The Faithful Wife

A disciple who has once accepted the path from a perfect Master does not seek or accept spiritual guidance from anyone else. Once he has taken to the path of divine love, he does not entertain thoughts of others in his heart. Kabir compares the one-pointed devotion of the disciple with the unflinching love of a faithful wife who never even thinks of another man. Like the faithful wife, the disciple looks upon the Lord as the husband, loves Him, longs only for Him and has no desire other than union with Him. Only the Beloved dwells in the disciple's heart, mind and soul; there is no room for anyone or anything else. In the end Kabir says that the loving and faithful disciple attains union with the Lord by merging in Naam.

 

The faithful wife is always happy,
Her only love is her Husband, her Lord;
Filthy is the mind of the adulteress,
Who ignores the One and loves many.

 

K.S.S., p. 27:1

 

Even if the faithful wife
Be ugly and ungainly,
Before her inner beauty and grace
A million beauties of the world
Will fade.

 

K.S.S., p. 27:2

 

The faithful wife adores
Only her Husband,
She is never inclined
To look at others;
The lion cub will starve
But never eat grass.

 

K.S.S., p. 27:3

 

The shell in the sea
Cries out in thirst,
Yet refuses the ocean,
A worthless straw;
It's only the raindrop
It longs for.

 

K.G., p. 15:5

 

Kabir, in my eyes reddened by love
How can collyrium be applied?
Within them dwells my Beloved,
Where is the place for anything else?

 

K.G., p. 14:4

 

Throughout the eight watches
And the sixty-four beats,
I think of you and you alone;
You alone dwell in my eyes,
There is no room for sleep to come.

 

K.S.S., p. 29:26

 

I am the slave of the Mighty One,
No harm can ever come to me;
If the faithful wife went naked,
Her husband would be put to shame.

 

K.G., p. 15:17

 

Enter my eyes, O love,
And instantly I'll close them,
That I do not see others
Nor let you see anyone else.

 

K.G., p. 14:2

 

The hell of separation I accepted,
Hell now holds no terror for me;
The pleasures of heaven I don't want,
Beloved, without Thee.

 

K.G., p. 15:7

 

Her soul has merged into Naam,
Naam's light illumines her heart;
The faithful wife has met her Husband,
Not for the wink of an eye will they part.

 

K.S.S., p. 29:19

 

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