Lal ded biography of rory van

The Guru and the Pandit 2. A Re-appraisal of Lal Ded 3. Reconstructing and Reinterpreting Lal Ded 5.

This report has been prepared in response to a petition received by the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affai~s from the united Houma Nation, Inc.

Language of La l Ded's Poetry 7. Lal Ded and Kashmiri Chroniclers 8. Lalleshwari the Liberator Section 2: Book Extract Lal Ded Lalleshwari and Kabir Lalleshwari, Lal Ded, or simply Lalla, as many like to call her, is not just a medieval woman poet in whose verse we hear the first heart-beats of Kashmiri poetry-she is easily the most popular and most powerful symbol of Kashmir's civilizational ethos.

While her 'vaaks' or verse-sayings continue to dazzle us with their high wattage incandescence, her role as a spiritual leader who resolved the crisis of her times caused by a clash of two belief and value systems-one indigenous and the other alien cannot but be regarded as momentous, whether or not history recognizes its true significance.

In both these capacities it was her intervention that ensured continuity and saved indigenous cultural structures from a total collapse at a time when the advent of Islam in Kashmir was accompanied by an unprecedented political and social upheaval. If Lal Ded's immense impact on the Kashmiri mind has practically remained undiminished despite the passage.

We are amazed at her deep sense of compassion, her mystical insights and spiritual vision, her profound awareness of the human condition and her Shaiva-world view which makes her look at existence as manifestation of one, indivisible, consciousness. More than anything else, we are indebted to her for shaping the Kashmiri language in a way that it formed the basis for the Kashmiris to forge their indigenous cultural identity.

Ironically, this very image of Lal Ded as a spiritual giant and poetic genius fused into one-reinforced by the many hagiographical accounts, myths and legends surrounding her-has led to attempts at appropriating her for ideologies and causes totally alien to her thinking and temperament.