Лаллешвари: Кашмирская мистическая поэтесса XIV века

Fourteenth century Kashmiri mystic

Lalleshwari, also commonly known as Lal Ded (; 1320–1392), was a Kashmiri mystic of the Kashmir Shaivism school of Hindu philosophy. She was the creator of the style of mystic poetry called vatsun or Vakhs, meaning "speech" (from Sanskrit vāc). Known as Lal Vakhs, her verses are among the early compositions in the Kashmiri language and are a part in the history of modern Kashmiri literature. Lalleshwari ("Mother Lal" or "Mother Lalla") is also known by various other names, including Lal Dyad (Dyad means "Grandmother"), Lalla Aarifa, Lal Diddi, Lalleshwari, Lalla Yogishwari/Yogeshwari and Lalishri.

Most modern scholars place Lalleshwari's birth between 1301 and 1320 C. E., near Sempore or Pandrenthan. Lalleshwari is also believed to be a contemporary of Mir Sayyid Ali Hamdani, an Iranian Sufi scholar and poet, who recorded stories of her in his own verse during his travels to Kashmir.

Lalleshwari's poems represent some of the early works of Kashmiri literature, and were written as Kashmiri began to emerge as a distinct language from Apabhramsa prakrit, which was spoken in North India. A total of 285 poems, known as vakhs, are attributed to Lalleshwari. Grierson consolidated and expanded on the partial translation prepared by the Hungarian British archaeologist and scholar Sir Marc Aurel Stein, and incorporated some archived poems that were contained in the Dictionary of Kashmiri Proverbs and Sayings (1888). and Jaylal Kaul (1973). Recent translations include those by Coleman Barks, Jaishree Odin Kak, and Ranjit Hoskote. Jaishree Odin, and Ranjit Hoskote.

The leading Kashmiri Sufi figure Sheikh Noor ud din Wali (also known as Nooruddin Rishi or Nunda Rishi) was influenced by Lalleshwari. He led to the formation of the Rishi order of saints and later gave rise to many Rishi saints like Resh Mir Sàeb. Lalleshwari and her mystic musings continue to have a deep impact on the psyche of Kashmiris, and the 2000 National Seminar on her held at New Delhi led to the release of the book Remembering Lal Ded in Modern Times. In his book "Triadic Mysticism", Paul E. Murphy calls her the "chief exponent of devotional or emotion oriented Triadism". According to him, three representatives of devotionalism emerged in Kashmir in the five hundred years between the last half of the ninth and the end of the fourteenth centuries. Beyond several new translations of Lalleshwari's vakh, there are other contemporary performative arts that are based on Lalleshwari's life and poetry. For example, there are contemporary renderings of Lalleshwari's poetry in song. In addition, a solo play in English, Hindi, and Kashmiri titled Lal Ded (based on her life) has been performed by actress Mita Vashisht across India since 2004.