Verses · Kabir · Doha i
मोको कहाँ ढूँढे बंदे,
मैं तो तेरे पास में।
Moko kahāṅ ḍhūṅḍhe bande,
maiṅ to tere pās meṅ.
Where do you seek me, traveller —
I am beside you, always.
Kabir · Doha · fifteenth century
Bandā — slave, servant, devotee, but also, in everyday Hindi, simply 'person'. The English 'traveller' reaches for that ordinariness, but loses the trace of bondage that is the doha's quiet hinge. The seeker is one who is bound, and who does not yet know to whom.
Pās meṅ — beside you. Not above, not within, not beyond. The preposition is the whole argument: Kabir's God is not metaphysical real estate. He is at your elbow. He has been there all along.
Rabindranath Tagore1915
“O Servant, where dost thou seek Me? Lo! I am beside thee.”
Robert Bly1977
“Friend, where are you looking for me? I am right beside you.”
Linda Hess2002
“Servant, where do you go searching? I am near you.”