Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
So tell me, honestly. Since when were you set above anyone else by birth? Don't spend your one life insisting you are made of finer stuff than your neighbor.
No one is born above anyone else.
This is the Rahao, the "pause" line at the center of the shabad. Kabir speaks straight to a pandit, a learned Brahmin. Brahmins were the family group ranked highest by birth in his time.
He asks: baaman kab kay ho-ay — since when have you been a Brahmin? His challenge is aimed at the idea that birth makes someone better. It is not aimed at any person or any community.
Baaman kahi kahi janam mat kho-ay — do not waste your life saying over and over that you are a Brahmin. Pride about your birth is a blindfold you tie on yourself. Think of a player who keeps bragging about their famous parents and never learns to play.
Kabir came from a family that society ranked low. He speaks with quiet strength.
Why might someone want to believe they were born better than others — and what does that belief cost them?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI