[salok] Bhagat Kabeer Jeeo Kae

[lowest of the low singhni]

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh

ਕਬੀਰ ਕਸਉਟੀ ਰਾਮ ਕੀ ਝੂਠਾ ਟਿਕੈ ਨ ਕੋਇ ॥

kabeer kasa-utee raam kee jhoothaa tikai na ko-ay

Kabeer, no one who is false can withstand the Touchstone of the Lord.

ਰਾਮ ਕਸਉਟੀ ਸੋ ਸਹੈ ਜੋ ਮਰਿ ਜੀਵਾ ਹੋਇ ॥੩੩॥

raam kasa-utee so sahai jo mar jeevaa ho-ay

He alone can pass the test of the Lord's Touchstone, who remains dead while yet alive.

“kasa-utee” = touchstone

“jhootha” = false

“tikai” = withstand

“sahai” = pass (the test)

“mar” = dead

“jeeva” = live

Touchstones were stones which were used to test the purity of gold and silver. They were rubbed with the precious metal and the purity was established by the colour of the streak which remained on the touchstone. Here, Bhagat Kabeer Ji uses this concept to depict the test of love for Maharaj – aka Life.

Bhagat Kabeer Ji tells us in this Salok that anyone “false” will not pass the test of their sincere love for Maharaj. When trying to be Grusikhs we should focus on loving Maharaj the way He loves us, and accepting everything He does, thanking Him for everything that happens. Too often we concentrate on avoiding the Jamdoots or going to Sachkhand, although this can sometimes inspire people coming into Sikhi to Jap Naam.

What are the criteria for being “false”? I think this means anything/anyone not in line with Gurmat. We do things for our own materialistic desires, to gain status in the world or to be highly regarded by the people around us. To understand what Gumat is we need to read Gurbani and contemplate on it as much as we can. There’s no point in living if we don’t even know what our Satguru Ji is saying to us.

Maharaj is constantly testing us, giving us opportunities to show our love for Him, if we have any. As Gurbani constantly tells us, Sikhi is not a part-time job. We have to submit to Maharaj’s divine laws completely in order to truly love Him. We can’t think about ourselves at the same time as thinking about Him, because most of us are still in the state of duality, where Maharaj and “us” are separate entities.

The being-dead-whilst-alive scenario is the way to go :D but of course it’s much easier said that done (understatement). Bhagat Kabeer Ji’s mentioned it a lot in the previous couplets to this one.

:

~l~

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh