Lalleshwari is a Shaivite ascetic and mystic poetess of
Kashmir. Lalleshwari is variously known as Lalla Lalleshwari, Lalla Arifa,
Lalla Matschi, Lalla Togini, Lalla Yogeshwari and Lala Ded.
Lalleshwari Life
Little is known about her life except that she was born in a
Saraswat Brahmin family of Kashmir sometime between 1300 and 1320 AD. Legend
has it that she took six different rebirths and even bore a son before being
born in the same family at Pandrenthan, six km southeast of Srinagar where she
had died in the first instance. Reaching her twelfth year, Lalleshwari was
married to Sona Pandita at Pampur through the family priest, Siddha Srikantha.
At the marriage ceremony Lalleshwari is said to have
whispered to Siddha Srikantha that the boy who she was marrying was the child
born to her as a son in her first birth and about whose real relationship she
had inquire of him then. Siddha Srikantha verified the statement and was
overwhelmed by Lalleshwari’s knowledge of esoteric things.
Lalleshwari step-mother-in-law was very cruel to her, yet
she suffered all indignities and ill treatments without any complaint. Her
spiritual awakening came about at the age of 16. Thereafter, she abandoned the
life of a householder and began roaming around in the company of sannyasis. She
accepted Siddha Srikantha as her guru and became a devotee of Shiva.
Miracles – Spiritual Life of Lalleshwari
The worldly frivolities of dress and social decorum mean
little to Lalleshwari and she went around naked or semi-naked.
She did not preach any hard and fast religion; she even
disdained ritual. She projected a way of life quite in harmony with nature and
Shaivite tradition.
Poems Of Lalleshwari
Kashmiri Hindus have her apothegms ready on their tongue to
suit any occasion.
Lalleshwari made poetry the vehicle for expressing her
experiences, her devotion to God and the facts of life in this world. She
enriched Kashmiri language by using it for conveying subtle philosophical thoughts
and mystical insights. In a number of commentaries on her, Lalleshwari has been
described as a devotee, as a Vedantin, and as one who influenced the thought
and life of the people of her time.
Bhaskar Razdan (18th century AD) was the first to
collect and compile the first anthology of vakhas of Lalleshwari, rendering
them in Sanskrit. These were later published by the State Research Department
in 1919. Grierson was the first to translate her vakhas into English (Lalla
Vakyani, London, 1920). Richard Temple’s translation was under the title ‘The
World of Lalla (1924). An American edition of her vakhas by Louise Putcamp Jr.
was also brought out. Hindu, Urdu and Kannada versions of her vakhas have also
been published.
Source - Encyclopedia of Hinduism Volume VI page 239 - IHRF
Few poems of Lalleshwari
Some may heap cavil on me, even some may curse me; they may
say whatever they like to say. Some may worship me with flowers of inherent
cognition, yet I do not fell ruffled with this kind of impeachment or praise
since I am concerned with my own self and do not grudge what others have to say
about me.
I felt fatigued by incessant self search, thinking that
nobody could partake of that, hidden perceptive knowledge; I, ultimately, got
immersed into it and could find admission to the Divine-bar, there in goblets
are full to the brim, but none possesses the nerve to drink these.
Mind is the flower-seller and faith flowers. Worship should
be undertaken with the offerings of mental equipoise. Shiva is to be given a
bath of tears. Incantations are to be recited in silence, without making a show
of these. In this way only self-consciousness can be awakened from within.