many people truly remember that their body is merely “bones wrapped in skin”.

Bhagat Kabeer Ji is not telling us to forsake our body or starve ourself or make ourselves bleed like that albino guy in the Da Vinci Code. If someone gives us a gift, we tend to take care of it. The only difference with our bodies is that eventually Maharaj will take it back. When we speak bad words, we should remember that we’re abusing the lips Maharaj gave us, and are hurting others in the process. When we overeat or don’t exercise we’re not looking after our bodies properly. And of course, when we don’t follow Rehit or think about Maharaj we are not using our body in the way it was meant to be used.

We can learn and appreciate so much by just looking around us – Bhagat Kabeer Ji tells us of mighty emperors and kings who take great care in adorning themselves with beautiful clothes and riches. (For more on this please watch the Queen’s recent Speech.) Everyday we see adverts on TV for anti-wrinkling cream, hair-dye and Gillette thingies. Was our body not made perfectly by Maharaj? Today I was told that earrings just “adorn” the body more. Was God not clever enough to design the body ready-adorned? These things undermine Maharaj’s Greatness. Of course in the bigger picture He’s the One who’s created this stuff in the first place, but it’s up to us to use the head He gave us to work out the logic behind them.

No matter what we try to do to our body will end up as ash. The fixation and attachment we have with our bodies is something which we need to bear in mind, and which will eventually die away if we truly make an effort to remember Satguru Ji with our every breath.

good times.

:D:

~l~

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh