PRINTED AT OXFORD, ENGLAND
BY FliEDERICK HALL
FBIKTJEIl TO THE UNIVEKS1TV
PRINTED AT OXFORD, ENGLAND
BY FliEDERICK HALL
FBIKTJEIl TO THE UNIVEKS1TV
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREPACK v
WORKS QUOTED vii
SYSTEM OF TRANSLITERATION viii
INTRODUCTION 1
PRELIMINARY NOTE ON YOGA 8
TEXT AND TRANSLATION 23
APPENDIX I. VERSES BY LALLA IN KSOWLES'S DICTIONARY
o? KASHMIRI PROVERBS 120
APPENDIX II. ON LALLA'S LANGUAGE . . ,128
APPENDIX III. Ox LALLA s METRES .... 144
APPENDIX IV. CONCORDANCE OF THE VERSES IN MS.
STEIN B AND IN THE PRESENT EDITION , . 149
VOCABULARY 150
PREFACE
THE collection of songs edited in the present
volume possesses a twofold interest. Composed so
long ago as the fourteenth century A. D M it claims
the attention not only of the philologist as the
oldest known specimen of the Kashmiri language,
but also, and still more, that of the student of
religions.
In ancient times, the religious system based on
aiva Yoga was the object of much study amongst
the learned men of Kashmir. From that remote
corner of North-Western India their teaching in-
fluenced the whole peninsula,- so much so that we
even read that Eamtouja, the leader of a rival
Vaisnava belief, felt compelled to travel from
distant Madras to Kashmir, with the special object
of combating the hostile creed at its fountain head.
There is an imposing mass of Kashmir &aiva
literature still extant. Mijch of it has been pub-
lished in the original Sanskrit, and more than one
English.work has been devoted to it.
Lalla> or Lai D6d, the authoress of the following
verses, was a wandering ^ascetic, and a devoted
follower of this cult. The importance of lier songs
consists in the fact tiat they are not a systematic
expose of ^aivism oa the lines laid down by the
theologiafis who prfeced^ her, but iEusfcrate the
religion? on its poplar side, Wltst we
vi PREFACE
Is not a mere book-religion as evolved in the minds
of great thinkers and idealists, but a picture of the
actual hopes and fears of the common folk that
nominally followed the teaching of these wise men
whom they had accepted as their guides. The
book, in short, gives an account, often in vivid
and picturesque language, of the actual working
out in practice of a religion previously worked out
in theory. As such, it is a unique contribution to
the body of evidence that must necessarily form
the basis of a future history of one of the most
important religious systems of India.
A word may be added as to the respective shares
of those responsible for the preparation of this
edition. While each has considered and has dis-
cussed what the other has written, it may be
roughly assumed that, while the account of the
Ydga system and the many notes referring to it
are directly, or indirectly, from ..the pen of
Dr. Barnett, the preparation of the text, its trans-
lation, the various appendixes, and the vocabulary
are the work of Sir George Grierson.
WORKS QUOTED IN THE FOLLOWING
PAGES
WALTER, H,~The E^yo^-p^dlpiM of Sv&fa^rSma, translated
into German, Munich, 1893,
DEUSSEK, PAUL, jU^w/w Mmhte far Phikwphk Leipzig,
1899,1906,
SHRINIVAS IYENGAR, R T,-The Siwutrnmrtin! of Ksemaraja,
translated into English, Reprinted from 'Indian Thought',
SKIS CHANDKA Visu.-Ife YOJ& faim, $iw-$mUti In Sacred
Books of the Hindus \ vol, xv, Part I. Allahabad, 1913,
An InMuction to logo, Pkflwfty; SmMt to, with
JfajKA Tmmktm of (1) tk &wwtikti&, ori of (2) Tht
(Mmfamliil Ibid,, Parts II and IV, Allahabad, 1914-15.
