About the Book

Kabir is among the greatest figures in Indian religious and literary history. As a symbol of secularism and religious tolerance, he is

the medieval counterpart of mahatma Gandhi;
As a poet whose verses enjoy enormous popularity and epitomize folk
wisdom, he prefigures Tyagaraja and Tagore.
Born a lower-caste Muslim weaver, Kabir opposed superstition, empty ritualism and bigotry. His writings were in the language of the common people - the rough and earthy idiom of old Hindi - and these caught the popular imagination so powerfully that his voice gained a remarkable hold within a vast stretch of north India,
From the Punjab to the Deccan.
Charlotte Vaudeville provides, in the first part of the book, Kabir's biography in history and legend, his context, and information about his use of language. The later parts contain excellent modern translations of his verses, as well as brief selections from the verses of his contemporaries. This volume is designed to provide all that is essential to understand and appreciate Kabir in English.

About the Author

Charlotte Vaudeville, an internationally reputed scholar of medieval Indian literature and religion, is Emeritus Professor, University of Paris-Sorbonne-Nouvelle, Paris.

Review of Book

Excerpts from reviews 'A rare example of a book which will be welcomed both by the scholar and the lay reader.'
- Narayani Gupta, Financial Express
'[Vaudeville] has done yeoman service to Kabir studies of the bhakti literature an excellent book'
- Indian Review of Books

CONTENTS

	Foreword	5
	Abbreviations	8
Part One. Introduction		11
1	The discovery of Kabir	11
	1. The Bijak or Eastern Tradition of Kabir's works	20
	2. The Adi Granth of the Sikhs	21
	3. The Kabir-granthavali recension	29
	4. Neo-hinduism and Kabir	21
2	Kabir's biography in history and legend	39
	1. The problem of Kabir's dates	52
	2. Kabir's autobiographical verses	55
3	Kabir and his times	67
	1. Julahas, Buddhists and Naths	67
	2. Sufis in Northern India in Kabir's time	78
	3. Kabir and Ramanand	87
	4. Tantric concepts and languages in Kabir's time	95
	5. The Tantric tradition and Kabir's way to salvation	102
4	Kabir's language and languages	109
	1. Kabir's cryptic language	113
	2. Kabir's own language	118
	3. The conclusion or 'signature'	124
	4. The literary language of the Muslim medieval period	125
	5. Kabir's style	129
Part Two. Selected Verses		131
	Introduction: Kabir and the Kabir vanis	131
	Ramainis in the Bijak	148
	Sabdas in the Bijak	156
Part Three. Sakhis		162
Part Four. Pads		209
Part Five. Sloks of Kabir in the Guru Granth		297
Part Six. Sloks of Sheikh Farid		315
Part Seven. The Bhagats		329
	1. Kabir's Forerunners	329
	Ramanand	329
	Namdev	331
	Trilochan	342
	Sadhna	344
	2. Kabir's Contemporaries	346
	Ravidas	346
	Pipa	353
	Dhanna	354
	Bjikhan	355
	Paramanand	356
	Appendix 1. Bibliography	359
	Appendix 2. Concordance	369
Index		384