Lal-Ded: Saint Poetess

Lal-Ded (grandmother Lal in Kashmiri) was an exponent of the monoistic school of Kashmir Shaivism in the valley in the 14th century. For the people of Kashmir, Lal-Ded and her vaakhs are a part of folklore much like Kabir and Mira are for the Hindi speakers, Lal-Ded used simple Kashmiri to convey her spiritual thoughts in oral songs called vaakhs that vary from the admonishing to friendly to despairing in their tone.

Kashmir Shaivism is a monistic system of philosophy where the object of knowledge and the self are understood as one, where atman and parmatman are believed to be one and the same. The philosophy is that of ‘abhasavad’ –where all manifestations of the Real are understood as different perceptions of the individual. It is believed that there is a Universal Consciousness which is called ‘anuttara’, and this Universal Consciousness is not different from the Self. At the same time, all external as well as internal aspects of existense the aspects of the Universal which the mind percieves either through senses or in the state of profound sleep are equally real and a part of the Universal Consciousness. The concept of ‘abhasa’ is different from Shankaracharya’s ‘mayavad’. The reality of the outer world is not an Illusion but is only a part of the real, and therefore knowledge of the external world can only lead to a partial knowledge of the Ultimate. The Universal Consciousness can be traced in everyday objects as well as experiences, but it is beyond the domain of the rational mind. It can only be realized through the power of ‘pratibhigna’ (recognition).

Lalla’s vaakhs are statements of her spiritual realization, where she talks about the quest for the realization of the universal as an exercise in self-realization.

She says:

“Wherefore are you groping like one blind?
If you be wise enter within your own self.
Siva is very much there, go not astray.
Put your trust in my simple advice.”

In this process, she points out the necessity of overcoming senses, but not at the expense of torturing the body. She believes in resisting temptation, or fighting the dominance of the six kancukas (coverings) of the embodied soul-maya, kalaa, vidya, raga, kaala, niyati in order to realize param siva.

“I have the same six as you have,
O Lord of the dark blue throat,
Yet, estranged from you I suffer.
This is the difference between you and I:
That you are the master of the six
While I am robbed by the six.”

A concern is displayed at being caught up in the cycle of birth and death, and thus being weaned away from Siva. Lalla wishes to escape the condition of mortality, and the fear of death becomes a principal force in driving her towards self-realization. However, unlike the popularly held notion of realizing god in after life, she expresses the desire along with the possibility of realizing Siva in this very life. She questions the argument:

“Like a fine web is Siva spread out.
He is there in all mortal frames.
If you cannot realize Him in your lifetime,
How can you see him after death?
Distinguish the true self from the false self by deep thinking.”

Another prominent feature of her beliefs is her opposition to rituals that she considers superficial and useless in the path of true bhakti:

“The idol is but stone, so is the temple.
From top to bottom it is one mass.
Whom will you worship, O imprudent brahmin?
Try to join your prana with the mind.”

Lalla’s philosophy is not one of self-abnegation under strict torture of the body. Instead, she cautions against negligence of the body, and considers it to be the site of self-realisation.

“With a loving heart search within this very body.
This body is known as the abode of the Supreme self.
Greed and delusion dispelled, this very body
Will acquire grace and a halo of     illumination.”

Simultaneously with assigning the body a spiritual capability, is the warning against any kind of obsession or over indulgence. Lalla understands the transient nature of the body, and the eternality of the Universal Consciousness which, following the right path can become one with the individual Self.

The context of the desire to dissolve the form offers an appropriate framework to understand the desire to escape from the cycle of birth and death. Lalla realizes that if one were unable to unload himself of this eternal burden, then this struggle to escape the form too would be eternal. Hence she wishes to “die while still alive.”

“Both good and bad people were born
Causing immense pain to mother’s womb,
Yet to the womb they returned to enjoy family life.
Siva is hard to attain, take heed.”

Lal Ded’s popular vaakhs have entered the collective consciousness of folk and they are relevant also for their social messages of peace and harmony. In a land infamous for communal tension, Lalla admonished and warned people against religious bigotry and hollow ritualism. She is admired and recited by Hindus and Muslims alike. To conclude with a vaakh that has a universal as well as immediate significance:

Shiv chhuy thali rozan
Mo zan Hindu ta Musalman
Truk ay chhukh to pan panun parzanav
Soy chhay Sahibas sati zani zan

Shiva is all-pervading, present in each particle:
Never differentiate between Hindu and Musalman.
If you are shrewd and intelligent, know thy own self,
Therein lies the acquaintance with God.