Thaara Rang Mahal Mein – In The Colorful Palace

Poem by: Kabir (1398-1450^*)
Vocal and Tambura: Prahlad Singh Tipaniya

ह्रदय मांही आरसी, और मुख देखा नाहीं जाए
मुख तोह तब ही देखियो, जब दिल की दुविधा जाए
Within the heart, there is a mirror, but can’t see the face
You will only see the face when, doubt goes away from heart

ऊंचे महल चुनावते, ने करते होड़म होड़
ते मंदिर खाली पड़े, सब गये पलक में छोड़
You built high palaces,
scrambled and ran about
The temples empty out –
Everything, gone in a second

आया है सब जाएगा, राजा रंक फ़कीर
कोई सिंहासन चढ़ चले, कोई बंधे ज़ंजीर
All who have come will go
King, beggar or fakir
Some go seated on a throne
Some have to be dragged in chains

सब आया एक ही घाट से, और उतरा एक ही बाट
बीच में दुविधा पड़ गयी, तो हो गये बारह बाट
Everyone came from one place
and took the same road
Half way along, you fell into doubt
Suddenly: twelve roads

घाटे पानी सब भरे, अवघट भरे न कोय
अवघट घाट कबीर का, भरे सो निर्मल होय
They all draw water at the river banks
No one draws where there is no bank
No-bank is the bank of Kabir
The one who draws there, becomes pure

जो तू साचा बानिया, तो साची हाट लगाए
अंतर झाड़ू देई के, यह कचरा देत बहाए
If you’re a true trader
Then set up a true shop
Clean up the inside
And throw out all the trash

रंग महेल में अजब शहर में
आजा रे हंसा भाई
निर्गुण राजा पे सिरगुन सेज बिछाई
In your colorful palace, your wondrous city
Come, my swan brother,
A lovely cover spreads over the formless king

अरे हाँ रे भाई, उना देवलिया में देव नाहीं
झालर कूटे गरज कैसी ?
Oh, yes, my brother
there is no God in that temple
So whats the point
in beating the gong?

अरे हाँ रे भाई, बेहद की तो गम नाहीं
नुगुरा से सेन कैसी ?
Ah yes, my brother,
there is no road to the limitless
What sign will you show
to one without a guru?

अरे हाँ रे भाई, अमृत प्याला भर पाओ
भाईला से भ्रांत कैसी?
Ah yes, my brother
share freely your cup of nectar
Why keep it from your friends?

अरे हाँ रे भाई, कहें कबीर विचार
सेन माहीं, सेन मिली
Ah yes, my friends
Kabir says, think about it
find the sign
in the sign!
(meaning – only you can see the sign – stop asking others to reveal it to you!)

*The years of Kabir’s birth and death are unclear. Some historians favour 8 June 1398 – 3 June 1518 as the period Kabir lived.

Sakal Hans Mein Raam Viraaje – In every soul resides Raam

Song lyrics: Nanak Saheb^† (1794 – 1901)
Vocal and Tambura^*: Prahlad Singh Tipaniya

प्रेम ना बाड़ी उपजे, प्रेम ना हाट बोकाए
बिना प्रेम का मानवा, बंधिया जम पुर जाए
Love doesn’t grow in gardens
Love doesn’t sell in markets
Without love you go
In shackles to the city of death

जा घट प्रेम ना संचरे, सो घट जां मसान
जैसे खाल लोहार की, वो स्वांस लेत बिन प्राण
A body lacking love
Is a cremation ground
Like a blacksmith’s bellows
It breathes without life

प्रेम प्रेम सब कोई कहे, प्रेम ना चीन्हे कोई
घट प्रेम पिंजर बसे, प्रेम कहावे सोई
Love, love, they all say
Yet no one knows what love is!
Love knows no swell or ebb
True love dwells deep within

सकल हंस में राम विराजे
राम बिना कोई धाम नहीं
सब भरमंड में ज्योत का वासा
राम को सुमिरो दूजा नहीं
In every swan-soul – Raam
There’s no abode without Raam
In the whole universe, this light resides
Remember Raam, there is no other

तीन गुण पर तेज हमारा
पांच तत्व पर ज्योत जले
जिनका उजाला चौदह लोक में
सूरत डोर आकाश चढ़े
सकल हंस में राम विराजे..
My light glows in the 3 qualities
It shines on the 5 elements
A radiance pervades 14 worlds
On the string of awareness,
I climb to the sky
In every swan-soul – Raam

नाभी कमल से परख लेना
ह्रदय कमल बीच फिरे मणि
अनहद बाजा बाजे शहर में
ब्रह्मंड पर आवाज़ हुई
सकल हंस में राम विराजे..
From the navel lotus, feel the presence
In the heart lotus, a jewel turns
An unstruck drum resounds in the city
And echoes in the universe
In every swan-soul – Raam

हीरा जो मोती लाल जवाहरत
प्रेम पदारथ परखो यहीं
सांचा मोती सुमर लेना
राम घणी से म्हारी डोर लगी
सकल हंस में राम विराजे..
Diamonds, pearls, rubies, jewels
Discover here the substance of love
Discerning the pure gem – a string
Connects me to my master Raam
In every swan-soul – Raam

गुरु जन (हरि जन) होय तो हेरी लो घट में
बाहर शहर में भटको मती
गुरु परताप नानक साह के वरणे
भीतर बोले कोई दूजो नहीं
सकल हंस में राम विराजे..
If you seek the guru, search in your body
Don’t wander about the city
Nanak describes the guru’s power
It speaks within, there is no other
In every swan-soul – Raam

*The tambura (तानपूरा or tanpura) is a stringed instrument that is played as a drone accompaniment for both folk and classical music of South Asia.

†Very little is known to us about Nanak Saheb, except that he was a Bhakti poet who belonged to the Ravi-Bhan Sampradaya – a stream of the Kabir Panth with a large following in the Gujarat-Saurashtra region. He wrote over 300 such devotional songs during his lifetime.

Raam of Kabir is ‘Nirgun’ which is a Sanskrit word meaning formless, without attributes. 

The Mystic Poet Kabir: 1398-1518 AD

Kabir with Namdeva, Raidas and Pipaji. A 19th-century painting. 

Moko Kahan Dhundhere Bande
Mein To Tere Paas Mein
Na Teerath Mein, Na Moorat Mein
Na Ekant Niwas Mein
Na Mandir Mein, Na Masjid Mein
Na Kaabe Kailas Mein
Mein To Tere Paas Mein Bande
Mein To Tere Paas Mein
Na Mein Jap Mein, Na Mein Tap Mein

Na Mein Barat Upaas Mein
Na Mein Kiriya Karm Mein Rehta
Nahin Jog Sanyas Mein
Nahin Pran Mein Nahin Pind Mein
Na Brahmand Akas Mein
Na Mein Prakuti Prawar Gufa Mein
Nahin Swasan Ki Swans Mein
Khoji Hoye Turat Mil Jaoon
Ik Pal Ki Talas Mein
Kahet  Kabir Suno Bhai Sadho
Mein To Hun Viswas Mein

Translation

Where do you search me?
I am with you
Not in pilgrimage, nor in idols
Neither in solitudes
Not in temples, nor in mosques
Neither in Kaaba nor in Kailash
I am with you O’ man
I am with you
Not in prayers, nor in meditation

Neither in feast or fasting
Not in yogic exercises
Neither in renunciation
Neither in the vital force nor in the body
Not even in the ethereal space
Neither in the womb of nature
Not in the breath of the breath
Seek earnestly and discover
In but a moment of search
Says Kabir, listen O’ seekers
Where your faith is, I am there.