ભક્તિ સતગુરુ એ આની

નાદબ્રહ્મ પદ - ૧૦
Nādbrahma pada 010

ભક્તિ સતગુરુ એ આની, સંતો ભાઈ, ભક્તિ સતગુરુ એ આની;
પાષાણ ફોડ ગંગા જલ પ્રગટે, હો ગઈ નવખંડ પાની ... ટેક
bhakti sat-guru e āni, saňto bhā-ii, bhakti sat-guru e āni;
pashān phod gaňgā jal pragate, ho gai nav-khaňd pāni ... 0

એ પાનીમેં દોઉં પર્વત ડુબે, સાહેર સુરતી સમાની;
મચ્છી જાય સરોવર બૈઠે, બોલે અમૃત વાણી ... ૧
e pāni-meň do-uň parvat dube, sāher surati samāni;
machhi jāy sarovar baithe, bole amrut vāni ... 1

જહાં મચ્છી તહાં મચ્છા નાંહી, ગર્ભ રહ્યો  વિના પાની;
નારી એક પુરુષ દોઉ જાયે, બુઝે વિરલા જ્ઞાની ... ૨
jahāň machhi tahāň machha nāhi, garbh rahyo vinā pāni;
nāri ek purush do-u jāye, bujhe virla gnāni ... 2

નાર પુરુષ મિલી સબ યુગ ખાયો, તહાં મેં રહું અકેલા;
કહે કબીર એ પદ હી વિચારો, સોહી ગુરુ હમ ચેલા ... ૩
nār purush mili sab yug khāyo, tahāň meň rahuň akelā;
kahe kabir e pad hi vichāro, sohi guru ham chelā ... 3

English translation (by AI):
This bhajan is about spiritual liberation through destroying the ego. Kabir uses mystical riddles to explain that when a True Guru shatters your rock-like ego, divine bliss floods your soul. This inner awakening drowns the "mountains" of worldly duality—like good versus bad or pain versus pleasure. By detaching from the illusions of nature and time, the soul achieves a state of pure, unified consciousness. Ultimately, Kabir states that anyone who experiences this absolute inner oneness transcends the physical world and becomes a true master.

0. The True Master has brought this divine devotion, oh saintly brothers, the True Master has brought this devotion;
Shattering the stone, the water of the Ganges manifests, and its water floods across all the nine realms.

1. In this water, both mountains are submerged, and the ocean merges into divine consciousness;
The fish goes and sits in the lake, speaking the words of immortal nectar.

2. Where the female fish is, the male fish is not; a conception has occurred without water;
One woman gave birth to two men—only a rare, wise knower can understand this riddle.

3. The woman and man together consumed all the ages, but there I remain completely alone;
Says Kabir, contemplate only upon this verse—whoever does so is the Guru, and I am their disciple.

...

Here is the complete spiritual decoding of Saint Kabir’s mystical bhajan.
This song is written in Sandhya Bhasha (twilight language), a form of esoteric coding used by Indian mystics. It uses intentional riddles and paradoxes to hide deep spiritual truths from casual listeners while revealing them to true seekers.

Breaking the Ego

The True Master has brought this divine devotion, oh saintly brothers, the True Master has brought this devotion;
Shattering the stone, the water of the Ganges manifests, and its water floods across all the nine realms.
•  The Stone (પાષાણ): Represents the hardened human ego, intellect, and stubborn worldly conditioning. It is rigid and blocks divine light.
•  The Ganges Water (ગંગા જલ): Represents Ananda (divine bliss) and supreme spiritual consciousness. It is not physical water, but the sudden flow of inner peace.
•  The Nine Realms (નવખંડ): Represents the entire cosmos, but internally, it refers to the human body (which has nine gates/openings). When the Guru shatters your ego, divine energy floods your entire physical and spiritual being.

