Madhav Hada
Translated from Hindi by Pradeep Trikha
Indian Literature | Jan-Feb 2025 | Vol. 345

Lal Ded (1317-20 - 1373 AD) was a celebrated saint-devotee and poetess from Kashmir; also known by the names Laleshwari, Layogeshwari, Lala, Lal, Lalarifa etc. She is also well-known in Kashmir as ‘Majnu-e-Aqeela’ (mad in love), ‘Rabia Sani’ (second Rabia) and others. Shaikh Nuruddin Wali otherwise known as Nand Rishi (1377-1440 AD), a personification of Kashmir's culture and well-known as 'Alamdar-e-Kashmir' (flag bearer of Kashmir), considered Lal Ded as his guru (spiritual guide). It is also said that Lal Ded had declared him as her successor. Nand Rishi has mused over about Lal Ded with great respect. He has written in his verse that:
Lalla, who was born in Pampore
Who drank the nectar (of God) for satisfaction;
She was a woman-saint, with passion in her heart,
Oh God, bless me too, as you blessed her.
Sheikh Nasiruddin, known as the 'man of the age of fakirs', has also praised him. He has written that- “She sacrificed everything for the desire of envisioning Brahma and smoky-clouds dissipated from her heart. After taking a sip of 'Ahad-e-Alast' (promise of the first day) she was passionate with joy. An elating cup of Harinaam (constant remembrance of God) made her forget her senses. Its little hangover is more uplifting than hundreds of jars of wine.” Lal Ded is not mentioned in the traditional histories of Kashmir, but she has been tuned in (smriti) for centuries in the memory of the common people. Narratives woven around the journey of her life emerge from folk and masses. For centuries Kashmir has ever been a place of out-of-the-ordinary harmonization of religious and spiritual traditions like Buddhism, Shaiva, Nath-Siddha, Sufi and several others. Lal Ded's life and her vakhs (verses) are in dialogic tradition and contain memories and rites. Lal Ded's pursuits in Kashmir date back to the fourteenth century. During her time the cultural perception of Kashmir was not on purpose divided into Hindu-Shaiva and Islam, hence her memory and recognition are there in both the communities that are Hindu and Muslim. Among Hindus, she is renowned as Laleshwari and midst Muslims as Lalarifa. Her vakhs (verses) are few, it is indeed astounding that their deep spirituality and heart-touching eloquence have stood the test of time for centuries in the scriptures and memories of Kashmiris.
1.
Lal Ded's entire life journey is based on public hearsay, some Persian accounts are dependent on her and the internal evidence of her vakhs. There are multiple variations of the popular legends related to the life of Lal Ded which is the very nature of scuttlebutt. Similarly, her vakhs, have also undergone continuous additions and transformations as they have survived in the tradition of sruta-smrita (listening-memorising). Effectively the first mention of Lal Ded is in the fourteenth-century text 'Tazkirat-ul-Arifeen' (1587 AD) by Mulla Ali Raina, brother of the famous saint Makhdum Sahib of Srinagar, who wrote the biographies of the saints. Mahayogini Rupa Bhavani (1621-1721 AD) also mentions Lal Ded in her Rahasya-updesh discourses. A few years later, Baba Dawood Mishkaati’s text Asrar-ul-Abrar (1654 AD) mentions Lal Ded as a saint. Later, Khwaja Muhammad Didamri's Waqiyaate-e-Kashmir (1746 AD), Abdul Wahab Sayik's Tariq-e-Shayik (1754-62 AD), Muhammad Aslam Munami-Abul-Qasim's Gauhar-e-Alam (1785- 86 AD), Birbal Kachru's Majmoo-al-Tawarikh (1835-36 AD), Peer Ghulam Hasan Khuyihom's Tariq-e-Hassan (1885 AD) and Haji Mohiuddin Miskin's Tariq-e-Kabir (1909-1910 AD)1 there is a mention of Lal Ded. Jonraj’s Rajatarangini II (d. 1459 AD)2, Shrivar’s Jainrajtarangini (1486 AD)3, Pragya Bhatt’s Rajavalipataka (1586 AD)4 [Quoted from Sukhdev Singh Chib’s Jammu and Kashmir] are the texts based on political upheavals and victories and defeats of rulers, which are the nuts and bolts for the history of Kashmir have no mention of Lal Ded. During the colonial period, three scholars – George Abraham Grierson (1851-1941 AD), L.D. Barnett (1871-1960 AD) and R.C. Temple (1850-1931 AD) brought to light Lal Ded’s life and her works. Grierson and Barnett's Lalvakyani : The Wise Sayings of Lal Ded(1920 AD)6 and R.C. Temple's The Word of Lalla (1924 AD) are of ultimate significance regarding the classification and compilation of Lal Ded's vakhs.
