Thus we find that
some of Kab?r's finest poems have as their subjects the
commonplaces of Hindu philosophy and religion: the L?l? or Sport of
God, the Ocean of Bliss, the Bird of the Soul, M?y?, the Hundred-
petalled Lotus, and the "Formless Form." Many, again, are soaked
in S?f? imagery and feeling. Others use as their material the
ordinary surroundings and incidents of Indian life: the temple bells,
the ceremony of the lamps, marriage, suttee, pilgrimage, the
characters of the seasons; all felt by him in their mystical aspect,
as sacraments of the soul's relation with Brahma. In many of these
a particularly beautiful and intimate feeling for Nature is shown.
[Footnote: Nos. XV, XXIII, LXVII, LXXXVII, XCVII.]
In the collection of songs here translated there will be found
examples which illustrate nearly every aspect of Kab?r's thought,
and all the fluctuations of the mystic's emotion: the ecstasy,
the despair, the still beatitude, the eager self-devotion, the
flashes of wide illumination, the moments of intimate love.
Pages:
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38