Lal Ded's Vakhs (118-121) By Lal Ded Summery

            LAL DED'S VAKHS (118-121)

 By Lal Ded

 

 About the Poetess

 Lal Ded's native name is Lalleshwari . She was born in 1320 in Pandrethan, Kashmir. She is known for Versus poetry or Vakhs . Vatsun is derived from Sanskrit Vachan ' meaning speech or word. Her poetry is the earliest poetry in Kashmiri language and forms a great and important part of the Kashmiri literature. Her works have been translated into English by various writers. A mystic composer who has influenced so many Sufis of the land.

 For people within Kashmir and outside, she is a spiritual and literary figure. She is a Hindu by birth but a human by ' Karma. Even the social institutions like marriage could not stop her from her journey of spiritualism. At the age of twenty four, she left her family to become a disciple of the Shaivite Guru Siddha Srikantha. The Hindus call her Lalleshwari and the Muslims Lalla Arifa, but all call her Lal Ded which means grandmother

 According to Lal Ded, worship is nothing but self - introspection means knowing and analyzing the inner side of self. It does not have to do anything with the outer world. One prays through soul, mind and the whole inside of the body. Outside world neither can influence it nor can it disturb the prayers, if the worship is from true heart. One needs not to show off the love to the world because a true devote have no requirement to prove his spirituality to others.

 

ABOUT THE POEM

Lal Ded's Vakhs is not a single poem but it is a collection of so many poems. Her poems from 118 to 121 are presented. These utterances like all other verses provide only one idea and that is a real yogi need not to pretend him in front of the whole world. A true yogi or yogini is the one with control over all senses and chakras .

Lal Ded has written all these words or utterances in pure and rich Kashmiri language full of elegant proverbs and expressions. Her works have been translated in English by various writers but this part in this book is being translated by Ranjit Haskote . He is a poet whose translation of Lal Ded has been published as I, Lala: The Poems of Lal Ded.

These four verses, through different examples, quote that the people who work for reputation are basically the pretenders or characters. The real hero is the one who does not play tricks like blowing off the fire in forest or hold the floods or feed milk to a wooden cow etc. As all such tricks can be performed by a con - artist also. The real yogi is the one who have full control over his soul and mind. He is the one who can create the first syllable sound ' Om ' from within or who can make direct connection with God. He has an ultimate mantra and after that he needs not to have thousands of mantras to make people believe about their spirituality. They just do the real work of praying or worshipping. 

 

SUMMARY

There are four poems by the poetess. She has targeted the false people who claim to be the real yogis. She has provided the idea that one's reputation is like water in fisherman's small wicker basket. As the water cannot be retained in it, similarly, false reputation based on tricks cannot be retained for a long time. She asks for a hero who can hold strong winds in his fists or who can tie an elephant with a single hair. She thinks that may be such an artificial person goes on with reputation only. She says that holding flood, stopping fire in woods, walking on air to the feed milk to a cow made of wood are the tricks that any smart artist can do. It’s not the specialty rather anyone who knows how to perform tricks, can do such drama. These are not the traits of yogi or yogini .

Then she asks who can stop the dripping frost or who can carry the wind in the hands? After asking these questions, the poetess herself gives the answer that a person who has controlled his five senses, is the only one who can perform such supernatural things. He is the one who can do all responsible things like easily plucking the sun even from the midnight sky. It’s hard to do such a thing but a man who has properly checked his five senses. The man who can create the first sound of ' Om ' within and who can build a bridge between this world and heaven just through his breath , is the one who need not to learn and show a thousand magical mantras because he has the ultimate and the most important mantra of the life . Just one mantra of spirituality is the only requirement for a real yogi or saint. He is the real spiritual person. Up h the make