Lal Ded is the creation of the distinct cultural ecology of Kashmir. The popular meanings of ‘Lal’ and ‘Ded’ used in her name in Kashmiri are ‘Tond’ and ‘Respected Adult’ respectively. According to Premnath Bajaj, Lal Ded's naked private parts were covered by her stomach, which is why she was named 'Lal '. R.C. Temple has a different opinion: 'Lal' means 'darling' in Kashmiri according to him. Jai Lal Kaul, another scholar of Lal Ded, also does not agree with the meaning of ‘Lal’ as ‘belly’. According to Kaul, “It seems that the name ‘Lala’ was quite popular in ancient times and it might have been the maternal name of Lal Ded.” Though scholars are unanimous regarding the century of Lal Ded’s birth that is the fourteenth century, but regarding the year of her birth there are multiple assumptions. According to Peer Ghulam Hasan Khuyehamii, Lal Ded was born in 700 Hijri i.e. 1300-1301 AD. He points out: “The supreme mystic devotee yogini Lalarifa was thus the second Rabia, who came to light in 1300-1301.” According to Abdul Wahab Shaikh, Lal Ded was born in 735 Hijri, corresponding to 1334-35 AD. Shaikh's belief has also been confirmed by his contemporary historian Haji Mohiuddin Miskin: “She was born in the middle of the fourteenth century AD during the reign of Alauddin, the third Muslim ruler of Kashmir. Her parents lived in Pandrethen, which is located southeast of Srinagar.” Khwaja Muhammad Azam Diadmari in Waqi’at-i-Kashmir (1736 AD)7 points out that she was born in 1348 AD. The majority of scholars including Jayalal Kaul believe that she must have been born between 1317 and 1320 AD. Lal Ded died around 1373 AD. According to Diadamari, who made the initial mention of Lal Ded in his account:
“During the reign of Sultan Alauddin (1344-55 AD), a high-ranking saint poetess named Lalarifa emerged. At a fledgling age, she was knotted in the matrimonial ties, home and household. In concurrence with the family conventions and traditions. She had conviction towards familial duties, simultaneously she immersed herself into the contemplation of Brahma and later, becoming a detached hermit, she secluded herself from people for some time… She died during the reign of Sultan Shahabuddin (1354-1373).”
There are two versions regarding Lal Ded’s place of birth some scholars believe that she was born in Simpore village of Pampore, while some others have faith that Pandrathen village, is three miles away from Srinagar. There is no evidence available regarding when, how and where Lal Ded died. It is believed that Lal Ded died behind the mosque of Vejibror (Bijbehara) village, located on the Srinagar-Jammu highway, 20 miles from Srinagar. Muhammad-ud-Din Fouq’s 'Khwateen-e-Kashmir' quotes an incident from 'Rishi Nama' (written by Baha-ud-Din):
One day Lal Ded sat inside a big earthen pot and covered herself with a similar vessel. Those who saw this were astonished, but when the upper vessel was removed, there was nothing left and thus she left this world.
