[659] From Kabir's acrostic. Macauliffe, VI. pp. 186 and 188. It is possible that this is a later composition.
[660] Macauliffe, vi. pp. 230. 209, 202, 197.
[661] Westcott, l.c. p. 144, "I am the creator of this world.... I am the seed and the tree...all are contained in me—I live within all and all live within me" and much to the same effect. Even in the hymns of the Âdi Granth we find such phrases as "Now thou and I have become one." (Macauliffe, vi. p. 180.)
This identification of Kabir with the deity is interesting as being a modern example of what probably happened in the case of Kṛishṇa. Similarly those who collected the hymns which form the sacred books of the Sikhs and Kabirpanthis repeated the process which in earlier ages produced the Ṛig Veda.
[662] "The Âtmâ mingles with Paramâtmâ, as the rivers flow into the ocean. Only in this way can Paramâtmâ be found. The Âtmâ without Śabda is blind and cannot find the path. He who sees Âtmâ-Râm is present everywhere. All he sees is like himself. There is nought except Brahmâ. I am he, I am the true Kabir." Westcott, p. 168.
[663] The Census of 1901 gives 843,171 but there is reason to think the real numbers are larger.
[664] Consecrated by washing in it wooden sandals supposed to represent the feet of Kabir. It is stated that they believe they eat the body of Kabir at their sacred meal which perhaps points to Christian influence. See Russell, l.c. pp. 239-240.
[665] See Russell, Tribes and Castes of Central Provinces, p. 217, where it is said that some of them are householders.
[666] See especially Macauliffe, The Sikh Religion, six volumes.
[667] Macauliffe, I. p. 82.