Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
A hard heart is not saved just by dying in the holy city of Benaras.
But one who loves the One may die in a place people call cursed. Even there, they carry their whole family across.
This one says a kind heart is holy anywhere.
In Kabir's time, many people believed that dying in the holy city of Baanaaras, also called Varanasi, would save you. They believed dying in a place called Haarhamba would bring bad luck.
Kabir says no. manhu kathor — a hard-hearted person is not saved by dying in the holy city. But har kaa sant, someone who loves the One, even in the place people called cursed, carries their whole family across.
So the place does not make you good or bad. Your heart does. Think of a lamp. It gives light in a palace or in a shed, because the light is in the lamp. Your heart is the holy place you carry with you.
Do you have to be in a special place to be good and kind, or can you be that anywhere?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI