When an Indian bride first steps into the house of her in-laws, her mother-in-law asks the bridegroom to present her with a necklace as a token of love and welcome. In this poem, the bride is the devotee who, through spiritual practice, has gone within and met the radiant form of the Master. Devotion is the mother-in-law, through whose suggestion the Master gives the soul-bride the precious necklace of love and surrender. In other words, only on going within, entering the gateway of the inner mansion and meeting the radiant form of the Master does the disciple obtain the blessing of true love and surrender.

Kabir stresses the importance of preserving this rare gift of love through the example of the bride who is deprived of the necklace. The bride in a moment of weakness is swayed by five friends — the five senses — and sinks to the pleasures connected with the three attributes. As a result, the newly acquired gift is lost. The bride bathes in the currents of the three gunas, and when looking in the mirror to apply the auspicious mark of vermilion to her forehead, she discovers that the necklace has been stolen by one of her friends. The devotee succumbs to the pleasures of the senses, and when he tries to concentrate at the eye center he realizes that he has lost the gift of love that is essential for going within.

Kabir also brings out two important aspects of Sant Mat. First, the mother-in-law, devotion, is strict — implying that the path of devotion has to be followed with firmness and that no compromises are permissible. Second, the soul-bride loves her husband but at the same time fears him. Fear is an important, even essential part of divine love and cannot be separated from it. It is not fear of punishment, but fear of offending the one whom the devotee loves.

Concluding the poem, Kabir prays to the Lord to have mercy, forgive the erring soul and enable her to regain her lost treasure.

I have lost my necklace, O friend,
I am sad, I feel ashamed;
My mother-in-law is strict,
And I love yet fear my husband.
I have lost my necklace, O friend.

The string of the Lord's Name
Threaded and held my necklace;
It was studded with rubies
Rich with roseate tints —
Rubies of love and submission;
It was interspersed with jewels —
Jewels that scintillated
With the warmth of devotion.
Between the jewels were pearls
Pure and sparkling as snow —
Pearls aglow with true knowledge.

I have lost that necklace, O friend,
I am sad, I feel ashamed;
My mother-in-law is strict,
And I love yet fear my husband.

My five friends prevailed upon me
To accompany them for a bath
At the confluence of the three streams.
There we bathed and played,
And as I put the vermilion mark
On my forehead
I was stunned:
My necklace was gone!
I felt forlorn and ashamed.
I wondered who could have taken
My precious wealth.

I have lost my necklace, O friend,
I am sad, I feel ashamed,
For my mother-in-law is strict
And I fear my beloved husband.

I have lost my necklace,
I am helpless, I am sad;
Deep is my despair.
I suspect my neighbour is the one
Who stole my necklace so cleverly.

My treasure is lost, I feel ashamed;
My mother-in-law is strict
And I fear my beloved husband.
I have lost my necklace, O friend.

O Kabir's Lord, you who are aware
Of the agony of the three worlds,
You who are the diadem of all —
Have mercy, allay my pain,
Let me my necklace regain!

I have lost my necklace, O friend,
I am sad, I feel ashamed;
My mother-in-law is strict
And I love yet fear my husband.
I have lost my necklace, O friend.

K.G., p. 161:378
Mero hār hirānou main lajāon