BhajanHindi15th century (traditional attribution)
Moko Kahan Dhundhe Re Bande
मोको कहां ढूँढे रे बन्दे
Moko Kahan Dhundhe Re Bande, "where are you searching for me, O seeker?", is one of the most loved songs attributed to the weaver-poet Kabir. In it God speaks directly, saying he is found not in shrines or rituals but close at hand.
- Written by
- Kabir (died 1518)
- Music
- Traditional
- In the video
- Sooryagayathri
- Context
- Nirgun pad attributed to Kabir
- Year
- 15th century (traditional attribution)
- Language
- Hindi
Moko Kahan Dhundhe Re Bande lyrics with English translation
Text as transcribed by Kavita Kosh (20 lines, divided into stanzas of four lines for reading). Spellings such as ब्रह्याण्ड, प्रकुति प्रवार and तालास are kept as in the source. Kabir's songs survive in many oral variants; a shorter version appears as poem I of One Hundred Poems of Kabir (1915) on English Wikisource.
मोको कहां ढूँढे रे बन्दे मैं तो तेरे पास में ना तीरथ मे ना मूरत में ना एकान्त निवास में
Moko kahan dhoondhe re bande Main to tere paas mein Na teerath mein na moorat mein Na ekant niwas mein
Where are you searching for me, O seeker? I am right beside you. Not in places of pilgrimage, not in idols, not in lonely retreats.
ना मंदिर में ना मस्जिद में ना काबे कैलास में मैं तो तेरे पास में बन्दे मैं तो तेरे पास में
Na mandir mein na masjid mein Na Kabe Kailas mein Main to tere paas mein bande Main to tere paas mein
Not in the temple, not in the mosque, not in the Kaaba or on Kailash. I am right beside you, seeker, I am right beside you.
ना मैं जप में ना मैं तप में ना मैं बरत उपास में ना मैं किरिया करम में रहता नहिं जोग सन्यास में
Na main jap mein na main tap mein Na main barat upaas mein Na main kiriya karam mein rehta Nahin jog sanyas mein
I am not in chanting, not in austerities, not in vows and fasting. I do not dwell in rites and rituals, nor in yoga or renunciation.
नहिं प्राण में नहिं पिंड में ना ब्रह्याण्ड आकाश में ना मैं प्रकुति प्रवार गुफा में नहिं स्वांसों की स्वांस में
Nahin pran mein nahin pind mein Na brahmand aakash mein Na main prakuti prawar gupha mein Nahin swanson ki swans mein
Not in the breath of life, not in the body, not in the universe or the sky, not in the cave of nature's wide expanse, not in the breath of breaths.
खोजि होए तुरत मिल जाउं इक पल की तालास में कहत कबीर सुनो भई साधो मैं तो हूं विश्वास में
Khoji hoye turat mil jaun Ik pal ki talaas mein Kahat Kabir suno bhai sadho Main to hoon vishwas mein
A true seeker finds me at once, in a single moment's search. Says Kabir, listen, O seekers: I live in faith.
Translation: Lyriccs (original translation). Transliteration: Lyriccs.
The story behind Moko Kahan Dhundhe Re Bande
Kabir lived in Varanasi in the 15th century and is traditionally said to have died in 1518 at Maghar. He was a weaver who belonged to neither orthodox Hindu nor Muslim practice, and his songs, passed down orally by wandering singers and later collected in the Bijak, the Guru Granth Sahib and many regional anthologies, question caste, ritual and religious division.
Because Kabir's songs lived in oral tradition, they exist in many versions. A short form of this song opens Rabindranath Tagore and Evelyn Underhill's 1915 English book One Hundred Poems of Kabir, which begins "O servant, where dost thou seek Me? Lo! I am beside thee." The longer version given here is the one most often sung as a bhajan today, transcribed by Kavita Kosh.
The song is sung in Hindustani classical, folk and devotional styles, from Kabir panthi singers of Malwa to concert artists. The linked rendition is by the young Carnatic vocalist Sooryagayathri, produced by Kuldeep M Pai.
What Moko Kahan Dhundhe Re Bande means
The song is a single, steady denial. God says he is not in pilgrimage sites or idols, not in solitary retreats, not in temple, mosque, Kaaba or Kailash. He is not reached by chanting, austerity, fasting, ritual, yoga or renunciation, and he cannot be located in the body, in the vital breath or in the vast universe.
After stripping away every outer place and practice, the song gives its answer: a sincere seeker finds him at once, in the space of a single moment. Kabir's last line says God lives in faith, in the trust of the heart. The song carries the core of nirgun bhakti, devotion to a formless God, and its message that the divine is nearer than any holy place has made it a favourite across religions.
Quick facts
- Kabir is traditionally said to have died in 1518 at Maghar.
- His songs were transmitted orally and survive in many versions.
- A short version opens Tagore and Underhill's One Hundred Poems of Kabir (1915).
- The song names temple, mosque, Kaaba and Kailash as places where God is not confined.