Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Yoga / Hindu : Advaita / Non-Dualist

17th Century

India
(Indian Subcontinent)

Akha

Timeline (1600? - 1650?)

Poems by Akha
Books

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The non-dualist poet-saint Akha lived sometime in the early seventeenth century in the Gujarat region of India. In his youth, Akha worked as a goldsmith.

Tradition says two early events profoundly changed his life: The first occurred when he was falsely accused of stealing from the mint of a local ruler and was jailed for a time, before he was later shown to be innocent. The second incident occurred when a family friend accepted a gold necklace in return for some money she had placed with him for safekeeping. This woman later questioned the purity of the gold Akha had used and took it to another goldsmith for testing, only to find out that it was more pure than she had thought. Akha was shaken when he discovered how easily his integrity could be questiond and he began to turn inward.

Akha left his occupation and travelled throughout India in search of spiritual knowledge, finally attaining self-realization. He then began to recite poetry to express his realization in a non-doctrinaire way.

It is surprising that so few translations of his work currently exist in English, for his poetry has the power and sometimes irreverent wisdom of other well-loved poets like Kabir.

Poems by Akha

	Avoid "I," beyond body be,
	Concentration, meditation, asceticism, pilgrimage,
	Far away is the Lord Supreme;
	Let it be whatever is in the book;
	Speaker of truth and the sun -- these two --
	The Essence is only as far away as the sky
	"There is neither a sinner nor a virtuous one."
	What could be the Other when First is naught?
	When one settles into a state of desirelessness,
	Where there is no sense of the world,

Recommended Books

Wings of the Soul: Poems of Akha: The Spiritual Poet of India, Translated by Krishnaditya

Amazon.com

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Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Akha

Daily Poem Email

Support the Poetry Chaikhana

Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World