J.R Aryan
The maxim, “Man is mortal and name immortal, “has its gist originating from the reality that the good deeds or the bad deeds of a man go to make his name immortal, bothways, in good or bad sense.
As long as the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, shall be remembered, his assassin Nathu Ram Godse’s name shall also survive for a glaring instance of evil. Gandhi ji is being remembered and shall continue to be remembered for his good deeds and contributions for all times to come, while Godse for his crime.
A man becomes a saint when he reaches the climax of his virtues, selfless good and noble deeds, great values and ideals, acts of benefaction and philanthropy simple living and high thinking, noble thoughts and deeds, plain and clean ideology so as to become a living example of preachings and guidance, for the mankind for amity and communal harmony, love and affection, fraternity and brother hood, fellow feeling and sympathy, sublimity and tolerance, true sacrifice and dedication and above all his devotion to the Almighty, the Omni Present and the omniscient, the
creator.
It is this man the saint, the Lord who lives upto eternity, may be even beyond, be he Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Mohd Prophet, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Jesus Christ, Guru Ravi Dass Ji or Sant Kabir Dass Ji usually known as Bhagat Kabir.
India the largest democracy of the world, the land of saints, Sufis, Gurus, Sadhus and Faqirs is an example of unity in diversity. Here all saints, Sufis and Gurus are worshiped and respected by all sections of the society irrespective of their colour, creed, caste or culture which is the invaluable gift the Almighty has bestowed us with.
Sant Kabir ji is one unique saint of his time who not only was but is dear to one and all and shall continue to be so till eternity.
Hailing from a very poor Kabir Panthi, Jullaha family he rose through his virtues and noble deeds amidst many odd’s and challenges of the life and society, encountering many hurdles and impediments to become the core member of every other family of almost all the communities of his time to give a message of humanity and equality, love and affection. He stood for unity, amity, fraternity and uniformity, cooperation communal harmony, equality, selflessness, respect for others, love for religion and humanity’- and for unanimity to fight against hatred, untouchability, crime, sin conspiracy and other ills of the society.
A great poet of his time with every word of his poesy in the form of Dohaas when recited through the cassettes even in this millennium in any type of social or religious functions or at homes or temples and other religious places, he does convey the depth of his inner feelings and the superb ideology to all of us even today to guide us towards truth, righteousness and real success.
At present Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and the entire population of SCs and Kabir Panthis of the country, numbering in crores have enormous love and respect, obeisance and dedication for the great saint and they celebrate his birth day every year with great honour and festivity, pomp and show, dignity and devotion, hustle and bustle, zeal and zest.
The saint had created such an impact in the hearts and minds of his lovers and followers and the common people at large that, it is said, when he died Hindus wanted to cremate him and Muslims wished to bury him and there was a sort of dispute. But just when there was a consensus to share his dead body for last rites separately, they found layers of scattered flowers within the shroud- the body having disappeared altogether. So even after his death he spoke something great and unique, advisible and unprecedented.
It is a long pending desire and aspiration of millions of Indians and also the need of the hour that Sant Kabir Ji’s birthday be declared a National Holiday like that of the other saints. His having been ignored in this regard till now is really a glaring high degree of injustice to the saint and crores of his devotees and followers. His birthday must be declared as a Gazetted Holiday in J and K too.
This shall be the handsome tribute to the great saint, the great poet, and the great reformer although the State Government has declared it as a restricted holiday only.
