The inner witness

Bhima Bhoi

Translated by Sailen Routray

Curved form with inner form
Anima, a bronze abstract sculpture by Barbara Hepworth
In the Glynn Vivien Art Gallery, Swansea, Wales
Photo credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/14GTR

If you perform devotion within,

then the master who is the inner witness

does come to know. [0]

If you chant the Name 

after recognizing it,

then stones turn into water,

dry wood starts blossoming, and flowers.

If there are desires from the past,

their nature becomes visible.

And the voiceless and the dumb 

start chanting the four vedas. [1]

Idiots become wise

by getting knowledge through recollection.

Their banner is raised across the world,

their fame increases.

Through experience, by being established in It

one gains wisdom,

and arrives at the final liberation. [2]

If the mind is firm,

then it is possible to light a lamp

in a dark room everyday

without any oil.

If one suffering chants the Name,

then even Death cannot punish him,

even if lame, he crosses the mountains. [3]

Action stems from non-action.

It's the unnamable

who makes all movement possible.

The delusions of the world

are turn asunder. 

One becomes free of afflictions.

All one's desires, imaginaries, wishes,

  and the deepest longings are fulfilled.

Surely, they just sit,

and enjoy the fruits. [4] 

Sound stems from the home of silence.

The four vedas are born.

The know grace.

They explain the scriptures.

They have the lustre

of the preserver of the universe. 

Oh wise and intelligent ones,

they compose poetry, and become poets. [5]

The formless Lord knows 

all one's inner workings.

He is everywhere.

But He remains invisible in all forms.

Bhima the forsaken one says,

if one knows this truth with conviction,

then He listens even from a million miles. [6]  

Note: Bhima Bhoi (1850-1895) was an 19th century Odia saint poet. His compositions were instrumental in the spread of Mahima religion in peninsular India, especially in the Odia speaking regions. His bhajans remain popular even today, and are performed widely. Although he was ignored by the literary establishment of his times, he is a major figure in the history of Odia literature now, with texts like "Stuti Chintamani" and "Bramha Nirupana Gita" considered as classics.