CHATTEBJI, I C, Mjwtr SWmm, voL ii, Fasciculus I, The
Research Department, Kashmir State, Srinagar, 1914,
PANCHAM Sim-The H^tk^prdipM of Svltmilriuna, Sanskrit
Text and English Translation, In ' Sacred Books of the Hindus ',
voL xv, Part III Allahabad, 1915,
PfiRNANANDA, - &f-ftnwiri^a)ifl, Text often printed in India,
BABNETT, L D -Translation of the Bhogm&CM. In the Temple
Classics. London, 1905,
SYSTEM OP TRANSLITERATION USED
THE system of transliteration is the same as that employed by
Sir George Grierson in his Kfishmm Dictionary.
*,
The ordinary vowels are represented as follows:
% fta, m ka, fii fci, ^ H, J i. | H, ^ M, % ie,
? HI, It tt, ^ to,
^g is no longer a vowel, and is represented by ru. ^g is similarly
represented by re. Anunasika is represented by "". Thu ^ it
The Kashmiri consonants are :
1 fa, ^[ Ua, ^ fffl, ?) yfa, (?) ia.
^T ftfl, if feiff, ^f ^,
Z fff, 7 f Ja, ? cfff, (5) (ffifl,
r| ta *f rto, Ja, \i( dAa, 1 no,
XI ];a,
Letters enclosed in brackets are found only in borrowed words, ftnd
do not belong to the language.
For further particulars Sir George Grierson's Kashmiri Dictionary,
in course of publication by the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and his
Manual of the Kashmiri Language, published by the Clarendon Press,
may be consulted.
For Sanskrit, the ordinary system of the Royal Asiatic Society
is followed,
INTRODUCTION
THE verses in the following collection are attributed to
a woman of Kashmir, named, in Sanskrit, Lalla Yogf^warL
There are few countries in which so many wise saws and
proverbial sayings are current as in Kashmir, 1 and none of
these have greater repute than those attributed by universal
consent to Lai Ded, or 'Granny Lai', as she is called
nowadays. There is not a Kashmiri, Hindu or Musalman,
who has not some of these ready on the tip of his tongue, and
who does not reverence her memory.
Little is known about her. All traditions agree that she
was a contemporary of Sayyid 'All HamadSni, the famous
saint who exercised a great influence iu converting Kashmir
to Islam. He arrived in Kashmir in A,D. 1380, and remained
there six years, the reigning sovereign being Qutbu'd-Dln
(A,D. 1377-93), 2 As we shall see from her songs, Lalla was
a Yogini, i.e. a follower of the Kashmir branch of the Saiva
religion, but she was, no bigot, and, to her, all religions were
at one in their essential elements. 3 There is hence no inherent
difficulty in accepting the tradition of her association with
Sayyid 'All, Hindus, in their admiration for their coreligionist,
go, it is true, too far when CEey assert that he received his
inspiration from her, but the Musalmans of the Valley, who
naturally deny this, and who consider him to be the great
local apostle of their faith, nevertheless look upon her with
the utmost jespect. 4
Numerous stories are current about Lalla in the Valley, but
none of them is deserving of literal credence. She is said
1 See, for instance, the Dictionary ofK&slwMri Promts and Sayings,
compiled by Mr. I Hinton Knowlea (Bombay aad London, 1885).
4 fwjah N ii. 482.
8 Compare verse 8 in the following collection.
* Of. Lawrence, f<*% of Kwhmir, p, 292,
B
t INTRODUCTION
to have been originally a married woman of respectable family.
She was cruelly treated by her mother-in-law, who nearly
starved her. 1 The wicked woman tried to persuade Lalla's
husband that she was unfaithful to him, but when he followed
her to what he believed was an assignation, he found her at
prayer. The mother-in-law tried other devices, which were
all conquered by Lalla's virtue and patience, but at length she
succeeded in getting her turned out of the house. 2 Lalla
wandered forth in rags and adopted a famous Kashmiri Saiva
saint named Sed B6y u as her Guru or spiritual preceptor.
