Without This, All Is Worthless — On Guru Kabir Sahib

Jo main piyake man nahin bhaaye
To kaa padosin kaie dulraye
Kahaa chudaa paayal jhamkaaye kahaa bhaye bichuaa thankaaye
Kahaa kaajar sindoor kaie diyyaie solaah singaar kahaa bhaye kiyaie
Anjan manjan karaie thagauree ka pachi maraie thagauree bauree
Jo patibrataa hai naree kaisehi raho so pihayee piyaree
Tan man jeevan saunpee sareeraa taahi sohaagan kahai kabeera

If you cannot win the love of the Lord,
What if you can lord over your neighbour?
What is the good of dressing your hair and donning your feet with jingling jewellery?
What is the value of all your make up with kaajar to your eyelids and vermilion to your forehead and all the efforts to deck yourself, if you are not loyal in your love?
It is all a self-deception and does not touch the Lord at all.
Says Kabir: if you can surrender Your body, mind and heart to the Lord and remain loyal in love to Him, sans make up and ornaments
you will win His favour in whatever state you be!

~ Guru Kabir Sahib

Listener: Acharya Ji, Pranaam! Please elaborate on these lines of Guru Kabir Sahib.

Acharya Prashant: Why do you want me to speak on this? Just keep on reciting these lines over and over again.

Alright! Let’s see what Kabir Sahib is saying. What is he saying? He is saying, “How do you manage to give yourself the right to celebrate?” Kabir Sahib is wondering that how does the ordinary man or woman, when I say, “Man,” I mean person. Have clarified this many a times. It’s just a matter of habit.

How does the ordinary man gather the guts, the dishonest audacity to pretend that as if everything is alright? How do we manage to laugh out so loud? How do we manage to have such ravishing parties? How do we manage to sing and yell? How do we manage to say, “Thumbs up. All is well”?

Wow, that has rhymed!

“How do we manage to sing and yell?
How do we manage to say, ‘Thumbs up, all is well’?”