Dohas By Kabir

Likha likhi ki hai nahi,
dekha dekhi baat
Dulha dulhin mili gaye,
phiki pari barat.

This is not a matter for writing, this is for seeing and experiencing
Once the groom and bride have met, the marriage procession became dull.

Kabir says – God is beyond knowledge, it is intrinsically unknowable. The very effort to know it is a barrier in…[Read more]

Boojh sarikhi bat hain,
kahan sarikhi nahi
Jete gyani dekhiye
tete sansai mahi.

This is a matter of understanding, not about saying
As many wise you see, they are all under grave doubts.

Kabir says we need understanding to realize yourself and Godliness within you.

What is understanding? – Understanding is pure intelligence. That pure…[Read more]

Gyani yukti sunaiya,
ko suni karai vichar
Surdas ki istri,
ka par kare singar.

One should contemplate over what is said by a knowledgeable.
For whom would the wife of a blind decorate herself.

Kabir says that we go to enlighten person. But we never listen to him. We are listening with all kinds of prejudices, that is a wrong way of…[Read more]

Nirjani so kahiye ka,
kahat Kabir lajay
Andhey aage nachte,
kala akarath jaye.

What should be said of an unknown, Kabir is shy in saying
Dancing before a blind, the art also becomes useless.

Why Kabir says I am shy in saying? Because everyone is interested in knowledge but not knowing. Knowledge means of objective world to know others…[Read more]

Nar Nari ke sookh ko,
khansi nahi pahichan
Tyon gyani ke sookh ko,
aagani nahi jan.

The pleasure of men and women, a eunuch can never understand.
So the pleasure of knowledge, a foolish can never know.

Kabir is saying that – Sex is not an ordinary thing. It is one of the most substantial parts of your being. One should not be so unalert…[Read more]

Dooja hain to boliye,
dooja jhagra sohi.
Do andhon ke nach me
ka pai kako mohi.

If there are different Gods, then it can be said, this is root of all quarrels.
In the dance of two blinds, who will get lured or attracted to whom.

Kabir is speaking the difference between Religion and Religions.
The true religion can only be one, just like…[Read more]

Tako lakshan ko kahai,
jako anubhav gyan
Sadh Asadh na dekhiye,
kyon kari karun bakhan.

How can I say the features of Him whose experience is the knowledge
He doesn’t differentiate as saint or wicked, how then can he be described.

Kabir is saying in this Doha for whom doing is knowing. They live their life from experience. One who l…[Read more]

Gyan bhakti vairagya
sukh peev Brahma law dhaye
Aatam anubhav sej sukh,
tahan na dooja jaye.

The happiness of knowledge, devotion and renunciation, takes one near to the God.
But the inner experience makes possible meeting with God where none other can go.

Kabir says that inner journey is a journey of aloneness.

Aloneness is our very…[Read more]

Kaha sikhapna det ho,
samujhi dekh man mahi
Sabai haraf hai dwat mah,
dwat na harfan mahi.

How much I teach you, you understand your mind, All the letters are in the ink pot but the ink pot is not in the letters.

Kabir says that we are identified with the letters created by ink. Ink is not letter means Ink is consciousness, witnessing,…[Read more]

Kagat likhai so kagdi,
Ko vyabhari jeev
Aatam drishti kahan likhai,
Jit dekho tit peev.

What’s written on paper is only a document, it is not a practical experience.
Inner feeling or view is no where written wherever I see I find my loving God.

Kabir in simple words gives distinction between Knowledge and Knowing.

Knowledge and…[Read more]