Page 11 - Kanalaamudham Newsletter Vol 6.2021 Final

KANALAAMUDHAM 11 Volume 6/2021

The saint-poet Kabir is one of the most interesting personalities in the history of Indian mysticism. Born
near Benaras, or Varanasi, of Muslim parents in 1440, in early life he became a disciple of the celebrated
15th-century Hindu ascetic Ramananda, a great religious reformer and founder of a sect to which millions

of Hindus still belong.
Kabir's Early Life in Varanasi

Kabir's story is surrounded by contradictory legends that emanate from both Hindu and Islamic sources,
which claim him by turns as a Sufi and a Hindu saint. Undoubtedly, his name is of Islamic ancestry, and

he is said to be the actual or adopted child of a Muslim weaver of Varanasi, the city in which the chief
events of his life took place.
How Kabir Became a Disciple of Ramananda

The boy Kabir, in whom the religious passion was innate, saw in Ramananda his destined teacher; but

knew the chances were slight that a Hindu guru would accept a Muslim as a disciple. He, therefore, hid
on the steps of the Ganges River, where Ramananda came to bathe often; with the result that the master,
coming down to the water, trod upon his body unexpectedly, and exclaimed in his astonishment, "Ram!

Ram!"—the name of the incarnation under which he worshiped God. Kabir then declared that he had
received the mantra of initiation from Ramananda's lips, which admitted him to discipleship. In spite of
the protests of orthodox Brahmins and Muslims, both equally annoyed by this contempt of theological

landmarks, he persisted in his claim.
Ramananda's Influence on Kabir's Life and Works

Ramananda appears to have accepted Kabir, and though Muslim legends speak of the famous Sufi Pir,
Takki of Jhansi, as Kabir's master in later life, the Hindu saint is the only human teacher to whom he

acknowledges indebtedness in his songs. Ramananda, Kabir's guru, was a man of wide religious culture
who dreamed of reconciling this intense and personal Mohammedan mysticism with the traditional
theology of Brahmanism and even Christian faith. It is one of the outstanding characteristics of Kabir's

genius that he was able to fuse these thoughts into one in his poems.
Was Kabir a Hindu or a Muslim?

Hindus called him Kabir Das, but it is impossible to say whether Kabir was Brahmin or Sufi, Vedantist or
Vaishnavite. He is, as he says himself, "at once the child of Allah and of Ram." Kabir was a hater of

religious exclusivism and sought above all things to initiate human beings into liberty as the children of
God. Kabir remained the disciple of Ramananda for years, joining in the theological and philosophical

arguments which his master held with all the great Mullahs and Brahmins of his day. Thus, he became
acquainted with both Hindu and Sufi philosophy.