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      • PUT YOUR HANDS ON ME: POETRY'S EROTIC ART by Elena Karina Byrne
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Kabir’s poetry betrays the use of a starkly ethnographic approach in his representation of Dalit life and mores. Kabir is perfectly right to treat the complex tracts of human psyche in his poems. It is an instruction in the psyche of people who lose their ability for rational consideration on being subjected to traumatic experiences.

The man speaks always keeping truth and fabrication side by side. His truth cannot remain pure. The man always wants to be a head.  Such selfish nature of the man has provided him a minute creature, ‘a puny self’. The adaptation to a Dalit way of life has well been reflected in her rejection of the sophisticated records the particular nuances of Dalit life. He says that we are all one for example:

All are born as human beings

That is what we all know

The cunning deceptor has made some “Suda”

Devising castes high and low. (Trans’G.N.Das,65.)

Satire and institutional rhetoric, poetic rhythm, and broken words, Kabir Das has employed them all to create an authentic experience of dalit life for his readers. 'Religion is realization,' he was never tired of repeating this truth. Understanding of our natural world as divine is true religion. Kabir was a great social reformer and a very inspiring personality. He was the pride of India. He made an enormous contribution to purify the souls of people. He was a great mystic and saint.  Kabir’s work has been observed as a great achievement due to his characteristic striking style, and his meticulous attention to exploration of human dilemma in his poems. By the use of the technique of the persona, the addressee and the distance, the poet confesses his own guilt in the process of ridiculing some of the common weaknesses of the man.

Who hears no evil nor does see

Nor speak evil any more,

If he can cast all evil from him

None will be evil to him here. (Trans’G.N.Das 81)

Kabir says that man speaks a lot about the good value called ‘humility’ but seldom performs it himself. It is the main victim with the man. Man pretends to be unselfish and intellectual, but unluckily, this bargain proved him damaging: He has exchanged the wisdom of youthfulness for the follies of maturity. Indeed, presents Surdas, Tulsi, Khusro, Kabirdas, Ghalib and the Vedic Sanskrit Shlokas with equal aplomb. Kabir’s whole work is a unique amalgam of folk tales and religious myths –sentiments and express differences in society. Islam, Hinduism, Christianity and Dalitism – he is the literary parent of them all! He is respected by Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs. He stands as a sole, pious, yet very human being, viaduct between the great ethnicity that live in India. Kabir entails that the modest and small man should not be criticized because of his humble and stumpy place:

Says Kabir, do not decry the grass

That is under your feet

Beware if it floats up to eye

It may harm your sight. (Trans’G.N.Das 232)

As human beings we have our roots in nature and contribute in its life in many ways. He values that the author does not get mislead in the network of a conventional regionalism in his works. Kabir takes up an entity and creates it to the eye. He had a strong visualizing power. His knowledge of nature was not only precise but sympathetic. His observation was wedded to imagination. No man can reach his full height until he realizes the self-respect and worth of life that is not human. We must develop sympathy with all forms of life. Kabir’s works preserves for us events of courage, acts of forfeit and transitory moods of the human heart. He afterward lived a life of deport, roaming through northern India with a group of followers. He always said that God stays in every heart. According to Kabir, a person who is not sympathetic towards other living beings cannot find God, even if he regularly visits the temple. He always said God dwells inside every heart. Thus, he would always ask people to see God in all.

Seeking and searching all the time

I lost my own track

When drop of water falls in ocean

How can one get it back? (Trans’G.N.Das 28)

He promoters that God lies within you. So, you don't need to go anywhere to find out God, as the God is there in your own heart. Your heart and your scruples are your God, to whom you are answerable for your deeds.

He has a balanced outlook which enables him to deal understandingly with men of high and low level, courtesans, dalits, and Brahmins. These great qualities make his works belong to the literature of the world. Kabir submit to the amalgamation of the soul of gentleman (Jivatma) and the highest soul (Parmatama or God). He says have full faith in God and give up all the worldly things. He believes in one God that is ubiquitous, all-powerful, everlasting, all pervading and beyond all the restrictions of human mind. The wheel of Maya does not let us realize the presence of God who can be felt in each small piece of universe.

