Kabir: The Weaver’s Songs, translated and with an illuminating 96-page introduction by Vinay Dharwadker (also includes extensive notes to the poems, a glossary, and bibliography). The historical Kabir is thought to have lived from 1398-1448 in the eastern half of northern India. His poems were literally songs, and the poems we have today are the product of a long process of revision by Kabir’s followers. As noted on the back of the book, “His ideas stand at the intersection of Hinduism and Islam, Bhakti and Yoga, religion and secularism.” Here’s an example:
Māyā
We know
what Māyā is—
a great robber and thief,
a con-woman
in cahoots with con-men.She wanders all over the world,
carrying her noose
strung with three strands—
she sits rocking in every place,
using her sweet tongue.In Keshav’s house
she masquerades as Kamalā,
in Shiva’s mansion
she’s Bhavānī.She has settled down
as an idol at the priest’s,
she has become
the holy water
at the pilgrim’s destination.She has planted herself
in the ascetic’s hut
as an ascetic woman,
in the king’s palace
she sits on the throne
as a queen.In some homes
she’s diamond and pearl,
in some she has become
a worthless cowrie-shell.She has moved in
with the common devotee
and become a devotee herself,
she lives with the Muslim man
as his Muslim woman.Kabir says, listen,
O holy men—
this is the whole
ineffable tale.
As someone familiar with Kabir only from Robert Bly’s free-spirited and Tagore’s turgid versions, this book came as revelation.
The Perpetual Bird Rating: