Kabir doha · Stay Strong · Level 2
मन के हारे हार है, मन के जीते जीत।
कहै कबीर हरि पाइए, मन ही की परतीति।
Man ke haare haar hai, man ke jeete jeet
Kahai kabir hari paiye, man hi ki parteeti
Man ke haare haar hai means: if your mind gives up, you have already lost, and if your mind holds on, you can win. Kabir says that what we long for is reached through the mind's steady trust. For children, it is a gentle way to talk about courage when something feels hard.
Updated
Meaning in English
If your mind gives up, you lose.
If your mind stays strong, you win.
Believe with your whole heart
and you can do anything.
अर्थ (हिंदी में)
अगर मन हार मान ले तो हार होती है, और अगर मन जीत ठान ले तो जीत। कबीर कहते हैं कि भगवान भी मन के भरोसे और प्यार से ही मिलते हैं।
The cycle wobbles, and Saanvi is on the ground for the third time. "I can't do it," she says, and pushes the bike away.
Her grandfather sits next to her on the kerb. He does not say anything for a while.
"One more time, only as far as the neem tree," she says at last. She gets as far as the neem tree.
Keep it light. Let the child answer in their own words, draw it, or hum the line again.
Try this: Choose a "neem tree" goal together: a small, nearby target on the way to something difficult. Celebrate reaching the tree, not only the finish.
The first line has a lovely rhythm for clapping: "man ke haa-re haar hai, man ke jee-te jeet". Children can clap it, then whisper it to themselves.
It means: when the mind accepts defeat, we lose; when the mind stays determined, we win. Courage starts inside.
Kahai Kabir hari paiye, man hi ki parteeti means: Kabir says even what we seek most, which he calls Hari, a name for the divine, is found through the trust of the mind. For children, the heart of it is that belief and steadiness carry us forward.
It is traditionally credited to Kabir, the 15th-century poet-saint and weaver from Varanasi. His dohas were sung and passed on by word of mouth for centuries before they were written down, so small differences in wording are common.