Drown your body in the ocean of being

Bhima Bhoi

Translated by Sailen Routray

  Jaali work at Safdarjung Tomb, Delhi
Wikimedia Commons/Pallav.journo

Drown your body 

in the ocean of being. [0]

That ocean of being?

Take refuse in that.

Carrying out

what the master orders. [1]

You will be saved

when you practice thatness.

You will be met 

in the Brahman.

The three gunas will then fall off 

becoming without desires. [2]

A human birth is of value.

Cognize it in this body.

You won't get this

rare birth again. [3]

The Brahman is indivisible.

It's not possible to break it into parts.

You will be saved from this earth 

only when you take refuse in that. [4]

Offer this body and life

to the Lord.

You will be redeemed

when the embodied one 

expands in the Brahman. [5]

Bhima the Kondh says

this verse is entangled.

It's the enlightened ones

who like the dharma.

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: "Brahma sagare pinda jhasAa nei"