A Delicate Sheet
On the importance of purity…. by Kabir
It is very common to find words like path, practice, seeking being used in the context of one’s spiritual journey. While it’s not necessary to get too caught up in the words, it is also important to notice that these words can create a subconscious sense of time and distance from God or Truth that is here and now.
When we have to arrive at a new destination, we need a path.
When we have to learn a new skill, we need practice.
When we have to find something new, we need to seek.
God is here and now. So what need is there for any path or practice or seeking? There is nowhere to go, no skill to acquire, nothing new to find.
And yet God is not our felt reality. So what hides that which is?
It is the dust that covers it up, just as a mirror covered with dust cannot reflect the image. So what is utmost essential is to keep our inner faculties pure and not soil them with the dust of lust, anger, envy and greed.
And the most efficacious means to polish any dust off is through the love of God, who is our own Self, easily approachable through the Name.
This is the essence of this most beautiful song of Kabir.
Here are the lyrics and the translation:
Chadariya jhini re jhini
This body, a delicately woven sheet
Ke Ram nam ras bhini
Dipped in the essence of the name of Ram
Ashtah kamal ka charkha banaya
The spinning wheel made of eight lotus chakras
Panch tattva ki puni
Cotton spun out of the five elements
Nao das maas bunan ko lage
It takes 9-10 months to make the sheet
Murkh maili kinhi
Yet the ignorant soil it right away
Jab mori chaadar ban ghar aye
When my sheet was completed and came home
Rang-rej ko dinhi
It was given to the master-painter (Guru)
Aisa rang ranga rang re le
Who painted such a glorious color
Lal-o-lal kar dinhi
He made it completely red (symbolizing the fire of wisdom)
Chaadar odh sanka mat kariyo
While wearing this cloth, have no doubt
Yeh do din tum ko dinhi
That it is given to you for a very short time
Murkh log bhed nahi jane
Ignorant people don’t understand
Din-din maili kinhi
And day-by-day they soil it
Dhruv Prahlad Sudama ne odhi chaadar re
Dhruv, Prahlad, Sudama wore this cloth elegantly
Shukdev ne nir-mal kinhi
And Shukdev made it pure
Das kabir ne aisi odhi
Kabir wore the cloth in such a way
Jyun ki tyu dhar dinhi
That he laid it down as it was given
Here is a raw, powerful rendition of this song by a folk singer who brings out the mood of this great song. It is also an icing on the cake to see this Muslim singer connect to the soul of the song that is dipped in the essence of the name of Ram: