ARTIST MASOOD HUSSAIN PAINTS A SLOKA (16.21) OF BHAGWAD GITA IN HIS LALLESHWARI SERIES

Vaakh in Kashmiri

“Maarukh maar  buth kaam kroodh lobh

Na’ta kaan barith maarnai paan

Manaai khyan dikh swovitsaar sham

Vishay teuhund kya  kyooth dur zaan”…Lal Ded

 

Translation

(Subdue lust, anger, and avarice;

Those murderous fiends within;

For if left unchecked, they undo thee.

They yield not to force;

But starve them with restraint

And the purity of thought;

And they shall perish of themselves.)

 

Commentary on the Vaakh

 

Lalleshwari’s Vaakh presents lust, anger and greed not merely as moral weaknesses, but as forces that cloud consciousness and bind the individual to ignorance. Her counsel is subtle. These impulses are not finally conquered through violence or crude suppression, but by withdrawing the attention and indulgence through which they are continually nourished. The teaching closely recalls the Bhagavad Gita 16.21, where Śri Krishna identifies Kāma (desire), Krodha (anger) and Lobha (greed) as the three gates leading towards spiritual ruin. The Gita further teaches that attachment to sense objects gives rise to desire, and frustrated desire produces anger and delusion. Lalla’s instruction to “starve” these passions therefore suggests disciplined detachment and mastery of the senses. The Upanishads express a similar inward discipline. In the Katha Upanishad, the senses are compared to horses, the mind to the reins and the intellect to the charioteer. Spiritual freedom requires that these powers cease to drag consciousness outward towards Viṣaya (sense objects). Kashmir Śaivism adds a deeper non-dual dimension. Desire, anger and greed are not independent evils, but contracted expressions of universal consciousness. They arise when the Self forgets its innate completeness. A relevant Śiva Sūtra is 3.34, Tadvimuktastu kevalī, affirming that freedom from limitation restores the seeker to essential spiritual independence.

Lal Ded therefore teaches transformation rather than repression. When the passions are deprived of attachment, the mind becomes clear, and Pratyabhijñā (recognition of one’s true nature) allows the luminous Self to reveal itself.

 Commentary on the Painting

The painting transforms Lal Ded’s Vaakh into a powerful visual drama of inner conquest. Its dominant blue field creates an atmosphere of depth, infinity and consciousness, while the intense reds suggest passion, desire, psychic heat and the transformative energy of Śakti (divine power). At the centre, the dark meditative form, crowned by a luminous blue orb, suggests consciousness withdrawing from outward distraction and gathering itself into stillness.

The turquoise serpents on either side are particularly significant. Their restless, coiling movement may be read as Kāma (desire), Krodha (anger) and Lobha (greed), the inner forces named by Lal Ded. Bhagavad Gita 16.21 similarly identifies desire, anger and greed as the three gates leading towards spiritual downfall. Yet the artist does not portray their violent destruction. They remain at the margins, while the centre is occupied by concentrated awareness. This beautifully conveys Lalla’s injunction that these impulses must be “starved” by withdrawing the attention that sustains them.

The imagery also resonates with the Śiva Sūtra, “Udyamo Bhairavaḥ”, the awakened upsurge of consciousness is Bhairava. The luminous centre may thus signify the sudden recovery of one’s essential Śiva nature beneath the turbulence of desire. The manuscript fragments, Nastaliq calligraphy, serpentine forms, circular symbols and layered textures give the work the character of a Tantric manuscript transformed into contemporary art. Blue signifies expansive consciousness, red the energy requiring transmutation, and darkness the contracted condition of awareness. The artist thus creates not an illustration of Lalla’s words, but a compelling Shaiva meditation on restraint, recognition and inward liberation.

(Avtar Mota)

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