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

साँच बराबर तप नहीं, झूठ बराबर पाप ।
जाके हिरदे साँच है, ताके हिरदे आप ॥

Saanch baraabar tap naheen, jhooth baraabar paap
Jaake hirade saanch hai, taake hirade aap

In this couplet Kabeer equates Truth with God. According to him, striving to keep on the path of Truth in spite of difficult obstructions, is the highest form of austerity there is and so it is the highest virtue. On the other hand, Falsehood is the greatest sin. If a person has Truth in his heart, that is, if the person is committed to truth, it is as if God Himself has come to live in his heart. Kabeer has used the word ‘Aap’ (आप. — self) in sense of God here .
Here ‘truth’ and ‘falsehood’ are not used, like in common parlance, in the sense of facts and lies alone. Truth is a virtue related to human mind, social behaviour and entire life. It is a virtue that takes a person to the right path leading to the greatest good of mankind and eventually to God. This is a very difficult journey as evil forces of falsehood and Maya keep erecting obstacles in the way. But the strength of Truth overcomes them all.

आवत गारी एक है , उलटत होय अनेक ।
कह कबीर नहिं उलटिये , वही एक की एक ॥

Aavat gaarii ek hai, ulatat hoy anek
Kah Kabeer nahin ulatiye, vahii ek ki ek

Kabeerdaas ji, among other things, also stressed on maintaining peace and harmony in social atmosphere. In this couplet, he advises us not to return abuse for abuse. If some person quarrels with us and abuses us, it will be a single instance of abuse. But if we retaliate in kind, an endless vicious circle of retaliation will begin and vitiate the atmosphere all around. On the other hand, if we keep quiet and do not answer back, the other person will have no excuse to go on quarreling. Of course, it will not be easy for us, but our tolerant and calm attitude will nip an ugly situation in the bud. It will also preserve peace and harmony in society as a whole.