Kabir Dohas

Kabir baans badaaee boodiaa ieo mutt doobahu koae.
Chandan kae niktae basae baans Sugandh na hoae. ||12||

Translation:

Kabir! The bamboo is drowned in its egotistical pride.
No one should drown like that.
Bamboo also dwells near the sandalwood tree,
but it does not take up its fragrance. ||12||

My Understanding:

Kabir is sharing with us how the intoxication of pride of being tall can cause us to drown in its pride. By drowning Kabir Ji is implying that we are getting all consumed in egoistical superiority complex. This personality complex can result in a feeling of being cut above the rest and carrying a chip on the shoulder. So, in the same sentence he cautions us not to get drowned in that manner with inflated ego. Then in the next sentence he clarifies the outcome of egoistical tendencies with a metaphor of bamboo tree’s inability to imbibe fragrance of sandalwood tree despite when growing near it. The fragrance is symbolic of divine virtues as compassion, humility, kindness, loving and caring nature etc.

So, a question arises how to get rid of ego? The ego is innate in all human beings, so being egoistic feels natural and normal. Besides ego there is also humility in all of us, making us a composite like , that of a ying-yang of ego and humility. Whichever we nurture will grow in us. The person with the egoistic mind lives life with this conviction that he is his own master, who is not answerable to anyone, and free to exercise his freewill. The process of ego depletion starts with the realization that I am the Creator’s creation, and I am answerable to HIM. This crucial realization instills a kind of fear of that Supreme Authority, to whom I am answerable. The collateral effect of this fear is that the reverence wells up within for that Supreme Authority. Reverence and fear jointly nurture humility. As humility is nurtured, ego is subdued, and it starts depleting.

He had shared in the earlier Doha (Salok) the unique characteristic of sandalwood tree that is to impart its fragrance to all the surrounding vegetation. In the next Doha (Salok) under discussion he is sharing the inability of bamboo tree to become fragrant, despite being close to sandalwood tree. The earlier Doha (Salok) with translation is as under:   

Translation:
 
Kabir! The sandalwood tree is nice,
even though it is surrounded by weeds.
(Still) Those who dwell near the sandalwood tree,
become (fragrant) just like the sandalwood tree. ||11||

January 18, 2025

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