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DECEMBER, 1921)
LIFE SKETCH OF LALESHWARI.
309
LIFE SKETCH OF LALESHWARI-A GREAT HERMITESS OF KASHMIR.
BY PANDIT ANAND KOUL.
(Continued from p. 308.) (3) Shekh Nur Din alias Nund Rishi (called by Hindus Sahazanand), a great Muham. madan saint, was a contemporary of Lal Ded. It is said that when he was born (1377 A.D.) he would not suck milk of his mother. Lal Ded went and cried to him "Yina mandachhok nah tah chanah chhu kha mandachhan?” (Thou wert not ashamed of coming, why then art thou ashamed of sucking ?) Thereupon he began to suck. She asked his mother what her name was. “Sudar" was the reply. Lal Ded remarked- Sudrasai chhih mukhta neran" (verily pearls come out of the Sudar i.e., Ocean). When Shekh Nûr Din was grown up he, together with his disciple Bâbâ Nasar-ud-din, often held. discourses with Lal Ded in Kashmiri verse which are clothed in mysticism. Her verses, however, show how superior she rose over both of them in religious wisdom. These are contained in the old Persian books called Nûr Nama and Rish Nama. One discourse is quoted below by way of an example :
Baba Nasir-ud-din
Siryas hyuh nah prakash kune Gangih hyuh nah tirth kánh Bayis hyuh nah bandav kune
Ranih hyuh nah sukh kanh. Shekh Nur Din
Achhin hyuh nah prakash kune Kuthen hyuh nah tirth kanh Chandas hyuh nah bandav kune
Khanih hyuh nah sukh kanh. Laleshwars--
Mayas hyuh nah prakash kune Payas hyuh nah tirth kárh Dayas hyuh nah bandav kune Bayas hyuh nah sukh kanh. There is no light like that of the sun; There is no pilgrimage like Ganga; There is no relation like a brother; There is no ease like that of a wife. There is no light like that of the eyes : There is no pilgrimage like that of the knees; There is no relation like one's pocket; There is no ease like that of the cloak. There is no light like that of the knowledge of God; There is no pilgrimage like that of the search of God; There is no relation compared to the Deity; There is no ease like that got from the fear of God. "
