संत कबीर Sant Kabir (The Life and Teachings of Sant Kabir)

वाराणशी येथे नीरू नावाचा कष्टाळू व सदाचारी विणकर राहत असे. एके दिवशी पहाटे तलावाजवळ त्याला रडणारे लहान मूल सापडले. त्याने त्याला घरी आणले आणि 'कबीर' असे नाव ठेवले.

In Varanasi, a famous pilgrimage town in Uttar Pradesh, a hardworking and virtuous weaver named Niru lived with his wife; they had no children of their own. One dawn, as Niru went to the village pond, he heard a baby crying and found a small child lying there, weeping. He gently lifted the child to his chest and brought him home, presenting him to his wife as a divine gift. They named the boy Kabir, who would later become a great saint.

कबीरांना शाळेचे शिक्षण मिळाले नाही, पण घरी चांगले वळण लागले. लहानपणापासून ते देवाची भक्ती करत, सर्वांवर प्रेम करत आणि दुसऱ्यांचे दुःख आपले मानून ते दूर करण्यासाठी झटत. मोठे झाल्यावरही श्रीमंत होण्याची त्यांना हाव नव्हती, फक्त पोटापुरते मिळवून रामाची भक्ती करणे हेच त्यांचे ध्येय होते.

Though Kabir received no formal schooling, he was raised with fine values at home. Even as a child, he began worshipping God, was always ready to help anyone, loved everyone, and considered others' suffering his own, striving to relieve it. He grew skilled at weaving, and as he grew older he began earning money too, but he never craved wealth - earning just enough to live on while worshipping Ram was all he cared for. Even while weaving, he never forgot Ram, and people began to know him as a saint.

एके दिवशी कबीर कापड विकायला बाहेर पडले, तेव्हा वाटेत त्यांना चिंध्या घातलेला एक गरीब भिकारी भेटला. दया येऊन त्यांनी निम्मे कापड त्याला दिले, आणि भिकाऱ्याने अजून मागताच उरलेले कापडही देऊन टाकले. रिकाम्या हाताने घरी परतूनही त्यांना खूप समाधान वाटले.

One day, Kabir set out to sell the cloth he had woven, and on the way he came across a poor beggar dressed in mere tattered rags. Seeing this deeply moved Kabir, and he gave half of his cloth to the beggar. When the beggar asked how such a small piece would suffice, Kabir gave him the rest of the cloth as well. Kabir, who had gone to sell cloth in the market, returned home empty-handed - yet he felt immense satisfaction on the way back.

गंगेतीरावरील एका मठात कबीरांना बैराग्यांसोबत दूध दिले गेले, पण त्यांनी ते पिले नाही. विचारता कबीर म्हणाले की मठाबाहेरील उपाशी आंधळ्याला दुधाची जास्त गरज आहे - साधू, आंधळा, राम, रहीम हे सर्व एकच आहेत, आपण सर्व एकाच ईश्वराची लेकरे आहोत, असा भावाचा उपदेश त्यांनी दिला.

Once Kabir visited a monastery on the banks of the Ganges, where a woman was serving milk into the ascetics' begging bowls. Kabir too was given a bowl of milk, but while all the other ascetics drank theirs and emptied their bowls, Kabir's bowl remained full to the brim. When she asked why, Kabir replied, 'There is a hungry blind man sitting outside the monastery; he needs this milk more than I do. A saint or a blind man, Ram or Rahim, they are all one and the same. We are all children of the one God.' Kabir always said that where there is true feeling, there is God; that sincere devotion pleases God; that one should undertake good work and do it well; that one should love everyone; and that one should always speak the truth.