Lalleshwari
Lalleshwari (लल्लेश्वरी) (1320–1392), also known as Lalla, Lal Ded or "Lal Arifa".[1][2] She was a mystic of the Kashmiri Shaivite sect,[3] and at the same time, a Sufi saint. She is a creator of the mystic poetry called vatsun or Vakhs, literally 'speech'. Known as Lal Vakhs, her verses are the earliest compositions in the Kashmiri language and are an important part in history of Kashmiri literature.[4][5]
Lal Ded and her mystic musings continue to have a deep impact on the psyche of Kashmiri common man, and the 2000 National Seminar on her held at New Delhi led to the release of the book Remembering Lal Ded in Modern Times.[6] A solo play in English, Hindi and Kashmiri titled 'Lal Ded' (based on her life), has been performed by actress Mita Vashisht all over India since 2004.[7][8]
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[edit] Biography
Lalleshwari was born in Pandrethan (ancient Puranadhisthana) some four and a half miles to the southeast of Srinagar in a Kashmiri Pandit family..[9] She married at age twelve, but her marriage was unhappy and she left home at twenty-four to take sanyas (renunciation) and become a disciple of the Shaivite guru Siddha Srikantha (Sed Bayu). She continued the mystic tradition of Shaivism in Kashmir, which was known as Trika before 1900.[10]
There are various stories about Lal Ded's encounters with the founding fathers of Kashmiri Sufism. One story recounts how, when Sheikh Nooruddin Noorani (Nund Rishi) was born, he wouldn’t feed from his mother. After three days, Lal Ded arrived and fed him herself. She said to the baby that, since he hadn’t been ashamed to be born, why should he be ashamed to drink from his mother’s breast?
According to another story, when Lal Ded encountered Sheikh Ali Hamadani she jumped into a tandoor (clay oven) and, when the Sheikh lifted the lid, Lal Ded came out dressed in flowers. When asked why she was dressed this way, Lal Ded replied, saying “Today I saw a man for the first time”. However, this second story is disputed by some scholars as unreliable and as an example of how Islamic missionaries to Kashmir tried to expropriate Lal Ded for their cause[10] because she represented the pre-existing Kashmiri spirituality.
Her poems (called vakhs) have been translated into English by Richard Temple, Jaylal Kaul, Coleman Barks[11], Jaishree Odin, and Ranjit Hoskote [12] [13] [14] [15] [16].
[edit] Lal Vakh
Lala Vakh, literally mean sayings of Lala or Lala Ded:
[edit] Lal Vakh in Kashmiri
yi yi karu'm suy artsun
yi rasini vichoarum thi mantar
yihay lagamo dhahas partsun
suy Parasivun tanthar -138
Whatever work I did became worship of the Lord;
Whatever word I uttered became a prayer;
Whatever this body of mine experienced became
the sadhana of Saiva Tantra
illumining my path to Parmasiva. -138
[edit] Further reading
- Articles on Lal Ded [1]
- Lalla yogishwari, Anand Kaul, reprint from the Indian Antiquary, Vols. L, LIX, LX, LXI, LXII.
- Lalla-Vakyani, Sir George Grierson and Dr. Lionel D. Barnett Litt. D. (R. A. S. monograph, Vol. XVII, London 1920).ISBN 1846647010.
- Vaakh Lalla Ishwari, Parts I and II (Urdu Edition by A. K. Wanchoo and English by Sarwanand Chaaragi, 1939).
- Lal Ded by Jayalal Kaul, 1973, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.
- The Ascent of Self: A Reinterpretation of the Mystical Poetry of Lalla-Ded by B. N. Parimoo, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi. ISBN 8120803051.
- Lal Ded: Her life and sayings by Nil Kanth Kotru, Utpal publications, Srinagar, ISBN 81-85217-02-5.
- Lalleshwari : spiritual poems by a great Siddha yogini, by Swami Muktananda and Swami Laldyada. 1981, SYDA Foundation, ASIN: B000M1C7BC.
- Lal Ded: Her life & sayings, by Swami Laldyada. Utpal Publications, 1989, ISBN 8185217025.
- Naked Song, by Laldyada, Lalla, Coleman Barks (Translator), 1992, Maypop Books, ISBN 0961891645. [2]
- I, Lalla: The Poems of Lal Ded, translated by Ranjit Hoskote with an Introduction and Notes, Penguin Classics, 2011, ISBN 9780670084470. [3]
[edit] References
- ^ Lal Ded www.poetry-chaikhana.com.
- ^ Lal Ded www.radiokashmir.org.
- ^ Lal Ded Sahitya Akademi Official website.
- ^ Lal Vakh online
- ^ Lal Ded's Vakhs
- ^ Remembering Lal Ded in Modern Times National Seminar by Kashmir Education, Culture and Science Society, 2000.
- ^ Songs of a mystic The Hindu, May 01, 2005.
- ^ Lal Ded at NCPA Bombay
- ^ Lalleshwari: Forerunner of Medieval Mystics Kashmiri Herald, Volume 1, No. 1 - June 2001.
- ^ a b Toshkhani, S.S. (2002). Lal Ded : the great Kashmiri saint-poetess. New Delhi: A.P.H. Pub. Corp. ISBN 8176483818.
- ^ Barks, Coleman (1992). Naked Song. Maypop Books. ISBN 0961891645.
- ^ Kashmir's wise old Grandmother Lal Aditi De's review of I, Lalla by Ranjit Hoskote in The Hindu/ Business Line
- ^ Mystic insights Abdullah Khan's review of I, Lalla by Ranjit Hoskote in The Hindu
- ^ Words are floating Jerry Pinto's review of I, Lalla' by Ranjit Hoskote in Hindustan Times
- ^ Lalla and Kabir, resurrected Nilanjana S. Roy's article on Ranjit Hoskote's I, Lalla and Arvind Krishna Mehrotra's Songs of Kabir
- ^ I, Lalla/ Songs of Kabir Extracts from Ranjit Hoskote's I, Lalla and Arvind Krishna Mehrotra's Songs of Kabir in The Caravan
