5.8: Kabir’s mother punishes him

124. The mother said to Kabir, ‘Bring the scarf and show it to me. If you do not bring it at once, I shall punish you.’

125. He would, however, give her no reply. Keeping his mind steady in the worship of Ram [Rama] he did not recognize the fact that his mother and a noble Brahman had arrived.

126. His mind was entirely taken up with the form and name of God, and so he lost all self-consciousness. His mother became angry and said to her son,

127. ‘In a stupid manner you are sitting here, lovingly worshipping Ram.’ Hearing her say this, the Lord of the Heaven Vaikunth [Vaikuntha] said to the old woman, 128, ‘You have used harsh language with your lips, but you have love for him in your heart. Now take a cane in your hand and punish your son.’

129. Hearing Him say this, Kabir’s mother said, ‘I see nothing with which to whip him.’ God then produced a cane, and put it in her hand.

130. Growing angry she struck Kabir on his back, but he had no bodily consciousness, being lost in the worship of Ram.

131. Now you wise bhaktas, listen to the amusing event that took place. As she continued to strike Kabir on his back, Shri Hari stood outside trembling with the pain.

132. He said to her, ‘You are beating your child, but the welt appears on My back. Now that beating is quite sufficient.’ So said the dark complexioned One.

133. Just as when the edge of an axe strikes the root of a tree, the tree violently trembles, so as she continued punishing the bhakta Kabir, the Saviour of the world trembled.

134. Or as when a child is troubled by some bad person, its mother suffers the pain, so as she continued whipping Kabir with the cane, God trembled with the pain. 135 Or as when an army lessens in number a king becomes depressed; so when this God-loving bhakta was being troubled it was this One, the Merciful to the lowly, who trembled with pain.

136. Or as when a young deer is caught in a trap, the mother deer feels the pain; so in the whipping of His bhakta, God trembled with the pain,

137. Or as when the sea saw the rishi Agasti it trembled in its heart, so the Dweller in the Heaven Vaikunth [Vaikuntha] trembled with pain as the mother continued to beat Kabir.

138. Finally the Husband of Rukmini exclaimed, ‘That is sufficient now, O mother,’ and then the Infinite One added,

139. ‘I went to trouble Bali. I ended in being His doorkeeper. So in the end my deception had its positive result.

140. I have had many noble and pious bhaktas, but no one has ever given me a beating. Now I recognize the fact that the bhakta Kabir is superior to Myself.’

141. Then said the Husband of Sita to Himself, ‘I must show him My visible form, and because I troubled him in the guise of a Brahman, so he did not recognize Me.’