This poem is in answer to a pundit of Benares who derided Kabir for his 'low' profession, lack of learning and sacrilegious way of disregarding all orthodox practices. Kabir says that if wearing a thread around the neck is a sign of holiness, then his own house is holy, being full of thread which is put to the good purpose of making cloth. What is the use of merely reading the Vedas and chanting holy mantras if there is no realization of God? A true devotee's mind, heart and soul are constantly absorbed in the Lord.

Kabir says that after wasting his human birth in external pursuits and show of piety, the ritualist has to face the messengers of death. All his pious and formal practices will fail to help in that hour of crisis, and repeating names of the Lord at the last moment will be of no help, for during his lifetime he did nothing to realize the true Name within himself.

The Brahmins are looked upon as teachers and guides on the temporal and religious paths, and as the guardians of man's spiritual future. Kabir says, on a note of sarcasm, that for ages the Brahmins have been driving men like a herd of cows from one ritual to another, from one form of worship to another, but they have never taken them to the opposite shore of the river where the grass is always green — beyond the physical bonds and the limits of mind to the inner regions of bliss. They guide men only for the sake of money, food and gifts; they flatter the rich and mighty and stand as beggars at their doors. But a true devotee is a beggar only at the door of the Lord and begs for nothing except union with Him.

In my house, I constantly weave the thread,
while you wear the thread around your neck,
O Brahmin. (482-11)

You read the Vedas and sacred hymns,
while I have enshrined the Lord of the Universe
in my heart. (482-11)

Upon my tongue, within my eyes, and within my heart,
abides the Lord, the Lord of the Universe. (482-12)

When you are interrogated at Death’s door,
O mad-man, what will you say then? (482-13)

I am a cow, and you are the herdsman,
the Sustainer of the World.
You are my Saving Grace,
lifetime after lifetime. (482-13)

You have never taken me across to graze there –
what sort of a herdsman are you? (482-14)

You are a Brahmin, and I am a weaver of Benares;
can you understand my wisdom? (482-14)

You beg from emperors and kings,
while I meditate on the Lord. (482-15)

Guru Grant Sahib
Ang 482