The result of his teaching was that she herself toot the status
of a mendicant devotee, and wandered about the country
singing and dancing in a half-nude condition. When
remonstrated with for such disregard for decency, she is said
to have replied that they only were men who feared God, and
that there were very few of such about, 3 During this time
Sayyid e Ali Hamadani arrived in Kashmir, and one day she
saw him in the distance. Crying out ' I have seen a man ',
she turned and fled. Seeing a baker's shop close by, she
leaped into the blazing- oven and disappeared, being apparently
consumed to ashes. The saint followed her and inquired if
any woman had come that way, but the baker's wife, out of
fear, denied that she had seen any one. Sayyid 'Alt continued
1 Compare the Kashmiri saying:
kowj? mdran kina kath,
Lali nalwuW kali na zah.
1 Whether they killed a big sheep or a small one, it was all the same ;
Lai had always a stone for her dinner,* For, when she dined In the
presence of other people, the mother-in-law used to put a lumpy
stone on her platter and thinly cover it with rice, so that it looked
like quite a big heap. Still she never murmured. Of. K. Pr., p. 82,
and Panjab Notes and Queries, ii. 748.
2 For these, and other stories, see Panjab Nates and Queries, Lc.
8 See K. Pr. 20, quoted in full on p. 122, below. PNQ. makes
another saint, a contemporary of Sayyid *AJS named Ifota'dnJm, the
hero of the story ; but every version that we have seen or heard
elsewhere gives it as afrove. PHQ: adds that Jfffrtf d-d!% ' not to be
outdone in miracles, then disappeared on, the spot, arid affcer much
searching she found him between two platto in the form of a
diamond '. A story very similar to that given above will b$ found i&
Merutunga's Prabaitdkacintamni> where the herd is a Ksatriya
named JUgaddeva, and the traeiotked lady a dauoit
edition (1888), p> 296, and Tawaey's farans^tian, $> 18
INTRODUCTION 3
his search, and suddenly Lalla reappeared from the oven clad
in the green garments of Paradise.
The above stories will give some idea of the legends that
cluster round the name of Lalla. All that we can affirm with
some assurance is that she certainly existed, and that she
probably lived in the fourteenth century of our era, being
a contemporary of Sayyid 'All Hamadam at the time of his
visit to Kashmir. We know from her own verses 1 that she
was in the habit of wandering about in a semi-nude state,
dancing and singing in ecstatic frenzy as did the Hebrew
naMs of old and the more modern Dervishes.
No authentic manuscript of her compositions has come
down to us. Collections made by private individuals have
occasionally been put together, 3 but none is complete, and
no two agree in contents or text. While there is thus a
complete dearth of ordinary manuscripts, there are, on the
other hand, sources from which an approximately correct text
can be secured.
The ancient Indian system by which literature is recorded
not on paper but on the memory, and carried down from
generation to generation of teachers and pupils, is still in
complete survival in Kashmir. Such fleshy tables* of the
heart are often more trustworthy than birch-bark or paper
manuscripts. The reciters, even when learned Pandits, take
every care to deliver the messages word for word as they have
received them, whether they nndeistand them or not. In
such cases we not infrequently come across words of which the
meaning given is purely traditional or is even kst* A typical
instance of this has occurred in the experience of Sir George
Qtierson. In the summer ql 189 Siu Aurel Stein took down
in writing from the mouth of a professional story-teller a
collection ,'of folk-tales, which he subsequently made over to
Sir George *fbr editing and translation. In the course of
dictation,, the nam-tor, according to custom, conscientiously
words of which he did not know the sense. They
$ee> f &r instoe$ p, $ of ,i&e late Professor Bfibler'a Detailed
M*H* MftS^made, in Kabmr> %c.
collections are mentioned,
4 INTRODUCTION
were 'old words', the signification of which had been lost,
and which had been passed down to him through generations
of ustade, or teachers. That they were not inventions of the
moment, or corruptions of the speaker, is shown by the facts
that not only were they recorded simultaneously by a well-
known Kashmiri Pandit, who was equally ignorant of their
meanings, and who accepted them without hesitation on
the authority of the reciter, but that, long afterwards, at
Sir George's request, Sir Aurel Stein got the man to repeat
the passages in which the words occurred. They were
repeated by him verbatim, literatim, et pwictatim, as they had
been recited by him to Sir Aurel fifteen years before.
