Saint Kabir’s Immaculate Fabric of the Soul

On the sacred occasion of Saint Kabir’s birth anniversary, let us consider the essence of his teachings and reflect on how we are leading life today.

Saint Kabir was born in the family of a garment weaver. He was not formally educated, but his quest for the Absolute Truth beyond worldly experiences, led him on a spiritual journey. He composed and sang several soul-stirring couplets and poems that reflect his profound understanding of life and the utter bliss of divine devotion that he reveled in.

Kabir has stressed on the importance of leading a simple and straightforward life if one aspires to dwell in God and attain the pinnacle of consciousness. He has emphasized the need to make use of this human embodiment with great care as a gift bestowed by the Almighty.

Through one of his popular poems, Saint Kabir expounds how human life has been woven as an imperceptible tapestry with extreme care. It is a gift from God, to be returned to the Him, unblemished.

Chadariyaa jheeni re jheeni,

Ram naam ras bheeni chadariyaa.

Panch tattva Gun teeni,

Thok thok ke beeni chadariyaa.

Chadariyaa odh sankaa mat kariyo,

Ye do din tum ko deeni.

Murakh log bhed nahi jaane,

Din din maili keeni chadariyaa.

Das Kabir jatan se odhi,

Jyon ki tyon dhari deeni chadariya.

This fine garment, woven with great care,

Dipped in the essence of the Lord’s name.

The fiber of five elements and the pattern of three gunas,

Pressed together in a tight weave.

While wearing this garment, have no doubts,

It’s loaned to you for only two days.

But the foolish do not understand this,

And keep soiling it day by day.

Das Kabir wears it with such care,

Hands it back just as it was gifted to him.

Through this couplet, Saint Kabir throws light on the transient nature of human life. He speaks of the human body-mind mechanism, the most wonderful creation of God. The Supreme Lord has woven a very fine and delicate tapestry (the human body), free of impurities. Here, ‘fine and delicate’ means transparent, smooth, and very thin. In other words, God has used a very refined and subtle yarn, taking around nine to ten months to weave it. Kabir relates the birth of a human being to the knitting of the soul fabric within the human body.

The human body is made up of two layers – the gross physical body and the subtle mental body. Outwardly, we perceive the gross body interacting with the world and accomplishing all tasks. But this is not the complete truth. Consider a motorcycle that is fitted with an outer body of a car around it. When you ride the motorcycle, it would appear to onlookers that you are driving the car. Similarly, the gross physical body is only an earthly vehicle for the expression of your subtle mental body.

Kabir enunciates the importance of human life and proclaims it as the most valuable gift of God. We should remember to return this skillfully and delicately made wrap to God as it is, unblemished and spotless.

In everyday life, we feel frustrated when things don’t work as we’d like, resentful and angry when we are scorned or rejected by people, sometimes dominated by lethargy, despair and hopelessness when situations appear gloomy, we feel hostile to or jealous about those we hate, unstable or indecisive in the face of challenges. All these feelings leave deep impressions in our psyche, polluting our mind.

The human garment becomes stained and dirty when subjected to the sour and bitter experiences of worldly life. The experiences we gather while dealing with people in daily situations, get imprinted on the mind, polluting the mind. Kabir refers to the ‘inner dirt or malice’ which affects the gross body, and in turn, etches upon the subtle body too.

As Kabir says, we do not realize that we are gifted this life only for a short duration. Due to this ignorance, we keep neglecting and polluting it. We indulge in the grime of unnecessary stories about ourselves and others, without bothering about their impact on our subtle body. We repeatedly get involved in insulting acts, blame games, and are ignorant of the harm caused to the subtle body. From childhood till old age, these stains keep growing and there comes a stage when these stains get accumulated layer upon layer on what was once the transparent fabric of the soul.

In his poetic rendering of the truth of life, Kabir continues by saying that this exquisite tapestry is worn by the celestials, by saints, and by human beings alike. But they all invariably have defiled it. Kabir says that Angels-Humans-Ascetics, all used and crumbled the fabric through indulgence. Here, spoiling the fabric implies living a mundane, materialistic, or egoistic life and not rising to higher levels of consciousness.

Angels (or gods) sully the fabric by indulging in sense enjoyments and the intoxication of power. Ascetics spoil the fabric as their ego balloons up with hard penance. Man, too, spoils the fabric by getting entangled in many vices.

We need to develop our awareness of this gift of life and keep the flame of wisdom kindled with us, so that the soul fabric remains spotless. We should perform our deeds with vigilance to avoid staining the subtle body with our attachment and behavioral patterns.

Kabir uses his own personification to convey the ideal for human life. Speaking about his own body-mind, he underscores how a humble devotee of God can wear it, maintaining the sanctity of the wrap scrupulously and meticulously.

A lotus flower lives in muddy waters and yet remains pure and clean. Just like the lotus flower, Kabir too remained untouched by the attractions and delusions of worldly life. He remained immersed in devotion. Only those, who live like a lotus flower, can return their soul fabric in same state as it was received.

Kabir could attain that unblemished and stainless state of his tapestry only when he surrendered himself to his Guru. Devotedly absorbed in Guru bhakti, he was able to keep his tapestry untarnished and spotless. Hence, he could return it to the Lord pure and unblemished, in the pristine state that it was received at birth.

Kabir implores us to move carefully in life and avoid staining the subtle body. None of our feelings, thoughts, words, or deeds should leave stains on our soul fabric. As of today, if our waywardness has stained our soul fabric, we should start removing these stains carefully. Every day, umpteen pattern-cleaning opportunities present themselves to every human being. We should grab these opportunities that life presents us to remove these patterns and make the mind steadfast, obedient, unshakable, and loving.

Live in Self-remembrance. Become aware of your Sanskaras (karmic impressions). Self-remembering leads to Self-abidance, in which lies supreme bliss. This, indeed, would be the rightful tribute to Saint Kabir.

~ Based on the Teachings of Sirshree