Religion
Song LXV: O brother! when I was forgetful, my true Guru showed me the Way.
Translated by Rabindranath Tagore, with Evelyn Underhill (1915) · From Songs of Kabir (1915)
O brother! when I was forgetful, my true Guru showed me the Way.
Then I left off all rites and ceremonies, I bathed no more in the holy water:
Then I learned that it was I alone who was mad, and the whole world beside me was sane; and I had disturbed these wise people.
From that time forth I knew no more how to roll in the dust in obeisance:
I do not ring the temple bell:
I do not set the idol on its throne:
I do not worship the image with flowers.
It is not the austerities that mortify the flesh which are pleasing to the Lord,
When you leave off your clothes and kill your senses, you do not please the Lord:
The man who is kind and who practises righteousness, who remains passive amidst the affairs of the world, who considers all creatures on earth as his own self,
He attains the Immortal Being, the true God is ever with him.
Kabîr says: "He attains the true Name whose words are pure, and who is free from pride and conceit."
Cite this poem
MLA
Kabir. “Song LXV: O brother! when I was forgetful, my true Guru showed me the Way.” Translated by Rabindranath Tagore, with Evelyn Underhill. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/kabir/64/.
Chicago
Kabir. “Song LXV: O brother! when I was forgetful, my true Guru showed me the Way.” Translated by Rabindranath Tagore, with Evelyn Underhill. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/kabir/64/.
Read this poem with the Codex →
More by Kabir
- Song XI: I played day and night with my comrades, and now I am greatly afraid.
- Song XXX: On this tree is a bird: it dances in the joy of life
- Song L: The flute of the Infinite is played without ceasing
- Song LXXII: The jewel is lost in the mud, and all are seeking for it;
- Song XCII: The woman who is parted from her lover spins at the spinning wheel.