The present collection of verses was recorded under very
similar conditions. In the year 1914 Sir George Grierson
asked his friend and former assistant, Mahamahopadhyaya
Pandit Mukunda Rama Sastrl, to obtain for him a good copy
of the LaUd-v&kydni) as these verses of Lalla's are commonly
called by Pandits. After much search he was unable to find
a satisfactory manuscript. But finally he came into touch
with a very old Brahman named Dharma-dasa Darwesh of
the village of Gush. 1 Just as the professional story-teller
mentioned above recited folk-tales, so he made it his business,
for the benefit of the piously disposed, to recite Lalla's songs as
he had received them by family tradition (faila-paranipardcara-
irama). The MahamahSp&dhyaya recorded the text from his
dictation, and added a commentary, partly in Hindi and
partly in Sanskrit, all of which he forwarded to Sir George
Grierson. These materials formed the basis of the present
edition. It cannot claim to be founded on a collation of
various manuscripts, but we can at least say that it is an
accurate reproduction of one recension of the songs, as they
are current at the present day. As in the case of Sir Aurel
Stein's folk-tales, this text contains words and passages which
the reciter did not profess to understand. He had every
inducement to make the verses intelligible, and any conjectural
1 The Goosh of the maps. It is about thirty miles from Baramula,
and is not far from the famous shrine of Sarada. See Stein's
Translation of the Mjatarangim, ii. 280 and 288.
INTRODUCTION 5
emendation would at once have been accepted on his authority ;
but, following the traditions of his calling, he had the honesty
to refrain from this, and said simply that this was what he
had received, and that he did not know its meaning. Such
a record is in some respects more valuable than any written
manuscript.
Besides this collection, we have also consulted two manu-
scripts belonging to the Stein Collection housed in the Oxford
Indian Institute. 1 Both were written in the Sarada character.
Of these, one (No. cccxlvi of the catalogue, and referred to as
* Stein A ' in the following pages) is but a fragment, the first
two leaves and all those after the seventeenth being missing.
It is nevertheless of considerable value ; for, besides giving
the test of the original, it also gives a translation into
Sanskrit verse, by a Pandit named Rajanaka, Bhaskara, of
songs Nos. 7-49. The Kashmiri text, if we allow for the
customary eccentricities of spelling, presents no variant read-
ings of importance and is in places corrupt. We have,
therefore, not taken account of it ; but, so far as it is available,
we reproduce the Sanskrit translation under each verse of our
edition. 2
The other manuscript (No. cccxlv referred to herein as^
' Stein B ') demands more particular consideration. It contains
the Kashmiri text of forty-nine of the songs in the present
collection. The spelling is in the usual inconsequent style of
all Kashmiri manuscripts written before Isvara-kaula gave
a fixed orthography to the language in the concluding decades
of the nineteenth century, 3 and there are also, as usual, a good
many mistakes of the copyist. It is, however, valuable as
giving a number of variant readings, and because the scribe
has marked the metrical accentuation of most of the verses,
by putting the mark (I after each accented word, 4 For this
reason, and also because it gives a good example of the
1 SeeJRAS.,1912,pp.587ff.
2 Since the above was written, a complete edition of Rajanaka
Bhaskara's translation has been printed in Kashmir. It covers
altogether sixty of Lalla's verses. From this edition, tke verses miss-
ing in Stein A have been supplied.
3 Isvara-kaula's spelling is that followed in our printed text.
4 Regarding the accentual nature of Lalla's metre, see Appendix III.
6 INTRODUCTION
spelling of Kashmiri before Isvara-kaula's time, under each
verse of our text we reproduce, in the Nagarl character the
corresponding versfe, if available, of this manuscript. Except
that we have divided the words a matter which rarely gives
rise to any doubt we print these exactly as they stand in
the manuscript with all their mistakes and inconsistencies of
spelling.