Some scholars believe that it is unlikely because the place Vezibror (Bijbehara) came into existence much later. Her parents were Brahmins, at the age of twelve, she was married to Nik Bhatt in Pampore. As per the tradition of Kashmir, after marriage, she was rechristened with a new name ‘Padmavati’. A popular legend in Kashmir is that during the early years of her marriage one day when Lal Ded went to fetch water, her friends asked her, “Today there is a ritual of peace at your place, you will get a variety of dishes to eat” she replied:
hound maritan kin?
kath, lali neelvath chali na Jahan
in other words, ‘Why wander in darkness when there is light all around’. Her parents had instilled in her the ideals of Shiva’s devotion and spirituality. Often she would go to fetch water and meditate. ‘It is said that once she got late in returning after filling the water, in a fit of anger her husband went after her. When she met him on the way returning with a pitcher of water, he hit the pitcher with a stick. The pot broke due to the blow, but the water in it remained intact. She came home with water and after filling the utensils with it, she threw the remaining water out of the window, which became a pond. It came to be known as Lal traag. Soon her popularity spread. At the age of twenty-six, she left home and became a disciple of the Shaiva devotee Siddha Srikanth or Siddhamaul later she started roaming from place to place uncovered like a Yogini. The basis of the popular rumour is the phrase 'Nangay Nuchan' used in one of her vakhs. Shiben Krishna Raina, a scholar, interprets ‘Nangay Nuchan’ as ‘she started dancing naked’. Advaitvadini Kaul, another scholar of Kashmiri Shaivism, considers the act to have deeper spiritual meaning: “...be free from the coverings of the soul and live in the bliss of self-realization achieved by the grace of the Guru”.
It is prevalently known that while travelling, Lal Ded also met Sheikh Nooruddin Wali, who later became the legendary Nand Rishi. It is said that after birth baby Nooruddin did not suckle his mother's milk. While roaming around, when Lal Ded reached there, she addressed the baby and said: “yin mandchhokh na chan chhukh mandchhan”, that is, ‘if you were not ashamed of coming (being born), then why should you feel ashamed of breast-feeding (from mother's breasts)’? Sufi saint Mir Sayyid Ali Hamdani (1314-1385 AD), famous for the Islamization of Kashmir, was also in communication with Lal Ded. On several occasions, they exchanged discourses regarding spiritual matters. The popular proverb in Kashmir ‘I came to the grocer, went to the baker’ is related to the first meeting of Hamdani and Lal Ded. It is said that seeing Hamdani coming towards her, the unclothed Lal Ded went to the grocer and asked for clothes when asked the reason for covering her body with clothes. Lal Ded replied, “Today is the first time I have seen a man in person, that is why there is a need for clothes”. There are multiple versions of the legend, one of which is that after seeing Syed Hamdani, Lal Ded jumped into the baker's tandoor (a large clay oven used in Eastern countries). When Hamdani came near the lid of the tandoor was opened, Lal Ded appeared wearing divine or blue clothes.
2.
Anand Kaul, an archaeologist (1868-1941 AD) has compiled the popular legends in Kashmir regarding Lal Ded. According to a legend, Nikk Bhatt, to whom Lal Ded was married, it is said that in her previous birth, he was her son. The folklore is that Lal Ded had seven previous births as a calf, puppy and other creatures finally born as the married wife of Nikk Bhatt. Before every rebirth, she informed her Guru Siddha Srikanth. Another legend is- ‘once Srikanth was taking a bath in the river and Lal Ded, a little distance away, was cleaning an earthen pot from outside. When Srikanth objected to it, Lal Ded said that he too was cleaning the body externally, the one which was unclean from within. Once Srikanth observed Chandrayaan fast for forty days. When Lal Ded went to meet him, she was told that he was currently absorbed in samadhi (meditation). Lal Ded snapped, “Yes, he must be watching his horse kicking in the pasture of Nandamarga.” When Srikanth heard this, he felt sad and guilty, because during meditation his mind was on his horse which he had sent to graze in the pasture, which was being kicked by another horse.’ Once, Lal Ded meditated for fifteen days by keeping utensils above and below her, due to which her body grew weaker and she started quivering like mercury. Seeing her praxis, Srikanth said that his disciple had gone ahead of him in her spiritual practice. It is also renowned in Kashmir that once her father-in-law scolded Lal Ded for standing stark-naked at a gathering and reprimanded her to wear clothes, Lal Ded told him that no human was there; when he looked around he saw only sheep and goats.
Another popular legend is that people called her Lalmyad ‘Lalmoj’ (motherly Lalla), while some mischievous children yelled her ‘Lalmanch’ (crazy Lalla). Once some mischievous children who were troubling Lal Ded were chased away by a shopkeeper. When Lal Ded saw this, she took two stripes of cloth from the shopkeeper, placed them separately on both her shoulders and went on walking. When a devotee paid obeisance to her, she tied a knot in one of its parts. Similarly, when someone ridiculed her, she tied a knot in the other part. After some time, she returned to the same shopkeeper and asked him to count the knots of both stripes, and they turned out to be equal. Lal Ded deduced that - “Even if someone abuses me a thousand times, I will not hold a grudge against him.”
Lal Ded often made predictions, as mentioned in some Persian accounts. It is said that Sultan Alauddin's successor Shahabuddin, his son went out hunting with his friends Malik Zindar, Adarsh Rawal and Akhtaji. Lal Ded appeared from a mountain pass and presented a cup of sherbet to the prince. The prince drank some of the sherbet and gave the rest to Adarsh Rawal, who drank some of it and then gave the rest to Malik Zindar, but it was finished by the time it reached the third companion. Ded predicted that Shahabuddin would soon become the king, Adarsh Rawal his prime minister, and Malik Zindar his General and third companion, Akhtaji, would die before reaching home, the prediction of Lal Ded came true. Jonaraja (a Kashmiri historian and a Sanskrit poet) has mentioned this episode in his work ‘Rajtarangini-II’. He has written that- “At that time the Yogini recognized him and presented him with a cup of wine (Shidhuchasakam) as a blessing while chanting mantras.” He has written only Yogini instead of Lalarifa or Lal Ded. There are multiple beliefs regarding the Guru of Lal Ded.
3.
The cultural perception of Kashmir, during Lal Ded’s period, was not divided into Hindu-Shaiva-Sufi-Muslim. Lal Ded is impelled by Kashmiri Shaiva philosophy. A millennium earlier than Lal Ded Shaivism had originated in Kashmir. Twenty Eight Shaivagams were composed in Kashmir. Somananda, the tenth Acharya of Kashmir Shaiva philosophy, has mentioned this tradition in 'Shivadshti'. Triyambak, the first Acharya of Kashmiri philosophy, was followed by Somananda and Vasugupta. This tradition was followed by Kallat and Kshemraj. Later in this tradition, during the tenth century, Utpaldev and Lakshmanagupta were born. Lakshmanagupta was the guru of Abhinavagupta, but he also received education from more than twenty other gurus. The epistemology of Shaiva philosophy spread widely among the common people of Kashmir in the form of sruta-smrita.
Lal Ded too was part of the same tradition. There is also mention of 'Pratyabhijna' in one of her verses. She says :
My actions are my worship
What came to my tongue
Those are my mantras
What my body did
That is Parichay-Pratyabhijna
This is the essence of Supreme Shiva.
In the words of Lal Ded, the poetic transformation of the creation process of Kashmiri Shaiva philosophy, Spand, Trika, Pratyabhijna Shaivadvaita and others are found. It is famous that Shaiva devotee Siddhamool or Srikanth was her guru. Unlike several Kashmiri sages Lal Ded chose the path of Yogini and renounced the household and travelled undressed like an ascetic, hence it seems that she had a deeper connection with the Hathayoga of Buddhist-Siddha-Naths of Kashmir and the asceticism of Tantrics. There must have been a connection. The terminology of yoga like prana, apana, vayu, nirodha, kumbhaka, ten nadis, twelve chakras, six chakras etc. are in her vakhs. The process of the Hathayoga and its stages also appears in her erudition. In one of her vakhs, she says:
They were within me
I kept searching outside
Through wind, meditation and yoga
I came to know
my Kaivalya existence
Found my colour
in the colour of the world.
In Persian accounts and folklore, there are also incidents of Lal Ded’s meeting with Sheikh Nooruddin Wali and Sheikh Syed Ali Hamdani and initiation from Syed Hussain Samnani. Nand Rishi is the famous and most revered saint of Kashmir. There are multiple theories regarding his birth and death, but most scholars believe that he was born in 1377 and died in 1440 AD, whereas in the estimation of most scholars, Lal Ded died before that, around 1373 AD. He is known as ‘Amir Kabir’, ‘Shah Hamdan’ and ‘Ali Shah’. Scholars have different views regarding her. According to R.K. Parimu, “Neither does he appear to be a fanatic, nor a religious revolutionary.” He had a deep influence on Sultan Qutbuddin of Kashmir (1377-93 AD) and played a major role in the Islamization of Kashmir. It is said that due to differences and dissatisfaction with Taimurlang (Tamburlaine), 1336-1405 AD from Bukhara, Hamdani, first came to Kashmir in 1372-73 AD. He came for the second time in 1379-80 AD along with his seven hundred disciples and stayed for two years. He came for the third and last time in 1385-86 AD and it is said that he died in Punjab while returning. Firstly, there is not much difference in the period of all four – Lal Ded, Nand Rishi, Hamdani and Samnani secondly the dates of birth and death of Lal Ded and Nand Rishi are also uncertain and thirdly, Lal Ded might have come in contact with them. Birbal Kachru in his 'Asrar-ul-Abrar' was the first to mention that Lal Ded was an initiated disciple of Syed Ali Hamdani. There is a belief in the Kubrawiya Sufi sect that Lalarifa along with Shah Hamdani reached the supreme abode ‘Arsh-e-Majid’ after passing through four stages of spiritual practice – Nasoot, Malkoot, Jabrut and Lahut. The later chronicler Peer Ghulam Hasan Khuyehamii does not mention Lal Ded’s meeting with Syed Ali Hamdani, but he does mention her meeting with Syed Jalaluddin Surkh-Posh Bukhari and Syed Mohammad Hussain Simnani. It is on record in Waqiyaat-e-Kashmir also that the meeting of Lal Ded and Hamdani is not certified by the researchers. It is said that Syed Jalaluddin Surkh-Posh Bukhari told Lal Ded that she would soon be initiated by Guru Syed Hussain Samnani, who was coming to Kashmir. Samnani was one of the Syeds who came to Kashmir and preceded Hamdani’s group to propagate Islam. Samnani came to Kashmir in 1371-72 AD and initiated Lal Ded. It is mentioned in the Bible published from Lahore that :
She became ecstatic after receiving the gift of philosophical knowledge. Through heartfelt action, she became his (Syed Hussain Samnani) chief disciple. She was a born saint (wali), but her spiritual practice was enhanced and refined by coming in contact with the best Sufi saints.
In the eyes of scholars, these pieces of evidence are fragile. But it is also appropriate that due to religious insistence, they have been modified to Lal Ded. In any society such processes are spontaneous. A unique feature of those times is that it highlights the inclusive culture of Kashmir even though all these folklore and accounts are not completely true; the public memory has stretched the relationship between Lal Ded, Nand Rishi, Samnani and Hamdani based on partial truth.
4.
