List of Paragraphs

1. Life of Kabīr.

Kabīrpanthi Sect.—A well-known religious sect founded by the reformer Kabīr, who flourished in the fifteenth century, and is called by Dr. Hunter the Luther of India. The sect has now split into two branches, the headquarters of one of these being at Benāres, and of the other at Kawardha, or Dāmākheda in Raipur. Bishop Westcott gives the date of Kabīr’s life as A.D. 1440—1518, while Mr. Crooke states that he flourished between 1488 and 1512. Numerous legends are now told about him; thus, according to one of these, he was the son of a virgin Brāhman widow, who had been taken at her request to see the great reformer Rāmānand. He, unaware of her condition, saluted her with the benediction which he thought acceptable to all women, and wished her the conception of a son. His words could not be recalled, and the widow conceived, but, in order to escape the disgrace which would attach to her, exposed the child, who was Kabīr. He was found by a Julāha or Muhammadan weaver and his wife, and brought up by them. The object of this story is probably to connect Kabīr with Rāmānand as his successor in reformation and spiritual heir; because the Rāmānandis are an orthodox Vaishnava sect, while the Kabīrpanthis, if they adhered to all Kabīr’s preaching, must be considered as quite outside the pale of Hinduism. To make out that Kabīr came into the world by Rāmānand’s act provides him at any rate with an orthodox spiritual lineage. For the same reason[1] the date of Kabīr’s birth is sometimes advanced as early as 1398 in order to bring it within the period of Rāmānand’s lifetime (circa 1300–1400). Another story is that the deity took mortal shape as a child without birth, and was found by a newly-married weaver’s wife lying in a lotus flower on a tank, like Moses in the bulrushes. Bishop Westcott thus describes the event: “A feeling of thirst overcame Nīma, the newly-wedded wife of Nīru, the weaver, as after the marriage ceremony she was making her way to her husband’s house. She approached the tank, but was much afraid when she there beheld the child. She thought in her heart, ‘This is probably the living evidence of the shame of some virgin widow.’ Nīru suggested that they might take the child to their house, but Nīma at first demurred, thinking that such action might give rise to scandal. Women would ask, ‘Who is the mother of a child so beautiful that its eyes are like the lotus?’ However, laying aside all fears, they took pity on the child. On approaching the house they were welcomed with the songs of women, but when the women saw the child dark thoughts arose in their heads, and they began to ask, ‘How has she got this child?’ Nīma replied that she had got the child without giving birth to it, and the women then refrained from asking further questions.” It is at any rate a point generally agreed on that Kabīr was brought up in the house of a Muhammadan weaver. It is said that he became the chela or disciple of Rāmānand, but this cannot be true, as Rāmānand was dead before his birth. It seems probable that he was married, and had two children named Kamāl and Kamāli. Bishop Westcott states[2] that the Kabīr Kasauti explains the story of his supposed marriage by the fact that he had a girl disciple named Loi, a foundling brought up by a holy man; she followed his precepts, and coming to Benāres, passed her time in the service of the saints. Afterwards Kabīr raised two children from the dead and gave them to Loi to bring up, and the ignorant suppose that these were his wife and children. Such a statement would appear to indicate that Kabīr was really married, but after his sect had become important, this fact was felt to be a blot on his claim to be a divine prophet, and so was explained away in the above fashion.

Kabīr

The plain speaking of Kabīr and his general disregard for religious conventions excited the enmity of both Hindus and Muhammadans, and he was accused before the Emperor Sikandar Lodi, by whose orders various attempts were made to kill him; but he was miraculously preserved in each case, until at last the Emperor acknowledged his divine character, asked his forgiveness, and expressed his willingness to undergo any punishment that he might name. To this Kabīr replied that a man should sow flowers for those who had sown him thorns. Bishop Westcott continues:—“All accounts agree that the earthly life of Kabīr came to a close at Maghar, in the District of Gorakhpur. Tradition relates that Kabīr died in extreme old age, when his body had become infirm and his hands were no longer able to produce the music with which he had in younger days celebrated the praises of Rāma.

“A difficulty arose with regard to the disposal of his body after death. The Muhammadans desired to bury it and the Hindus to cremate it. As the rival parties discussed the question with growing warmth Kabīr himself appeared and bade them raise the cloth in which the body lay enshrouded. They did as he commanded, and lo! beneath the cloth there lay but a heap of flowers. Of these flowers the Hindus removed half and burnt them at Benāres, while what remained were buried at Maghar by the Muhammadans.”

2. Kabīr’s teachings.

The religion preached by Kabīr was of a lofty character. He rejected the divine inspiration of the Vedas and the whole Hindu mythology. He taught that there was no virtue in outward observances such as shaving the head, ceremonial purity and impurity, and circumcision among Muhammadans. He condemned the worship of idols and the use of sect-marks and religious amulets, but in all ordinary matters allowed his followers to conform to usage in order to avoid giving offence. He abolished distinctions of caste. He enjoined a virtuous life, just conduct and kindly behaviour and much meditation on the virtues of God. He also condemned the love of money and gain. In fact, in many respects his creed resembles Christianity, just as the life of Kabīr contains one or two episodes parallel to that of Christ. He prescribed obedience to the Guru or spiritual preceptor in all matters of faith and morals. His religion appears to have been somewhat of a pantheistic character and his idea of the deity rather vague. But he considered that the divine essence was present in all human beings, and apparently that those who freed themselves from sin and the trammels of worldly desires would ultimately be absorbed into the godhead. It does not seem that Kabīr made any exact pronouncement on the doctrine of the transmigration of souls and re-birth, but as he laid great stress on avoiding the destruction of any animal life, a precept which is to some extent the outcome of the belief in transmigration, he may have concurred in this tenet. Some Kabīrpanthis, however, have discarded transmigration. Bishop Westcott states that they do believe in the re-birth of the soul after an intervening period of reward or punishment, but always apparently in a human body.