Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
People say the gods live in the leaves, the branches, the flowers.
But if that's so, then tearing them apart is harming the very thing you meant to honor!
This one says: if the holy lives in all living things, treat living things gently.
Kabir uses the worshipper's own beliefs, kindly. Many people then taught that three great gods lived in the plant. Brahma in the leaves. Vishnu in the branches. Shiva in the flowers.
So Kabir asks: if that is true, and you tear them off, whose worship are you doing? Tearing up the plant would harm the very ones you meant to honor.
There is sense in that, and a tender lesson too. You cannot honor the holy by breaking living things. Think of someone who says they love the garden, then pulls up every plant to decorate the table. The words do not match the actions. If the One lives in this growing, breathing world, then caring for life is itself a way of worship.
How might caring for living things — plants, animals — be a way of honoring what's holy?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI