(Lalleśvarī) in Three Ideas
the essentialsThe vākh
Four-line verses in Kashmiri, still on every Kashmiri’s lips.
Śiva is everywhere
“Śiva is everywhere; do not distinguish Hindu from Muslim.”
The guru's one word
“My guru gave me one precept: go from without to within. That became my scripture — so I began to dance naked.”
Lal Ded (“Granny Lal”), also Lalleśvarī or Lalla (c. 1320–1392), was a Kashmiri mystic and poet of the Śaiva tradition (see Kashmir Śaivism), and the earliest great poet of the Kashmiri language. Married young into an unhappy household — legends tell of a cruel mother-in-law who put a stone under her rice to make the portion look larger — she left home at about twenty-six, took a Śaiva teacher, and wandered as a naked ascetic, singing short, four-line verses called vākhs that express non-dual devotion to Śiva, scorn for ritual and outward religion, and the search for God within. “My guru gave me but one precept: go from without to within. That became my rule; therefore I began to wander naked.” Her vākhs, preserved orally, are still quoted by Kashmiris of all faiths; Muslims revere her as Lalla Ārifa, and the Sufi saint Nund Rishi regarded her as his spiritual mother.
Curiosities
did you know?- Kashmiri Muslims call her Lalla Ārifa; Kashmiri Hindus, Lalleśvarī. The Sufi saint Nund Rishi (Sheikh Nūruddīn) revered her as his spiritual mother.
Questions to Argue About
debate club →- Can a mystic belong to two religions?
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