KASHMIR ITS HISTORY AND PEOPLE  

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Queen Didda   ·Suyya the Engineer  ·Sahi Rulers of Afghanistan  ·St. Joseph's  .Dard  .Lal Ded

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Suggested Reading

The Words of Lalla the Prophetess by Sir R. C. Temple

The Lalla Vākyāni or Wise Sayings of Lal Ded by Royal Asiatic Society Vol. XVII edited by Sir George Grierson and Dr. Lionel Barnett

Yogiswari, Her Life and Sayings by Pandit Anand Koul

The Ascent of Self by B.N. Parimoo

Kashmiri Kavayitriyam au unka racana samsara by Siban Krishna Raina

 

 

LALLEŚWARI


Lalleshwari, also known as Lalla Yogiswari, Lal Diddi or Lal Ded, was a mystic poet of Kashmir who lived in the 14th century.  Her poetry is the best exposition of Saivism in Kashmir, which accepts the Advaita, monistic philosophy of the Vedanta.  "I am He".  In essence the human soul is one with God.  He is the only reality behind the changing phenomenon of the world.

Sir Richard Carnac Temple in the preface of his book 'The Words of Lalla the Prophetess', quotes Pandit Anand Koul as saying that Lalla's expression captures every Kashmiri's heart and is part of Kashmiri identity, having a profound effect on the minds of Kashmiris.

Lal Ded was contemporary of Sayyed Ali Hamdani, a renowned Sufi Persian saint, who visited Kashmir during the years 1379-80 and 1385-86.  Her birth is dated as in 1336 A.D. during the reign of Sultan Allahuddin in Simpura village.  At her birth it is believed that Chashmashahi and Khoma Moha water springs burst out from under the earth.

During the period of the 14th century to 16th century there arose across India eminent poet saints, religious teachers and mystics who profoundly affected the life and thought of India.  Ramanada in the 15th century, Tulsi Das, Mira Bai, Nanak and Kabir, Chaitanya, Chandi Das and Vidyapati in Bengal, and Vallabahcharya in the south.  Lalla preceded them all.

She was born in a Kashmiri pandit family at Pandrenthan, four miles to the south-east of Srinagar.  She was severely ill-treated by her husband and his family which she bore with patience and a legend of her perseverance had developed around her.  She left home at the age of twenty four and became a disciple of a well known Sufi  saint Sed Bayu or Siddha Sri Kanth, who was the family priest.  He lived in Pampur village and is believed to be the descendent in the line of disciple of Vasugupta, founder of modern Saivism in Kashmir.  Lalla is said to have excelled her guru and often to have defeated him in retort and argument.  Her verses show an intense study of the Upanishads.

Lalleswari it is said stayed naked and traveled in that condition.  She was well aware of the ridicule she would receive for it, but worldly criticism did not in any way disturb her equanimity of her mind.

Lalla Vakyani is composed in old form of Kashmiri.  Sanskrit was the literary language and Kashmiri was spoken as a vernacular and had its own dialect.  The script is formed around Devanagri script and the pronunciation of the Sanskrit alphabet has acquired a local accent.

Literature in Kashmiri dialect thus is very rare and the words of Lalla are significant in understanding the process of taking philosophical thought to the people.  Herself a yogini she says that the Supreme is not reached by yogic discipline alone, but by its practice the seeker comes to know that the universe is unreal.  He then tries to go beyond it.  By dint of practice the perception of the visible world is lost, as it were, and the human soul becomes one with the Absolute.

She is said to have lived long and gave up her body at Bijbehara, which is near Islamabad, just outside the Juma Masjid.

A Kashmiris' faith in her is so deep that her passing mysticism is expressed as her soul buoyed up like a flame of light in the air and then disappeared.



Lal Ded's Voice in Poems and Song

There nor even Siva reigns supreme
Not his wedded energy hath sway
Only is the somewhat, like a dream
There pursuing an elusive way
**
Dance then, Lalla, clothed but by the air
Sing then, Lalla, clad but in the sky
Air and sky - what garment is more fair?
"Cloth", saith custom-doth that sanctify?
**
Only is he blessed and at peace
False hopes abandoned, who ascends
Where the hard loans of desire cease
Where no debt, nor any of that lends
**
Why cool the flames. Yogi?  Stay the stream?
Why dost walk feet upwards in the sky?
Why milk a bullock? Why magic dream?
Why these base feats of juggler try?
**
Thou art the heaven, and Thou art the earth
Thou alone are day and night and air
Thou thyself art all things that have birth
Even the offerings of flowers fair
**
Striving and struggling, for the door and tight
Bolted and barred, till she longed the more
Him to behold that was beyond her sight
Yet she could not but gaze at the door
**
Yet as she stood gazing at the door
Contemplating Him with all her soul
Lo! He opened it for ever more
There, within herself she saw Him whole
Lalla burnt the foulness from her soul
Famed abroad a prophetess was she
Freed from desire and her heart was made whole
Knelt she, just there, on her bended knee
**
Seeking my teacher, I heard Him tell
Truths that like a blister hurt my heart-
Pain of lost illusion loved so well.
How can I bear with, ere I fall?
 
 
 
I came by the highway but did not return by the same
In the middle of the long embankment and over the small bridge
I found the day come to a close
Searching my pockets I found not a penny
Alas! What shall I pay the boatman to ferry me across?
 
Idol is but a stone, so is a temple
Above and below it is joined in one mass
O ignorant Brahman! Whom would you offer worship to?
Bring about the communion of the mind and the vital Prana.
 
Kusa grass, flowers, sesame seeds, a candle and water are not essential
Adopting the guru's word with all one's heart
One who daily meditates on Siva voluntarily with genuine faith
Verily becomes actionless and is not born again.
 
Three times did I see a Lake but a waste of waters,
Once saw I the Lake extended even to the sky!
Over the Lake sprawled a span less bridge from Harmukh peak to Kaunsar springs
And seven times the Lake appeared as the VOID!
 
A sanyasi goes on pilgrimages to all the holy places
He is in search of his Lord
O mind! Lose not the path even after receiving education
The grass looks greener from a distance
 
How can he make you fearless of death if you are so immersed in material pleasure?

 

 

 

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Pandit Anand Koul

 

Chashma shahi

Khoma Moha

 

 

 

Pandrenthan

Sed Bayu

Pampur

Stories of pestle stone covered with rice and tailors cloth cut and knotted retains its original weight live on till date.  Praise and blame must be accepted with same calm as they balance each other.

 

 

Vijbror

Bijbehara

Juma Masjid

 

Tukaram 17th century. Dehu, Maharashtra. Disciples Gangaram Maval and Santaji Teli

 

Tyagaraja, 1767-1847, Tiruvaiyar, Tamil Nadu. Wrote in Telegu

Tulsi Das 1532-1623, Rajapur, Uttar Pradesh. Passed on in Varanasi.  Wrote Ramcharitramanas. Wrote in Lok Bhasha and Braj Bhasha.

Purandharadasa, 15th-16th century. Marathi who became prolific carnatic poet and musician.

Surdas, 15th-16th century.  Blind bard during Akbar's reign.  In praise of Krishna as Vallabhacharya.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kusa grass

To Not be Born Again

 

Harmukh peak

Kaunsar springs

Sunya is Absolute not Nothingness