11th June marks the birth anniversary of Sant Kabirdas.
About Sant Kabirdas (c. fourteenth-fifteenth centuries)
- Place of Birth: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
Key Contributions
- Core Belief: Rejected rituals, casteism, and idol worship; emphasized One God (Nirguna Bhakti).
- Verses scribed to Kabir have been compiled in three distinct but overlapping traditions.
- The Kabir Bijak is preserved by the Kabirpanth (the path or sect of Kabir) in Varanasi and elsewhere in Uttar Pradesh;
- The Kabir Granthavali is associated with the Dadupanth in Rajasthan.
- Many of his compositions are found in the Adi Granth Sahib, compiled by Guru Arjan Dev.
- Kabir’s poems have survived in several languages and dialects:
- Some are composed in the special language of nirguna poets, the sant bhasha.
- Others, known as ulatbansi (upside-down sayings), are written in a form in which everyday meanings are inverted.