Songs of Kabir [Paperback]

Rabindranath Tagore (Translator), Andrew Harvey (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2002

The poet Kabir, one of the most intriguing and celebrated personalities in the history of Indian mysticism, lived in the fifteenth century. He was a great religious reformer and left behind an exquisite body of poetry of enlightenment that weaves together the philosophies of Sufism, Hinduism, and the Kabbala. These poems express a wide range of mystical experience, from the loftiest abstractions to the most intimate and personal realization of God, and have become a classic Sufi text.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rabindranath Tagore, the much loved Indian poet and philosopher, won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913. Two years later this translation of the Songs of Kabir was published and introduced these mystical poems to the world outside of India. Now, for the first time.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Weiser Books (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578632498
• ISBN-13: 978-1578632497
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,115,760 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kabir's vision was of the unity of the human and divine, March 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Songs of Kabir (Paperback)

Kabir was born about 1440 (probably), and was a contemporary of the founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak (possibly his mentor). A weaver by trade, and a mystic by nature, his spiritual vision accepted no division between Life and Creator, man and God, as evinced by the following excerpts; "I Laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty: You do not see that the Real is in your home, and you wander...listlessly! Here is the truth! Go where you will...if you do not find your soul, the world is unreal to you." and ..."Kabir says, God is the breath of all breath". Many of these songs contain criticism, not of "worldly" people who lived materialistically, but of renunciates who sought God outside of life and relationships; "The infinite dwelling of the Infinite Being is everywhere: in earth, water, sky, and air...He who is within is without; I see Him and none else". This translation by Tagore also contains allusions to Kabirs' cosmology and essential spiritual practice (absorbtion into the Divine Word or creative power) missing in the naturalistic and minimalistic interpretatations of Robert Bly. The poems, or songs, themselves are remarkably fresh, as if they contained the living inspiration which gave them form, and remain, as it were, untouched by time.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite book ever, January 11, 2004

By 

otterwoman "otterwoman22" (Wappingers Falls, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Songs of Kabir (Paperback)

I first found this book when I was young, 16, and exploring religion in my heart. These poems spoke to me. The relationship with god that is described in the poems is the one I wanted for myself. I have since read other versions of Kabir and many poems by Tagore, but this book remains my one and truest "Bible," which I always have closeby, and read in times of trouble or gladness. Whenever I read these poems I feel at peace and at one with my heart. I can't recommend these beautiful poems highly enough.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Archaic language, often stilted prose, September 21, 2004

By 

Jonathan S. Mark "marjo_wycam" (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Songs of Kabir (Paperback)

Tagore wrote these translations a century ago. The language is often stilted or archaic.

However, I sense that these translations may be truer to the original than Robert Bly's. Indeed, reading these helped me to understand that some language that I thought was Kabir's was actually Bly's. For instance, I was always impressed with the line in Bly's translation that refers to a place "where those who live are not afraid to die."

But in Tagore's translation, that same reference was something to the effect of a place where there is no fear of death. The contrast between the living and the dead was not Kabir's but Bly's.

If I could only read one translation I would read Bly's. But why read only one?