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A Rage Comic: A Kashmiri Metal Head.
Zaharbaad
“The horse had several ulcers on his legs, which having been healed by internal and external remedies, caused convulsions, and in that state he perished. I afterwards had other opportunities of curing similar ulcers with a simple remedy, according to my medium system, namely, by lamanaria saccharia (probably because it contains iodine), such ulcers being a kind of scrofula. This disease occurs very often in the Punjab, and the natives call it Zeherbadi (venomous swelling), as it ulcerates, and secretes a serous and corroding matter.”
~ ‘Thirty-five Years in the East: Adventures, Discoveries, Experiments, and Historical Sketches, Relating to the Punjab and Cashmere; in Connection with Medicine, Botany, Pharmacy, Etc.’ (1852) by John Martin Honigberger
The frequency with which this word is used by Kashmiris, one could easily mistake it for a Kashmiri linguistic thing. And zaharbaad layuk thing is that Panjabis don’t even use the word in situations in which Kashmiris deploy it.
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shruff
One of my favorite sounds
For “as aaye na Chakravan”
For we have been scattered
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Update December 2012: Learnt something new. In some place in U.P., some people actually call it Shoof. And is an important part of Brahmin marriage ritual.
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| Captured at a wedding. |
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Pages and a translation from Persianised Kashmiri Ramayan, 1940s
Man Mohan Munshi Ji shares some pages from a rare Kashmiri Ramayan in his possession written with Persian influence (author unknown, publisher, Ali Mohamad Tajir Kutab, Habbakadal). He writes:
The Chapter deals with meeting of Ramchanderji and Lakshmanji with Hanuman and Sugrev and death of Vali and coronation of Sugrev at the hands of Ramchandar Ji. Here are some verses of the chapter in Roman Kashmiri with English translation.
Karet gai Chak daman khak bar sar
With torn aprons and dust covered heads
Vuchik koh’s akis peth ases wandar
They saw wandars sitting on a mountain
Temov yeli vuch tuluk ye nala fariad
After seeing they started discussing
Dopuk yem deov cha kina adam zad
Are they some demons or human beings ?
Kamanah hiath nakhas peth hait che laran?
They are rushing with bows on their shoulders
Yemen khah rowmut yem kiah che tsadaan?
What have they lost and what are they searching
Yemen khah rowmut yem kiah che tsadaan?
What have they lost and what are they searching
Che Sahaib Zada jora lokh masoom
They are two well bread youths in distress
Ba Chus zanan che yem baran bala vir
I know they are very valiant brave hearts
Zaminas seeth suvan Akash as tir
They can stich the earth with sky by an arrow,
Zaminas seeth suvan Akash as tir
They can stich the earth with sky by an arrow,
Even bronth yus dushman tas che galan
Any enemy coming in their way gets destroyed
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Previously:
Harihar Kalyan – Shiv Lagun by Krishna Razdan,1938
Man Mohan Munshi Ji shares these pages from ‘Harihar Kalyan – Shiv Lagun’ by Krishna Razdan (c 1850-1925, village Vanpoh) published in 1995 Bikarmi (1938). At the end I am adding the interesting entry for this book given in Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature (1988).
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| Title cover of the book |
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| Ganesh Leela ‘Omkara roop chuk Sarva’ |
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| Shiv Leela‘Sat Chat annanda amrit chavtum’ |
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| Krishan Leela ‘Patmeeshwar Purno ‘ |
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| Vishnu Leela ‘Madha Kant marvaney Vesh Darvaney’ |
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| Ashta Dasbazi Devi leela‘Sumran Chaney sari Paaph hari Hari Parbatch Hari Yay’ |
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Harihar Kalyan (Kashmiri) (grace of Shiva) is the only collection of the poems of the prominent Bhakti poet of Kashmir Krishna Razdan in Persio-Arabic script. The book was published posthumously in 1930. Since then it has been published several times. Its last edition appeared in 1955 from Srinagar. All the earlier editions were published from the same place.
