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| A wall art I came across in Kochi, Kerala. Artist(right): Jameel February, 2013 |
March, 2013
Chitralekha Zutshi in her book ‘Languages of Belonging: Islam, Regional Identity, and the Making of Kashmir’ (2004) tried to approach the question of Kashmiri identity by interpreting its language. An interesting approach for which she used some hitherto unavailable poem manuscripts.
A particular passage made me curious:
The reason Lal Ded’s poetry is so essential for votaries of Kashmiriyat is self-evident from an examination of her verses. These are suffused with a sense of the fluidity of religious boundaries, and this has been interpreted as a manifestation of the Kashmiri ethos of tolerance. In the following verse, for instance, she seems unable to decide between
being a follower of Allah or of Shiva:
I said la illah il Allah
I destroyed my Self in it
I left my own entity and caught him who is all-encompassing
Lalla then found God
I went to look for Shiva
I saw Shiva and Shaitan (devil) together
Then I saw the devil on the stage
I was surprised at that moment
I adore Shiva and Shiva’s house
When I die, what then?
The book gives the source of the poem as: Hafiz Mohammad Inayatullah, Lalla Arifa barzabane Kashmiri [Lalla Arifa in Kashmiri] (Lahore: Din Mohammad Electric Press, undated), 14-15.
Although the author presents those intriguing lines (albeit without original ) and its alluring imagery as a product of Lal Ded’s inner dilemma at choosing one among Allah or Shiva, the text in fact begs another line of enquiry.
[update: June 2016. As suspected. The lines are of later date.]
The lines “Lal be drayas Shavas garaan, shav ti shiatan wuchum ek hi shay” in fact come from poet Samad Mir (1894-1959) singing “Praraan Praraan Tarawati” which starts with a dialogue from Lal Ded.
Listen the rendition of Tarawati by Ghulam Ahmed Sofi here [1:30]
Lines occur as:
Lal bo draaya Shiv gaar.ney,
Shiv te Shaitan wuchum aksey shai
[subsequent lines vary from Inayatullah lines]
balki shaitain pyeth me yem baras
tan lal chas haeraan
I went to look for Shiva
I saw Shiva and Devil together
I believed in devil
I am still surprised.
Update: 5th Feb 2017
Samad Mir’s grandson clarified using the manuscript of the song that the lines are not by Samad Mir. It’s just that the singer is starting the song, as usual is the case in Kashmir, with a few lines from Lal Ded.
Update: 15th Feb 2017
The lines “Lal be drayas Shavas garaan” are remembered by pandits by too. In the pandit rendition the first two lines are:
Lal bo draaya Shiv gaar.ney,
wuchum Shiv te Shakti akey shai,
Shakti wuchum paeth sahas’raras,
Maa’raan ga’yas ta’mey gra’ye;
Bo paer Shivas te tasen dis garas,
Bo lall ma’ras mye karyam kyah
I went to look for Shiva
I saw Shiva and Shakti together
Shakti seated in matted crown of Shiva’s head
I was surprised at that moment
I adore Shiva and Shiva’s house
If I die, so what?
So, it seems there are three variation of this Kashmiri saying.
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Unrelated post: Kashmiriyat in Codex
The lines actually belong to Samad Mir (1894-1959) from the work "Praraan Praraan Tarawati"…it starts with a dialogue from Lal Ded saying "Lal be drayas Shavas garaan, shav ti shiatan wuchum ek hi shay"
hear hear
Lines lal bo drayas… are not a part of Samad Mir,s poem Tarawati.I can send you Tarawati poem published in kulyat Samad Mir.You can contact me on drshakeelahmadmir[at]gmail.com.
Dear sir.please send a blank email to drshakeelahmadmir[at]gmail.com and i will send you original script of TARAWATI.you can even consult kulyat samad mir compiled by sh moti lal saqi or monograph on samad mir published by sahitya academy.
Dear sir
I am grandson of Samad Mir.
Dear sir
Please cross check the youtube links.They dont play tarawati.It is traditional among Kashmiri singers to sing a few verses from kalam e Lal Ded or Shiek ul alam,before stating any song.this may have caused confusion. Please refer to original text version to clear any doubts.God bless you.
Thanks Shakeel Sahib for clearing that. The song renditions was the cause of confusion. Would you happen to know the manuscript source of "Lal be drayas Shavas garaan".
do we have the source of shaarda manuscripts for this