The Weaver of God's Name
Kabir uses his weaver's profession to convey the merits of the practice of Naam. Worldly people weave the cloth of misery, with desires and expectations as the warp and weft, set upon the fame of mind. In return for their work they get paid with births and rebirths and continue their rounds in the cycle of transmigration. Kabir enjoins upon man to weave the cloth of the Lord's Name and earn the 'profit' of union with Him.
Kabir says that surat (the hearing faculty of the soul) and nirat (the seeing faculty of the soul) are the two pegs that hold the frame; knowledge is the processed yarn with which the shuttle is loaded; repetition is the dabber with which one cleans and applies starch to the warp; and realization or inner spiritual experience is the beater or wire comb that removes the twists and knots from the yam.
Through such weaving Kabir has overcome his wayward mind and its wild tendencies and has forever rid himself of the world's misery and delusion. He has realized his true self, earned the wages of the Lord's love and attained the sublime state of truth and bliss.
Lord, I am the weaver of Thy Name;
I weave and reap the profit
Of inner rapport with Thee.
I weave the cloth of Thy Name, O Lord.
I have firmly strung my loom
With ten hundred threads;
The sun and moon
I hold as my witness.
Endlessly I count Thy Name
And take it as my wages;
I gently deposit it
Within the lotus of my heart.
I am the weaver of Thy Name.
Surat and nirat are the two pegs
That hold the frame of my loom;
Thus I weave with care and discernment
The cloth of Thy Name.
I weave and reap the profit
Of inner rapport with Thee.
The shuttle I have loaded
With the yarn of divine knowledge;
While engaged in such weaving
I realized my own true self.
Sublime and imperishable
Is the wealth I have earned,
And I have gained
The state of perfect peace.
Lord, I am the weaver of Thy Name;
I weave and reap the profit
Of inner rapport with Thee.
In vain men search for Him
In mountains and dales;
Within my body I found Him,
So close to me.
I weave the cloth of the Lord's Name.
Repetition I made the dabber
To clean and purify my mind;
Realization I made the comb
To remove the twists and twirls
That entangled my being.
Thus become immaculate,
I remain absorbed in His love.
Without wandering about,
I earned the gift of love
Within my own home.
I am the weaver of the Lord's Name.
The fruitless toil
Of weaving for the world
Has come to an end;
Evil tendencies have owned defeat;
I have attained
The dazzling state of bliss —
Free from fear, free from pain.
Kabir, Thy slave, thus weaving
Realized supreme truth;
His doubts are dissolved,
His misery, ended.
I am the weaver, O Lord, of Thy Name;
I weave and reap the profit
Of inner rapport with Thee.
K.G., p. 139:288
Terā hari nāmai julāhā
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