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Debendra K. DashDipti R. Pattanaik 53can be argued that the ideology of the Bhakti cult was a majorfacilitator of translational practice. Brahminical ideology ensured thedominance of the priestly class in theological matters by recognizingSanskrit as the only language of the scriptures. When Bhakti cultsought to dispense with the role of rituals and priests in theindividual’s relationship with god, it was quite natural to make thescriptures available to the common people in their languages. It isworthwhile to remember here that saint-poets like Kabir had notonly expressed their disapproval of the priestly cult but alsocastigated the Sanskrit language. Balaram Das, the Oriya saint-poetand a contemporary of Chaitanya also claimed that, not the masteryof a language, but the cultivation of bhakti within one’s own self isthe real prerequisite for approaching god/wisdom.As has been discussed earlier, Chaitanya’s advent in Orissacoincided with the weakening of the Gajapati kings. The hithertopowerful Kalinga Empire fragmented itself into three major Oriyaspeakingprincipalities. Once the central power lost political control,there was a social and economic chaos of sorts. The so-called centrewas transformed into a mere ritual figurehead. The changed natureof relationship between the center and the margin can be perceivedfrom the construction of Jagannath temples in smaller principalities.During the heydays of the Kalinga Empire, the construction of theJagannath Temple was not allowed outside Puri and Cuttack. Therulers of smaller principalities not only built Jagannath temples butalso maintained their own court poets and scholars. All those courtpoets and scholars were not necessarily writing in Sanskrit alone.They were also using the Oriya language. Toward and after the laterpart of the 16 th century therefore a multi-lingual aesthetic-religiopoliticaltransaction became the norm, making the field of translationmore fertile. This political equation between the centre and themargin was replicated in the relationship between the dominant andthe subaltern segments of the society too. The confrontational