3. His sayings
He would seem never to have promulgated any definite account of his own religion, nor did he write anything himself. He uttered a large number of Sākhis or apothegms which were recorded by his disciples in the Bījak, Sukhanidhān and other works, and are very well known and often quoted by Kabīrpanthis and others. The influence of Kabīr extended beyond his own sect. Nānak, the founder of the Nānakpanthis and Sikhs, was indebted to Kabīr for most of his doctrine, and the Adi-Granth or first sacred book of the Sikhs is largely compiled from his sayings. Other sects such as the Dādupanthis also owe much to him. A small selection of his sayings from those recorded by Bishop Westcott may be given in illustration of their character:
1. Adding cowrie to cowrie he brings together lakhs and crores.
At the time of his departure he gets nothing at all, even his loin-cloth is plucked away.
2. Fire does not burn it, the wind does not carry it away, no thief comes near it; collect the wealth of the name of Rāma, that wealth is never lost.
3. By force and love circumcision is made, I shall not agree to it, O brother. If God will make me a Turk by Him will I be circumcised; if a man becomes a Turk by being circumcised what shall be done with a woman? She must remain a Hindu.
4. The rosaries are of wood, the gods are of stone, the Ganges and Jumna are water. Rāma and Krishna are dead. The four Vedas are fictitious stories.
5. If by worshipping stones one can find God, I shall worship a mountain; better than these stones (idols) are the stones of the flour-mill with which men grind their corn.
6. If by immersion in the water salvation be obtained, the frogs bathe continually. As the frogs so are these men, again and again they fall into the womb.
7. As long as the sun does not rise the stars sparkle; so long as perfect knowledge of God is not obtained, men practise rites and ceremonies.
8. Brahma is dead with Siva who lived in Kāshi; the immortals are dead. In Mathura, Krishna, the cowherd, died. The ten incarnations (of Vishnu) are dead. Machhandranāth, Gorakhnāth, Dattātreya and Vyās are no longer living. Kabīr cries with a loud voice, All these have fallen into the slip-knot of death.
9. While dwelling in the womb there is no clan nor caste; from the seed of Brahm the whole of creation is made.
Whose art thou the Brāhman? Whose am I the Sūdra? Whose blood am I? Whose milk art thou?
Kabīr says, ‘Who reflects on Brahm, he by me is made a Brāhman.’
10. To be truthful is best of all if the heart be truthful. A man may speak as much as he likes; but there is no pleasure apart from truthfulness.
11. If by wandering about naked union with Hari be obtained; then every deer of the forest will attain to God. If by shaving the head perfection is achieved, the sheep is saved, no one is lost.
If salvation is got by celibacy, a eunuch should be the first saved. Kabīr says, ‘Hear, O Man and Brother; without the name of Rāma no one has obtained salvation.’
The resemblance of some of the above ideas to the teaching of the Gospels is striking, and, as has been seen, the story of Kabīr’s birth might have been borrowed from the Bible, while the Kabīrpanthi Chauka or religious service has one or two features in common with Christianity. These facts raise a probability, at any rate, that Kabīr or his disciples had some acquaintance with the Bible or with the teaching of Christian missionaries. If such a supposition were correct, it would follow that Christianity had influenced the religious thought of India to a greater extent than is generally supposed. Because, as has been seen, the Nānakpanthi and Sikh sects are mainly based on the teaching of Kabīr. Another interesting though accidental resemblance is that the religion of Kabīr was handed down in the form of isolated texts and sayings like the Logia of Jesus, and was first reduced to writing in a connected form by his disciples. The fact that Kabīr called the deity by the name of Rāma apparently does not imply that he ascribed a unique and sole divinity to the hero king of Ajodhia. He had to have some name which might convey a definite image or conception to his uneducated followers, and may have simply adopted that which was best known and most revered by them.