Vyas | September, 2002

"Mischief has appeared on land and sea as a result of the evil which men's hands have done. God has ordained it thus for men, so that they may taste the fruit of their own actions and mend their ways." - Quran 30 : 41

	Kabir, the fifteenth century saint-poet

Kabir, the fifteenth century saint-poet of Varanasi who stood for spiritual cleanliness and harmony, minced no words in exposing hypocritical practices observed by the so-called religious men. As an apostle of Hindu-Muslim unity, he reminds both groups of the true wisdom:

"The Hindu God lives at Banaras; the Muslim God at Mecca.
But He who made the world lives not in a city made by hands.
There is one Father of Hindu and Muslim
One God in all matter."

Kabir is well known for his satirical style and acute perception. He speaks about the women who are habitual bathers in the Ganga:

"Look, there goes, after the sacred Ganga-bath
The wretched woman who has impaired her family's image!
Covering her face with the veil of her Sari she glides
Tucking the bag of riches
Obtained from pawning off the property of her husband.
Wearing anklets, girdle and armlets
She is never wary of kicking her husband.
Bathed in Ganga, bathed in Yamuna
She has poured nine mounds of filth.
To be hurtled by a crowd of men at the bathing ghat
And for squandering away the homely wealth
She bathes in the Ganga.
Says Kabir, invoke love of God,
Else your prospects of salvation would be bleak."


For more information, visit the following sites:
Quran: http://www.unn.ac.uk/societies/islamic/quran/naeindex.htm
Kabir: http://www.boloji.com/kabir/
Varanasi/Banaras: http://travel.indiamart.com/uttar-pradesh/varanasi/
Hindu: www.religioustolerance.org/hinduism.htm+Hinduism&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
Muslim: http://www.islamworld.net/
Mecca: http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/sacredplaces/mecca.html
Ganga: http://www.cs.albany.edu/~amit/ganges.html
Sari: http://www.india-crafts.com/textile_products/paithanisaris.html
Yamuna: http://travel.indiamart.com/uttar-pradesh/rivers/yamuna.html
Ghat: http://travel.indiamart.com/uttar-pradesh/temples/varanasi-ghats.html