In the Bijak<-i> (the complete works) of Kabir, the author deals with each system of religion, criticising and pointing out their errors to the adherents of each. Beginning with the Vedas he takes one by one the Hindu systems of Philosophy and the Moslem Faith, insisting that all these beliefs and their accompanying rituals are powerless to save a man because they are unable to bring him into union with God.<-p>
At every step he seeks to show that the service of God and the service of the world are utterly incompatible; religion for Kabir is love and devotion to God alone. In this world we see love and hatred, light and darkness, body and soul, sunshine and shadow whereas the Lord alone is love, light and sunshine.<-p>
Those who really love God, live and think on that plane, not on that of the material world; just as the true lover will think of nothing but his beloved, seeking always to attain a full knowledge of his beloved and cherishing no other aim.<-p>
Kabir teaches in many passages of thew Bijak<-i> that God is not the creator of the universe. This is the creation of Niranjan<-i> and Niranjan was created by God. Again, nothing in the universe is true and real; all is entirely illusory and visionary. Maya<-i> is the mother as well as the wife of Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesha<-i>. Many allusions are made in the Bijak<-i> to her deceits and it is she who binding the soul to this world, thereby becomes the author of all sins.<-p>
An examination of the Bijak,-i> makes it clear beyond doubt that Kabir had a thorough and intimate knowledge of Hinduism. By the time in which Kabir lived Moslem rule was well-established in Northern India. The devout Moslem held him as one of the Sufis. The contrast of Kabir`s intimate acquaintance with Hindu thought, writings and ritual with the purely superficial knowledge of Moslem beliefs revealed in the Bijak<-i> is too striking to be ignored.<-p>
