The Narration of Establishing four Gurus

Listen, oh Saint, to this beautiful knowledge. I gave the understanding to the King of Gajthaldesh.

Rai Banke Ji

Rai Banke Ji was His name, to Whom I gave the Sat Shabd. I made Him the Liberator of Souls, so He liberated many.

Sahte Ji

Then I came to the Shilmili Island where I initiated Sahte Ji, one Saint. When He recognised me as His own, I gave Him also the authority to liberate.

Chatur Bhuj

From there, oh Dharam Das, I came to the place where King Chatur Bhuj was living. His country was Darbhanga. Being in the company of Truth, He tested me. When I saw that He was fully in my refuge, I explained to Him the way of doing the devotion, and made Him firm in it. Looking at His determination I initiated Him, as He met me giving up all His ego and illusions. He wasn’t attached to maya, so I gave Him the immortal Naam. To Him also I gave the authority to liberate, which Chatur Bhuj took on, having Love for the Shabd.

Hymn

By accepting the knowledge, the Soul becomes pure, and by accepting Naam, she wakes up. Giving up the limitations of family and the pleasures, the connoisseur gets the good qualities. Chatur Bhuj, Banke Ji, and Sahte Ji, and you are the fourth one – all four of you are Liberators of Souls – I say this for certain.

– Holding your arm, the Souls of Jambu Island can meet me. Kal cannot get those who accept and become firm in the words of the Beloved.

Dharam Das said:

Oh Satguru, You are great Who awoke me, and liberated me from the trap of Kal. I am a servant, the servant of Your servants, and You have cut the trap of Yama for me. My heart is full of happiness, and I cannot describe Your qualities. Blessed is the Jiva who believes in Your Shabd, and fortunate is the one who practises It. I am a sinner, crooked and cruel, who forever remains unconscious as long as my Soul is in illusion. Why did you wake me up? As the result of which good deed did I get Your Darshan? Explain to me: make my mind bloom, oh Lord of the Souls, as the lotus blooms when the sun shines.

_______________

Illustration:

Four Gurus: The four Gurus established by Kabir are Rai Banke Ji, Sahte Ji, Chatur Bhuj and Dharam Das.

Jambu Island: Ancient name for the Indian subcontinent.

A generous plant that fruits abundantly, the jamun [botanical name 'Syzygium cumini,' Sanskrit name 'Jambu'; Editor’s Note] is described in The Mahabharata as a cosmic tree standing to the south of Mount Meru, the axis of the universe. When the ripened fruit of this gigantic tree burst, its juice fell in waterfalls, making a river which becomes the boundaries of a land known as Jambu-dvipa ['dvipa' – peninsula or island, sometimes also translated as 'continent'; Editor’s Note] or the Continent of the Jamun Trees, populated by epic heroes who gained immortality by drinking the juice.

What probably began as a boastful traveler’s tale or nomadic road directions became somehow the name by which ancient Indians identified their location in a mythic space and time, so although the jamun tree receives no ostensible worship, it is still invoked at formal Indian rituals, which always commence with the words: "In the Continent of the Jamun Trees, where the land India lies …"

 The Garden of Life –
An Introduction to the Healing Plants of India,
I. / 10. Jamun (Syzygium cumini),
by Naveen Patnaik

published by Doublebay, November 1993