LALLA VAAK …….ECHOES FROM PANDRETHAN….
By Prof Tej Raina ( Born 1942 )
Year of publication 2016..
Contact …rainatej@yahoo.co. in....
‘I was born cotton
carder made me fiber.
Spinner spun me.
Weaver wove.
Washer smeared me with soap- nuts.
Pounded me on the stone.
Tailor cut me.
I am the pure self..’
(Lal Ded)
Lal Ded’s philosophy , poetic message and the austerities of her personal life have created an ineffaceable image in the minds of every Kashmiri that remains beyond compare to this day.
“ Lal Ded is the tallest representative ofpiety and graciousness of washmiri Woman . Our history has not brought forward any other pious woman who could match her thought and personality .This is the reason why Kashmiris across the religious divide adore and respect her . It is a fact that we have failed to give her a proper place . We have failed to locate her on ground at a place where she was born and where spent the most period of her life. ”
This is what M Y Taing ,former Secretary Jammu And Kashmir Academy of Art , Culture and Languages said in a book release function in Jammu in 2015.
She remains a spiritual giant and a poetic gem of Kashmir. Her poetic presentation of the universal message of Kashmir’s Shaiva Darshana ,Trika and dynamic humanism remains beyond compare . And through her verses , she is responsible for shaping the contours of Kashmiri language and literature as well. The enormous humanism of her Vaakhs is a dynamic force that has withstood the test of the time and transcended all man-made barriers . These Vaakhs are like the fresh fragrant air that can be universally experienced . Like the rays of the sun that warm up every particle on this planet or like the midsummer shower that gives relief to every creature from the scorching heat.
With many books on this great saint poetess , it is not surprising to find one more refreshing addition to this field. This new book by Prof Tej Raina follows a different but focussed trajectory of evaluating Lal Ded’s work in the light of Trika and Shaiv Darshana alone. It is apparent that the author has put enormous labour in compilation of this book. His study of Kashmiri language especially its phonetics, verbs and vowels is profound. Not that alone , he has also traced and trailed their usage over a period of time in arriving at correct words of some Vaakhs. These words , for sure , have got mutilated and distorted by oral usage spread over many centuries .I do not find any previous author of Lal Ded’s work going for this type of labour .Add to that , Prof Tej Raina studied fundamentals of Trika and Kashmir’s glorious Shaiv Darshana from some original texts. This exercise has proved of immense help to him in selecting Vaahks which could safely be assigned to Lal Ded or Lalleshawari . The author believes that many words in original Vaakhs of Lalleshwari stand corrupted with the gradual change in spoken language and influence of other languages .According to him , all these Vaakhs have been preserved by oral tradition only. The author has added a 38 page chapter at the end titled ‘Deliberations’ wherein he has ably justified each and every change that he was constrained to undertake . Say for example in Vaakh 106 , he has changed the word Heund ( Hindu ) to Bataah . He believes that Bataah is the word that Lalleshwari has been using to address a Kashmiri Pandit. Again , in Vaakh 7 , he has changed the word Lalith and replaced it with Loaluth derived from sanskrit word Loluptava meaning greed. Similarly in Vaakh 41 , he has changed the words Saat and Muss ( Persian origin word meaning wine ) to Satas ( Satya or truth ) and Madh ( Wine ) . There are some more minor changes in some Vakkhs . In fact all these minor changes have added clarity and focus to the Shaiva Darshana or Trika message contained in the existing Vaakhs .
According to the author :
"* Out of about 258 Vaakhs that circulate in the name of Lal Ded and occur in various collections, Prof Jay Lal Kaul selected 138 Vaakhs for his Book and even their authenticity he is not prepared to " vouch for". People have clubbed some verses of Rupa Bhawani with Lal Vaakhs.There are 35 verses that occur both in the collections of Lal Ded's verses , and in Noornamaas and Reshinamaas of Sheikh Noor ud Din or Nund Rishi, which include his Shrukhs. Three quatrains of Azizullah Khan ,a Kashmiri poet of early 19th century have also been ascribed to Lalleshwari by Rev J Hinton Knowles. Interestingly, one of these quatrains has been translated by the great Indian translator A K Ramanujan in the name of Lal Ded , and quoted as such by K Sachchidanandan (Ex Secretary ,Sahitya Akademi) in one of his papers on women poets of India."
The focus of the author has been a qualitative pursuit in the light of Shaiva Darshana and Trika and not a quantitative compilation and presentation of whatsoever is attributed to the saint poetess that has often diluted her core message .He has selected only 127 Vaakhs which he feels convey her core message . Others may not belong to Lal Ded . That is what he feels and I have no reason to disagree. Even Moti Lal Saqi would say so .His litmus test in selection of the Vaakhs is nothing less than perfect. A reader of this book can say this line of Samad Mir’s poem “ Zugg ta pro’nn kodun faelli falley “ or “he separated chaff from the grain “ for Tej Raina’s efforts in selection of Vaakhs for this book.
