Ang 484

AASAA: My daughter-in-law was first called Dhannia, the woman of wealth, but now she is called Raam-jannia, the servant of the Lord. ||1|| These shaven-headed saints have ruined my house. They have caused my son to start chanting the Lord’s Name. ||1|| Pause|| Says Kabeer, listen, O mother: these shaven-headed saints have done away with my low social status. ||2||3||33||

AASAA: Stay, stay, O daughter-in-law — do not cover your face with a veil. In the end, this shall not bring you even half a shell. ||1|| Pause|| The one before you used to veil her face; do not follow in her footsteps. ||1|| The only merit in veiling your face is that for a few days, people will say, “What a noble bride has come”. ||2|| Your veil shall be true only if you skip, dance and sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord. ||3|| Says Kabeer, the soul-bride shall win, only if she passes her life singing the Lord’s Praises. ||4||1||34||

AASAA: I would rather be cut apart by a saw, than have You turn Your back on me. Hug me close, and listen to my prayer. ||1|| I am a sacrifice to You — please, turn Your face to me, O Beloved Lord. Why have You turned Your back to me? Why have You killed me? ||1|| Pause|| Even if You cut my body apart, I shall not pull my limbs away from You. Even if my body falls, I shall not break my bonds of love with You. ||2|| Between You and I, there is no other. You are the Husband Lord, and I am the soul-bride. ||3|| Says Kabeer, listen, O people: now, I place no reliance in you. ||4||2||35||

AASAA: No one knows the secret of God, the Cosmic Weaver. He has stretched out the fabric of the whole world. ||1|| Pause|| When you listen to the Vedas and the Puraanas, you shall know that the whole world is only a small piece of His woven fabric. ||1|| He has made the earth and sky His loom. Upon it, He moves the two bobbins of the sun and the moon. ||2|| Placing my feet together, I have accomplished one thing — my mind is pleased with that Weaver. I have come to understand my own home, and recognize the Lord within my heart. ||3|| Says Kabeer, when my body workshop breaks, the Weaver shall blend my thread with His thread. ||4||3||36||

AASAA: With filth within the heart, even if one bathes at sacred places of pilgrimage, still, he shall not go to heaven. Nothing is gained by trying to please others — the Lord cannot be fooled. ||1|| Worship the One Divine Lord. The true cleansing bath is service to the Guru. ||1|| Pause|| If salvation can be obtained by bathing in water, then what about the frog, which is always bathing in water? As is the frog, so is that mortal; he is reincarnated, over and over again. ||2|| If the hard-hearted sinner dies in Benaares, he cannot escape hell. And even if the Lord’s Saint dies in the cursed land of Haramba, still, he saves all his family. ||3|| Where there is neither day nor night, and neither Vedas nor Shaastras, there, the Formless Lord abides. Says Kabeer, meditate on Him, O mad-men of the world. ||4||4||37||