Ang 1374

Kabeer, the Lord is the Diamond, and the Lord’s humble servant is the jeweller who has set up his shop. As soon as an appraiser is found, the price of the jewel is set. ||162|| Kabeer, you remember the Lord in meditation, only when the need arises. You should remember Him all the time. You shall dwell in the city of immortality, and the Lord shall restore the wealth you lost. ||163|| Kabeer, it is good to perform selfless service for two — the Saints and the Lord. The Lord is the Giver of liberation, and the Saint inspires us to chant the Naam. ||164|| Kabeer, the crowds follow the path which the Pandits, the religious scholars, have taken. There is a difficult and treacherous cliff on that path to the Lord; Kabeer is climbing that cliff. ||165|| Kabeer, the mortal dies of his worldly troubles and pain, after worrying about his family. Whose family is dishonored, when he is placed on the funeral pyre? ||166|| Kabeer, you shall drown, you wretched being, from worrying about what other people think. You know that whatever happens to your neighbors, will also happen to you. ||167|| Kabeer, even dry bread, made of various grains, is good. No one brags about it, throughout the vast country and great empire. ||168|| Kabeer, those who brag, shall burn. Those who do not brag remain carefree. That humble being who does not brag, looks upon the gods and the poor alike. ||169|| Kabeer, the pool is filled to overflowing, but no one can drink the water from it. By great good fortune, you have found it; drink it in handfuls, O Kabeer. ||170|| Kabeer, just as the stars disappear at dawn, so shall this body disappear. Only the letters of God’s Name do not disappear; Kabeer holds these tight. ||171|| Kabeer, the wooden house is burning on all sides. The Pandits, the religious scholars, have been burnt to death, while the illiterate ones run to safety. ||172|| Kabeer, give up your skepticism; let your papers float away. Find the essence of the letters of the alphabet, and focus your consciousness on the Lord. ||173|| Kabeer, the Saint does not forsake his Saintly nature, even though he meets with millions of evil-doers. Even when sandalwood is surrounded by snakes, it does not give up its cooling fragrance. ||174|| Kabeer, my mind is cooled and soothed; I have become God- conscious. The fire which has burnt the world is like water to the Lord’s humble servant. ||175|| Kabeer, no one knows the Play of the Creator Lord. Only the Lord Himself and the slaves at His Court understand it. ||176|| Kabeer, it is good that I feel the Fear of God; I have forgotten everything else. The hail- stone has melted into water, and flowed into the ocean. ||177||

Kabeer, the body is a pile of dust, collected and packed together. It is a show which lasts for only a few days, and then dust returns to dust. ||178|| Kabeer, bodies are like the rising and setting of the sun and the moon. Without meeting the Guru, the Lord of the Universe, they are all reduced to dust again. ||179|| Where the Fearless Lord is, there is no fear; where there is fear, the Lord is not there. Kabeer speaks after careful consideration; hear this, O Saints, in your minds. ||180|| Kabeer, those who do not know anything, pass their lives in peaceful sleep. But I have understood the riddle; I am faced with all sorts of troubles. ||181|| Kabeer, those who are beaten cry a lot; but the cries of the pain of separation are different. Struck by the Mystery of God, Kabeer remains silent. ||182|| Kabeer, the stroke of a lance is easy to bear; it takes away the breath. But one who endures the stroke of the Word of the Shabad is the Guru, and I am his slave. ||183|| Kabeer: O Mullah, why do you climb to the top of the minaret? The Lord is not hard of hearing. Look within your own heart for the One, for whose sake you shout your prayers. ||184|| Why does the Shaykh bother to go on pilgrimage to Mecca, if he is not content with himself? Kabeer, one whose heart is not healthy and whole — how can he attain his Lord? ||185|| Kabeer, worship the Lord Allah; meditating in remembrance on Him, troubles and pains depart. The Lord shall be revealed within your own heart, and the burning fire within shall be extinguished by His Name. ||186|| Kabeer, to use force is tyranny, even if you call it legal. When your account is called for in the Court of the Lord, what will your condition be then? ||187|| Kabeer, the dinner of beans and rice is excellent, if it is flavored with salt. Who would cut his throat, to have meat with his bread? ||188|| Kabeer, one is known to have been touched by the Guru, only when his emotional attachment and physical illnesses are eradicated. He is not burned by pleasure or pain, and so he becomes the Lord Himself. ||189|| Kabeer, it does make a difference, how you chant the Lord’s Name, ‘Raam’. This is something to consider. Everyone uses the same word for the son of Dasrath and the Wondrous Lord. ||190|| Kabeer, use the word ‘Raam’, only to speak of the All-pervading Lord. You must make that distinction. One ‘Raam’ is pervading everywhere, while the other is contained only in himself. ||191|| Kabeer, those houses in which neither the Holy nor the Lord are served — those houses are like cremation grounds; demons dwell within them. ||192||

Kabeer, I have become mute, insane and deaf. I am crippled — the True Guru has pierced me with His Arrow. ||193|| Kabeer, the True Guru, the Spiritual Warrior, has shot me with His Arrow. As soon as it struck me, I fell to the ground, with a hole in my heart. ||194|| Kabeer, the pure drop of water falls from the sky, onto the dirty ground. You must acknowledge this, that without the Sangat, the Holy Congregation, it turns into burnt ashes. ||195|| Kabeer, the pure drop of water falls from the sky, and mixes with the dust. Millions of clever people may try, but they will fail — it cannot be made separate again. ||196|| Kabeer, I was going on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and God met me on the way. He scolded me and asked, “Who told you that I am only there?”||197|| Kabeer, I went to Mecca — how many times, Kabeer? O Lord, what is the problem with me? You have not spoken to me with Your Mouth. ||198|| Kabeer, they oppress living beings and kill them, and call it proper. When the Lord calls for their account, what will their condition be? ||199|| Kabeer, it is tyranny to use force; the Lord shall call you to account. When your account is called for, your face and mouth shall be beaten. ||200|| Kabeer, it is easy to render your account, if your heart is pure. In the True Court of the Lord, no one will seize you. ||201|| Kabeer: O duality, you are mighty and powerful in the earth and the sky. The six Shaastras and the eighty-four Siddhas are entrenched in skepticism. ||202|| Kabeer, nothing is mine within myself. Whatever there is, is Yours, O Lord. If I surrender to You what is already Yours, what does it cost me? ||203|| Kabeer, repeating, “You, You”, I have become like You. Nothing of me remains in myself. When the difference between myself and others is removed, then wherever I look, I see only You. ||204|| Kabeer, those who think of evil and entertain false hopes — none of their desires shall be fulfilled; they shall depart in despair. ||205|| Kabeer, whoever meditates in remembrance on the Lord, he alone is happy in this world. One who is protected and saved by the Creator Lord, shall never waver, here or hereafter. ||206|| Kabeer, I was being crushed like sesame seeds in the oil-press, but the True Guru saved me. My pre-ordained primal destiny has now been revealed. ||207|| Kabeer, my days have passed, and I have postponed my payments; the interest on my account continues to increase. I have not meditated on the Lord and my account is still pending, and now, the moment of my death has come! ||208||