For the author of the book , the personality of Lalleshwari emerges only from her vaakhs and he believes the rest to be only intentional or unintentional myths woven by people without any supportive historical , documentary or other authentic evidence. He feels no need to comment on these issues in the book .
Another reason why this book is different from all previous books is that all the 127 Vaakhs have been presented in Kashmiri both in Devnagri and Nastalik script. There is also an apt and to the point Hindi translation by the Author . He comes up as a perfect translator . This rendition into Hindi verses by the author is the essence of this work . Add to that the crisp and brief interpretation of each Vaakh in the light of Trika and Shaiva Darshana is spectacular. I quote five Vaakhs dealt in the book and translated beautifully by the author into Hindi ……
(1)
Gagan ti chhukh tsei bhootal chhukh tsei
Tsei chhukh raath ta dya’n Tsei pawan
Aragh tsandun tsei posh poe’n tsei
Tsei soruaai kyaah kath laagan
Hindi rendering by the author ..
Tum gagan tum hi dharaatal
Raat din tum, tum marru
Aragh chandan tum kusum jal
Kis ko kyaa arpan karuun
(2)
Shiv va keeshiv va ajan va
Kamalaj naath naav dharaan yuuh
Me abal kaastan bhav varj va
Su va, su va, su va, soo…
Hindi rendering by the author ..
Voh shiv keshav voh nitya ajan
Voh kamalaj nath ka Sanghya-dhar
Mujh abla ko bhav varj hare
Bus voh, bus voh ,voh eik, voh har
(3)
Deev vatta tai divvar vatta
Heiri ta bo’na chhuyi ikkwaath
Pooz kath karakh ha’tta bataah
Kar manas ta pawanas sanghaath
Hindi rendering by the author ..
Dev shila , deewar shila ki
Opper neeche ekaa eikk
Kis ko pooj raha hai pandit
Mun aur pawan ko kar na eikk
(4)
Kuss ma’ri tai kassu maarey
Ma’ri kuss ta maaran kass
Har har traavith ghar ghar ka’rey
Adh’a suyi ma’ri ta maaran tass..
Hindi rendering by the author ..
Kaun maregaa aur kis-ka
Maarey kaun kissey maarey
Har har chhorr ke ghar ghar phirey
Vahi marey ouss ko maarey ..
(5)
Niyam kar’yoth garbhaa
Tseituss peyyi karbaa
Maran’a bron’thaai mar baa
Zinda zuvaai ta’r baa
Hindi rendering by the author ..
Garbhaashay mein thaan liyaa thaa
Kaise bhoole yaad karo
Marne se pehle hi mar jaa
Jeete ji hi paar taro
Spread in about 350 pages , the author has also annexed pronunciation key for vowels in 10 pages at the beginning , a 29 page scholarly preface and an illuminatingly worded 9 page prelude. The appendix at the end carries images of pages from manuscripts like Lallavakya Bhashaya , hand written Lala-Vaakhs prepared by Pt Amar Nath Handoo and 138 verses transcribed in Roman script ( used by Prof Jaya Lal Kaul ). Tej Raina’s focus has been to convey Trika and Shaiva philosophy of Lalleshwari. This is in line with B N Parimoo , S S Toshakhani and Jay Lal Kaul’s approach to Lala -Vaakhs.
The cover page for the book (in black colour ) has been designed by the author.For the author, who is also an artist , black conveys the profoundness of Shaiv Darshana’s Shunyata , a concept of ‘Nothingness’ that Lal Ded gave to the Kashmiri poetry . From this Nothingness alone emerges something profound , timeless and unique that holds this Universe . Reading the explanatory notes given against each Vaakh by the author, one becomes familiar with some basic concepts of Trika and Shaiv Darshana by knowing the meaining of the concepts like MAYA , PURUSA , PRKARITI ,ANTAKARNAS, BIMBA , PRATIBIMBA , PARA ,PARAMASIVA, VAIKHARI STATE ,KAALA, NIYATI, JAGADANANDA,PANCH ,PRANA ,SAMVIT , UDANA , SAMANA ,APANA ,SASIKALA ,MULADHAARA CHAKRA and TURYA STATE .
Unique in all aspects, the book is refreshingly engrossing for every lover of Lal Ded’s philosophy and poetic genius . A work that enthuses , touches and knocks the mind. Lala the sufferer , Lala the Guru and Lala the philosopher come alive in three segments of the book titled UNFOLDING , FRAGRANCE OF THE BLOOM and DELIBERATIONS . I recommend the book to all.
( Avtar Mota.. )
CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
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