Lalleshwari

Lalleshwari (1320–1392), locally known mostly as Lal Ded, was a Kashmiri mystic of the Kashmir Shaivism school of philosophy in the Indian subcontinent. She was one of the first poets of early modern Kashmiri language, and she developed a new style of spontaneous poetic composition known as "Vaakh" (literally, oral style). Out of her original compositions less than 300 are available today. Quotes Poetry I can dispel the clouds, drain the sea, or cure someone hopelessly ill. But to change the mind of a fool is beyond me. I trapped my breath in the bellows of my throat, and a lamp blazed up inside, showing me who I really was. I crossed the darkness holding fast to that lamp. I didn't believe in it for a momentbut I gulped down the wine of my own voice.And then I wrestled with the darkness inside me,knocked it down, clawed at it, ripped it to shreds. The Poems of Lal Ded, poem 48, p. 10 It covers your shame, keeps you from shivering.Grass and water are the food it asks.Who taught you, priest-man,to feed this breathing thing to your thing of stone? The Poems of Lal Ded, poem 59, p. 15 They lash me with insults, serenade me with curses.Their barking means nothing to me.Even if they came with soul-flowers to offer,I couldn’t care less. Untouched, I move on. The Poems of Lal Ded, poem 92 From Kashmiri Poetry yi yi karu'm suy artsunyi rasini vichoarum thi mantaryihay lagamo dhahas partsunsuy Parasivun tanthar. Translation : Whatever work I did became worship of the Lord;Whatever word I uttered became a prayer;Whatever this body of mine experienced becamethe sadhana of Saiva Tantraillumining my path to Parmasiva. Lal Ded Vekhas Whatever work I've done,whatever I have though,was praise with my bodyand praise hiddeninside my head. Naked Songs, p. 18 External links Ranjit Hoskote: I, Lalla, The Poems of Lal Dĕd, translated from the Kashmiri with and Introduction and Notes, Penguin India, July 2013 Barks, Coleman: Naked Songs, Maypop Books, 1992 Category:1320 births Category:1392 deaths Category:Religious leaders Category:14th-century Persian poets Category:Philosophers from India Category:Medieval poets Category:Hindu poets Category:Kashmiri poets Category:Religious leaders Category:Sufis Category:Hindu saints Category:Mystic poets Category:Sufi poets Category:Mystics Category:Hindu mystics