Nirgun bhajan (spritual song) by kabir

Sunta hai guru gyaniGagan me awaaz ho rahi hai jheeni jheeniSunta hai guru gyani

Paahi liyayeNaad bindu se peechhe jamaya paani ho jiSab ghat puran guru rahya haiAlakh purush nirvaani ho jiSunta hai guru gyani

Vahaa se aaya pata likhayaTrushna toone bujhaiAmrut chhod chhod vishay ko dhaaveKhol de phaans phansaani ho jiSunta hai guru gyani

Gagan mandal mein koiBoi pe dahi jamayaMakhan makhan santon ne khayaChhar jagat babarani ho jiSunta hai guru gyani

Bin dharti ek ma daal deejeBin taruvar joo paani reGagan mandal me hoye ujiyalaBol guru-mukh baani ho jiSunta hai guru gyani

Oham soham baja bajeTipu ki tham suhani reIda pingala sukhman nariSunatha ja behrani ho jiSunta hai guru gyani

Kahe Kabir suno bhai saadhoJaag agam ke baani reDin bhar re jo nazar bhar dekheAjar amar ho nishani ho ji

Sunta hai guru gyaniGagan me awaaz ho rahi hai jheeni jheeniSunta hai guru gyani

1. Hirana Hirana, samajh bujh ban charanaEk ban charana, duje ban charanaTije ban pag nahi dharanaTije banmein panch paradhiUnake najar nahi padanaPanch hirana, pachis hiraniUnmein ek chatur naToye mar tero mans bikaveTere khalka karenge bichonaKahe Kabira ji suno bhai sadhoGuruke charan chit dharana

Using the metaphor of predator and prey Kabir speaks about the virtues of wisdom, spiritualism and the vice of temptation. Describing man as if it is a deer, Kabir calls the three areas as different forests. For the deer the first two, i. e. wisdom and spirituality, are safe. The third area, i. e. of temptations, is dangerous and that it is likely to be preyed upon there. It is all illusion, deception there. Five predators – faculties recognised by the sensory organs – occupy that area and it makes the man forget the inner self. Salvation is a process of securing oneself from these predators and this requires a true Guru.

2. Ud jayega hans akela Ud jayega hans akela, jag darshan ka melaJaise pat gire taruvarake, milana bahut duhelaNa janu kidhar girega, lagya pavan ke relaJab hove umar puri, jab chitega hukum hujuriJam ke dut bade majabut, jamase pada jhamelaDas Kabir Harake Gun gave, bahar ko par na paveGuruki karani Guru jayega, cheleki karani chela

In this bhajan, Kabir speaks about the loneliness of the atma (self), the mere-spectacle-nature of the world, and the attributes of the Lord. Calling the atma symbolically a swan Kabir says it will fly all alone. As a falling leaf of a tree gets a stroke of wind nobody will know where it will fall. Same is with the life of the self. According to Kabir, in the conflict with the Death the man has no chances of winning. The Lord alone can rescue the man, but again it all depends on the self. Everybody, including the Guru and the disciple, will go according to their individual doings.

Translation

The Swan Will Fly Away All Alone,Spectacle of the World Will Be a Mere FairAs the Leaf Falls from the TreeIs Difficult to Find

Who Knows Where it Will FallOnce it is Struck with a Gust Of WindWhen Life Span is CompleteThen Listening to Orders, Following Others, Will Be OverThe Messengers of Yama are Very StrongIt's an Entanglement with the YamaServant Kabir Praises the Attributes of the LordHe Finds the Lord SoonGuru Will Go According to His DoingsThe Disciple According to His

3. Shunya Gadh Shunya Gadh Shahar Shahar Ghar BastiKon suta kon jage haiLal hamare ham lalan ketan sota Brahma jage haiJal bich kamal, kamal bich kaliyaBhanvar bas na leta haiIs nagari ke das daravajeJogi pheri nit deta haiTan ki kundi man ka sotaGyan ki ragad lagata haiPanch pachis base ghat bhitarUnaku ghot pilata haiAgan kundse tapasi tapeTapasi tapasa karata haiPancho chela phire akelaAlakh alakh kar japata haiEk apsara same ubhi jiDuji surama ho sare haiTisari rambha sej bichayeParanya nahi kunvara haiParanya pahile putar jayaMat pita man bhaya haiSharan Machinder Gorakh boleEk akhandi dhyaya hai

