God in my heart

If God be within the mosque, then to whom does this world belong?/If Ram be within the image which you worship upon your pilgrimage, then wh...

If God be within the mosque, then to whom does this world belong?/If Ram be within the image which you worship upon your pilgrimage, then who is there to know what happens without?/Hari is in the East. Allah is in the West./ Look within your heart, for there you will find both Karim and Ram;/All the men and women of the world are His living forms./Kabir is the child of Allah and of Ram: He is my Guru, He is my Pir.

The people of our country agitated over Ayodhya may do well to reflect on the above poem of Kabir, the medieval poet-saint of the 15th Century. His religion was syncretic. He wove together the essence of Hinduism and Islam even as he rejected the empty rituals and dogmas of both the faiths. He was a unique symbol of religious harmony.

Kabir8217;s influence on all liberal movements from medieval times has been considerable. The sect bearing his name came to be known as Kabir-panthi, the spiritual path shown by Kabir. Kabir-panthis follow a strict moral code and are vegetarian. Kabir, meaning 8216;great8217; in Arabic, was born to Muslim parents in Magahar, near Gorakhpur. He belonged to the Julaha caste of weavers.

According to legend, when Kabir was young he wanted to become a disciple of Swami Ramanand, a Vaishnava Brahmin. One day he hid on the steps of the River Ganga where Ramanand used to bathe. By mistake, the swami stepped on the boy and uttered 8216;Ram, Ram!8217; Kabir declared that he had received the mantra of initiation from Ramanand and became his disciple.

In Kabir8217;s time the hybrid Hindu-Muslim cult of Pirs was popular. In one of his pads, Kabir says: My Haj is to the bank of the Gomti river,/where dwells the pitamber yellow-clad Pir./Wah, wah! How well he sings!/The name of Hari is pleasant to my soul./Narad and Sarad wait on Him/And Bibi Kamla Lakshmi sits by His side as His maid/With a garland on my neck and the Name of Ram on my tongue,/Repeating the Name a thousand times, I offer my salam./Says Kabir, I sing the praise of Ram,/Holding both Hindu and Muslim as one.

The poet lashed out at religious bigotry and laid stress on personal experience. Kabir8217;s outspoken views enraged orthodox Brahmins and Kazis. They complained to the Sultan of Delhi, Sikander Lodhi. Kabir refused to bow to the sultan when he was brought before him. After three unsuccessful attempts were made to execute him, Kabir was banished from Kashi on the orders of the sultan.

Till his last breath Kabir was a rebel. When his end was nearing, the poet-saint defied tradition and left Benares for Magahar to die. What difference is there between Benares and the barren Magahar, if God is in my heart, he asked defiantly.