Kabir was an extraordinary oral poet whose works have been sung and recited by millions throughout North India for half a millennium. He may have been illiterate and he preached an abrasive, sometimes shocking, always uncompromising message that exhorted his audience to shed their delusions, pretentions, and empty orthodoxies in favor of an intense, direct, and personal confrontation with the truth. Thousands of poems are popularly attributed to Kabir, but only a few written collections have survived over the centuries. The Bijak is one of the most important, and is the sacred book of those who follow Kabir.

Kabir was an extraordinary poet whose works have been sung and recited by millions throughout North India for half a millennium. He was perhaps illiterate (I don't touch ink or paper, this hand never grasped a pen), and he preached an abrasive, sometimes shocking, always uncompromising message exhorting his audience to shed their delusions, pretensions and empty orthodoxies in favour of an intense, direct personal confrontation with the truth. Thousands of poems are popularly attributed to Kabir, but only a few written collections have survived over the centuries. The Bijak is one of the most important anthologies, being the sacred book of the Kabir Panth and the main representative of the Eastern tradition of KabirÍs verses. All versions of the Bijak include three main sections called Ramani, Sabda, and Sakhi, plus a fourth section containing several miscellaneous folk-song forms. Most of the Kabir material has been popularized through the song-form known as sabda or pada, and through the aphoristic Sakhi that serves throughout North India as a vehicle for popular wisdom. These two forms, universally linked with Kabir, have been emphasized in this translation. Sukhdev Singh and Linda Hess have accomplished a translation of real grace and remarkable accuracy. The introduction and notes explore KabirÍs work, place it in its initial context, and explore its meaning for modern time. The Bijak is one of the most important anthologies, being the sacred book of the Kabir Panth and the main representative of the Eastern tradition of Kabir's verses. Sukhdev Singh and Linda Hess have accomplished a translation of real grace and remarkable accuracy. The introduction and notes explore Kabir's work, place it in its initial context, and explore its meaning for modern time.

Rendering from Hindi and commentary on Bījaka, mystical poems by Kabir, 15th century, Hindu saint poet.

Kabir was an extraordinary oral poet whose works have been sung and recited by millions throughout North India for half a millennium. He may have been illiterate and he preached an abrasive, sometimes shocking, always uncompromising message that exhorted his audience to shed their delusions, pretentions, and empty orthodoxies in favor of an intense, direct, and personal confrontation with the truth. Thousands of poems are popularly attributed to Kabir, but only a few written collections have survived over the centuries. The Bijak is one of the most important, and is the sacred book of those who follow Kabir.

Life and works of a Hindu saint poet.

The word Brahm means the Absolute or Ultimate Reality that is the primal cause of the existence of the universe and all beings. Nirupan means the form or nature of that Reality. For simplicity, we can say God. Yet we know that God is beyond forms and attributes that we can ascribe to Him. But we need to use words to communicate, so Kabir explains to his disciple that the Ultimate cannot be described in words, but must be experienced inwardly. He then describes various methods of approaching God, the negative actions to avoid, and the virtuous ones to be cultivated, as one progresses on the spiritual path to enlightenment. Kabir uses several Indian analogies and metaphors to explain the teachings to his earnest disciple.

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