Key to the
understanding of Lal Ded
by R. N. Kaul
Part
1
Introduction
 It
is common knowledge that Lalla Ded (1320-1389)
lived in the fourteenth century. This was the most
unfavourable time for the cultivation of mystical
powers lying dormant in our beings. The Happy
Valley was passing through traumatic events of
political and religious turmoil. Sandwiched
between the two extremes of orthodox Brahmanism
and aggressive Islam (due to some fanatics) there
emerged a tradition or 'cult' engendered by Hindu
mystics and Muslim sufis of the time. It was in
reality the resurgence of an indigenous tradition
of the unique Kashmiri psyche known for its
tolerance, secularism, universal brotherhood and
love, in short, of humanism. In this synthesis of
cultures Lalla Ded was destined to play a leading
role. Her special contribution to this
synthetization was to give it a mystical content.
She was closely followed by Sheikh- Noor-ud-din
(1376-1438). Both, she in her vaakh and he in his
srukh emphasized the importance of over-coming the
senses and the wavering mind and concentrating on
Sadhana (meditation) as a means to attain
salvation, the merging of individual soul with the
Universal Consciousness. It really meant the
realizing of the Divine in one's own being. This
tradition of mystic ecstasy was continued,
enriched and strengthened by later mystic poets
and poetesses like Rupa Bhawani, Parmanand
(1791-1874), Shams Fakir (1834-1904), Abdul Ahad
Zargar and a host of others.
The secret of Lalla Ded's
perennial appeal lies in her power to translate
into
Photo
Courtesy: Anjali Kaul, Austin
metaphors and symbols the longing of man to
know ('the burthen and the mystery'), to feel, at
least vicariously, one with the infinite, the
supreme power that inheres in all things. Her
outbursts are clothed in her verse-sayings so
succinctly and yet so communicatively that these
have continued to hold us as if under a spell.
That charm and that appeal are like Keats's
"magic casements" to make the Solider-
Scholar Temple utter:
Thine is a- song that
enslaveth me,
Son of an alien kin and
clime.
Shiekh Noor-ud Din wrote:
The Lalla of padmanpur-
She drank her fill of
divine nectar,
She was indeed an avatar
of ours,
Oh God, grant me the
self-same boon.
Shamas Fakir has this to
say:
Lalla merged her
prana in the Transcendent.
While she went to bathe
At the sacred shrine of
shurahyar bank,
With a leap into the water
She swam across to meet
her God.
Lalla Ded's perennial appeal
stems from the fact that she spoke in the idiom of
the masses, the vernacular kashmiri and not in
Sanskrit. She in fact, became the founder of
modern Kashmiri, the Kashmiri that with slight
changes down the years, continues to retain the
infrastructure of Lalla's making.
But the essentiality of
Lalla Ded's appeal lies in her mystical experience
or anubhav clothed in nearly intelligible
languages. Thoughshe did not give rise to any
order as such and did not present any systematized
philosophy, yet the direction of her sayings in
unmistakable, an ethico-mystical message is
inescapable. There is a method in her 'madness' or
personal ecstasy. She lays down a moral code and
prescribes rules for attaining spiritual
salvation.
The present article is an
attempt to explain, in as simple a manner as
humanly possible, the technique Lalla Ded followed
to reach her destination: discovering the Supreme
residing in the depths of her own soul. She
adopted the theory and practice of Trika 'Sastra'
called Kashmir Shaivism, The technique has a
physiological mystical content. It adopts the Laya
Yoga though other yogas exist like Hatta Yoga,
Mantra Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Bakhti Yoga. In
kashmiri the Laya Yoga is called the kundalini
Yoga. According to this yoga there are six Cakras
(Chakras) or centres of Cosmic power in the human
body. The Kundalini Sakti is supposed to lie
coiled round the svayambhu (the genital part) at
the muladhara Cakra. This Sakti is roused through
yogis exercises or mantras and brought up through
the six circles to the highest centre, the
Sahasrara, the abode of Siva. A kind of mystical
bridge is established to help the Kundalini Shakti
to reach this highest point. There exists a nadi
(in the abstract) called Sushumna nadi which
enables the practiser to reach this seat of Siva
and enjoy the mystical taste of nectar oozing from
Shashikala, Digit of the Moon. To understand it
better one has to become more familiar with
Kashmir Sahivism. Parmasiva is the highest
metaphysical principle of this system. It has two
aspects: one, the static, the eternal changeless
and Pure Consciousness, two, the dynamic, the one
in constant flux. The first is named Siva, the
second Shakti, the two being one and the same.
