Kabeerdaas ji is categorized as a saint but his thoughts and compositions are not confined to religion, spirituality, meditation and bhajans alone.  He also deals with worldly life – the character and behaviour of individuals; practices (and malpractices) rampant in society; evils of caste system which divides people into ‘high’ and ‘low’ classes, etc.  He also goes in depth in denouncing superstitions and hypocrisy prevalent in practice of religions and sects in general.  He considers them as obstructions in the way of health, peace and happiness of society.  We should take all these things into account if we want to understand and interpret Kabeerdaas ji’s poetry correctly.

— Kusum Banthia

हिन्दी में पढ़िये

गुरु कुम्हार सिख कुंभ है , गढ़ि गढ़ि काढ़े खोट ।
अंदर हाथ सहारि दे , बाहिर बाहिर चोट ।।

Guru kumhaar sikh kumbh hai, gadhi gadhi kaadhe khot
Andar haath sahaari de, baahir baahir chot

Kabeerdaas ji attaches great importance to guru who shows the disciple the right way to get out of the maze of illusion of this world created by Maya. It is under his guidance that the disciple learns to walk the path of spiritual practice leading to liberation. When the disciple tends to falter, the Guru brings him back to the right path through loving guidance or strict discipline as the the situation may require. This discipline may sometimes hurt people, but it is only for the benefit of the disciple.
In this couplet, Kabirdaas ji compares the guru to a potter and the disciple to the pitcher being made by him. While making a pitcher, the potter picks out all its shortcomings in an attempt to make it completely flawless. He also beats it from outside to improve it’s strength and texture. But at the same time, he keeps one hand inside the pitcher and supports that injury so that no harm comes to it. The Guru also, on one hand, imposes harsh discipline to hold the disciple back from wandering off the right path. But on the other hand, his love, sympathy and guidance support the disciple from within and strengthen him. All his actions are directed only towards the spiritual well-being of the disciple. Seekers should always keep this in mind.

काल करै सो आज कर , आज करै सो अब्ब ।
पल में परलय होयगी , बहुरि करैगो कब्ब ।।

Kaal kare so aaj kar, aaj kare so abb
Pal men paralaya hoyagii, bahuri karaigaa kabb

We often think of doing something good, but due to some reasons related to this worldly life, or, simple laziness, we keep postponing it. Kabeerdaas ji says that when we intend to do something good or think of devoting ourselves to spiritual practice, we should not procrastinate but start it immediately. We do not know what is going to happen the very next moment. Who knows, a catastrophe might fall and this world might come to an end, and despite all honest intentions our good deeds may not have time to materialise. Therefore, we should start working on our good intentions immediately. If we had planned to start working on them from tomorrow, we should start today itself. If we were going to start today, we should begin immediately in the present moment itself.