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.
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.
