Siva within, Siva without: In a distant Kashmir meadow the wandering poetess, carrying a simple knapsack, halts at a lotus pond to offer flowers to a Sivalingam, and receives His blessings of light and love
Reminiscent of Akka Mahadevi in 12th-century Karnataka, Lal Ded is a bhakta from Kashmir who dedicated her life to pursue union with Siva. Belonging to the 14th century, a time of political and religious flux, when Kashmir was under various rulers, poet-saint Lal Ded, or Grandmother Lal, known formally as Lalleshwari or affectionately as Lalla (“darling” in Kashmiri), is very much a part of modern Kashmiri psyche due to her mystic poems (vakh) and their universal appeal.
Oral traditions say Lalla was born in Pandrethan, southeast of Srinagar, in the spiritual atmosphere of a traditional Kashmiri Pandit household. Her poems suggest she was educated in Hindu scriptures and yoga philosophy early in life in her father’s home. She was married at a young age and moved to the town of Pampore.
It was an untenable marriage, rife with difficulties, and she turned to
spiritual life for solace.
Around the age of 26, Lalla took sannyasa, renouncing the world in search of God Realization. Tradition says she became a disciple of Kashmiri Saiva saint Siddha Srikantha, also called Sed Bayu, a direct descendent in the guru-shishya lineage of Vasugupta, the founder of modern Saivism in Kashmir, a nondualist tradition with scholarly and yogic streams.
Lalla lived as a yogini, composing devotional verses on Siva, singing about mystical experiences, ecstatic love for God, seeing Siva in everything, and her nondualistic relationship with God.
Kashmiri legends say she shed her clothes and wandered with hair loose, ridiculed by some and worshiped by others.
At the end of her life, like Mirabai in the Vaishnavite stream, Lal Ded attained Siva-consciousness and merged into the Divine.
Lal Vaakh
Lalla’s succinct, declarative, and at times cryptic, sacred utterances are called Lal Vaakh.
Over 250 verses have been attributed to her; around 128 are considered indisputably hers.
Vaakh, singular and plural, is cognate with the Sanskrit vaach (speech) and vaakya (sentence). Each vaakh is usually a stanza of four lines and conveys an independent idea.
As one of the earliest compositions in vernacular Kashmiri language, passed down orally through the generations and transcribed many centuries later, Lalla’s verses play a central role in the making of modern Kashmiri language and literature.
Lalla’s proverbs are not easily categorized. They are rooted in Trika Saivite philosophy with Sanskrit phrases, while alluding to ideas from Tantra and Yogachara Buddhism.
Lal Ded seems to have been acquainted with Sufism as well.
The same vakh can elucidate Hindu philosophy and yogic terminology for one translator, while another envisions her mystic poem through a Sufi lens.
Her Lal Vakh have inspired Hindus and Sufis alike, translated differently based on context. Her verses express deep religious yearning, reverence to guru, importance of intense meditation and yogic practices, rejection of orthodoxy and organized religion, and the soul’s burning desire to experience God.
They also carry a plethora of images such as moons, lakes, nectar and waterfalls, which sometimes express the celebratory mood of having merged with the Divine within. Among many mystic subjects, she wrote of the power of mantra, as in this verse:
“O Lalli! With right knowledge, open your ears and hear how the trees sway to Om Namasivaya, how the wind says Om Namasivaya, how water flows with the sound Namasivaya. The entire universe is singing the name of Siva. O Lalli! Pay a little attention”
(The Yoga of Discipline, by Gurumayi Chidvilasananda).
In another poem she writes, “I, Lalla, entered the gate of the mind’s garden and saw Siva united with Sakti. I was immersed in the lake of undying bliss. Here, in this lifetime, I’ve been unchained from the wheel of birth and death. What can the world do to me?” (Yong Kian/Wikimedia Commons).
Ambassador of Communal Harmony
Inspiring peace, devotionalism and communal harmony in the Kashmir Valley, Lal Ded’s works represent a confluence of Saivism and Sufism. Her poetry inspired many Sufis of Kashmir over the centuries, and
her association with Sufi saint Nund Rishi is especially noteworthy. He formed the Rishi order of saints, who are considered heirs of Lal Ded by some.
In a region where Hinduism and Islam have deeply influenced one another, saints like Lal Ded inspire a vision of pluralistic coexistence in how dear she is to both communities. She was revered as Lalleshwari by Kashmiri Hindus and Lalla Arifa by the Muslims.
Lal Ded’s aphoristic sayings are still recited in Kashmir today, making a deep impact on the religion and culture of locals from all walks of life. They have also been adopted by contemporary global movers and shakers in scholarly publications, music, and theater productions. For example, the solo play in Englisççh, Hindi and Kashmiri entitled “Lal Ded” has been performed by actress Mita Vashisht all over India and abroad since 2004.
Testimony from Poet and Author Ranjit Hoskote
“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.”
Lal Ded’s Vakh
translated by ranjit hoskote, from his book i, lalla
Kusha grass, flowers, sesame seed, lamp, water:
it’s just another list for someone who’s listened,
really listened, to his teacher. Every day he sinks deeper
into Shambhu, frees himself from the trap
of action and reaction. He will not suffer birth again.
χ χ χ
Who trusts his Master’s word
and controls the mind-horse
with the reins of wisdom,
he shall not die, he shall not be killed.
χ χ χ
The Lord has spread the subtle net of Himself across the world.
See how He gets under your skin, inside your bones?
If you can’t see Him while you’re alive,
don’t expect a special vision once you’re dead.
χ χ χ
Wrapped up in Yourself, You hid from me.
All day I looked for You
and when I found You hiding inside me,
I ran wild, playing now me, now You.
χ χ χ
What the books taught me, I’ve practiced.
What they didn’t teach me, I’ve taught myself.
I’ve gone into the forest and wrestled with the lion.
I didn’t get this far by teaching one thing and doing another.
χ χ χ
Some, who have closed their eyes, are wide awake.
Some, who look out at the world, are fast asleep.
Some who bathe in sacred pools remain dirty.
Some are at home in the world but keep their hands clean.