Enumerating some of the different ways people adopt to gain salvation, Kabir points out that these practices do not lead to contact with Naam, essential for attaining freedom from the cycle of birth and death. Rejecting all external observances and ritualistic practices, Kabir stresses the importance of the Master, through whose grace the seeker can acquire Naam — the essence of all knowledge — and merge in the Lord.

Seeing the ways of the world,
O Lord, my mind is puzzled.
Hence I keep myself absorbed
Day and night in thought of Thee.

Some read and ponder holy books,
Some wander about indifferent to everything;
Some stay naked even in rain and storm,
Some make themselves feeble and thin
Through intricate yogic practices;
Such people will never merge
Into the Lord's Name.

Seeing their ways, O Lord,
My mind is puzzled.

Some give up all and become mendicants,
Some dole out alms to earn merit;
Some become kalapis and take drugs,
Some take to mantras, some to medicines;
Some control the breath and gain miraculous powers,
Some visit all the pilgrimage places;
Some undertake fasts and austerities
And gain control over their body;
Such people will never develop
True love for the Lord's Name.

Seeing their ways, O Lord,
My mind is puzzled.

Some sit with fires around them
And become dark in the smoke;
None, oh none of them will gain salvation,
Unless they take to the practice of Naam.

My Master gave me true knowledge;
Through his grace I seized the essence
And within myself experienced the truth;
The cycle of old age and death has ended,
And the Lord is pleased with Kabir.

K.G., p. 163:386
Aisau dekhi charit man mohiyo mor

Averse to the Lord,
They are forlorn
Like orphans;
They stray into forests
Dense and dark
And find no way out.

They set their faith
On Vedas and scriptures
Which do not contain
The Truth itself
But dissertate
Upon Reality;
Those who know Truth
Do not bother
With holy books.

They look upon him as God
Who is performing feats
Like an adroit rope-dancer;
But He who plays
Within each body,
Alone is the Lord:
None other counts.

Good or bad, whatever
Be your fate in life,
Try your best, O man,
To attain the Perfect One.

Whose heart is pierced
By the shaft
Of the Master's Word
Knows its pain;
If he not flinch when struck,
The ocean of bliss,
O Kabir, he will attain.

Bijak, Ramaini 68
Tehi viyog te bhae