Verses
Come, swan, to that country where the Beloved, the stealer of hearts, dwells. There Surat, the fortunate wife, is the water-carrier, and she fills her pot standing, without lowering any rope.
Verse 1
In that country no clouds gather, yet a soft rain falls. Do not keep sitting in the upper room; go and be drenched, free of the body.
Verse 2
In that country it is always the full moon, and darkness never falls. Why speak of one sun? Crores of suns shine there.
Verse 3
Background
In nirgun poetry the 'hansa' (swan) is the soul, and 'that country' (wa des) is the abode beyond the world, where the Beloved lives. Kabir describes it in images of what it is not: no clouds yet a soft rain, no darkness because it is ever full moon, and not one sun but crores. 'Surat', the focused attention, appears as a fortunate wife who is also the water-carrier. The call 'do not sit in the upper room, go and be drenched, free of the body' urges the listener to step out of comfort and into the experience. The text is from Hindwi, which gives it as printed in Kabir Bani (page 77), edited by Ali Sardar Jafri (Rajkamal Prakashan, 2010). I could not check it against the book itself. Because nirgun pads live in singing, other singers' words may differ.
Did You Know?
Author
Attributed to Kabir (traditionally dated c. 1440–1518).
Who the swan is
In this pad the swan (hansa) stands for the soul, and the country it is asked to go to is described only by contrast with this world.
Images of light
The last couplet says that in that country it is always full moon and darkness never comes. It also says that to speak of one sun is too little, since crores of suns shine there.
Source
Hindwi gives the text from Kabir Bani (p. 77), edited by Ali Sardar Jafri (Rajkamal, 2010).
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Connected Teachings
The same teaching, echoed across traditions