( 1440 - 1518 )
The son of a Moslem weaver, Kabir was born in Benares, India. A married householder, he earned his livelihood from weaving and became one of the most influential figures of northern India and has been hailed as the "Father of Hindi literature".
His spiritual growth was equally guided by the Sufi poetry of the great Persian mystics (Rumi among them) and by the Hindu teacher Ramananda. While Kabir converted to Hinduism, all his life Kabir sought to unite the conflicting streams of Muslim and Hindu spirituality. He attracted both Muslim and Hindu disciples and referred to God as both Allah and Rama.
He spoke the language of the ordinary people, infusing it with the brightness of his Realization. In many popular verses, Kabir extols the supreme help afforded by a true Master and praises the devotion in the disciple. He sings of the "dice of love" which are to be cast on the body as the board, according to the throw learned from the Heart-Master.
His following today, called the Kabirpanthir, still numbers
nearly one million adherents. He was also a forerunner of Sikhism, which
was founded by Guru Nanak, his disciple.
Two poems by Kabir: Selections LXVI
and XCVI:
( The Yogi Takes Care * Listen,
My Heart )
from Songs of Kabir
from Translations by Rabindranath Tagore
freely rendered by Ty Koontz
SHREE KABIR ASHRAM, JAMNAGAR, INDIA (above and below)
links
Kabir from Yashwant K. Malaiya's Hindi Poets page
Kabir
Giri's biography
bibliography
A Weaver Named Kabir :
Selected Verses With a Detailed Biographical and Historical
Introduction
Charlotte Vaudeville / Published 1993
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
The Kabir Book :
Forty-Four of the Ecstatic Poems of Kabir
Robert Bly / Paperback / Published 1993
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Poems of Kabir/Audio Cassettes
Kabir, Robert Bly
Audio Cassette / Published 1988
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Songs of Kabir
Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
Paperback / Published 1989
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Sacred Poetry :
Poems of Rumi, the Enlightened Heart,
Poems of Kabir (Sacred Poetry)
by Stephen Mitchell (Reader),
Robert Bly (Translator),
Coleman Barks (Reader)
Audio Cassette Slipcase edition (May 1999)
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Kabir: In the Light of Kriyayoga
J. C. Bhattacharya
Paperback, 198pp.
ISBN: 093713421X
Amrita Fou, June 1997
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Kabir and the Kabir Panth
G. H. Westcott
Hardcover, 112pp.
Coronet Books , January 1986
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Bijak of Kabir
Ahmad Shah
Hardcover / Published 1994
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Couplets from Kabir
G.N. Das / Hardcover
Published 1992
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Kabir and His Followers
F.E. Keay
Hardcover / Published 1995
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Kabir Legends and Ananta-Das's Kabir Parachai
(Suny Series in Hindu Series)
David N. Lorenzen
Paperback / Published 1994
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Love : The First Syllable :
The Mystic Songs of Kabir
(Library for Young Adults)
Pritish Nandy
Hardcover / Published 1983
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Love Songs of Kabir
G.N. Das / Hardcover
Published 1992
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
The Mystical Poems of Kabir
Swami Rama, Robert B. Regli
Paperback / Published 1990
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Ocean of Love :
The Anurag Sagar of Kabir
Paperback / Published 1982
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Songs of Kabir from the Adi Granth
Nirmal Dass
Paperback / Published 1991
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
A Touch of Grace; Songs of Kabir
Shambhala ed. (Shambhala Centaur Editions)
Paperback / Published 1994
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Bhakti in Kabir
Williams Dwyer
Published 1983
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
The Bijak of Kabir
Shukdev Singh, Linda Hess (tr.)
Published 1983
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Bijak of Kabir
Shukdev Singh, Linda Hess (tr.)
Published 1986
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Kabir
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Kabir : The Weaver of God's Name
V.K. Sethi / Published 1986
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Kabir Seven Hundred Sayings
Published 1990
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Kabir: The Apostle of Hindu Muslim Unity
Muhammad Hedayetullah
Hardcover
South Asia Books, January 1989
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Kabir, the way of love and paradox
Rosemary
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Love, the first syllable :
the mystic songs of Kabir in Pritish Nandy's version
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Sayings of Kabir
Kabir
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
Kabir. Vol. 1.
Charlotte Vaudeville
London: Oxford University Press, 1974.
The Vision of Kabir:
Love poems of a 15th century weaver-sage.
Translated and presented by Sehdev Kumar
The fish in the sea is not thirsty :
15 discourses given by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh on the
Songs of Kabir
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
The guest : talks on Kabir :
fifteen spontaneous talks
Rajneesh
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
The path of love : talks on the songs of Kabir
Rajneesh
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
The revolution : discourses on Kabir
Rajneesh
information and order from:
amazon.com
| * | barnes
and noble
(Return to Hinduism Page)
(Return to Visions of Your Likeness)
(Return to DAbase Main Page)