36 verses · ~1 min
सुपने में सांइ मिले
सोवत लिया लगाए
आंख न खोलूं डरपता
मत सपना है जाए
सांइ मेरा बहुत गुण
लिखे जो हृदय माहिं
पियूं न पाणी डरपता
मत वे धोय जाहिं
नैना भीतर आव तू
नैन झांप तोहे लेउं
न मैं देखूं और को
न तेही देखण देउं
नैना अंतर आव तू
ज्यौ हौं नैन झंपेउं
ना हौं देखूं और कूँ
ना तुम देखण देउं
कबीर रेख सिंदूर की
काजर दिया न जाइ
नैनू रमैया रमि रह्या
दूजा कहॉ समाइ
मन परतीत न प्रेम रस
ना इत तन में ढंग
क्या जानै उस पीवसू
कैसे रहसी रंग
अंखियां तो छाई परी
पंथ निहारि निहारि
जीहड़ियां छाला परया
नाम पुकारि पुकारि
बिरह कमन्डल कर लिये
बैरागी दो नैन
मांगे दरस मधुकरी
छकै रहै दिन रैन
सब रंग तांति रबाब तन
बिरह बजावै नित
और न कोइ सुनि सकै
कै सांई के चित
इति
The Poet
कबीर
Kabir
1398 · 1518
To speak of Kabir within the ordinary parameters of literary biography is almost impossible. Born in the fifteenth century to a Muslim weaver's family in the sacred Hindu city of Banaras, he became a voice that refused to be domesticated by any temple, mosque, or scholarly apparatus. Kabir claimed no scripture, no caste, and no sacred language as his exclusive property. He stood at the loom of reality and wove his dohas (devastating two-line couplets) from the raw thread of direct spiritual encounter. His critique was not merely religious but civilizational. He asked with the serene ferocity of an awakened mind why human beings had chosen the architecture of division over the open sky of the divine. Centuries have passed, empires have crumbled, and languages have shifted. Yet, Kabir's couplets are still recited in village squares and debated in universities today. He requires no temple because he built one inside language itself. He is the conscience of the Indian soul.
Paired Painting
Dipak Raga: Folio from a Ragamala Series (Garland of Musical Modes)
This exquisite folio embodies the sublime intersection of visual art and classical Indian music, capturing the inner essence of Dipak Raga. In the traditional system of Indian musical modes, or ragas, Dipak is associated with fire, passion, and the blazing radiance of the sun, traditionally performed during the evening hours to evoke warmth and devotional fervor. The painter translates these auditory and spiritual sensations into a nocturnal palace setting where a noble lord and his beloved are surrounded by numerous lamps and flames, symbolizing the blazing light of the raga. Attendants gracefully tend to the scene, holding vessels of light and fans, while the velvety dark night sky above is punctuated by delicate blossoms and stars. The lyrical inscription across the top preserves the poetic invocation of the musical mode, inviting the viewer into a deeply meditative state of aesthetic and spiritual rapture.
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