Picture a yogi with big earrings, a bag, a begging bowl and a patched coat. Now swap each piece for something inside you. Wear silence as your earrings and carry kindness as your bag. Let deep thinking be your bowl, your own body your coat, and the Naam your support. Rub on wisdom instead of ashes. Make your focused attention the horn you blow. Let go of clinging, walk through the city of your own body, and play your mind like a harp. Hold the five elements steady in your heart and stay calm. Grow a garden of doing right and being kind. At the centre, the Rahao: turned toward the Guru, remembering and self-control become a joy.
Tan-nagree — the 'city of the body,' the inner world
Taarhee — deep, steady meditative calm
Dharam and da-i-aa — righteousness and compassion, the real garden
Themes and Cross-Connections
Turning outer symbols into inner virtues is Kabir's anti-formalism at its most constructive — not just tearing down empty show, but naming what to grow instead. The closing image of a cultivated garden of kindness connects to the Gurbani belief that the teaching is meant to be lived, not worn.
For Raag Raamkalee
This is the yogis' own raag, and Kabir meets them squarely, using each piece of their gear as a teaching about the heart.
Hukumnama
Subject: Turned to the Guru, practice is a joy Preview: earrings of silence, a bag of kindness, ashes of wisdom, a harp of the mind, and a garden of kindness
Today: Picture a yogi with big earrings, a bag, a begging bowl and a patched coat. Now swap each piece for something inside you. Wear silence as your earrings and carry kindness as your bag. Let deep thinking be your bowl, your own body your coat, and the Naam your support. Rub on wisdom instead of ashes. Make your focused attention the horn you blow. Let go of clinging, walk through the city of your own body, and play your mind like a harp. Hold the five elements steady in your heart and stay calm. Grow a garden of doing right and being kind.
Practice this yoga: turned toward the Guru, remembering the One and self-control become a joy.
For today: Pick one kind act today and do it quietly, like watering a garden.
Make right living and compassion your garden.
The Arc
Picture a yogi with big earrings, a bag, a begging bowl and a patched coat. Now swap each piece for something inside you. Wear silence as your earrings and carry kindness as your bag. Let deep thinking be your bowl, your own body your coat, and the Naam your support. Rub on wisdom instead of ashes. Make your focused attention the horn you blow. Let go of clinging, walk through the city of your own body, and play your mind like a harp. Hold the five elements steady in your heart and stay calm. Grow a garden of doing right and being kind. At the centre, the Rahao: turned toward the Guru, remembering and self-control become a joy.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
Turning outer symbols into inner virtues is Kabir's anti-formalism at its most constructive — not just tearing down empty show, but naming what to grow instead. The closing image of a cultivated garden of kindness connects to the Gurbani belief that the teaching is meant to be lived, not worn.
For Raag Raamkalee
This is the yogis' own raag, and Kabir meets them squarely, using each piece of their gear as a teaching about the heart.
Hukumnama
Subject: Turned to the Guru, practice is a joy Preview: earrings of silence, a bag of kindness, ashes of wisdom, a harp of the mind, and a garden of kindness
Today: Picture a yogi with big earrings, a bag, a begging bowl and a patched coat. Now swap each piece for something inside you. Wear silence as your earrings and carry kindness as your bag. Let deep thinking be your bowl, your own body your coat, and the Naam your support. Rub on wisdom instead of ashes. Make your focused attention the horn you blow. Let go of clinging, walk through the city of your own body, and play your mind like a harp. Hold the five elements steady in your heart and stay calm. Grow a garden of doing right and being kind.
Practice this yoga: turned toward the Guru, remembering the One and self-control become a joy.
For today: Pick one kind act today and do it quietly, like watering a garden.