Indian Antiquary Vol 60

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 219

OCTOBER, 1931)
LALLA-VAKYANI
191
LALLA-VAKYANI. · (The Wise Sayings of Lal Dod.) BY PANDIT ANAND KOUL, SRINAGAR, KASHMIR.
(Continued from vol. LIX, p. 130.) The cultural expressions of the ancients serve, no doubt, as a living link between the present and the past and bring one into contact with philosophy at a deeper level. There is, therefore, & growing desire everywhere to know and appreciate these expressions, after sifting them as corn is sifted in a cribble.
Kashmir is a fairyland of peace and contentment, removed from the terrors and turmoils of the world and wrapt round with the devotional silence of the Himalayas. It produced men as well as women in the past who enriched mankind by a literature containing the deepest thought and the loftiest philosophy. Until lately the vast region of this literature lay dark and unexplored. Some European savants, however, collected many old manuscripts and dived deep into the mysteries of philosophical speculation contained in them. Thanks to their zealous efforts, many precious works dealing with ancient popular religion in Kashmir, which were forgotten, nay, almost lost, were recovered, translated and published. Thus rescued from the abysmal depths of oblivion, this classic literature has now happily regained currency in the literary world.
Amidst the gems of this literature were the Lalla vakyani or the Wise Sayings of Lal Děd, a creative genius and prophetess, who flourished in Kashmil in the fourteenth century of the Christian era. Many of these were translated into English prose by Sir George Grierson and Dr. Lionel D. Barnett, and rendered into English verse by Sir Richard Temple. There remained unpublished, however, a number of the Sayings of Lal Děd over and above those already conserved by the said gentlemen. I, therefore, made searching inquiries for them in different parts of the Kashmir Valley, and my labours were fortunately rewarded by my being able to obtain 60 more Sayings. Out of these, 33 have already been published in the Indian Antiquary (vol. LIX, pp. 108-113 and 127-130, supra). The remaining 27 are now given below. My constant feeling is one of gratitude to fate for having permitted me to live to find out these treasures of Kashmîrî literature, which will, no doubt, not only interest philologists and antiquarians, but will also help to vitalize thought and action in the time to come.
1. Andar asit něbar tshondum
Pawanan ragan karnam sath, Dhyana kini Day zagi kewal zonum,
Rang gav sangas milit keth. Though within, I searched [God) without.
The vital airs satisfied my veins, [as] Through meditation only I found God pervading the world.
The world got merged into the union (with God).
Buthi kyah jan chul wunda chuy kaniy,
Aslac kath záh saniy no! Parán lekhân wuth anguj gajiy,
Andrim duyiy zák teajiy no ! How pleasing is thy face, [but] thy heart is (like) stone,
The word of reality (i.e., religion) never penetrated into thee! Thy lips and fingers were worn away by reading and writing,
But the inner hatred never went away from thee!