Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
All the outward practices in the world — the chanting, the fasting, the washing, the strict routines —
they only come alive when your heart truly loves the One. Love is what makes any of it real.
Any practice comes alive the moment love is in it.
Kabir lists practices that were common in the faiths around him. Jap is repeating a prayer. Tap is hard discipline for the body. Sanjam is self-control. Barat is fasting. Isnaan is a holy bath. He names them with respect.
Then he asks what they are worth jab lag jugat na jaanee-ai — until you know the real way. That way is bhaa-o bhagat, loving devotion to the One.
His aim is at going through sacred motions with an empty heart. That can happen in any tradition. It is never a swipe at any one faith, or at the practices themselves. Think of saying "sorry" without meaning it, compared with saying it from your heart. Same word, but only one of them is real. Love is the missing piece that turns a practice into a relationship.
When you do something kind, can you feel the difference between doing it because you have to and doing it with love?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI