“The Saint Who Made Poetry Her Prayer” Life and Verses of Lalleshwari
“Shiva resides in everyone’s heart. Do not damage or hurt any heart. Do not defile anybody’s heart.”
-Lal Vakh
Reference: https://kashmirirecipe.com/lalleshwari-the-mystic-saint-of-kashmir/
In the quiet valleys of Kashmir, where mist rises from rivers and orchards hum with song, a woman once walked barefoot into the unknown. Her name was Lalleshwari, remembered with love as Lal Ded.
To some, she was a mystic saint. To others, a fearless seeker. Away from the conventional thinking of women as the custodians of tradition, devotion, and family bonds, she stepped into uncharted realms of wisdom, equality, and spiritual awakening.
From pain and plight to divinity and light…
She once said:
Impurities of my mind were wiped away as from a mirror,
And I attained self-knowledge. I saw Him near me –
He is everything, and I am nothing.
Scholars, poets, and seekers describe her as larger than life. Yet, before she was a saint, she was a woman who endured pain and rejection. Married young, she was mistreated and humiliated in her husband’s home. But her spirit was never tethered to the ordinary. Instead of surrendering to despair, she found solace among wandering saints and ascetics. Their companionship became her refuge, their wisdom her anchor, and her own heart the temple in which she discovered freedom.
It was through poetry that this freedom found its voice. In her Vakhs, piercing verses in Kashmiri, she wove the language of the everyday into revelations of the eternal. She questioned, she challenged, she consoled.
Into the realm of poetry and mysticism…
It covers your shame, keeps you from shivering.
Grass and water are the food it asks.
Who taught you, priest-man,
to feed this breathing thing to your thing of stone?
Lalleshwari’s contribution to poetry is timeless. She used verse as a way to share her wisdom, experiences, and spiritual insights. Her words carried truth in simplicity. Through images of weaving, farming, and cooking, she revealed the divine hidden in daily life. She stripped away the grandiosity of ritual and brought the eternal closer to the human heart.
Writing in the Kashmiri language, she created ‘Vakhs’, short, powerful poems that spoke not only of her spiritual journey but also of life, reality, and the search for self-liberation. What made her work remarkable was her ability to explain profound truths in familiar words. Through this, she made the deepest spiritual ideas accessible to all, leaving behind poetry that continues to inspire across generations.
Through her verses, Lalleshwari reflected on impermanence, detachment, and the true nature of reality. She urged people to rise above dualities and attachments, and to look for the eternal within the fleeting moments of life. Her poetry carries the essence of Advaita Vedanta, teaching the oneness of all existence and the ultimate unity of the individual soul with the Divine.
Influencing Nund Rishi and The Rishi Sufi Order
Whatever work I did became worship of the Lord;
Whatever word I uttered became a prayer;
Whatever this body of mine experienced became the sadhana of Saiva Tantra
Illumining my path to Parmasiva.
Lalleshwari’s voice did not fade with time; it flowed into the soul of Kashmir and found kinship with Nund Rishi, the great saint of the valley. Their spiritual meeting became a symbol of harmony, where Shaivism and Sufism merged like two rivers flowing into one. Together, their wisdom rose above boundaries of religion and ritual, nurturing a culture of love, tolerance, and unity. This laid the foundations of the Rishi Sufi order, a path away from empty rites and toward the light of the heart.
At the core of her vision was a simple truth: divinity was not distant or hidden in temples and texts, but alive in every human soul. Rooted in Kashmiri Shaivism and touched by the fragrance of Vedanta and Sufi thought, her verses spoke of oneness, self-realization, and the eternal presence of the Divine within.
Her words lived not only in philosophy but in the breath of the people. They traveled as song, as folklore, as whispers across generations. Even today, her Vakhs are sung in the orchards and remembered in the silence of shrines, carrying the same fragrance of wisdom that once drifted through the valleys.
Reference: https://www.evivek.com/Encyc/2021/10/20/Mahadamba-in-Kashmir-Saint-Lalleshwari.html
FAQs
Who was Lalleshwari?
Ans: Lalleshwari was a 13th-century mythical saint from Kashmir.
What are vakhs?
Ans: Vaks are poetic verses composed by Lalleshwari.
What themes did Lalleshwari’s poetry explore?
Lalleshwari’s poetry delved into themes of self-realization, unity, compassion, and the transient nature of existence. She often used metaphors from daily life to illustrate profound spiritual truths.
References:
Ma Lalleshwari (Lal Ded) of Kashmir https://themysticalmystics.wordpress.com/2020/05/30/ma-lalleshwari-lal-ded-of-kashmir/
Lalleshwari: The mystic who defied gender norms https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/straight-from-heart/lalleshwari-the-mystic-who-defied-gender-norms/
Lalleshwari: The Mystic Saint of Kashmir Who Embodied Spiritual Wisdom https://kashmirirecipe.com/lalleshwari-the-mystic-saint-of-kashmir/
Lalleshwari(Lal Ded) https://kashmirasitis.com/lalleshwarilal-ded/
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