The publication is in fact an abridged edition of Shiva parinayah an anthology of poems of Krishna Razdan, published by the Royal Asiatic Society of bengal in six volumes from 1914 to 1924 with Sanskrit Chaya by Mukundram Shastri. The book appeared in the life-time of the poet under the editorship of George Abraham Grierson in Devanagri script. [available here]Harihar kalyan is the main title of the book and its subtitle is Shiva lagun (The wedding of shiva) as there are several sweet songs pertaining to the marriage of Shiva with Parvati inculded in the book. Both the titles appear on the front page of the book in bold letters. This excellent book is prized by all those who have some taste for good and genuine poetry that is why this book can be seen almost in every Hindu household. But the genuine and creative poetry of Razdan has attracted the attention of the learned and cultured Muslims also. A keen observer will not fail to see the copies of Harihar kalyan in sophisticated Muslim households. Though this book is small in size and volume as compared to Shiva parinayah, the fame of Razdan as a poet of repute rests on this book alone.. Shiv patinayah is no doubt comprehensive, well arranged and neatly printed verse anthology of Krishna Razdan but it is till now known only to a few researchers and readers of Kashmiri because it is not available in the market and its Devanagri script has not been popular enough so far. The book contains some of the most popular compositions of the poet, which form an invaluable part of our verse literature. The compoosition inculded in Harihar kalyan are generally termed as ‘lila’ (the play or the sport). In fact all the religious songs in Kashmiri have been classed or termed as lila literature, but speaking in the language of literature, ‘lila’ in itself is not separate form of poetry.
~ entry for the book in Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature (1988).
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“In spite of being a philosophical and religious poet,” says [ Abdul Ahad ] Azad, “he never chose esoteric themes and notions, but made his language of the earth, earthy. His bhajans and leelas could naturally not be in the highly Persianized Kashmiri.”
~ entry for the poet in A History of Kashmiri Literature by Trilokinath Raina.
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Gyan Prakash, Kashmiri Leelas, 1949
Man Mohan Munshi Ji shares some more from his treasures. These are pages from a collection of Kashmiri Leelas published under the title ‘Gyan Prakash’. This was the third edition of the book published in 2006 Bikarmi (1949).
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| Title Cover |
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| First Leela |
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| A Hindi Leela |
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The Kashmiri Ramayana, 1930
hechith buzith wuchith lagun pazaya on
phalis chuy hyol helis chuy sampanan gon
panun dam chuy ganimath boz yih rtch kath
chuh bruthyum broth rozan chuy patyum path
“During my stay in Kashmir in the year 1893 I often heard of the existence of a Ramayana in the Kashmirir language, but failed to obtain a copy of it. I ascertained, however, that the name of the author, Divakara Prakasa Bhatta, was well known, and that there was a tradition that he was alive during the eight years of the reign of the Hindu king, Sukhajivana Simha, who, according to Hariscandra’s Kashmira Kusuma, came to the throne in 1786, and he lived in the Gojawar (Skt. Gulikavatika) Quarter of the City of Srinagar. So far as I could make out, in 1893 the poem could be found only in fragments, no entire copy of the epic being then known to exist. I accordingly employed Pandit (afterwards Mahamahopadhyaya) Mukunda Rama Sastru, who was assisting me in the preparation of my Kashmiri Dictionary, to endeavor to collect the fragments and from them to piece together as complete a copy of the whole as was possible. He was fortunate enough to procure several long sections and from them the text of the poem as given in the following pages has been compiled. This is the text to which references are made in the Kashmiri Dictionary, and it is offered merely as a valuable specimen of the language, and in no way as a critical edition.”
Here is: ‘The Kashmiri Ramayana: Comprising the Sriramavataracarita and the Lavakusayuddhacarita of Divakara Prakasa Bhatta’ compiled by George Abraham Grierson in 1930.
I came across it at Digital Library of India and converted it to pdf format for easy reading. Here is the download link.
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Previously:
Sketches from Kashmiri Ramayan in Persian Script, 1940s, with some notes on the Kashmiri version of the epic . From when I had only heard about this book.
My Nani’s song that led me to look for the Kashmiri Ramayanas. Sadly, the lines she sings do not appear in this book. But at least I now know where those lines probably fit in the epic.
Last year I heard my nani sing following lines to herself.
