One Hundred Poems of Kabir/III
III
I. 57. sadhu bhai, jivat hi karo asa
sadhu bhai jivat hi karo asa
jivat samajhe, jivat boojhe, jivat mukti nivaasaa
jiyat karam kee phans n kaati, mooye mukti ki asa
tan chootye jiv milan kahat hai, so sab jhoothi asa
abahun milaa so tabahun milegaa, nahin to jampur baasaa
satt gahe satguru ko cheenhe, satt naam bisvaasa
kahyen Kabir saadhan hitkaari, ham saadhan ke daasaa
O friend! hope for Him whilst you live, know whilst you live, understand whilst you live: for in life deliverance abides.
If your bonds be not broken whilst living, what hope of deliverance in death?
It is but an empty dream, that the soul shall have union with Him because it has passed from the body:
If He is found now, He is found then,
If not, we do but go to dwell in the City of Death.
If you have union now, you shall have it hereafter.
Bathe in the truth, know the true Guru, have faith in the true Name!
Kabir says: "It is the Spirit of the quest which helps; I am the slave of this Spirit of the quest."