When you meet a Saint, talk to him and listen. Meeting with an unsaintly person, just remain silent. || 1 || O father, if I speak, what words should I utter? Speak such words, by which you may remain absorbed in the Name of the Lord. || 1 || Pause || Speaking with the Saints, one becomes generous. To speak with a fool is to babble uselessly. || 2 || By speaking and only speaking, corruption only increases. If I do not speak, what can the poor wretch do? || 3 || Says Kabeer, the empty pitcher makes noise, but that which is full makes no sound. || 4 || 1 || GOND: When a man dies, he is of no use to anyone. But when an animal dies, it is used in ten ways. || 1 || What do I know, about the state of my karma? What do I know, O Baba? || 1 || Pause || His bones burn, like a bundle of logs; his hair burns like a bale of hay. || 2 || Says Kabeer, the man wakes up, only when the Messenger of Death hits him over the head with his club. || 3 || 2 || GOND: The Celestial Lord is in the Akaashic ethers of the skies, the Celestial Lord is in the nether regions of the underworld; in the four directions, the Celestial Lord is pervading. The Supreme Lord God is forever the source of bliss. When the vessel of the body perishes, the Celestial Lord does not perish. || 1 || I have become sad, wondering where the soul comes from, and where it goes. || 1 || Pause || The body is formed from the union of the five tatvas; but where were the five tatvas created? You say that the soul is tied to its karma, but who gave karma to the body? || 2 || The body is contained in the Lord, and the Lord is contained in the body. He is permeating within all. Says Kabeer, I shall not renounce the Lord's Name. I shall accept whatever happens. || 3 || 3 ||

They tied my arms, bundled me up, and threw me before an elephant. The elephant driver struck him on the head, and infuriated him. But the elephant ran away, trumpeting, "I am a sacrifice to this image of the Lord." || 1 || O my Lord and Master, You are my strength. The Qazi shouted at the driver to drive the elephant on. || 1 || Pause || He yelled out, "O driver, I shall cut you into pieces. Hit him, and drive him on!" But the elephant did not move; instead, he began to meditate. The Lord God abides within his mind. || 2 || What sin has this Saint committed, that you have made him into a bundle and thrown him before the elephant? Lifting up the bundle, the elephant bows down before it. The Qazi could not understand it; he was blind. || 3 || Three times, he tried to do it.

Even then, his hardened mind was not satisfied. Says Kabeer, such is my Lord and Master. The soul of His humble servant dwells in the fourth state. || 4 || 1 || 4 || GOND: It is not human, and it is not a god. It is not called celibate, or a worshipper of Shiva. It is not a Yogi, and it is not a hermit. It is not a mother, or anyone's son. || 1 || Then what is it, which dwells in this temple of the body? No one can find its limits. || 1 || Pause || It is not a house-holder, and it is not a renouncer of the world. It is not a king, and it is not a beggar. It has no body, no drop of blood. It is not a Brahmin, and it is not a Kh'shaatriya. || 2 || It is not called a man of austere self-discipline, or a Shaykh. It does not live, and it is not seen to die. If someone cries over its death, that person loses his honor. || 3 || By Guru's Grace, I have found the Path. Birth and death have both been erased. Says Kabeer, this is formed of the same essence as the Lord. It is like the ink on the paper which cannot be erased. || 4 || 2 || 5 || GOND: The threads are broken, and the starch has run out. Bare reeds glisten at the front door. The poor brushes are scattered in pieces. Death has entered this shaven head. || 1 || This shaven-headed mendicant has wasted all his wealth. All this coming and going has irritated him. || 1 || Pause || He has given up all talk of his weaving equipment. His mind is attuned to the Lord's Name. His daughters and sons have nothing to eat, while the shaven-headed mendicants night and day eat their fill. || 2 || One or two are in the house, and one or two more are on the way. We sleep on the floor, while they sleep in the beds. They rub their bare heads, and carry prayer-books in their waist-bands. We get dry grains, while they get loaves of bread. || 3 || He will become one of these shaven-headed mendicants. They are the support of the drowning. Listen, O blind and unguided Loi: Kabeer has taken shelter with these shaven-headed mendicants. || 4 || 3 || 6 || GOND: When her husband dies, the woman does not cry. Someone else becomes her protector. When this protector dies, he falls into the world of hell hereafter, for the sexual pleasures he enjoyed in this world. || 1 || The world loves only the one bride, Maya. She is the wife of all beings and creatures. || 1 || Pause || With her necklace around her neck, this bride looks beautiful. She is poison to the Saint, but the world is delighted with her. Adorning herself, she sits like a prostitute. Cursed by the Saints, she wanders around like a wretch. || 2 || She runs around, chasing after the Saints. She is afraid of being beaten by those blessed with the Guru's Grace. She is the body, the breath of life, of the faithless cynics. She appears to me like a blood-thirsty witch. || 3 || I know her secrets well - in His Mercy, the Divine Guru met me. Says Kabeer, now I have thrown her out. She clings to the skirt of the world. || 4 || 4 || 7 ||

