CHINAR SHADE : THE KAAL CHAKRA KEEPS MOVING .YOU MAY IGNORE IT , OVERLOOK IT BUT ONE DAY IT SHALL COME FOR THAT FINAL HANDSHAKE.

THE WORLD IS A TRANSIT CAMP , PEOPLE KEEP MOVING IN AND OUT.

(photo Avtar Mota )

“SADHO ! YEH MURDON KA GAAON ” ............KABIR

“As each grain of time is destroyed,

The next comes along and brings with it either creation or destruction.

This is the Dance of Shiva “.

The eternal cycle of life and death; birth and re-birth; formation and dissolution is known as the Kaal-Chakra or the 'Wheel of Time'.

In this Bhajan, Kabir touches the subject of “Kaal-Chakra ” or the ," Wheel of Time ". Yes, the time wheel that keeps moving . But then who notices its spin and wrath . In Mahabharata, Yaksha asks Yudhishthira,"What is the greatest wonder in this earth?" And prompt comes Yudhishthira 's reply, " Everyday , people see men dying and leaving this earth but those who stay back think it shall not visit them. It is for others . They ignore this Kaal_- Chakra and its wrath."

The Kaal- Chakra does not spare the saint or God’s own messenger. Not the King or his subjects . The healer and the sick also come under its spell. The moon and sun too lose power and move away from the sky by the spin of this “Kaal-Chakra ” . The sky too loses its glare and turns dark . The caretakers of the fourteen worlds too come under its spell. What can one expect from those who are in line to depart ? The Nine , the ten and the simple eighty eight too die. So do the enlightened beings depart. Highly powerful is the punch of this Kaal Chakra . None survives in this spin . Kabir feels that this Kaal Chakra is like the Chakki or the grinding stone .

“Chalti chaaki dekh ke diya Kabira roye,

Do paatan ke beech mein saabat bacha na koye ”

(Looking at the moving grinding stones, Kabir laments

In the duel of wheels, nothing stays intact. )

The Kaal Chakra has made this world appear like a transit camp. Crowds keep moving in and out in this camp . Some say the world is a sheer highway in life’s journey. Urdu Poet Sahir Ludhianavi also comes very close to Kaal-Chakra in his lines

"Waqt ki gardish se hai

Chaand taaron ka nizaam,

Waqt ki thokar mein hai

Kyaa hukumat kya samaaj

(With the revolution of the time ,

Lies the administration of the extraterrestrial bodies .

And time has all at its feet ,

Whether a kingdom or a society )

. The golden rule is to Keep moving but remember and be prepared to leave the highway for another group of travellers that follows you .The journey has to go on with old travellers leaving and the new stepping in . Leaving the highway to create space for newer groups is the end of one’s journey . And moving in by newer groups is the beginning of the journey for another group . This birth and death is thus a drama on this Highway of Existence . None has come to stay permanently on this path. “Don’t get misled and die by losing sight of this great reality . ” advises Kabir . Does that mean to move away from goals that are time driven?.Does that mean to look for something that is timeless.? I leave these question for the readers to ponder at. Kabir suggests to find a way to move out of the vicious circle of Kaal-Chakra that he call as as “Township of Death.” He feels that the entity without any name alone survives . None else and no other truth remains .

Here is the Bhajan "Sadho Re ….. Yeh Murdon Ka Gaanv " and its simple English rendering by me .

"Sadho re. ! Yeh murdon ka gaanv

Peer marey, paigambar mari hain

Mar gaye zinda jogi.

Raja mari hain, praja ,mari hain

Mari hain vaid aur rogi.

Chanda mari hain, suraj mari hain

Mari hain dharti aakasa.

Chaudah bhuvan ke chaudhri mari hain

In huun ki ka aasa.

Nau huun mari hain,

Dus huun mari hain,

Mari hain sahaj athaasi.

Tetis koti devata mari hain

Badi kaal ki baazi

Naam anam anant rehat hai

Duja tatva na hoyee

Kahe Kabir suno bhai sadho

Bhatak maro mat koyee"

( Kabir )

( O Sadhu ! This world is like a township of the dead

The saints have died, God's -messengers have died,

Yogis full of life too died ,

Death visited the king and his subjects as well,

It also did not spare the healer and the ailing.

The moon , sun, earth and sky too came under its spell.

It visited the wardens of the *fourteen worlds ,

No hope for any of them to remain untouched by the Death.

The *Nine died, so did the the *Ten ,

The *Eighty Eight died effortlessly .

The *Thirty Three crore enlightened beings died

How inescapable is the is ploy of this Death ?

Yes ,that" Nameless Entity" alone lives endless .

Nothing except that truth does exit .

Listen O Sadhu !

Don't get lost and die unaware of this reality …………..

( Avtar Mota )

* According to Hindu scriptures , seven higher worlds and seven lower worlds exist in this universe .. Higher worlds are heavens while the Lower worlds are the underworlds or Pataalas . Our earth falls in the last category of higher worlds like Satya ,Tapas, Janas , Mahas , Svar , Bhuvas , and Bhu . The seven lower worlds are Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Rasaataala, Talatala, Mahaatala, and Pataala .

*By Nine Kabir refers to the nine exit or gates of the human body .like eyes , ears , nostrils , excretory openings etc. etc. . We also have nine planets .

*By Ten Kabir refers to ten headed Ravana or Dashanan killed by Sri Rama . Ten is also the first double digit number formed by zero and one wherein zero stands for Nirguna Brahman and one for Saguna Brahaman . A willful combination of the transcendent and the Immanent. A deep symbolic significance . Again the incarnations of Vishnu are also ten.

*Reference to 88 is from the story of Ajamila Brahmin (Skanda Purana ) .AJAMILA led righteous life and learned the Vedas and other scriptures but suddenly fell in love with a prostitute and without any real way to support her and the ten sons they eventually had, he took to gambling, highway robbery, stealing and corruption. So he spent the remainder of his years until he was eighty-eight years old, when attendants of Yama (the Lord of Death) appeared before him. I have personally heard some songs relating to Ajamila in Rajasthan like ..

“Ajamil ke Ghar Bhagwan Aaiyo

Misri Thhi par Namak Bataayo

Turant Ho Gayee Khaar

Bhaj lo Ram ji..”

*33 CRORE GODS? A popular but unfounded belief has been created possibly by misinterpretation of Hindi word KOTI . It is a misunderstanding of the Vedic concept of the State, and hence a misinterpretation of the word koti. The word koti in 'trayastrimsati koti' does not mean the number '33 crore' or '330 million'. Here koti means 'supreme', pre-eminent, excellent, that is, the 33 'supreme' divinities. The word koti has the same meaning as uchha koti.

33 divinities have been mentioned in VEDAS and other related texts ..The number thirty-three occurs with reference to divinities in the Parsi scriptures of Avesta as well.