Kabir compares a worldly man to the oilman's bullock, which is made to trot in a circle in order to move the oil-extracting gears of the oil press. Its eyes are covered with thick blinders and it is forced to run the press from morning till night with hardly a break. Without devotion for the Lord and without a Master, man is blindly toiling to gain worldly possessions and selfish ends. He has taken upon himself a heavy load of karmas and has to circle the wheel of birth and rebirth to atone for them.

Kabir says that in order to gain happiness man eats the leavings of ghosts — that is, he worships past sages, prophets and holy men who are no more in the physical body. Man also worships stone images and deities and involves himself in a variety of external practices in the hope of attaining salvation. But Kabir says that these are like attempting to cross the turbulent ocean of transmigration by holding onto a dog's tail.

Without the Husband
You have become an oilman's bullock;
You do not sit in the company of Saints,
You pass your entire life in harness.

Without the Husband
You are an oilman's bullock.

You sweat and toil
After your own selfish ends;
You will be swept away by death
Again and again, and suffer
Much pain under Yama's rod.
For love of wealth, wife and son,
For prestige in the state,
You have laid a heavy burden
On your head.

Without the Husband
You are an oilman's bullock.

You have forsaken the Husband,
You have become infatuated
With pleasures of the world;
You are sowing the seeds of sin
In the vain hope of salvation.
Longing for happiness and health,
You eat the leavings of evil spirits.

Without the Husband
You are an oilman's bullock.

You will keep tossing
In the turbulent sea
Of countless species.
Calls Kabir: Listen, O friends,
All your efforts will fail
If you try to go across
Holding onto a dog's tail.

Bijak, Shabd 107
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