This song is unusual in that it tells in Kabir’s own voice a popular legend from his life. As Kabir’s popularity and influence grew in Varanasi, the jealous Brahmins plotted to humiliate him. Four of them set out disguised as sages, and invited hundreds of people to a great feast that they said would be given by Kabir. Great crowds gathered at Kabir’s hut on the day of the feast. Kabir himself being a poor weaver could not play host so he ran away to the forest. The day was saved by god Hari himself, who arrived in the guise of many Kabirs, and personally greeted and fed all the guests.
At one level these legends seem to have little historic value. However, scholar David Lorenzen argues, “Legends do not gather around saints and heroes completely at random…. The usually unknown authors of the legends, whether individual or collective, construct the legends on the basis of their own and their listeners’ or readers’ needs, tastes, hopes and desires.”
Most of the legends about Kabir flow out of the low-caste, non-Brahmin current of nirgun bhakti. They manifest the ideology of the poor and powerless, and register protest against their exploitation by the rich and powerful. The legends themselves become active historical forces that reinforce the social resistance of the marginalised community that creates and consumes them.
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Find lyrics/translation of this song at: ajabshahar.com/songs/details/2...
Discover a universe of Bhakti, Sufi, Baul poetry and music at www.ajabshahar.org.
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Meditative and mesmeric - these are the qualities of Mahesha Ram ji’s music. Unhurried and not in an eager rush to please the public, Mahesha Ram ji slows you down, and compels you to step into his rhythm. He belongs to Chhatangadh village near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, and represents the folk style of the Meghwal community, who are the traditional carriers of the poetry of many bhakti poets including Kabir, keeping it alive through a powerful oral tradition.
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Contact Mahesha Ram at +91 99298-76095
Mahesha Ram ji sang this song along with Bhage Khan and the rest of his troupe at the Rajasthan Kabir Yatra, 2012, a week-long travelling festival which toured 7 villages with 13 singers of Bhakti, Sufi and Baul poetry in February 2012. The Yatra was organised by Lokayan in Bikaner (www.lokayan.org) in partnership with the Kabir Project, Bangalore.
This is one of a series of uploads for Ajab Shahar, a webspace dedicated to mystic poem and song, created by the Kabir Project team (www.ajabshahar.org ; www.kabirproject.org).
Song Credits:
Vocals & Tambura: Mahesha Ram
Second Vocals & Tambura: Bhage Khan
Dholak: Anwar Khan
Manjiras: Amolak Ram & Mona Ram
Harmonium: Gillu Khan
Translation: Vidya Rao
Video Credits:
Cameras: Smriti Chanchani & Aarthi Parthasarathy
Sound: Atirek Pandey
Editing: Aarthi Parathasarathy
Editing Support: Radha Mahendru
Sub-Titling: Neha Rajan
Collection: The Kabir Project
Date of Recording:
23 February 2012