The composition is by Gorakshnath. Describing the fortress-like structure of human body, Gorakshnath moves ahead in pointing out the chinks in the armour. Two eyes, ears and nostrils each, one mouth, a couple of private organs and a Brahmarandhra – these ten doors allow the enemy to enter into the fortress and the defeat of the self is for sure. A yogi would always guard at these doors. It becomes possible only if the self seeks spiritual wisdom.

4. Kaun Thagava Nagariya Kaun Thagava Nagariya Lutal HoChandan katke banal khatolaTapar dulahin sutal hoUtho sakhiri mang savaro

dulaha mose ruthal hoAye Jamraja palang chadhi baithaNainan asuva tutal hoChar jane mil khat uthainChahu disi dhun dhun uthal hoKahat Kabira suno bhai sadhoJagase nata chutal ho

The Death is the final frontier in the journey of life. Kabir has underlined the same, but in his own way. According to Kabir, the body is like a township, temptations are the robbers who loot the township. The soul is like the bride, while the Lord is the bridegroom. According to Kabir, if the death comes before achieving oneness of the self with the Lord, it is bound to bring in grief. Death is final and inevitable and once it is there the relationship of the self with the earthy world will be over.

5. Nirbhay Nirgun Nirbhay Nirgun Gun Re GaungaMul kamal drudh asan bandhuji, ulati pavan chdhaungaMan mamata ko thir kar launji, pancho tatva milaungaIngala, pingala, sukhaman nadiji, tiraveni par ho nhaungaPanch pachiso pakad mangaunji, ek hi dor lagaungaShunya shikhar par anahad bajeji, rag chhattis sunaungaKahat Kabira suno bhai sadhoji, jit nishan dhuraunga

All his life Kabir insisted on the concept of Koi bole Ram Ram Koi Khudai. In other words, he never espoused any specific form of God or Lord. In fact constant insistence on simplicity and directness, the hatred of all abstractions and philosophising, the ruthless criticism of external religion are his characteristics. For him the Lord is nirgun (one without virtues or attributes). This very philosophy of his is summed up best in this composition of Kabir. He says he will fearlessly sing the attributes of the one without attributes. In this context Kabir once again talks about the body, its structuring out of the five elements, in all twenty-five derivations of the same, three each virtues (sattva, raja and tama) and states (jagruti, svapna and sushupti) are the thirty-six ragas that he says he will sing sitting atop the shunya shikhar, the state where an ascetic reaches oneness of the soul with the universe.

6. Sunata Hai Guru Gyani Sunata Hai Guru GyaniGagan mein avaj ho rahi jhiniPahile aye nad binduse, piche jamaya paniSab ghat puran pur rahya haiAlakh purush nirbaniVahanse aya pata likhayaTrishna to une bujhaiAmrit chod chod vishay ko dhaveUlati kas phasani

Gaganmandalmein gau biyani, bhipe dui jamayaMakhan makhan santone khayaChhach jagat baparaniBin dharati ek mandal diseBin sarovaraju paniGaganmandalmein ho ujiyalaBole gurumukh baniOham, soham baja bajeTrikuti dham suhaniIda, pingala, sukhaman nariSun dhaja phaharaniKahe kabira suno bhai sadhoJai agan ki baniDinbhar re jo najar bhar dekheAjar Amar ho nishani,Ho ji nishani ho ji

Kabir speaks about the process of Yogsadhana in this composition. He has used the term Gagan – the skies – to describe the body. The skies are full of music of salvation. It is coming from shunya or nothing from where the soul has come. The soul gets a name here in this world and then forgets its origins and gets trapped with the illusions of this world. Scholars do not get trapped by the five senses. They keep learning through the Yogsadhana and thus they get the cream of life and the rest have to remain satisfied with the residual milk (here Kabir has used the terms of butter and buttermilk). Once the ascetic reaches the pinnacle of soul searching it is all pure bliss – bliss of knowledge, says Kabir.