Biography of Kabir
Kabir was a mystic poet and saint of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement. The name Kabir comes from Arabic al-Kabir which means The Great’-the 37th name of God in Islam.
Kabir was born to a Brahmin widow at Lahartara near Kashi (modern day Varanasi). The widow abandoned Kabir to escape dishonour associated with births outside marriage. He was brought up in a family of poor Muslim weavers Niru and Nima. Vaishnava saint Ramananda accepted Kabir as his disciple; when Ramananda died, Kabir was 13 years old.
The central teachings of Kabir are very simple. He laid stress ‘Bhakti’. He said that through Bhakti or devotion one would come nearer to God; one could be released from the cycle of birth and death only by sincere love and devotion to God, which he called Bhakti. He sincerely tried to emphasise the unity of Islam and Hinduism by preaching those virtues which were common to both religions. He made no distinction between Hindus and Muslims. To Kabir Allah and Rama were but different names of the same Supreme Being. To him Hindus and Muslims were “pots of the same clay”. According to Kabir salvation could be attained by doing good deeds or by means of Bhakti or sincere devotion to God.
Kabir denounced the caste system. He said that there should be no discrimination on the basis of caste. He rejected the authority of both the Vedas and the Quran. He laid great emphasis on the equality of a men. He preached a religion of love which aimed at promoting unity amongst all castes and creeds.
He was full of humility and the first saint to reconcile Hinduism and Islam. Kabir’s teachings are contained in his Dohas. The devotional songs or ‘bhajans’ of Kabir called Kabir Doha. Those Dohas are in the form of short poems in the Bijaka, sacred book of the Kabir Panthis, the followers of Kabir.
Kabir condemned pride and selfishness. He wanted man to give up pride, anger, enmity and ego. He appreciated brotherhood, which ultimately directed towards reaching the main objectives: “Love of God” and “Love of humanity”.
Kabir died at Maghar in the district of Gorakhapur of the present day U.P. in A.D. 1518.