The order of verses in this manuscript is different from that
of Dharma-dasa's text, and we have therefore, in Appendix IV,
given a Concordance, showing the correspondence between
the two.
Although there is not much consistency in old Kfishmlii
spelling, the following general remarks may facilitate the
reading of the text of Stein B. No attempt is made in it to
indicate the existence of mdtrd- vowels or the consequent
epenthetic changes of vowels caused by them. 1 For instance,
the word toff* (hase
of Being, the Absolute (usually conceived as Supreme Siva)
for ever and ever,
5. In the human body the vertebral column is conceived as
Mount Moru, the central mountain of Hindu cosmology. As
the macrocosmic sun and moon are imagined to turn round
Meru, so we have a microeosmic sun and moon in the human
body : the moon at the top of the vertebral column and the
sun at its base (SS. II. 6-12). Among the numerous naflu
(veins or arteries: see HYP. p. iv) there are three of supreme
importance, Sutumnd, I(U> and Pityald, which descend from
the brain into the pit of the abdomen ; and HYP, (p. iii, and
text III. 113) says that between the pudendum and navel is
a'bulb' (JianAa), into which the nadfo debouch, Susumnil
is identified with Agni, fire. At the upper end of Ida ia the
moon, and they are identified ; at the lower end of Pingalii is
PRELIMINARY NOTE ON YOGA !l
the sun, and they too are identified (SS. II. 13-20). These three
ndfju are in immediate conjunction, Ida being on the left
hand of Susumna, and Pingala on the right. Susumna rises
vertically from the pelvic region along the vertebral column
as far as the Brahma-randhra (on which see below) ; there it
bends round to the right of the Ajna circle (see below, 18)
and passes up into the left nostril. In the centre of Susumna
is a nadi called Citrd, which is said to be of five colours, and
to be the upddhi of the body, and to have the Brahma-randhra
at its upper end (SS. II. 18-19, V. 124). The Brahma-
randhra is the upper extremity of Susumna, and of the inner
nadi enclosed in Susumna.
6. SON. refines somewhat upon this theory by asserting
that inside Susumna there is a bright nddl called Vajra, and
that inside Vajia is another nadl called Citrim, which passes
through all the six circles attached to the spine, to which we
shall come presently ( 9 ff.). In the centre of Citrini is the
Brahma-nadi, a subtile duct representing pure knowledge and
bliss. At the lower mouth of Susumna is the Brahma-chara^
or 'Door of Brahma ', where are the * knots' (grantU: see
HYP. p. xvii T ). C also HYP. pp. v, vii.
7. Sometimes, to continue the analogy of microcosm to
macrocosm, Ida is identified with the Ganges, Pingala with
the Jamna, and Susumna with the Saraswatl, and the point
where they meet, at the mouth of the Brabma-randhra, is
called Trivem (Tribeni, the meeting place of the Hugfi or
Ganges, Jamna, and Saraswatl, in Hooghly District); by
daily spiritual contemplation of this union, corresponding to
the physical act of bathing at the real Tribeni, the Yogi may
win salvation for his ancestors and himself (SS. V. 103 ff.,
130 ff.). Sometimes the sacred city of Benares (Vdrdnasl) is
localized in the microcosm by styling Ida Vdrand and Pingala
Arit so tht their place of union at the Brahma-randhra is
VSranasl, the residence of Vi^vanatha, the Lord of the Universe
(SS. V. 100-1).
1 Some writers speak of three knots: the Brahma-grantU in the
Anahata-circle,_the Visnu-granthi in the Visuddha, and the Rudra-
grantU in the
12 PRELIMINARY NOTE ON YOGA
8. The mierocosmic moon at the top of the vertebral column,
which is said to consist of eight and sometimes of sixteen
digits, is alwa}S exuding nectar, which flows downwards.