There is not much diversity in the subject matter of Lal Ded’s verses. Her ultimate goal is the union with or merging with Paramshiva or God; her vakhs mainly comprise the desire to merge with Paramshiva, the effort for it, its familiarity and the representation of Paramshiva. According to Lal Ded, she is indifferent to nouns like I, You, Brahma etc. She says:
There is neither You nor I am nor the goal nor the meditation
even the Supreme Brahman knows nothing about there
the blind do not see anything there
the intuitive ones,
Get darshan of Paramshiva.
The experience of being Shivamay (drenched in Shiva’s name) and its joy is highest in Lal Ded. This is also the biggest forte of her vakhs. She has expressed this experience in many ways. She says:
With practice
I realised
my heart-lotus enlarged
I stabilized the light
within myself
I became absorbed in daily happiness.
In another vakh, her pain is expressed vociferously:
I have taken many births
drank the water of many oceans
performed at times on the world stage
At times ate meat
At times drank alcohol
Finally realized that I am Lal
Why this coming and going is on?
There is also a very deep and ruthless introspection in Lal Ded's words. She addresses none other than herself. There is a great deal of self-awareness in her vakhs.
She says:
While wandering
the flesh of my soles got stuck on the roads
someone showed me the path
if you hear His name you will go mad
Out of a hundred things, Lal grasped a thing
Her self, Is the only guide.
Lal Ded’s vakh is worth mentioning:
First, the washerman washed thoroughly
after rubbing it with soap and soda
Then the tailor used scissors
in this way, I reached my ultimate destination
Lal Ded opposed several ritualistic performances, social customs and religious biases prevalent during her time. She considered idol worship, incantation of mantras, scriptures, meditation, sacrifices and similar acts as inadequate in the process of the spiritual journey to attain the state of Shivamay. She plainly states that:
Don't torment your body with hunger and thirst.
If it gets extinguished then take care.
Fasting and not consuming food are useless
Do charity.
That is one’s duty
She also opposed religious discrimination between Hindus and Muslims and points out that, ‘Paramshiva’ (Shiva- the ultimate one) is present everywhere, hence the distinction between Hindu and Muslim is meaningless. She explains:
Shiva is everywhere
Do not differentiate between Hindu and Muslim
He is God
So recognize yourself
This is the introduction of Lord Shiva.
5.
No evidential manuscript of Lal Ded’s vakhs is there, hence it is doubted whether she had written or was written by others during that period. A unique feature is that till the nineteenth century, there was no major effort to transcribe her vakhs systematically. Lal Ded’s vakhs trickled down the generations in the tradition of shruti-smriti (oral). Similar to the works of other Indian saint devotees over the centuries. For the first time, on the request of George Grierson, Pt. Mukundaram Shastri prepared the manuscript of 60 vakhs after listening to them from Shridharmadas Darvesh of village Gush, located near Shardapeeth (a place of reverence and worship for Kashmiri Hindus) temple in Hundwara tehsil of Kashmir. Grierson compared these with two manuscripts available in Sharda script in Kashmir. Both these manuscripts were from the collection of Hungarian-British archaeologist and scholar Mark Orel Stein (1862-1943 AD). Fifteen pages of the first manuscript contained Lal Ded’s forty-three vakhs with the Sanskrit version of Rajanak Bhaskar9. Bhaskar Kanth, popularly known as Rajanak Bhaskar, had attempted a Sanskrit adaptation of Lal Ded’s sixty vakhs in the eighteenth century. The second manuscript contained forty-nine vakhs composed in the Kashmiri language. Some of her vakhs were also included in the ‘Dictionary of Kashmiri Proverbs and Sayings’ (1885 AD) of J. Hilton Knowles (1856-1943 AD)10. Based on all these, Grierson and Barnett published a collection of 109 vakhs with their preface under the name Lalvakyani: The Wise Sayings of Lalla11. This collection has been used as the base text for all subsequent collections. Later, Anand Kaul, a scholar of Lal Ded’s vakhs, travelled to Kashmir and collected seventy-five more vakhs, which were not in Grierson's collection. Roping in some other vakhs available here and there, the number of available vakhs of Lal Ded has now become 258. Some compositions of Nand Rishi, Rupa Bhavani and others are also in vogue in the form of Lalvakhas. Even George Grierson, who published Lal Ded’s 109 vakhs, did not doubt the authenticity of these vakhs available from Shruti-Smriti. He points out:
The ancient tradition of recording literature, according to which it (literature) was not recorded on paper but on the memory board and which continued from generation to generation according to the Guru-disciple tradition or reader-listener tradition, was also prevalent in Kashmir. Therefore, memory tablets made of flesh and blood are more reliable than manuscripts made of birch bark or paper.
