Raag Bhairao, Shabad (four stanzas with rahau), Bhagat Kabir
The true Mullah, Qazi and Sultan are inner victories — and one Presence fills yogi, Hindu and Muslim alike.
The Arc
A masterpiece of the Bhagat block's interfaith vision. Kabir takes three titles of worldly and religious authority — Mullah, Qazi (judge), Sultan (king) — and re-earns each by inner virtue: the true Mullah battles his own mind and the fear of death; the true Qazi examines and masters himself; the true Sultan conquers his own wandering mind and rules the inner sky. The rahau anchors it all: the One is present, near, not far — quiet the inner noise and find it. The final stanza opens outward into Kabir's signature evenhandedness: yogi ('Gorakh'), Hindu ('Ram'), and Muslim ('one God') each name the sacred, and the one Presence pervades them all. Authority, the hymn insists, is inner; and the One behind every name is a single, all-pervading reality.
Key Vocabulary
Mulaa — a Muslim cleric. Man si-o larai — battles one's own mind. Kaal purakh / maan mardai — breaks the grip of death's fear. Hajoor — present, right-here. Dundar / sundar — disturbing passions / the Beauteous One. Kaajee (Qazi) — a judge. Kaa-i-aa beechaarai — examines the self. Surtaan (Sultan) — king. Du-ay sar — the two arrows (of focused attention). Gagan mandal — the inner sky of awareness. Chhatar — the royal canopy. Gorakh — the yogis' revered master. Raam / Khudaa — the One as named by Hindu / Muslim. Rahi-aa samaa-ay — all-pervading.
Themes and Cross-Connections
This is the twin of 2441 (mind-as-Mecca; Hindu and Muslim, one Lord) and belongs with 2444 (leaving both gatekeepers) as the block's central interfaith witness. Kabir's method — redefining a tradition's honored roles by inner substance rather than outer office — recurs throughout his work and anticipates the Gurus' teaching that the true faqir, the true pandit, the true warrior are all inward achievements. The closing 'one Presence in all names' is among the most-quoted expressions of the GGS's inclusive vision.
For Raag Bhairao
Bhairao's warrior-like intensity is perfect for a hymn of inner conquest — the real battles here are Bhairao-fierce (with the mind, the passions, the fear of death), while the resolution is a serene all-pervading Presence. The raag holds both the fight and the peace.
Translation Notes
— Interfaith (central, sensitive): the hymn names Muslim (Mullah, Qazi, Sultan, 'one God'), yogic ('Gorakh'), and Hindu ('Ram') figures side by side and evenhandedly, honoring each and privileging none; the closing declares the same One pervades all — flagged as a key interfaith text. — Wellbeing: the source's death-combat imagery ('fights with death,' 'Messenger of Death') is rendered as mastering the fear of death and not being ruled by it, avoiding Death-terror. — Bindu (the Qazi stanza's celibacy image, 'loses no seed even in dreams') is rendered for children as complete inner self-mastery/steadiness, dropping the explicit physical reference while keeping the meaning of total self-command. — 'No old age or death' rendered as freedom from the fear of decay, not a literal claim. — The 'two arrows' and 'army in the sky' kept clearly metaphorical (inner focus), never literal violence.
The true Mullah, Qazi and Sultan are inner victories — and one Presence fills yogi, Hindu and Muslim alike.
The Arc
A masterpiece of the Bhagat block's interfaith vision. Kabir takes three titles of worldly and religious authority — Mullah, Qazi (judge), Sultan (king) — and re-earns each by inner virtue: the true Mullah battles his own mind and the fear of death; the true Qazi examines and masters himself; the true Sultan conquers his own wandering mind and rules the inner sky. The rahau anchors it all: the One is present, near, not far — quiet the inner noise and find it. The final stanza opens outward into Kabir's signature evenhandedness: yogi ('Gorakh'), Hindu ('Ram'), and Muslim ('one God') each name the sacred, and the one Presence pervades them all. Authority, the hymn insists, is inner; and the One behind every name is a single, all-pervading reality.
Key Vocabulary
Mulaa — a Muslim cleric. Man si-o larai — battles one's own mind. Kaal purakh / maan mardai — breaks the grip of death's fear. Hajoor — present, right-here. Dundar / sundar — disturbing passions / the Beauteous One. Kaajee (Qazi) — a judge. Kaa-i-aa beechaarai — examines the self. Surtaan (Sultan) — king. Du-ay sar — the two arrows (of focused attention). Gagan mandal — the inner sky of awareness. Chhatar — the royal canopy. Gorakh — the yogis' revered master. Raam / Khudaa — the One as named by Hindu / Muslim. Rahi-aa samaa-ay — all-pervading.
Themes and Cross-Connections
This is the twin of 2441 (mind-as-Mecca; Hindu and Muslim, one Lord) and belongs with 2444 (leaving both gatekeepers) as the block's central interfaith witness. Kabir's method — redefining a tradition's honored roles by inner substance rather than outer office — recurs throughout his work and anticipates the Gurus' teaching that the true faqir, the true pandit, the true warrior are all inward achievements. The closing 'one Presence in all names' is among the most-quoted expressions of the GGS's inclusive vision.
For Raag Bhairao
Bhairao's warrior-like intensity is perfect for a hymn of inner conquest — the real battles here are Bhairao-fierce (with the mind, the passions, the fear of death), while the resolution is a serene all-pervading Presence. The raag holds both the fight and the peace.
Translation Notes
— Interfaith (central, sensitive): the hymn names Muslim (Mullah, Qazi, Sultan, 'one God'), yogic ('Gorakh'), and Hindu ('Ram') figures side by side and evenhandedly, honoring each and privileging none; the closing declares the same One pervades all — flagged as a key interfaith text. — Wellbeing: the source's death-combat imagery ('fights with death,' 'Messenger of Death') is rendered as mastering the fear of death and not being ruled by it, avoiding Death-terror. — Bindu (the Qazi stanza's celibacy image, 'loses no seed even in dreams') is rendered for children as complete inner self-mastery/steadiness, dropping the explicit physical reference while keeping the meaning of total self-command. — 'No old age or death' rendered as freedom from the fear of decay, not a literal claim. — The 'two arrows' and 'army in the sky' kept clearly metaphorical (inner focus), never literal violence.