Half of this nectar passes through Ida, on the left side, and
there becomes water for the nourishment of the body. The
other half goes through Susumna into the vertebral column,
and thence down to the base of the latter, where it meets the
mierocosmic sun. This sun, which has twelve digits, casts
its rays upwards through Piiigala along the right side of the
body, and thence through the system (SS. II, 6-12, V. 145).
9. In the abdomen, in the middle of the sphere of the sun,
is the Vaisvanara fire, which effects the process of digestion
in the body (SS. II. 32-34). In the same region is situated
the first of the caJcras or circles, which are conceived as being*
of the form of lotuses, attached at intervals to Susumna (cf.
HYP. p. xiv). The first circle is the MulddMra, or simply
Adhdra, and is imagined to be a lotus of four digits in width,
situated two digits above the anus and two digits below the
penis. In the pericarp of this lotas is a triangular space
representing the yoni or female organ. On this space dwells
the Kuh-KuncMinl (or simply Kmddm\ who is the akti or
Cic-chakti, the powder of spirit, the creative force of the
phenomenal universe (cf. HYP. p. xiii). She is golden of hue,
like a streak of lightning ; when at rest, she sleeps rolled up
in three and a half coils, like a serpent, with her tail in her
mouth, inside the lower orifice of Susumna. On her left is
Ida, which coils round Susumnti and finally enters the right
nostril; on her right is Pingala, proceeding in the reverse
way upwards and debouching into the left nostril (SS. II.
21-31, V. 56 ff., 124). SCN. 5 ff. adds to these details the
information that Muladhara represents earth, and is the seat
of Brahma, and it locates the yoni (which is called Traipura ;
c below, 21) at the mouth of Vajra ( 6).
10. Kundalinl is sometimes termed Vdg-ctivl or Goddess of
Speech, the SaMi of Visnu, the mother of the three Gunas,
the Seed of Being (%'#). Over her sleeping form broods the
JLa.ma.-by a or 'seed of Love*, a bright spiritual radiance
endowed with the powers of knowledge and action, which
PRELIMINARY NOTE ON YOGA 13
circulates through the body. This Kama-bija is also styled
Swyambhu-ttiiga, the phallic symbol of the Self-created Being
Siva (SS. V. 57-62).
11. SCN. 9-12 has a very similar account: it adds that
around the yoni there blows a red wind called Kandarpa (the
same as Kama, Love) ; in the ybni is the Svayambhu-linga,
having the hne of molten gold, and facing downwards ; above
this is Kundalinl. who is like a lotus-fibre and lightning, and
covers with her face the orifice of Susumna. It also states
that in the midst of Kundalini is Paramd Kald or Paramffivan,
or MaMprakrti) the super-subtile principle of Bliss which is
like lightning, and illuminates the universe (SON. 13).
12. The yoni and the lingo* upon it are known as the Knla
or Home, the site of the Power of Phenomenal Being : we
shall return to this anon ( 19).
13. A little distance above Multidhara, at the base of the
penis, is the second circle, Svddhisthana, conceived as a red
lotus with six petals (SS. V. 75 if.). It represents Varuna,
and is the seat of Visnu (SON. 15 ff.).
14. The third circle is Manipura, a golden lotus of ten
petals by the navel (SS. V. 79 ff.). SCN. holds that it is
blue, and that it represents Agni, and that Rudra dwells on
the inverted triangle (yoni) at its centre (SCN. 20 ff.).
15. The fourth circle is AnaJiata, a red lotus of twelve petals
situate in the heart ; in it is a flame styled Bdna-Unga (SS.
V. 83 ff.). It represents Vayu or Wind; in the double
triangle within it dwells Isana ; in the middle of this double
triangle is a yoni or triangle known as Trikond Sakt^ within
which is the golden Bana-linga, on the head of which is a
lotus of eight petals, the seat of Laksmi (SCN. 23 ff.).
