EVER SINCE the Almighty Lord started coming into this world
in the form of the Saints, it has always happened that during
a Saint's lifetime only a few people care to know about his life:
where the Saint was born, how he used to live, what qualities he
had, and why he came into this world. They don't care about all
these things while the Saint is alive; but when the Saints leave this
world, their incredible power and their teachings which change
the lives of many people impress the people of the world, and
only then-when the Saint is gone-do the people of the world
start thinking about them and devoting themselves to them. So
that is why, according to the understanding of the people, stories
are told about the Saints. It is very difficult to find out much
about the Mahatmas of the past-their birth, their place of birth,
their parents, their early life, etc. Whatever people have written
about the Great Masters has been written many years after their
departure from this world. That is why Kabir's life sketch has
different versions. According to most of the traditions, Kabir
Sahib was born in 1398 in Benares and he died in 15 18, living for
120 years.

There are many different stories of Kabir and of his effect on
others, some of which are told in the Introduction to this book.
Dharam Das was Kabir's gurumukh disciple and successor, who
was a very wealthy person and an idol-worshiper. It is said that
once when he was doing his worship, Kabir appeared to him and
asked, "What are these little idols? If this big idol is God, what
are these small ones?" and then disappeared, leaving Dharam
Das to think about what had happened. At that time, of course,
vii
...

he didn't know that it was Kabir Sahib who had appeared to him.
Second time Kabir appeared to Dharam Das was in the form of
a sadhu. Dharam Das and his wife were sitting by the fire, and
Kabir Sahib said to Dharam Das, "You are a sinner." Dharam
Das's wife could not bear this criticism so she said, "How can
you say that he is a sinner? You are a sinner!" Then Kabir Sahib
replied, "Dharam Das, look in the wood that you are burningand
you will see what you are really doing." When they looked,
they saw many insects in the wood, and Kabir said, "You are
burning so many insects alive! What is this? Are you not
sinning?" After saying this he again disappeared, and Dharam
Das realized the truth of it: "I am a great sinner."
Because he was a good soul devoted to God and he wanted the
knowledge of God, he remembered that he had met someone
before who had asked him about idols, and he realized both of them
were the same person. Now Dharam Das repented very much, and
he thought that if his wife had not got upset at Kabir Sahib, he
might have been able to get the knowledge of God. When he told
that to his wife, she said, "Well, flies come to the sugar. You have
so much money; if you perform some kind of yajna and announce
that you are going to donate things to the sadhus, many sadhus will
come. It is possible that this sadhu will also come, and you can talk
to him and get some knowledge of God from him." So Dharam
Das performed many yajnas in the town of Benares, but Kabir
Sahib never came there. Then Dharam Das went to other places and
there also he performed many yajnas, but Kabir Sahib never came.
In that way he just went on spending his money, and even after he
performed his last yajna after selling every single thing, Kabir Sahib
still didn't come.

So when Dharam Das had lost all his money and still didn't get to
see the Sadhu, he thought, "Why should I go back home when I
have lost everything? It is better to commit suicide." So he went to
the bank of the river and was about to jump in when Kabir appeared
there. And then Dharam Das touched Kabir Sahib's feet
and said, "0 Lord, If I had met You before, 1 would have given
You all the wealth which 1 had, instead of wasting it performing
the yujnus." Kabir Sahib replied, "This was the right time for
you to come to me. If you had come to me earlier, when you
had all that wealth, it is possible that you would not become
what you will become now."

KABIR AND DHARAM DAS ix

So Kabir Sahib gave him initiation and, after Kabir Sahib left
the body, Dharam Das continued the work of giving initiation into
Shabd Naam. And the book Anurag Sagar is in the form of questions
from Dharam Das and Kabir Sahib's replies to those questions.