Man's spiritual goal is to establish identity of
the two in his own being. This effort is
obstructed by the power of the senses and the
waywardness of the mind over our higher existence.
The world is like a magnetic illusion and the bold
ofthe senses is so strong that man lives many
lives to seek their satisfaction. And the most
formidable task for the seeker of the Infinite
according to the Laya yoga is that he has to die
(control his/her senses) and know the Supreme Self
while alive. The mind can be controlled through
the vital energy of consciousness centered in the
body in the form of Susumna nadi, the uneven
movement of prana and apana is brought to a
uniform rhythm by breath control. The Susumna nadi
extends from the muladhara at the base near the
rectum right up to Sahasrara in the crown of the
head along the spinal cord. It is through this
subtle mystical corridor that Kundalini Sakti
rises upwards to meet her consort Siva in that
thousand-petalled lotus of Sahasrara Within these
two extremes are six centres of energy cilled
cakras or lotuses. These are:
1. Muladhar - at the base
of the spinal cord.
2. Suadhishsthana - at the
base of the reproductive organ
3. Manipur - in the region
of the navel
4. Anahata - in the region
of the heart
5. Visudha - near the
throat
6. Ajna - between the two
eyebrow
There are two other nadis
running parallel to the Susmna. These are ida and
pingla. Prana flows through the former while apana
flows through the latter. The two breaths are kept
in perfect balance through the practice of yoga.
All the channels (nadis) join at the two eyebrows'
junction; this point is called Triveni, symbolic
confluence of Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati. The
Rundalini Sakti which normally lies dormant is
awakened by yogic exercises and it then cuts its
way through the six cakras to meet 'her' consort
Shiva in Sahasrara, Prana goes upwards while apana
downwards. To attain spiritual goal, man has to
control five pranas, ten indriyas and their
controller, the wavering mind. This is done
through abhyas or yoga practice. Prana rises at
the heart and ends at a distance of twelve fingers
from the nose. To attain absolute control, the
mystic syllable OM is repeated with rise and fall
of breath as it travels through - subtle channels
another mantra is called hamsah. This mantra
enables the yogis to concentrate. At each of these
points there occurs a split second in which prana
remains still. It is this interval which brings
the seeker to the abode of Siva. The unstuck sound
of anahata or OM coincides with hamsa. There is
complete merger of man's soul with Universal Soul;
then there is an ecstatic revelation that the two
are in reality one:
Through the central
channel of Susumna
I reached the sanctum
sanctorum of my own soul
And lo! I beheld Siva and
Sakti sealed in one.
Feeling ecstatic I reached
the nectar-lake of the mystic moon
Apparently dead, I am now
really alive.
The same anubhawa is
expressed in another telling vaakh:
I held firm the reins of
the horse, my mind,
I controlled well the
pranas coursing through the ten nadis;
Then did the nectar of the
mystic moon
Melt and flow, suffusing
my whole being,
The mind thus curved,
My void merged with the
void of pure consciousness.
Thus Lalla Ded, without
rejecting the flesh altogether but accepting it
only as a necessary evil, found her spiritual
salvation within her own self.
I discovered the Lord
Within the walls of my own
soul.
Note: The author has
consulted many books written on Lalleshwari
especially those of Jaya Lal Koul and Nil
Kanth-Kotru.
Part
2
'Lali me nilavath
tchol no zah'
Life and
Legend
It
is not only natural but almost imperative to blend
fact with legend when dealing with the lives of
saints or mystics. Miracles become integral parts
of their messages or of their personal
experiences. Even if no miracles occur, it is
sometimes necessary to invent some in order to
brighten the halos round their heads and then
great saints, mystics and prophets become God's
instruments to bring under discipline the moral
and spiritual and even secular lives of men and
women living on this planet of ours. These
miracles become proofs of their spiritual powers
or of their powers of endurance and
self-restraint. Divested of these their lives
become dull studies and their messages fail to
convince the masses.
