Kabir Jayanti: A day to pledge, stand up against use of power to spread sectarianism

By Bharat Dogra*
Kabir Jayanti (June 14) is being observed at a time when the message of the great saint for inter-faith harmony is really needed in very troubled times. Such a great saint would like to be remembered on his jayanti not in terms of any ceremonies but in terms of real commitment to his everlasting message of true spirituality, love, devotion and inter-faith harmony. In addition Sant Kabir also remains a great inspirational presence for all those who stand up against the false authority of arbitrary use of power to spread sectarianism and to oppress the weak.
Over five centuries after he confronted the most powerful pillars of establishment with truth and courage, Sant Kabir reigns in the hearts of millions as an compromising social reformer and people’s poet with perhaps the widest reach in India.
An additional reason for remembering the weaver poet today is that the community of weavers with whom he is identified so widely has been passing through extremely difficult times in recent years and several voices of distress from the communities of handloom weavers have been saying that if they are not helped on the basis of urgency their livelihoods may be lost forever.
Kabir was a relentless seeker of truth. He clearly saw false values pervading all around him in society, promoted by the more powerful people, and he exposed and criticized these all the time, while seeking the path of truth. He was a very free thinker and he protected this freedom all his life in the middle of many difficulties.
Kabir was one of the most courageous persons of all times, as seen in many episodes of his life. However a very important aspect of his great courage was that it was never used for violence against others but always for peace and for peaceful resistance against injustice and social ills.
The persecution and disaster he faced instead of distracting him took him towards even deeper realization of truth, as in pain and distress he had to engage in even deeper search for solace and support within him. He had an exceptional talent for going to the heart of the matter while ignoring the frivolous or less important aspects. Hence he was able to rise above all narrow and often frivolous debates of his times, based on sects and religions, and focus on the most basic issues.
He was a working class reformer and poet. He continued to earn his living from working as a weaver. Most of his colleagues, friends and followers, also from working and artisan class, continued to combine their daily toil along with spiritual and reformist pursuits.
Poetry came naturally to Kabir and he said his verse in the spoken dialect of his people, never introducing any artificiality in his language and style. Often his verse was in harmony with the tune of the loom on which he was weaving cloth. One of the reasons why it could become so popular and was remembered easily by people was that it came so easily to lips for singing and humming.
The essential message of Kabir is that the most essential task in human life is to devote oneself to the welfare of others and to be compassionate. Life should be simple and based on few needs. This saves our energy and time for pursuing the higher purpose of life.

Excessive pursuit of consumption and luxuries takes us away from the real purpose of life. Intoxicants (liquor, opium etc.) should be entirely avoided. The egoistic tendencies of a person are harmful and should be curbed. We should never be afraid to speak and act against injustice and wrong-doing. Rituals are not necessary at all and are often harmful or silly distractions on which time and effort should not be wasted. The greatness of God is present in all living beings and so one should serve God not by empty rituals but by reducing the distress of all living beings, particularly those who need our help.
To get the strength and courage of living the right life, one should seek to realize the God within us, the God in our hearts, the truth in our hearts, and this is where we get support and solace for our right living, no matter how many difficulties there may be in such a path. It is not at all necessary to renounce family or working life for this, one can realize this righteousness of life and closeness to God while continuing one’s livelihood and family life.
Kabir’s poetry is one of the greatest examples of stating the essential truths of life in down to earth ways. He exposed false values in such cutting-edge ways and by using such living symbols that even his opponents were left speechless. He was a great communicator who used verse that could be sung easily and naturally.
Today we are living in very difficult times in which inter-faith harmony is being disrupted and those who are weak are suffering further from arbitrary exercise of power. Hypocrisy and falsehoods are being used at several levels to suppress truth and justice. Those who stand up for truth and justice are threatened in several ways. In these troubling times the legacy of Sant Kabir is a source of strength for the weak and the oppressed and will always remain so. The earthy wisdom and sky-high courage of Kabir remain a great source of learning as well as education for us even today.
---
The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include ‘A Day in 2071’, ‘Navjeevan’, ‘Man over Machine' and ‘Earth beyond Borders'

Comments

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

Echoes of Vietnam and Chile: The devastating cost of the I-A Axis in Iran

By Ram Puniyani The recent joint military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran have been devastating. Like all wars, this conflict is brutal to its core, leaving a trail of human suffering in its wake. The stated pretext for this aggression—the brutality of the Ayatollah Khamenei regime and its nuclear ambitions—clashes sharply with the reality of the diplomatic landscape. Iran had expressed a willingness to remain at the negotiating table, signaling a readiness to concede points emerging from dialogue.

Authoritarian destruction of the public sphere in Ecuador: Trumpism in action?

By Pilar Troya Fernández The situation in Ecuador under Daniel Noboa's government is one of authoritarianism advancing on several fronts simultaneously to consolidate neoliberalism and total submission to the US international agenda. These are not isolated measures, but rather a coordinated strategy that combines job insecurity, the dismantling of the welfare state, unrestricted access to mining, the continuation of oil exploitation without environmental considerations, the centralization of power through the financial suffocation of local governments, and the systematic criminalization of all forms of opposition and popular organization.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

Search This Blog