Kabir Dohas

Shune Padiya Na Chootiyo Suni Re Jeev Aboojh
Kabir Mari Maidan Mein Kari Indriyan Sun Jhoojh
 

Translation

Liberation comes not in seclusion listen O ignorant jiva
Enter the arena, says Kabir and combat with the senses

My Understanding

In the Hindu tradition sannyasa or renunciation from the material world is considered the final stage of the ashram systems. [The four ashrams being: Brahmcharya (student life),  Grahistha (householder), Vanaprastha (retired) and Sannyasa (renunciation) and each ashram is given 25 years assuming a person will live upto 100 years of age.]  Sannyasa is traditionally taken by those who develop detachment from all material desires (vairagya), become monks (Sannyasins) and are initiated into Sannyasa by a Guru. 

Sannyasa can be taken by men or women who are older than at least 50 years of age (though going by the ashram system logic, the person should be at least 75 years of age) and dedicate the remainder part of their lives to spiritual pursuits. It is expected that such people would have discharged their householder (Grahistha) responsibilities, commitments and fulfilled their financial obligations towards their family. However, with the exception of a few, bulk of such people actually become recluse.

In all the above cases, how many truly get liberated or attain moksha is anybody's guess. 
 
In the guise of the Sannyasa tradition, many young people get disillusioned and actually deceive themselves of "having renounced" leading a life of lethargy and procrastination.  Many get "hooked" to this idea, hallucinate* and become drug addicts, alcoholics and ultimately slaves of their senses.

In the contemporary, work-a-day, competitive life, how many of us simply give up, succumb or surrender primarily due to our own vikaras of lust (kama), anger (krodha), greed (lobha), attachment (moha) and arrogance (ahamkara) that derive from sensory perceptions; and collectively due to corrupt societies and polluted environments thereby degenerating ourselves into the clutches of escapism.

It is with this background that Kabir in this doha declares that one cannot attain liberation or moksha by leading an isolated life while one is enslaved by the vikaras  or if one is living an escapist's life.  Kabir dares us to awaken from this chaotic slumber, become a warrior, enter the battlefield (arena) of life, fight and conquer these vikaras and become the master of one's mind. The deduction thus being that one should aspire to be liberated while living life. 

Through this doha one can also learn to discriminate between inertia and action, between a recluse and a socializer and between a coward and a warrior. 

* In my own life I have had moments of hallucinations, anxiety, fears, lethargy, procrastination with a deep sense of the futility of life.  One such experience is recounted in my brief write up entitled "Interpreting Influence".
 
August 26, 2012


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