Little is historically
known about Lalla's life. She lived in the
fourteenth century (1320? to 1389?) as the oral
tradition declares. She was born and brought up in
the reign of Alau-ud-Din (1344-55) and died in the
reign of Sultan Shihabud Din (1355-73). Her name
is first mentioned in 1654 by Baba Dawud Mushkati
in his Asrarul-Abrar (The secret of the Pious).
Then followed her mention in Waqiate Kashmir
completed in 1746. Some names testify to her life
and to her miracles. Her vaakhs too furnish some
internal evidence to her existence and to some of
the hardships she had to undergo. That her
immediate successor, the mystic Sheikh Noorud Din
Noorani (1377-1438) should mention Lalla's name in
one of his outbursts confirms her existence. It is
said that she fed the newly born babe (Sheikh
Noorud Din) at her motherly breast and that he
became her disciple in the mystic lore and
experience.
Hence it follows that the
legends that are associated with her name are
things taken for granted by the people. In all
hagiologies, whether written or handed down
through tradition, it is that the miracles
associated with a saint assume greater
significance. In fact though never verified these
miracles establish the greatness of these aints in
peoples' hearts. In this no rational analysis can
be offered. The 'bluish something' as Gandhi
called Lord Krishna lifted the hill Goverdhan on
His little finger; Hanumana brought an entire
mountain from the Himalayan ranges to the southern
shores of Bharat; Christ walked the waves and
brought the dead to life. And Lal Ded remembered
her past janamas (lives) as a woman giving birth
to a son, in another janama getting born as a
filly at village Marhom. The filly died and was
reborn as a pup at Vejibror. There a tiger killed
the filly in the disguise of a pup. This was
verified by Lalla's guru Sidha Shrikanth. All the
cycle of birth and death was repeated the seventh
time at Pandrethan. She was born at Sempore near
Pampore and at the age of 12 was married to Nika (Sona)
Bhat of Drangbal near Pampore. Her vaakhs tell us
of Lalla Ded's belief in transmigration of the
soul. She refers to her herself having witnessed
the whole valley being changed into a vast lake
from Hannukha in the north-west to Konsar Nag in
the south of Kashmir. Was she alive during the
period when the valley was Sati Sar?
But it is after her
marriage that more miracles and legends begin to
gather round her life. Born and brought up till
her marriage in an atmosphere of leaming that she
obtained in her parent's home. Lalla became a
mistress of the spiritual lore, of the Bhagwad
Gita, of tantric practices prevalent at the time,
especially of Trika Shastra or what is Popularly
known as Kashmir Shaivism. She had learnt and
imbibed certain spiritual sadhanas before she was
locked in marital relationship with Nika Bhat. In
picking up Laya Yoga, the inspiration and guidance
of Sidha Mol, her family guru, must have been
extra-ordinary indeed. In those days girls were
married even before they attained puberty and the
marital communication took place when the girl had
advanced far beyond her teens. It is therefore
safe to assume that at her in-laws' Lalla
continued her Sadhana. In those days the
atmosphere at the in-laws for a maiden
daughter-in-law was naturally conservative and
extremely orthodox. And it must have been
particulary suffocating for the spiritually and
aesthetically sensitive Lalita, who had now become
Padmavati. Her beloved was Sankara, and
estrangement between the husband and wife must
have surfaced much earlier. The villains of the
peace must have been
(i) the malignant and
proverbially harsh mother-in-law and
(ii) Lalla's own sadhana
which must have made her averse to sensual
indulgence. The mother-in-law's behaviour has
given rise to another legend. The father-in-law is
generally generous and of caring nature whereas
the mother-in-law is only practising the
persecution she herself must have home at the
hands of her own mother-in-law. And the son is
always led by the nose by the mother acting as the
wire-puller at the 'puppet show'. The story goes
that Lalla's mother-in-law would invariably
conceal a stone (nilavath) beneath the small fare
of rice that was Lalla's share. And she gulped
down the little rice without any grumbling. Had
she complained, she would have been shown the
door. Hence Lalla moans- they may have mutton, but
for Lalla the stone is the only fare.