Dissolving Duality

In this water, both mountains are submerged, and the ocean merges into divine consciousness;
The fish goes and sits in the lake, speaking the words of immortal nectar.
•  The Two Mountains (દોઉં પર્વત): Represent the fundamental dualities of the world—good vs. bad, pain vs. pleasure, "me" vs. "you". When the inner spiritual flood happens, these mental divisions are completely drowned and erased.
•  The Ocean Merging (સાહેર સુરતી સમાની): Usually, a drop merges into the ocean. But here, Kabir reverses it: the massive ocean of worldly illusion (Samsara) is completely swallowed up by the seeker's focused divine consciousness (Surati).
•  The Fish (મચ્છી) and Lake (સરોવર): The fish is the individual soul (Jiva). The lake is Mansarovar, the state of ultimate reality or the crown chakra (Sahasrara). The soul, which was swimming in the dirty waters of worldly desires, climbs into the lake of pure divinity and now speaks only the nectar of truth.

The Miracle of Rebirth

Where the female fish is, the male fish is not; a conception has occurred without water;
One woman gave birth to two men—only a rare, wise knower can understand this riddle.
•  The Fish without a Mate: This describes the ultimate state of Advaita (non-duality). In pure spiritual awareness, there is no "other"—there is no male or female distinction.
•  Conception without Water: Spiritual rebirth does not require physical, worldly elements (like water or semen). It is a immaculate, spontaneous birth of wisdom inside the heart, triggered solely by grace.
•  One Woman and Two Men: The "woman" is Maya (cosmic illusion) or Prakriti (Mother Nature). The "two men" she gives birth to are the dual forces of existence—light and dark, life and death, creation and destruction. Kabir says only a rare wise person (virla gyani) can see that the entire universe is just a play of this one illusion.

Absolute Liberation

The woman and man together consumed all the ages, but there I remain completely alone;
Says Kabir, contemplate only upon this verse—whoever does so is the Guru, and I am their disciple.
•  Woman and Man Consuming the Ages: The interaction of male and female energies (desire, attachment, karma, and nature) keeps time (Yugas) moving and keeps souls trapped in the endless cycle of birth and death.
•  Remaining Alone (અકેલા): This is the state of Kaivalya (absolute loneliness/liberation). Kabir has detached himself from the drama of nature. He is no longer "man" or "woman"; he is just pure, solitary consciousness.
•  Flipping the Hierarchy: Kabir concludes with a radical statement. He says spiritual truth is not about titles, robes, or lineages. Anyone—regardless of who they are—who can truly contemplate, decode, and experience this inner state of oneness is the ultimate teacher. Kabir willingly becomes the student of anyone who achieves this.

...

The core meaning of this bhajan is the journey of ultimate spiritual liberation (Moksha) through the destruction of the ego and worldly illusion. Beneath its confusing riddles, Kabir is describing a profound inner psychological and spiritual shift. Here is the core message broken down into three main themes:

•  Surrender to the True Guru: Spiritual awakening cannot happen through intellectual study alone. It requires a Master's grace to shatter the hard, rock-like ego (Paṣhāṇ). Only when the rigid ego breaks can the inner river of divine bliss and peace (Ganga jal) flow through a person.
•  The Dissolution of Duality: Human suffering exists because we divide the world into opposites—good vs. bad, pain vs. pleasure, "me" vs. "you". Kabir explains that true enlightenment completely drowns these "two mountains" of duality. The soul experiences absolute oneness, where worldly illusions (Maya) lose all power over the mind.
•  True Wisdom Over Rituals: Kabir cuts through religious hierarchy. He asserts that the ultimate goal of life is to transcend the cycle of time and nature, reaching a state of pure, detached consciousness. Anyone who truly contemplates, understands, and experiences this inner reality is a true master, deserving of the highest respect.
Ultimately, it is a song about dying to the small self (the ego) to be reborn into the infinite, divine self.

Related Link(s):
1. "સંતો ભક્તિ સતગુરુ આની !" ની સમજૂતી ('કબીર શબ્દ સુધા', ઈશ્વરભાઈ પ્ર. પટેલ (પરમાર્થી))