16. In this lotus dwells the Pram or breath of life, 1
together with the rdsands or influences of former works upon
the soul, tfae karma thereof, and its aJiamkara or principle of
egoity (SS. III. 1-8).
1 Besides Prdna or outward breath Yoga recognizes also Apdna,
breath going downwards in the anus ; Samana^ in the navel ; Uddna
in the throat; Vyana, circulating through the body, besides some
others: SS. III. 1-8, Gh&atida-samhita, V. 60 ff. ftc.
14 PRELIMINARY NOTE ON YOGA
17. Above Anahata, and situate in the throat, is the circle
rUufldha, a golden lotus of sixteen petals (SS. V. 90 ff.).
SCN. adds that it represents Akasa or ether, and is the
residence of Sadasiva, and ascribes to it the colour of smoke
(SCN. 29 ff.).
18. The sixth circle is AjM, a lotus of two petals between
the eyebrows, which contains the mystic force called aksara-Uja
(SS. V. 96 ff., 145 ff.). It is of the colour of the moon. In
its pericarp is the seat of Siva called Itam> in the form of a
litya, like a series of lightnings ; it is parama-hda-path, the
highest stage of the Kula, in which Siva and his consort
Sakti are half and half, anlMhg\ in mutual fusion. In it is
envisaged Paramatman, the Supreme Self, as creator of origin,
maintenance, and dissolution of the cosmos, like a halo of the
light of fire, sun, and moon. After death the Yogi who has
fixed his breaths on this seat of Visnu enters here into Param
Brahma (SCN. 34-40).
19. Above all these circles is the highest of all, Sahasrdra^
conceived as a lotus with a thousand petals, situated at the
base of the palate. On its pericarp is a reversed triangular
space or yoni, in the centre of which is the Brahma-randhra
or upper extremity of Susumna, On this yoni (or below it,
according to SS. V. 145) is the Moon, whose nectar flows
downwards through the system (SS. V. 103 ff., 122 ff.) ; its
place is within the sinus of the forehead (SS, V. 148).
Sahasrara is conceived as Mount Kailasa, the home of Siva ;
and as representing the sphere of the Absolute orTranscendental
Being, Parama-Siva or Paramsvara, as opposed to the sphere
of cosmic action or Kula, it is styled A-kula or Na-kuk.
It is thus the physical as well as the spiritual antithesis of
the Kula at the lower end of Susumna (SS. V. 151 ff.).
20. As usual, SCN. refines on this. It describes Sahasiara
as having a thousand red petals facing downward*, and con-
taining fifty letters of the alphabet from a to ha. It contains
the full moon without the hare (our e man in the moon '), and
in its central yoni the Yogi should contemplate the Void
(SCN. 42 ff.). In the void of tinayOni is the sixteenth digit
of the Moon ; it is called Ama or And ; it is like lightning,
PRELIMINARY NOTE ON YOGA 15
and is thin as one-hundredth part of a lotus-fibre ; it conveys
the nectar flowing from Sahasrara. Inside Ama is the digit
Nirvana, which is fine as a thousandth part of a hair, curved
like the new moon, bright as twelve suns, the tutelary deity
(adhidaivata] of living creatures. In the middle of Nirvana
is Apurvcniirvdna-fakti, which is thin as the ten-millionth part
of a hair and bright as ten million suns, the creator of the
threefold world and dispenser of the knowledge of Brahma,
the life of all creatures. Inside this Apurva-nirvana is the
/ * *
Siva-pada or seat of Siva, or Pararh Brahma, also called
Hamsa-stlidna, the Swan's Home, the revelation of salvation
and state of eternal bliss (SON. 48-51).
