Lalla Ded (Lalleshwari)- The Saint Poet of Kashmir

“Lal Ded (1320-1392), the Saint Poet of Kashmir who defied social convention in her search for God”

"gwaran vo'nam kunuy vatsum
Neybra doupanam anndaray atsun;
Suy gav Lali mey vaakh ta vatsun,
Tavay mey hyotum nagay natsun"

"My Guru gave me but one percept :
"From without withdraw your gaze within 
And fix it on the Inmost Self."
Taking to heart this one percept,
Naked I began to roam"

Lalla Ded was a prominent saint-poet

Born to a Kashmiri Pandit family in Pandrethan in the year 1355, Lalla Ded was a prominent saint-poet, who defied social convention in her search for God. Apart from a mystic poet, Kashmiris consider her a holy woman, a yogi, a devotee of Lord Shiva. Some even consider her an avtar. She is also known as Lalleshwari, Lalla Yogini and Lalla Arifa. From her Vakhs, it is thought that she was educated in the early part of her life at her father’s house. In her sayings (more than 260 vakhs) Lalla Ded has dealt with everything from life, yoga and God to Dharma and Atma. Her poems and songs concern the longing for God and the joy she finds in the deity who lives within, as well as her disregard for conventional forms of worship such as image worship: ‘Temple and image, the two that you have fashioned, are no better than stone.’ Her highly emotional lyrics became famous among the devotees of Shiva and are revered as being among the finest products of the poet-saints of the Hindu bhakti tradition.

Kashmiris consider her a holy woman, a yogi, a devotee of Lord Shiva. Some even consider her an avtar. She is also known as Lalleshwari, Lalla Yogini and Lalla Arifa.

Lalla Ded was married at the age of twelve years

Lalla Ded was married at the age of twelve years. Her in-laws were at Pampore. Her inlaws gave her the name of Padmavati. Her mother-in-law is said to have been very cruel to her. It is said, she used to put a stone under the rice in Lalla Ded’s plate to show it big. Legend tells of the harsh treatment Lalla Ded received from her husband and mother-in-law and extols her patience and forbearance. At the age of twenty-six years, Lalla Ded renounced her family and became a devotee of Lord Shiva. She became a disciple of the Shaivite guru, Siddha Srikantha (Sed Bayu) whom she ultimately surpassed in spiritual attainments. She continued the mystic tradition of Shaivism in Kashmir.

“She continued the mystic tradition of Shaivism in Kashmir.

As a mystic, Lalla Ded wandered naked, reciting her proverbs and quatrain-based poems. She often used her poetry as a peaceful means of engagement with both Shaivism and Sufism. “She was the product of the spiritual creed that had been evolving in Kashmir for centuries and her immediate predecessors were saints and scholars like Vasugupta Rishi, Acharaya Somanand, Acharaya Utpal Dev and Acharaya Abhinavagupta” says M.H.Zaffar. He adds: “Lal-ded rebelled against the educated elite of Sanskrit academia who were the custodians of knowledge and tradition. She articulated the spiritual path and message she had inherited, in Kashmiri language which was the language of the man in the street. By doing so, she made it available to all the people irrespective of caste, creed, colour, sex, religion or region. It was no more a preserve of the Sanskrit academy. This act on the part of Lal-ded – to make Kashmiri language the vehicle for spreading her message of universal brotherhood through her outpourings, was probably a part of the Divine Mission which she had to fulfill and in recognition of which the great saint Nunda Rishi calls her, ‘the Divine Manifestation for us.’ This act remains the greatest revolutionary act in the cultural history of Kashmir and makes her the undisputed founder not only of the contemporary Kashmiri literature but also of the contemporary Kashmiri culture.”

 “Lal-ded rebelled against the educated elite of Sanskrit academia who were the custodians of knowledge and tradition. 

Lalla Ded’s poetry

Lalla Ded’s poetry has been translated widely, including English translations by Jane Hirshfield, Coleman Barks, Sir George Grierson, Richard Temple, Jay Lal Kaul, Coleman Barks, Jaishree Odin and Ranjit Hoskote. Beyond several new translations of Lalla Ded’s Vakhs, there are other contemporary performative arts that are based on Lalla Ded’s life and poetry. There are contemporary renditions of Lalla Ded’s poetry in songs. In addition, a solo play in English, Hindi, and Kashmiri titled Lalla Ded (based on her life) has been performed by actress Mita Vashisht across India since 2004.

Author and poet Ranjit Hoskote says: “To the outer world, Lal Ded is arguably Kashmir’s best known spiritual and literary figure; within Kashmir, she has been venerated both by Hindus and Muslims for nearly seven centuries. For most of that period, she has successfully eluded the proprietorial claims of religious monopolists.”

Exact date of Lalla Ded’s death is not known. It is said she died in Bijbehara. But people like her do not die. She is alive in her sayings and also in the hearts of Kashmiris.

[Ref: Wikipedia.com; koausa.org; sutrajournal.com; Encyclopaedia Brittanica; poetryfoundation.org]

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Lalla Vaakh

Re-written in Standardized Devanagari-Kashmiri by M.K.Raina.

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