निर्गुण गीत | A beautiful body burning in fire | Nirgun folk song

Pt. Choubey from Varanasi presents a beautiful Nirgun folk song.

One day at the river bank, I was walking leisurely
I saw with my eyes, a beautiful body burning in fire O Ram!
I saw with my eyes, a beautiful body burning in fire O Ram!
I saw with my eyes,
One day at the river bank, I was walking leisurely
One day at the river bank, I was walking leisurely
I saw with my eyes, a beautiful body burning in fire O Ram!
I saw with my eyes, a beautiful body burning in fire O Ram!
Carrying a bamboo cot, four men reached the ghat
Carrying a bamboo cot, four men reached the ghat
I saw with my eyes, his son put the fire on him O Ram!
I saw with my eyes, his son put the fire on him O Ram!
One day at the river bank, I was walking leisurely
One day at the river bank, I was walking leisurely
I saw with my eyes, a beautiful body burning in fire O Ram!
I saw with my eyes, a beautiful body burning in fire O Ram!
Friends and relatives whoever were there, said the same words in a chorus
Friends and relatives whoever were there, said the same words in a chorus
I saw with my eyes, ‘the name of Ram is the truth’ they repeated O Ram!
I saw with my eyes, ‘the name of Ram is the truth’ they repeated O Ram!
I saw with my eyes, a beautiful body burning in fire O Ram!
Carrying a bamboo cot, four men reached the ghat
Carrying a bamboo cot, four men reached the ghat
I saw with my eyes, his son put the fire on him O Ram!
I saw with my eyes, a beautiful body burning in fire O Ram!
At the river bank, I was walking leisurely
At the river bank, I was walking leisurely
I saw with my eyes, a beautiful body burning in fire O Ram!

Folk Songs Archive Project by Espírito Kashi.
About Nirgun folk songs:

Nirguna songs are deeply influenced by Kabir. These songs use different symbols from the lives of a common man to depict a formless Bramha or supreme power. This makes it accessible to all and extremely significant in folk songs. They often depict the helplessness of man in his worldly life.

Commonly found analogies are between ‘sansar’ or the world to ‘naihar’ or the bride’s mother’s home, Heaven to ‘sasural’ or the home of the husband, ‘atma’ or soul to the ‘priyatama’ or female lover and ‘parmatma’ or God to the lover. The songs often look at life as a bird trapped in the cage of the body which seeks its release in death or its union with the supreme lover – God.

Nirguna bhajans reflect the human understanding of spirituality and reason. The verses look for answers to the meaning of existence, encourage people to shed their dogma & look at realities in the light that they should be, they continue to enrich our lives to this day.

The saint poet Kabir is one of the most interesting personalities in the history of Indian mysticism. Born in Kashi, of Muslim parents, in c.1440, he became in early life a disciple of the celebrated 15th century Hindu ascetic Ramananda, a great religious reformer and founder of a sect to which millions of Hindus still belong. To date, Kabir Das has played a significant role in the Bhakti Movement of India. Specifically in and around Kashi, we find that there are many folk singers inspired by Kabir, not just that, these songs when brought into the classical music context, took form of Dhrupad style of music. Therefore, it is common to find Nirguna folk singers in and around the Bhojpuri belt.