GOND: When someone's household has no glory, the guests who come there depart still hungry. Deep within, there is no contentment. Without his bride, the wealth of Maya, he suffers in pain. || 1 || So praise this bride, which can shake the consciousness of even the most dedicated ascetics and sages. || 1 || Pause || This bride is the daughter of a wretched miser. Abandoning the Lord's servant, she sleeps with the world. Standing at the door of the holy man, she says, "I have come to your sanctuary; now save me!" || 2 || This bride is so beautiful. The bells on her ankles make soft music. As long as there is the breath of life in the man, she remains attached to him. But when it is no more, she quickly gets up and departs, bare-footed. || 3 || This bride has conquered the three worlds. The eighteen Puraanas and the sacred shrines of pilgrimage love her as well. She pierced the hearts of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu. She destroyed the great emperors and kings of the world. || 4 || This bride has no restraint or limits. She is in collusion with the five thieving passions. When the clay pot of these five passions bursts, then, says Kabeer, by Guru's Mercy, one is released. || 5 || 5 || 8 || GOND: As the house will not stand when the supporting beams are removed from within it, just so, without the Naam, the Name of the Lord, how can anyone be carried across? Without the pitcher, the water is not contained; just so, without the Holy Saint, the mortal departs in misery. || 1 || One who does not remember the Lord - let him burn; his body and mind have remained absorbed in this field of the world. || 1 || Pause || Without a farmer, the land is not planted; without a thread, how can the beads be strung? Without a loop, how can the knot be tied? Just so, without the Holy Saint, the mortal departs in misery. || 2 || Without a mother or father there is no child; just so, without water, how can the clothes be washed? Without a horse, how can there be a rider? Without the Holy Saint, one cannot reach the Court of the Lord. || 3 || Just as without music, there is no dancing, the bride rejected by her husband is dishonored. Says Kabeer, do this one thing: become Gurmukh, and you shall never die again. || 4 || 6 || 9 || GOND: He alone is a pimp, who pounds down his mind. Pounding down his mind, he escapes from the Messenger of Death. Pounding and beating his mind, he puts it to the test; such a pimp attains total liberation. || 1 || Who is called a pimp in this world? In all speech, one must carefully consider. || 1 || Pause || He alone is a dancer, who dances with his mind. The Lord is not satisfied with falsehood; He is pleased only with Truth. So play the beat of the drum in the mind. The Lord is the Protector of the dancer with such a mind. || 2 || She alone is a street-dancer, who cleanses her body-street, and educates the five passions. She who embraces devotional worship for the Lord - I accept such a street-dancer as my Guru. || 3 || He alone is a thief, who is above envy, and who uses his sense organs to chant the Lord's Name. Says Kabeer, these are the qualities of the one I know as my Blessed Divine Guru, who is the most beautiful and wise.

|| 4 || 7 || 10 || GOND: Blessed is the Lord of the World. Blessed is the Divine Guru. Blessed is that grain, by which the heart-lotus of the hungry blossoms forth. Blessed are those Saints, who know this. Meeting with them, one meets the Lord, the Sustainer of the World. || 1 || This grain comes from the Primal Lord God. One chants the Naam, the Name of the Lord, only when he tastes this grain. || 1 || Pause || Meditate on the Naam, and meditate on this grain. Mixed with water, its taste becomes sublime. One who abstains from this grain, loses his honor in the three worlds. || 2 || One who discards this grain, is practicing hypocrisy. She is neither a happy soul-bride, nor a widow. Those who claim in this world that they live on milk alone, secretly eat whole loads of food. || 3 || Without this grain, time does not pass in peace. Forsaking this grain, one does not meet the Lord of the World. Says Kabeer, this I know: blessed is that grain, which brings faith in the Lord and Master to the mind. || 4 || 8 || 11 ||

The ritual sacrifice of horses, giving one's weight in gold to charities, and ceremonial cleansing baths - || 1 || These are not equal to singing the Praises of the Lord's Name. Meditate on your Lord, you lazy man! || 1 || Pause || Offering sweet rice at Gaya, living on the river banks at Benares, reciting the four Vedas by heart; || 2 || Completing all religious rituals, restraining sexual passion by the spiritual wisdom given by the Guru, and performing the six rituals; || 3 || Expounding on Shiva and Shakti - O man, renounce and abandon all these things. Meditate, meditate in remembrance on the Lord of the Universe. Meditate, O Naam Dayv, and cross over the terrifying world-ocean. || 4 || 1 || GOND: The deer is lured by the sound of the hunter's bell; it loses its life, but it cannot stop thinking about it. || 1 || In the same way, I look upon my Lord. I will not abandon my Lord, and turn my thoughts to another. || 1 || Pause || As the fisherman looks upon the fish, and the goldsmith looks upon the gold he fashions; || 2 || As the man driven by sex looks upon another man's wife, and the gambler looks upon the throwing of the dice - || 3 || In the same way, wherever Naam Dayv looks, he sees the Lord. Naam Dayv meditates continuously on the Feet of the Lord. || 4 || 2 || GOND: Carry me across, O Lord, carry me across. I am ignorant, and I do not know how to swim. O my Beloved Father, please give me Your arm. || 1 || Pause || I have been transformed from a mortal being into an angel, in an instant; the True Guru has taught me this. Born of human flesh, I have conquered the heavens; such is the medicine I was given. || 1 || Please place me where You placed Dhroo and Naarad, O my Master. With the Support of Your Name, so many have been saved; this is Naam Dayv's understanding.

