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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 uncomprising message exhorting his audience
to shed their delusions, pretensions and empty orthodoxies in favour of an
intense, direct personal confrontation with truth.
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. Shukdev 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.
About the Authors:
Shukdev Singh is Reader in the Department of Hindi at Banaras Hindu University. He is the author of numerous books on Hindi language and literature, and has produced the first critical edition of the Bijak of Kabir.
Linda Hess took her doctorate in Comparative Literature from the University of California at Berkeley and has taught at the University of California, Barnard College and Dartmouth College.
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