All of us are aware of saint Kabir and his immortal dohas. It is said that Kabir is one of the most quoted poets of the world. Almost all the intellectuals, lecturers, saints refer to Kabir when they have to explain some difficult spiritual phenomenon in simple words. All of us remember and worship Kabir but very few of us are aware about Kamal, the son of Saint Kabir.
Kamal was not a carbon copy of Saint Kabir
In my mother tongue Marathi, there is a popular proverb which means smaller trees cannot blossom under a giant tree. This proverb if a fact with some exceptions. One of such exceptions is Kamal. Kamal was growing under a giant tree- Kabir. I can imagine, it would have been really difficult to make himself unique and not influenced by Kabir. As Osho says, Kamal has done this Herculean task. He was staying in same house with Kabir but still managed to be untouched by his way of thinking. When we look around, very few saints have this fortune where their sons are also standing equally with them on Spiritual plane.
There are many stories where there was an argument between Kabir and Kamal. I am not using the word argument in common sense. It was a different kind of argument, between two enlightened saints.
Kamal: son of Kabir, not a disciple
Kabir never used to accept anything from visitors who used to visit him. Many people used to come to him and offer him different things like money, gold, diamonds and even fruits. It is said that Kabir never accepted any of these. Kamal used to accept all the offerings. He never used them, but he accepted them. Kabir objected Kamal on this point. The uniqueness of Kamal is, he boldly told Kabir, “I am you son, not a disciple”
I appreciate this authenticity and this boldness. Kamal moved out from Kabir’s house and stayed in a hut just in front of Kabir’s hut. All the seekers who used to come to visit Kabir visited Kamal.
For me, Kamal is an ideal. He carried within him something that is the most essential for a seeker. As Buddha said, one has to kill his own master. I think, Kamal has lived this principle throughout his life.
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