Let us now hear this Bhajan in the melodious voice of Basavi Mukerji, the Professor cum vocalist of Hindustani Music from Shantiniketan. Our legendary singers like Kumar Gandharwa, Bhimsen Joshi, Kishori Amonkar, Jagjit Singh, Anoop Jalota and several others have sung many of his verses in the form of Bhajans. But alas! When they went for the custody of the body, all that they could find in its place was a heap of flowers…!! The Muslims wished to bury the body in a tomb, the Hindus wanted to cremate him following their religious rites. The last legend about him was that, after his death, his Muslim and Hindu disciples disputed the possession of his body. Kabir passed away at Maghar near Gorakhpur in 1518. It is further said that thereafter, he wandered throughout northern India with his disciples continuing in exile a life of an apostle and a poet of love. Another story speaks of Kabir being brought before Emperor Sikandar Lodi, charged with having possession of divine powers, who banished him from Varanasi in 1495. One of the legends narrates of a beautiful courtesan, who was sent by the Brahmins to tempt Kabir’s virtue. (When you came to this world, people laughed and you criedĭon’t do such deeds which make them laugh when you are gone…!)ĭuring Kabir’s time, Varanasi was the very center of Hindu priestly influence, which subjected him to considerable persecution. ‘Jab tun aayaa jagat mein, log hanse tu royeĪise karni na kari paache hanse sab koye’ One such Doha and its meaning are given below.

He wrote very many words of wisdom, mostly in the form of Dohas, in simple language that is understood by the common man. Kabir always sang the glory of a single God and a single religion. Thus Kabir acquired the wisdom not to have affiliation to any one particular religion. He was considered to be an enlightened person of wide religious culture, who dreamed of reconciling this intense Mohammedan mysticism with the traditional theology of Brahmanism and even Christian faith. Later, he took Guru Ramanand who hailed from south India as his preceptor. Even at a young age, Kabir displayed enormous spiritual affinity. The weaver took the helpless baby under his care and following traditions, named him ‘Kabir’, meaning ‘the great one’. According to legends, he was found floating on a lotus leaf in a tank in Benaras by a Muslim weaver. The life of Kabir is wrapped up in contradictory legends which emanate from Hindu and Islamic sources, which claim him, by turns, as a Sufi or a Hindu saint. The Holy Guru Granth Sahib contains over 500 verses by this venerated saint. He was considered a great poet as well as a mystic. Sant Kabir (1440 -1518 AD) was one of the greatest sons of India, who lived in north India during the period of the Bhakti movement.

Kabir bhajan hindi