They Come to Die in Varanasi

(5)

'The roads are so small and the houses so ancient. Their doors are so small that in old times doors were made small and steps were made big so thieves could not escape easily. If somebody is running away the small door and the big steps will stop him. You cannot run; you have to be very careful. The windows are small too - you cannot get out of them or inside through them.

'Kabir lived his whole life in Varanasi. Hindus believe that if you die in Varanasi you will be born in heaven - just a simple panacea. All religions have to find some simple thing, because there are aesthetic practices but they will be followed only by a few idiots; anybody who has a little intelligence is not going to follow them. To those unintelligent people you have to give some recipe, very simple. So if you just die in Varanasi that's enough, because from Varanasi you cannot go anywhere else; the route goes directly to heaven.

'So people come to die in Varanasi. In Varanasi you will find old people, old women, widows, almost on the verge of death. You will not find that kind of crowd anywhere else in the world. They have all come to die: they are certain now that there is not much time left. So they come to die in Varanasi.'