Hail to Thee, O God, hail !
Ever hail to Thee, O Sovereign God !
Thy name is the best lamp, meditation thereon the purest wick ;
Thou alone art the Bright One, O God.
It is the saints of God who feel divine pleasure ;
They describe Thee as all-pervading and the Supreme Joy. [1]
Thou, of fascinating form, O God, float us over the ocean of terror.
Sain saith, worship the Supreme Joy. [2]
KABIR
There was a certain Brahman in Banaras, who remained continually in attendance on Ramanand. The Brahman had a daughter, a virgin widow, who desired to behold the object of her father s reverence and attentions. Her father took her one day to see the holy man. She was allowed to prostrate herself before him and touch his feet with her forehead. He in ignorance of her status prayed that she might be blest with a son. When her father replied that she was a widow, Ramanand said that his words could not be recalled and she should have a son ; but no one should see any signs of her pregnancy, and no stigma should attach to her reputation. Her son should reform religion and save the world. She consequently conceived, and in due time a son was born to her on Monday, the day of the full moon, in the month of Jeth, 1455, of the Vikramaditya era, corresponding to A.D. 1398. [3]She exposed
- ↑ This and the preceding line are also translated—
It is Rāmānand who knoweth devotion to God ;
It is he who can describe the Perfect Primal Joy. - ↑ This hymn is included in the Ārati, a divine service of the Sikhs when lamps are lit in the evening.
- ↑ For many of the details in this account of Kabir the author is indebted to the work Kabīr Kasauti of the late Lahina Singh of Panjorin the Patiāla State, the Kabīr Manshūr of Sādhu Paramānand (Hindi), the Kavi Charitar (Gujrāti), the Bharat Khanda cha Ararachin Kosh and the Bhakta Vijay of Mahipati (Marathi). The author also acknowledges assistance from inquiries made by Mr. G. H. Radice. of the Indian Civil Service.