|| 2 || 3 || GOND: I am restless and unhappy. Without her calf, the cow is lonely. || 1 || Without water, the fish writhes in pain. So is poor Naam Dayv without the Lord's Name. || 1 || Pause || Like the cow's calf, which, when let loose, sucks at her udders and drinks her milk - || 2 || So has Naam Dayv found the Lord. Meeting the Guru, I have seen the Unseen Lord. || 3 || As the man driven by sex wants another man's wife, so does Naam Dayv love the Lord. || 4 || As the earth burns in the dazzling sunlight, so does poor Naam Dayv burn without the Lord's Name. || 5 || 4 ||

Chanting the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, all doubts are dispelled. Chanting the Name of the Lord is the highest religion. Chanting the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, erases social classes and ancestral pedigrees. The Lord is the walking stick of the blind. || 1 || I bow to the Lord, I humbly bow to the Lord. Chanting the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, you will not be tormented by the Messenger of Death. || 1 || Pause || The Lord took the life of Harnaakhash, and gave Ajaamal a place in heaven. Teaching a parrot to speak the Lord's Name, Ganika the prostitute was saved. That Lord is the light of my eyes. || 2 || Chanting the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, Pootna was saved, even though she was a deceitful child-killer. Contemplating the Lord, Dropadi was saved. Gautam's wife, turned to stone, was saved. || 3 || The Lord, who killed Kaysee and Kans, gave the gift of life to Kali. Prays Naam Dayv, such is my Lord; meditating on Him, fear and suffering are dispelled. || 4 || 1 || 5 || GOND: One who chases after the god Bhairau, evil spirits and the goddess of smallpox, is riding on a donkey, kicking up the dust. || 1 || I take only the Name of the One Lord. I have given away all other gods in exchange for Him. || 1 || Pause || That man who chants "Shiva, Shiva", and meditates on him, is riding on a bull, shaking a tambourine. || 2 || One who worships the Great Goddess Maya will be reincarnated as a woman, and not a man. || 3 || You are called the Primal Goddess. At the time of liberation, where will you hide then? || 4 || Follow the Guru's Teachings, and hold tight to the Lord's Name, O friend. Thus prays Naam Dayv, and so says the Gita as well. || 5 || 2 || 6 || BILAAVAL GOND: Today, Naam Dayv saw the Lord, and so I will instruct the ignorant. || Pause || O Pandit, O religious scholar, your Gayatri was grazing in the fields. Taking a stick, the farmer broke its leg, and now it walks with a limp. || 1 || O Pandit, I saw your great god Shiva, riding along on a white bull.

In the merchant's house, a banquet was prepared for him - he killed the merchant's son. || 2 || O Pandit, I saw your Raam Chand coming too; he lost his wife, fighting a war against Raawan. || 3 || The Hindu is sightless; the Muslim has only one eye. The spiritual teacher is wiser than both of them. The Hindu worships at the temple, the Muslim at the mosque. Naam Dayv serves that Lord, who is not limited to either the temple or the mosque. || 4 || 3 || 7 ||

Meditate on the Lord Mukanday, the Liberator, O people of the world. Without Mukanday, the body shall be reduced to ashes. Mukanday is the Giver of liberation. Mukanday is my father and mother. || 1 || Meditate on Mukanday in life, and meditate on Mukanday in death. His servant is blissful forever. || 1 || Pause || The Lord, Mukanday, is my breath of life. Meditating on Mukanday, one's forehead will bear the Lord's insignia of approval. The renunciate serves Mukanday. Mukanday is the wealth of the poor and forlorn. || 2 || When the One Liberator does me a favor, then what can the world do to me? Erasing my social status, I have entered His Court. You, Mukanday, are potent throughout the four ages. || 3 || Spiritual wisdom has welled up, and I have been enlightened. In His Mercy, the Lord has made this worm His slave. Says Ravi Daas, now my thirst is quenched; I meditate on Mukanday the Liberator, and I serve Him. || 4 || 1 || GOND: Someone may bathe at the sixty-eight sacred shrines of pilgrimage, and worship the twelve Shiva-lingam stones, and dig wells and pools, but if he indulges in slander, then all of this is useless. || 1 || How can the slanderer of the Holy Saints be saved? Know for certain, that he shall go to hell. || 1 || Pause || Someone may bathe at Kuruk-shaytra during a solar eclipse, and give his decorated wife in offering, and listen to all the Simritees, but if he indulges in slander, these are of no account. || 2 || Someone may give countless feasts, and donate land, and build splendid buildings; he may neglect his own affairs to work for others, but if he indulges in slander, he shall wander in countless incarnations. || 3 || Why do you indulge in slander, O people of the world? The emptiness of the slanderer is soon exposed. I have thought, and determined the fate of the slanderer. Says Ravi Daas, he is a sinner; he shall go to hell. || 4 || 2 || 11 || 7 || 2 || 49 Total ||