Salabega, as a poet-devotee of Lord Jagannatha, holds a unique position. He was a Muslim by birth. He was born in a period of turmoil in Orissa when because of the Muslim invasion, the deities of the Jagannatha Temple had to be taken elsewhere and hidden more than once to save them from Muslim attack. At such a time a Muslim devotee of a Hindu god is unique. The (partial) acceptance of Salabega by the Hindu community is the other significant point.

Fragments from
Kali Bharata

You hold the name of Friend of the poor
Yet abandoning Nilagiri
You swept away your devotees
O my Lord Rama!

It was the fault of the Brahmins
They were the felons of the Lord
The Lord left Nilagiri
O my Lord Rama!

The body was kept at Athagada
While He was born on the bank of river Godavari
The elder brother of Jagannatha
O my Lord Rama!

Listen, O people of this world
Again was the Lord born
At Nandapuri
O my Lord Rama!

This poem referes to the Muslim invasion when the three deities of the temple had to be carried away to safety away from Puri or Nilagiri.

Translation by Priyadarshi Patnaik

Your Life is Only for your Devotee (view the original poem)

Your life is only for your devotee.
Only for your devotee the symbol of conch and disc.
The devotee is your father, your mother
The devotee your friend.
It is only because of your devotee
That you are called the ocean of compassion.
After the cow Kamadhenu the calf runs for milk.
Similarly are you to be found behind your devotee.
My father is a Moughal soldier, my mother a Brahmin.
I am born such, no Hindu drinks water from my hands.
Tells abject Salabega of Muslim caste
I know nothing other than the feet of Sriranga.

Translation by Priyadarshi Patnaik

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