Sālabega, the Muslim Devotee of Jagannātha
As the rath yātra comes to a close, a translation of a poem/bhajan by the 17th century Odiya bhakti poet Sālabega, dedicated to Śrī Jagannātha, the Lord of the Blue Hill.
“O Dark Darling!
You haven’t granted me a glimpse Of your pretty countenance!
I have no reason now to continue my existence!
Deprived of your sight,
May my life run out!
Black, jet-black is he, the dark one.
The finest raiment does he now adorn!
Streams of the sweat of labour,
Like the waters of Kalindi river
Flows from his dark figure!
The Dark One is now present
On the Nandighosha chariot,
The entire world to enchant.
‘Hari! Hari!’ one hears the chant,
Which, with joy, fills the heart.
Pretty as a damaru is your slender waist
Shaped by some unknown artist!
Graceful, as of the wild elephant, is your gentle gait,
With a lion’s stance, you look resolute!
All the boys of Gopapura, barring none,
The rhythmic beats of clapping and dancing do join.
A flower on her head, each gopi does adorn
While Krishna sports instead, a branch of jamun!
On one side the clever boys
On the other the clever maids
In the middle the Gunjara garlands!
Says Salabega, the lowly one:
I seek refuge at the auspicious feet
Of Jagannatha, the Lord Benign!”
Original Oriya hymn ‘Kalia Dhana, to lagi jau mo jeebana..’
Source: Mishra, Nilamani. Ed. Bhaktakavi Salabega, Jeevani O Padyavali (Oriya). Cuttack: Grantha Mandir, 1976. pp. 104–105. Translation taken from Pani, Subas. Blue Hill, Hymns to Jagannatha: Translations from Oriya & Sanskrit. India: Rupa & Company, 2004.
Sālabega is said to have been born between AD 1607–1608. He was the son of the Mughal subedar Lal beg who was overcome with passion looking at a Brahmin widow returning from her bath at Dandamukundapur. He forcibly abducted and married her. Salabega was later born to this widow. Lalbeg was a very close associate of the Emperor Jahangir. He carried on his onslaught against the Hindus in order to appease the emperor. When he was sent from the capital as the Subehdar of Bihar, Lalbeg’s fanatic and malicious eyes fell on Orissa, the blessed land to Lord Jagannātha. He was, in particular, attracted towards the temple of Lord Jagannatha in Puri. The temple had treasured immense wealth as gifts from the devotees. It is believed that the temple could reflect the economic status of the people of Orissa. It was Lalbeg’s dream to demolish the towering vault of this temple — the seed-bed of Orissa’s religion, culture, tradition, art and architecture.
It is believed that once Salabega accompanied his father to the battlefield where he was injured severely. In spite of treatment and care, Salabega’s wound did not heal. Unable to bear the pain, the young Salabega wept before his mother, who asked him to surrender himself at the feet of Sri Brundabanchandra (Lord Krishna). In the beginning, the Muslim Salabega was reluctant to follow the Hindu ritual of prayer and bhajan in the temple. His mother advised him to pray sincerely so that on the twelfth day of his prayer he would be cured. This created hope in Salabega’s anguished mind. He began to show his interest in prayer and bhajans. Surprisingly, on the twelfth day, Salabega had a dream. In the dream he saw that Lord Damodar was sitting beside him on his bed, offering vibhūti. After the dream he had sound sleep.
Early in the morning, he could recollect fragments of the dream and found that there was no wound. Maddened by the upsurge of ecstasy, he ran to his mother. Waking her up, he narrated the dream. Since then he became a staunch devotee of Lord Krishna. It is learnt from another legend that a certain saint advised Salabega to visit Srikshetra or Puri. At Puri, he was disappointed by the rules of the temple. He felt wounded as he was not permitted to go into the temple. It is believed that Salabega prayed continuously at the main gate of the temple shedding tears.
