The Bijak of Kabir

Kabir was an extraordinary oral poet whose works have been sung and recited by millions throughout North India for half a millennium. He exhorted his audience to shed their delusions, pretensions, and empty orthodoxies in favour of an intense, direct, and personal confrontation with truth. Thousands of poems are popularly attributed to Kabir, but only a few written collections have survived over the centuries. The Bijak, translated here, is one of the most important, and is the sacred book of those who follow Kabir. This translation emphasizes two folk-song forms universally linked to Kabir: the sabda or pada, and the aphoristic sakhi that serves as a vehicle for popular wisdom throughout North India. A large section of the introduction discusses the experience created by Kabir’s verses. This selection with introduction and notes will appeal to a broad audience of readers in English, including both specialists and non-specialists.