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

करनी तज कथनी कथै, अज्ञानी दिन रात ।
ज्यूँ कूकर भूँकत फिरे, सुनी सुनाई बात ।।

Karanii taj kathanii kahai, agyaanii fin raat
Jyun kookar bhookat firai, suni sunai baat

A truly wise and knowledgeable person is one who practices what he preaches. This makes his knowledge authentic. In this couplet Kabeerdaas ji calls out ignorant people who go about spouting wisdom day and night. They do not practice what they preach and so have no idea of the real meaning of their words of wisdom. They are just repeating whatever they have heard and so what they speak is as worthless as the bark of a dog.

मन के मते न चालिए, मन के मते अनेक ।
जो मन पर असवार है, सो साधू कोई एक ।।

Man ke mate na chaaliye, man ke matee anek
Jo man par asavaar hai, so sadhu koi ek

In this couplet, Kabeerdaas ji lays emphasis on the need of self – discipline for the seeker. He/she should not act according to mood since moods are variable. If he/she wants to attain Supreme Knowledge, he should curb the tendency of following the moods and concentrate wholly and solely on the path leading to the goal. Maintaining this concentration, this discipline is an extremely difficult job. That is why very few people are able to reach the goal and only they are worthy of being called ‘Saadhoo’ — the seeker who has succeeded and attained Supreme Knowledge.