On the authenticity of the texts compiled by Grierson, his contemporary and another scholar of Lal Ded, R.C. Temple also had no doubts. Confirming the authenticity of the texts compiled by Grierson. He says: ‘On the whole, it can be clearly said that Lal Ded has achieved success in retrieving the texts left behind by him along with their original text’.
The language and rhymes of the vakhs of Lal Ded vary among the available texts and this is quite natural. As these vakhs have travelled for centuries in the memory of the Kashmiri masses, hence the imprint of different times, societies and cultures remains on them. is bound to. Lal Ded’s vakhs must have been spoken in some liberal verse or some arrangement. Every society invents a system of rhyme, rhythm and music according to its needs. Many such arrangements are found in the traditions of Indian devotional literature. Such systems may have existed in Kashmir. In Shitikantha's ancient composition Mahanayak Prakash, a system of rhyming is found in each Chatushpadi (four lines). The metrical system of Sanskrit and Persian may also have influenced these vakhs later. Lal Ded’s vakhs might indeed have been said in the original Kashmiri. Still, later when there was a rift between the Hindu and Muslim traditions, it also affected the living words in Smriti-Shruti - the Hindu tradition added Sanskrit to it. Persian words were insistently included. That is why words, meanings and images of both these languages are found in the words of Lal Ded’s available texts. It is possible to identify Lal Ded’s vakhs by their special type of feeling and style of expression. Intrinsic spirituality, assimilation, esoteric expression and eloquence are the characteristics of Lal Ded’s speech, based on which it is possible to identify Lal Ded’s speech separately. On this basis, Shiben Krishen Raina’s Sanchayan Laldyad, Jia Lal Kaul’s monograph Lal Ded (1980 AD), 139 and Ranjit Hoskote in his English translation, I Lalla, (2011 AD) has selected 146 verses. Everyone's criteria are more or less the same. Rajanak Bhaskar compiled 60 vakhs adapted in Sanskrit, its Hindi version has been done by Advaitvadini Kaul’s 'Lalleshwari Ke Vakh' (2023) is edited by Radhavallabh Tripathi.
6.
Lal Ded's vakhs have great importance in terms of language and literature. According to Grierson, “The vakhs of Lal Ded are the oldest form of the Kashmiri language.” The language of the available texts of Lal Ded has changed over time, yet scholars believe that the ancient form of the Kashmiri language is preserved in them. According to Jayalal Kaul, these vakhs “are ancient samples of modern Kashmiri.” From the language of Lal Ded’s vocabulary, it seems that many Sanskrit words have been adapted into Kashmiri. Lal Ded’s vakhs are also spontaneous poetry. There is an amazing kind of composition in her vakhs. Eloquence comes from the language of the people. Lal Ded’s illustrations and symbols are present in her language. They come into the flow instinctively, with ease and facility.
Lal Ded and her vakhs are part of the cultural memory and sensibility of Kashmir. The popularity of the vakhs can be assessed from the fact that they are vibrant in the proverbs used in the daily life of the common people of Kashmir. Lal Ded is a Shaiva Yogini. She was neither a householder nor a scholar. She must have learned something and gained a lot from her experience. The spirituality acquired through experience transformed her, unlike others.
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