 He says that we are one .He has tried his best and successfully at that to awaken a consciousness of literary experimentation as well as human sensibility along with an attempt at harmonizing the rhythms of human life in the work. For Kabir the language seems to be, “Pleading, threatening, shying away and erupting like lava.” Kabir’s use of narrative voices--showing a Dalit populace in agony – runs parallel to other biographies and stories. It is certainly clear that the poetry of Kabir is full of simplicity, genuineness, blissfulness, charmingness, concord, music and sublimity as well as it abounds in the noble teachings of the Indian tradition. His works will persist to be read for that indescribable illumination about the human predicament which is the work of immense poet. The content and the form have achieved the perfect fusion in Kabir and the translation has tried the best to protect this uniqueness which grants a high place in the pantheon of Hindi literature. For Kabir the path of perception lies in the melodious pursuit of the diverse aims of life and the development of the fundamental personality. He impresses on our mind these ideals by the magic of his poetry, the affluence of his thoughts, his philosophical knowledge of human character and his fragile description of its most tender feeling.

 

Work-cited

1.        Dangle, Arjun (ed). “Dalit literature: Past, present and Future” in Poisoned Bread: Translations from Modern Marathi Literature. Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 1992. 

2.        Das, G.N. Couplets From Kabir, Edited, Translated by G. N. Das, Motilal Banarsidas     Private.  Limited Delhi, 1991.

3.        Limbale, Sharankumar. Towards An Aesthetic of Dalit Literature:Histories, Controversies and Considerations. (Trans) Alok Mukherjee. Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 2004. 

4.        Jadhav , R.G. “Dalit Feelings And Aesthetic Detachment .” Poisoned Bread –Translations from Modern Marathi Dalit Literature. Ed. Ajun Dangee. Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 1992. 

5.        Verma, Ram Kumar.  Kabir ka Rahasyavad (in Hindi), SahityaBhavan, Allahabad, 1984.

6.        Das, G.N. Couplets From Kabir, Edited, Translated by G. N. Das, Motilal Banarsidas     Private.  Limited Delhipg 168

7.        -------------- Couplets From Kabir, Edited, Translated by G. N. Das, Motilal Banarsidas     Private.  Limited Delhi, 1991.pg.175..

8.        Limbale, Sharankumar. Towards An Aesthetic of Dalit Literature:Histories, Controversies and Considerations. (Trans) Alok Mukherjee. Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 2004. 

9.        Dharwadkar, Vinay. Trans. Kabir.2003. The Weaver’s Songs. Delhi:

Penguin, 124

10.    Das, G.N. Couplets From Kabir, Edited, Translated by G. N. Das, Motilal Banarsidas     Private.  Limited Delhi, 1991.

11.    , -----------------.pg.180.

12.    Dharwadkar, Vinay. Trans. Kabir.2003. The Weaver’s Songs. Delhi.pg .125.

13.    --------------------. Pg. 120.

14.     Macura, Vladimir. “Culture as Translation.” Translation, History and Culture. Ed. Susan Basnett and Andre Lefevere. London and NY: Cassell, 1990. 

15.    Das, G.N. Couplets From Kabir, Edited, Translated by G. N. Das, Motilal Banarsidas     Private.  Limited Delhi, 1991.pg.65.

16.    -------------- Couplets From Kabir, Edited, Translated by G. N. Das, Motilal Banarsidas     Private.  Limited Delhi, 1991.pg.81

17.    -------------- Couplets From Kabir, Edited, Translated by G. N. Das, Motilal Banarsidas     Private.  Limited Delhi, 1991.pg.232.

18.    -------------- Couplets From Kabir, Edited, Translated by G. N. Das, Motilal Banarsidas     Private.  Limited Delhi, 1991.pg.28.

