St Kabeer Couplets 15: Prayer Is No Ritual

For ages man turns prayer beads, Mind roams the ritual as proceeds, From fingers turning prayer bead, O let your mind lead, not recede. ________________________________ Mala pherata juga bhaya, phira na mana ka pher, Kara ka manaka dara de, mana ka manaka pher. There is no point in chanting mechanically with the help of rosary beads, when the mind is not in what you do. Mind is a monkey, this couplet means to say. Let your heart and soul be in whatever worship you do, or else it is useless. The poet has used a pun when he says: mana ka manaka…the beads of mind. Elsewhere also Kabeer has used some imaginative puns in his couplets.