Khir Khand Khyen’chi ae’sis pr’ye
kan-mool khey’th wo’yn kad’ya su dyeh
ga’yom hay’e Ram dand’ak wan
s’yeeth Seeta ti by’e Lakhman
ga’yom hay’e Ram dand’ak wan
ky’end ma’sy’nas tha’ye kho’ran
ga’yom hay’e Ram dand’ak wan
pyeth’kaayan osus na waar
burzakaayan wo’yn an’ya su baar
A transliteration of the lines:
He used to have Candy and Kheer
Now he lives on wild roots and vegetables
My Ram has gone to live in Dandaka Forest
Along with him have gone Sita and Lakshman
My Ram has gone to live in Dandaka Forest
Will not thorns bruise his soft feet
My Ram has gone to live in Dandaka Forest
Even silken robes weren’t soft enough for his skin
Now, will he roam around wearing Birch barks?
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In this book similar lines occur in the section on Ram’s departure to forest and the subsequent laments by his near and dear ones. In book we have line:
wolukh tani burza trowikh tasa-makhamal
pakan gay trenaway az-rah-i-jangal
Interestingly, above are drawing on Persian (makhamal: velvet, rah-i-jangal: forest-way) while in my Nani’s version similar thought is conveyed using words pyeth’kaayan: Silken.
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Pairim Kashmiri
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| Shikarawalla. 2008. |
Walter Del Mar, the man who may well have coined the term ‘Resident Sahibs’, and a man described by newspapers of his time as ‘an inveterate globe-trotter, but one of the best specimens of that class’, in his ‘The Romantic East Burma, Assam, & Kashmir’ (1906) tells us Kashmiris have nipari, mimuz and battekheu when they intend to have breakfast, lunch and dinner, respectively. In fact, he borrows these terms from an extensive list of workable, passable Kashmiri words provided by Walter Roper Lawrence in his ‘The Valley of Kashmir’ 1895.But some of these words, like battekheu (I had food, I have had food, Had Food?), are grammatically confusing.
Another word that Walter Del Mar borrows from Lawrence is even more interesting. He uses ‘Pairim gad’ for Mahseer. Lawrence translates it as “Punjab Fish”. Now, the thing is: Kashmiris have Panjayeeb G’aaer or Punjabi Singhara (Chest Nuts), and these aren’t called ‘Pairim G’aaer’ so why would Punjab Fish be called Pairim gad. In fact, Pairim in Kashmiri would mean Outsider fish. In Kashmir, Pairim is used to denote anything that comes from outside Kashmir.
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For any tourist visiting Kashmir, a Shikara ride is a must. During my Shikara ride in 2008, the Shikarawalla, acting a good guide, kept tour-guiding in a Kashmiri tinged Hindustani to my little younger cousins.
‘…Aur Yeh Loatus flower hai. Abyhi ye chota hai…’ (…this is a Lotus flower. Yet to bloom… ) and at this moment my uncle suddenly interrupted him, ‘Tche Kyoho Chukh Pairim Karaan! Dopuy na as Che Kashir.’ (Why do you speak in outside language? I told you we are Kashmiri.) Hearing this, the guide, half-smiling, switched to Kashmiri, for sometime. Soon enough, nasal vocals, high treble and dumb beats of a hit bollywood song hit up coming from the stereo deck mounter at the back of a distant Shikara. As if on cue, the Shikarawalla again shifted to Pairim. Soon enough my uncle again interrupted him, ‘Hye Dal Batta. Koshur Karu.‘ (Hey you Dal eating Pandit! Speak in Kashmiri.) and shot a laugh. The Shikarawalla was too young, I don’t know if he understood the reverse joke, but he too was by now laughing. Maybe he understood it. I am not sure if my little cousins, all Pairims, understood it, but they too were laughing. Maybe they didn’t. I looked at the dark waters beneath us, the dark waves we were cutting through over the noises. I saw weed that gave the deceptive illusion of friendly shallowness to the waters of Dal. Like you won’t drown. Like you would somehow bounce back on the boat. A little niece dropped her hand in water. Wait. I remembered my first Shikara trip over the waters of Dal. A trip taken years ago, one evening, when I was a kid. I remembered how afraid I was when one of my elder cousin put his hand in the water and pulled some water hyacinth on board. Now I laughed.
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