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  • Home
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  • Submissions
    • Poetry and Essays Guidelines
    • Book Review Guidelines
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  • Masthead
  • Editions
    • 2011 Issues >
      • ISSUE-XIV November 2011
    • 2012 Issues >
      • ISSUE-XV March 2012
      • ISSUE-XVI July 2012
      • ISSUE-XVII November 2012
    • 2013 Issues >
      • ISSUE-XVIII April 2013
      • ISSUE XIX November 2013
    • 2014 Issues >
      • ISSUE XX May 2014
    • 2015 Issues >
      • ISSUE XXI February 2015
      • Contemporary Indian English Poetry ISSUE XXII November 2015
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      • ISSUE XXIII August 2016
      • Poetry From Ireland ISSUE XXIV December 2016
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      • ISSUE XXV August 2017
      • ISSUE XXVI December 2017
    • 2018 ISSUES >
      • ISSUE XXVII July 2018
      • ISSUE XXVIII November 2018
    • 2019 Issues >
      • ISSUE XXIX July 2019
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      • Issue XXX February 2020
      • ISSUE XXXI December 2020
    • 2021 ISSUES >
      • ISSUE XXXII August 2021
    • 2022 ISSUES >
      • ISSUE XXXIII June 2022
      • ISSUE XXXIV December 2022
    • 2023 ISSUES >
      • ISSUE XXXV August 2023
  • Collaborations
    • Macedonian Collaboration
    • Collaboration with Dutch Foundation for Literature
  • Interviews
  • Prose on Poetry and Poets
    • 2010-2013 >
      • Sylvia Plath by Dr. Nidhi Mehta >
        • Chapter-1(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-2(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-3(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-4(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-5(Sylvia Plath)
        • Chapter-6(Sylvia Plath)
      • Prose Poems of Tagore by Dr. Bina Biswas >
        • Chapter-1(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-2(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-3(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-4(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-5(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-6(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-7(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-8(Rabindranath Tagore)
        • Chapter-9(Rabindranath Tagore)
      • Kazi Nazrul Islam by Dr. Shamenaz Shaikh >
        • Chapter 1(Nazrul Islam)
        • Chapter 2(Nazrul Islam)
        • Chapter 3(Nazrul Islam)
      • Kabir's Poetry by Dr. Anshu Pandey >
        • Chapter 1(Kabir's Poetry)
        • Chapter 2(Kabir's Poetry)
        • Chapter 3(Kabir's Poetry)
      • My mind's not right by Dr. Vicky Gilpin >
        • Chapter- 1 Dr. Vicky Gilpin
        • Chapter-2 Dr. Vicky Gilpin
        • Chapter-3 Dr. Vicky Gilpin
        • Chapter-4 Dr. Vicky Gilpin
      • On Poetry & Poets by Abhay K.
      • Poetry of Kamla Das –A True Voice Of Bourgeoisie Women In India by Dr.Shikha Saxena
      • Identity Issues in the Poetry of Nissim Ezekiel by Dr.Arvind Nawale & Prashant Mothe*
      • Nissim Ezekiel’s Latter-Day Psalms: His Religious and Philosophical Speculations By Dr. Pallavi Srivastava
      • The Moping Owl : the Epitome of Melancholy by Zinia Mitra
      • Gary Soto’s Vision of Chicano Experiences: The Elements of San Joaquin and Human Nature by Paula Hayes
      • Sri Aurobindo: A Poet By Aju Mukhopadhyay
      • Wordsworthian Romanticism in the Poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra: Nature and the Reflective Capabilities of a Poetic Self by Paula Hayes
      • Reflective Journey of T.S. Eliot: From Philosophy to Poetry by Syed Ahmad Raza Abidi
      • North East Indian Poetry: ‘Peace’ in Violence by Ananya .S. Guha
    • 2014-2015 >
      • From The Hidden World of Poetry: Unravelling Celtic mythology in Contemporary Irish Poetry Adam Wyeth
      • Alchemy’s Drama: Conflict, Resolution and Poiesis in the Poetic Work of Art by Michelle Bitting
      • Amir Khushrau: The Musical Soul of India by Dr. Shamenaz
      • PUT YOUR HANDS ON ME: POETRY'S EROTIC ART by Elena Karina Byrne
      • Celtic and Urban Landscapes in Irish Poetry by Linda Ibbotson
      • Trickster at the African Crossroads and the Bridge to the Blues in America by Michelle Bitting
    • 2015-2016 >
      • Orogeny/Erogeny: The “nonsense” of language and the poetics of Ed Dorn T Thilleman
      • Erika Burkart: Fragments, Shards, and Visions by Marc Vincenz
      • English Women Poets and Indian politics
    • 2016-2017 >
      • Children’s Poetry in India- A Case Study of Adil Jussawalla and Ananya Guha by Shruti Sareen
      • Thirteen Thoughts on Poetry in the Digital Age by Mandy kAHN
    • 2017-2018 >
      • From Self-Portrait with Dogwood: A Route of Evanescence by Christopher Merrill
      • Impure Poetry by Tony Barnstone
      • On the Poets: Contributors in Context by Donald Gardner
      • Punching above its Weight: Dutch Poetry in English, a Selection, 2013-2017 by Jane Draycott
  • Print Editions