India GOKabir, the weaver-poet of Varanasi: who he was and where he is remembered
ਭਗਤ ਕਬੀਰ · कबीर
A weaver-mystic of Varanasi whose songs mock priests and mullahs alike; the Guru Granth Sahib keeps his hymns beside the Gurus' own.
Kabir was a 15th-century poet-saint of Varanasi, a weaver by trade, whose short sung verses mock empty ritual in temple and mosque alike. He wrote nothing down himself; his songs were remembered and later gathered in the Bijak, the Kabir Granthawali and the Sikh scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib. When he died, both Hindus and Muslims claimed him as their own, and Sikh scripture keeps his hymns beside the Gurus’ own.
Story
By tradition found as a baby on a lotus in the Lahartara pond and raised by Muslim weavers, he won a Hindu guru, Ramananda, by lying on the ghat steps until the teacher stumbled over him at dawn and cried “Ram!”. He never left the loom and never wrote a line; his songs were remembered and later gathered into the Bijak and the Granth. When he died, the legend says, Hindus and Muslims quarrelled over the body, and found under the shroud only flowers, which they shared.
ਅਵਲਿ ਅਲਹ ਨੂਰੁ ਉਪਾਇਆ ਕੁਦਰਤਿ ਕੇ ਸਭ ਬੰਦੇ
“First Allah created the Light; all people are creatures of His nature. From one Light the whole world arose — who then is good, who bad?”
Guru Granth Sahib, ang 1349
What is known of his life
Almost everything about Kabir comes from tradition rather than records. Even his dates are uncertain: tradition gives his birth as 1398, on the full moon of the month of Jyeshtha, while scholars propose spans from 1398–1448 to 1440–1518. What is clear is the setting: Varanasi in the 15th century.
By the usual account he was found as an infant by the Lahartara pond and raised by a Muslim weaving couple, Niru and Nima. By tradition he never left the loom. He is believed to have become a disciple of Ramananda, a Vaishnava teacher of devotion (bhakti) who taught that God is inside every person and everything; the story of how he won the teacher by lying on the ghat steps is told above.
He died at Maghar, a small town in today’s Sant Kabir Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh. The legend of the shroud ends there: by tradition his followers found only fragrant flowers in place of the body, and made two memorials. Two memorials stand about 100 metres apart in Maghar, a Muslim dargah and a Hindu samadhi.
The poetry
Kabir’s verses are called bani, “utterances”, and they come in two main shapes: songs, and the two-line doha or sakhi (“witness”), a couplet built to stick in the memory. The language is a mixed vernacular called Sadhukkadi, or Panchmel Khichri, borrowing from Khadi boli, Braj, Bhojpuri, Marwari and Awadhi.
He questioned what he regarded as the meaningless and unethical practices of all religions, above all what he saw as wrong in Hinduism and Islam, and his songs mock priests and mullahs alike. His hymn quoted above puts the alternative simply: all people come from one Light.
Three bodies of text carry his work:
- Bijak: the scripture of the Kabir Panth, the community of his followers, which continues today.
- Kabir Granthawali: a collection of his verses and songs.
- Guru Granth Sahib: the Sikh scripture includes his hymns among those of the bhagats (devotional poets), next to the Gurus’ own. See Guru Granth Sahib and Guru Nanak.
Places linked to Kabir
None of these is in the India GO database yet, so there are no visiting details here; they are the places his followers go to.
Kabir Chaura, Varanasi
The locality where his family is believed to have lived, with a math (monastery) that celebrates his life and Niru Tila, which holds the graves of Niru and Nima, his foster parents.
Lahartara, Varanasi
The pond where, by tradition, the infant Kabir was found on a lotus.
Maghar, Uttar Pradesh
The town where he died, with a dargah and a samadhi to him about 100 metres apart: one memorial for each community that claimed him.
❓ FAQ
Who was Kabir Das?
A 15th-century mystic poet and weaver of Varanasi, a figure of the bhakti (devotional) movement, whose verses question what he saw as the empty and unethical practices of all religions.
Was Kabir Hindu or Muslim?
Both communities claimed him after his death. He was raised by Muslim weavers and is believed to have been a disciple of the Hindu teacher Ramananda, while his verses criticise the rituals of both.
Are Kabir’s hymns in the Guru Granth Sahib?
Yes. The Sikh scripture includes his verses among the hymns of the bhagats, devotional poets who were not Sikh Gurus.
Where did Kabir die?
At Maghar in Uttar Pradesh, where a dargah and a samadhi to him stand about 100 metres apart.
What is the Bijak?
The main collection of Kabir’s verses used by the Kabir Panth, the community of his followers.