जब ही नाम हिरदय धरा, भया पाप का नाश I
मानो चिंगारी आग कि, पुरी पुरानी घास II
[A small spark can completely burn heaps of grass collected over years. In same way, the name of god, when uttered from the heart, can burn the sins accumulated over years]
Kabir: Just an enlightened being or a master?
Kabir is a master. I remember Osho saying that not all the enlightened persons become master. A master is much more than an enlightened being. What is the difference between a master and an enlightened being? Of course, both of them have attained the truth and both of them are complete. An enlightened person will be a master only when he is able to express what he has experienced.
Rare are the enlightened beings, rarer are the masters. What makes masters so rare? Enlightenment is something beyond words. As they say, the experience does not fall under the comprehensive power of our mind. Hence, it is a difficult task to put this experience in words. There are a few masters who successfully did this task and helped many seekers like us.
Kabir is certainly one of those masters. The two lines of this Kabir Doha, which are our topic of contemplation today are surely a proof of this this ability of Kabir. Today’s two lines describe the power of remembering the god’s name. As this Kabir Doha says, the name of god can destroy all of our sins. Can just the name of God free us from all the sins which have done? If this is true, sinners would be the most relaxed beings around. The funny part is, we can actually find many people around who have committed the gravest of all the sins. What a relief they would get when they read these words of Kabir!
Is it so easy to get rid of your sins? Not really.
Sin and freedom from sins- Some Questions
To understand this Kabir Doha completely, we need to answer many questions. What is sin? Is there anyone to keep the record of sins done by us? Are we punished for the sins we do? What does it mean to be free from the sins?
We should go one by one, otherwise there will be a lot of confusion. What is sin and is there anyone to keep the record of the sins which we are doing? Of course, a record of all the sins that we do is being maintained. Who is maintaining it? God? Priest? The simple answer is, we keep the record of our own sins. We are all are witnesses of our lives. The more sins we do, the more opportunities to sin come up. The more virtuous we try to be, the life gives us more opportunities to be virtuous. The more virtuous we are, more joyful is the life. There is no separate punishment for sinners. They are their own punishment. The more aware we are, the sooner we realize this. A person who has realized this, keeps away from the sins not because he is afraid of punishment but his whole nature is virtuous. He has understood the true value of being virtuous.
Freedom from Sins: The Spark
This Kabir Doha says, when you utter the name of the god, it sets you free from the sins done in the past. On these lines, what is meant by being free from the sins of Past? As we have seen, the mind of a sinner becomes more and more sinful. It is very difficult to free the mind from all the sinful activities and start life afresh, with honesty, love and awareness. When one realizes all this cycle, his mind becomes fresh again, free of all the sins.
We have not spoken anything about how uttering God’s name helps in all this. Uttering the name of Lord is just a symbol-which simply means you care about being an alert and wise human being. It simply means that you are not just for money, wealth, fun and pleasure in life, but for something more. And this clarity, that I am not here only for money and pleasure is the chingari, the fire about which this Kabir Doha is talking. This small realization is like a small spark, which can make us free from all the sins which we might have done years over years or even lives after lives.
Religions make things unnecessarily complex. Religious persons like Kabir make them utterly simple. Religions say that you need a priest and rituals to set yourself free from the sins you have done. Kabir says, no need of priest and the rituals to get rid of your sins, just a realization is enough!
More Dohe of Kabir:
Rare is the birth as a human being
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