The Lord’s heart melted for him. He appeared before Salabega and gave him darshan. Salabega, being the son of a Muslim, was denied entry into the temple but his deep devotion was answered by his dear Lord in his manifestation as Patitapabana inside the Lions’ Gate. The poet identified Jagannatha completely with Sri Krishna.
The poet was always eager to witness the Ratha Yatra so he could get a glimpse of his Lord. Once he was held up on way while returning from Vrindavan, he fell ill on his journey and had yet a long distance to cover. He prayed earnestly to the Lord that he should wait for him on the Nandighosha chariot till he reached Puri. The Lord waited there and gave a darshan to his dear devotee Salabega on the Bada Danda, near Balagandi. Now, the halting of the chariot has become a part of the custom. To commemorate his devotion, every year during the Ratha Yatra, the chariot of the Lord is temporarily halted close to his samādhi at Balagandi. Another tribute to the great disciple’s devotion is the fact that the Bhajans composed by Bhakta Salabega form an integral part of the Ratha Yatra celebrations.
Salabega composed numerous devotional songs but not all of them have survived. Most of his compositions are prayers and hymns to Lord Jagannatha and Krishna. A good number of these describe the romantic dalliance of Krishna with the gopis and Radha, while a few are inspired by the vātsalya rasa (paternal love), the sweet motherly feeling Yashoda had for child Krishna.
The spirit of unalloyed devotion for the Lord is imbued in each one of the hymns. His deep devotion has intensity and passion, rare even in the devotional literature of the Bhakti era and is evident in the unique and somewhat unusual metaphors and similes employed by the poet to express the same. Although the poet was denied entry into the temple, his descriptions of the inner compound and the sanctum are among the most detailed and accurate in the devotional literature of Orissa. His song “Abe Neelagiri…” is perhaps the best description of Bedha Parikrama or the prescribed circumambulation of the Srimandira. Many of the historical events of the period are recounted in his songs. The poet refers, with deep anguish, to the depredations of the marauders in their attacks on Puri and the repeated attempts to loot and desecrate the Srimandira. This frequently necessitated shifting the deities outside the main sanctum and the poet captures the situation of one such event with graphic details in the song ‘Kene gheni jauchha Jagannathanku’.
Salabega is one of the most gifted bhakti poets of the 17th century Orissa, who had a profound impact on the grand tradition of devotional poetry. Wherever you go in Orissa — from the farthest village to the aggressively prospering cities — you stand stupefied and amazed by the popularity of the songs and bhajans of Salabega. His popularity springs from his contribution to the tradition of oral poetry. Orally transmitted, these prayer songs down the centuries have manifested the devotional integrity of a poet whose birth was mysterious and startling.
Excerpts from:
Sālabega. White Whispers: Selected Poems of Salabega. India: Sahitya Akademi, 1998.
Pani, Subas. Blue Hill, Hymns to Jagannatha: Translations from Oriya & Sanskrit. India: Rupa & Company, 2004.
Note:
A historian records the tenure of Lalbeg’s administration in an article as follows:
Quli Khan originally known as Lal Beg was son of Nizam, Humayun’s librarian. He entered Jahangir’s service when he was still a prince. On Jahangir’s accession he was made as commander of 4,000 horses and appointed as Subedhar of Bihar. When Qutub-ud-Din, Governor of Bengal was killed by Sher Afghan on May 30, 1607, he was appointed as the Governor of Bengal soon after Jahangir learnt of his death on 20 Muharam, 1018 A.H (27–4–1608). This piece of historical information compels the historians to accept that Salabega was born between 1607 and 1608. After assuming charge, once Lal Beg was advancing towards Puri along with his invincible troops. At Dandamukumdapur, a big Brahmin sashan (village), he cam across a Brahmin widow who had been to the village tank for bath. Her beauty enamoured Lal Beg. The widow watched the troops advancing, and closing her eyes she began to pray to Lord Krishna to save her from humiliation. Lal Beg, bewitched by her beauty, took her on horseback and rode away. He kept her in his camp and enjoyed her. In course of time a son was born to her who was christened as Salabega by his father.
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