We can imagine how
Lalla's endurance must have exhausted the
vindictive powers of her mother-in-law. She took
recourse to other more reprehensible tricks. It
was Lalla's habit to rise early go to the ghat
with an earthen pitcher under her arm and before
collecting water, she would spend time on
ablutions and yogic exercises like breath control
etc., while going across to the temple of
Natakeshaw Bhairaw. The mother-in-law had
insinuated to her son that Lalla was not faithful
to him. And on one fine morning another miracle
occurred. Her husband waited for Lalla to return,
with the firm resolve to shove her out of his
home. He had his diabolical form and his stick
behind the door. As Lal Ded approached, Nika Bhat
struck the pitcher. It is believed that the
pitcher broke into pieces but the water content
remained intact in a frozen state. Lalla filled
each household pot with water till not a drop more
was needed. The broken pitcher was flung outside
where at once a fresh water spring appeared. This
spring is now dried up but to this day it is
called Laila Trag (trag means "pond").
As the historian Pir Ghulam Hassan has stated,
this spring went dry in 1925-26.
The miracle of the
pitcher turned out to be a watershed in Lalla's
relationship with her in-laws and in her much more
important relationship with the Supreme
Consciousness. By this time most probably she had
still to receive the 'word', the occult, rather
cryptic or esoteric light from her guru as to what
course she should adopt to know the Eternal in her
own Self. She left her in-laws for good and took
to wandering as an ascetic, a sanyasin in search
of Enlightenment. The story goes that she wandered
almost naked like a mad person who does not care
for any formality of dress. The legend goes that
her lul or belly protruded forward, bent itself to
cover her private parts. People therefore forgot
her original maiden name of Lalita (shortened to
Lalla in Kashmir) and began to call her Lalla Ded/Lal
Ded, the granny with the belly dangling down. This
is surely hearsay and cannot be reconciled to the
fact that she was christened Lalita. Muslims later
on claimed her conversion to Islam and called her
Lalla Arifa. But the reality is that all kinds of
stories and legends grew up as time massed on and
threw a pall of obscurity on the period during
which she lived her life. Yes, for her the Hindu
ritualistic system became meaningless to find the
Source in her own body. Distinctions between
religions and castes became redundant for the
mystic of Lalla's stature:
<verses>
The Lord pervades
everywhere, There is nothing like Hindu or
Musalman; (All distinctions melt away) If thou art
wise, know thyself, Seek the Lord within.
The legend of the belly
bulging downwards appears to be mischievously
invented because if Lalla Ded were moving naked in
the streets how could she have incarnated herself
as the Muse of knowledge or, more precisely
speaking, as the Muse of Poetry. If true, the
legend confirms her miraculous powers.
And finally the legend
associated with her mahasamadhi, getting freed
from the mortal coil of her body and getting
blissfully merged with that which shall last for
ever-the Infinite Soul, Lalla's Siva. When claimed
by both the Hindus and the Muslims alike, Lalla
performed a postmortem miracle. There arose a
flame of light from her dead body and without
anyone realizing what was happening, it vanished
into the void
"shoonyas
shoonyaa meelith gav"
Many such miracles are
associated with the mahasamadhis of saints and
mystics or even prophets. Christ's body left the
Cross and ascended as if divinely winged to the
abode of the Lord to be resurrected again. Sant
Kabir's corpse proved mystically elusive to the
Muslims and to the Hindus who were fighting each
other to claim it for their distinctive funeral
rites. It is said that Mira Bhai's soul merged
with the idol of Ranchodeshji making the body
invisible. Lalla Ded is said to have attained
Nirvana in 1389 or so. But her metaphors which
clothe her mystical practice in the form of vaakh
continue to inspire mankind.
[The author, Prof.
R.N. Kaul, former Principal, is one of our veteran
scholars of English and a fine writer, well-known
for his book on Shiekh Mohd. Abdullah. He lives in
Jammu.]
Article reproduced
from:
Patrika
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