That uncreated wind moves

Bhima Bhoi

Translated by Sailen Routray

The arched jali of Humayun's Tomb
featuring a 6-fold Islamic geometric pattern
Photo credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/Hu741f4/

That uncreated wind moves

through the night and the day.

Who has found its beginning or the end?

Where are the marks it leaves? [0]

Its path is an emptiness in the great space.

One meets it in formlessness, 

when the spectrum dissolves. 

No one could penetrate it and get hold of it,

either through the body or in the world. [1] 

It's not to be found at the doors

of wakefulness or perception. 

Nor does it reside in the mind.

It cannot be felt at all in the body, 

or in its shadows, or its illusions. [2]

At the door of desires and imagination

it does not get mixed up in the five senses.

Who would find it,

one who does not have a breath or a shadow? [3]

It does not enter the shapes of words.

It's beyond the twenty one worlds.

It's the essence underlying everything,

with its only feet remaining hidden, submerged. [4]

It's not to be found in human habitations.

Where does it reside?

He, who will take me to it,

I will hold on to his feet. [5]

It does not partake of devotion and service.

It cannot be seen. Nor can one talk about it.

It stays alone, all by itself,

says Bhima Bhoi. [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. 

First line of the bhajan in Odia: "Bahuchhi abanaa baai, dibaa nisi eka hoi"