21. As the object of metaphysical contemplation is to merge
the individual soul into the absolute All-Spirit, so the object
of Yogic contemplation is to absorb the Kundalini in the
microcosm, representing the macrocosmic Energy, into Saha-
srara, typifying the Absolute, whereby the Cosmos is merged
into the infinite bliss of Paramesvara. In order to effect this
transit of Kundalini through Snsumna and the Brahma-randhra
into Sahasrara, the ndtjls must, by the exercise of prfinAyHma,
be blocked up with air introduced into them by inspiration
(p&raka) and retained in them (kumbJiaka) \ l the normal
circulation of the air through the system, which causes the
continuance of the soul's imprisonment in the body, is arrested
by this stoppage of the air. Then Kundalini, when she has
been aroused to sufficient energy by mystic exercises, passes
up through Susumna", bursting the eight knots ( 6) that bind
the naclu, and enters through the Brahma-randhra into
Sahasrara, the realm of the Absolute (SS. V. 127 ). But
long training is needed before Kundalini can be stimulated to
this supreme effort. An earlier stage of the training is passed
in MuIMhara. The Yogi after taking a deep inspiration fixes
his thought, upon the lotus of Muladhara and compresses the
yoni in it, meditating upon Kama, the Spirit of Love, who
dwells in the yoni, and conceiving in the flame above it a
union as Siva and Sakti. Then Kundalini, styled Tripura
1 The final expiration of this retained air is called recaJca.
16 PRELIMINARY NOTE ON YOGA
as comprising the three principles fire, sun, and moon, begins
to rise in Susnmna, and after drinking the nectar streaming
down it returns to the Kula (SS. IV. 1-5, V. 61 ft). Mudras,
or various postures of the body, are practised in order to
increase mechanically the activity of Kundalinl. These
methods, with further contemplation of the higher circles up
to Ajna, stimulate Kundalinl to such a degree that in the
last stage the Yogi is able to bring her up into Sahasrdra.
By long practice his citta-vrktis (activities of the material
organ of thought) become absorbed in the Akula, the Absolute ;
his sawdcUii becomes one of perfect stillness. Drinking the
lunar nectar of Sahasrtira, he overcomes Death (cosmic, con-
ditioned being) and the Kula (SS. V, 151 ff.),
22. SON. 52 instructs the Yogi, after due practice of the
yamas and niyamas (above, 2) and spiritual purification, to
stimulate Kundalinl to burst the Svnyambhu-lihga, and
to bring her with the sound of the mystic syllable Inm to the
Brahma-dvara ( 6), in the centre of Muladhara. She then
bursts the liiigas in Anilhata and Ajna, and at the Brahrna-
randhra unites with Parama-Siva, shining like a bright
thread of lightning. The Yogi should bring her together
with his soul (jlvdtwan) into Sahasrara, and there contemplate
her as supreme and as Caitanya, spirit. When she has there
drunk the red nectar from Siva, she returns to Mulficllwra by
the way whereby she came. Then he should make a libation
of this nectar to the deities of the cosmos, whereby he obtains
immunity from future birth and assurance of absorption into
the Infinite.
23. Yoglc writers often dwell upon the phenomena of the
Nada. Of the cosmological significance of this term we shall
speak below ( 24) ; here we need only notice its physical
aspect, in which it signifies the mystic sound,or anaJiata-dhvani)
heard by the Yogi in the Susumnil in the interior tf his body.
Several varieties of this Nada are mentioned in HYP. IV. 69 if.
The first of them is the sound caused in the ether of the
heart when the exercise of prdndydma ( 2) has loosened the
Irahma-granlJti or knot of Brahma in the Anahata- circle.
Sometimes the sound is identified with the mystic syllable Ow,
PRELIMINARY NOTE ON YOGA 17
Probably the idea was suggested by the noise heard on closing
the ears with the hands, to which HYP. IV. 82 refers.
24. Yogic works, in common with the Tantras, often refer
to a theory of cosmogony of which the leading idea is as
follows. The Purusa,, Absolute Spirit, Para Siva, or Brahma,
and the Prakrti, identified with the Supreme Sakti, are
eternally coexistent. Like Purusa, Prakrti is to be conceived
as both unqualified and qualified; through Her universal
presence as the principle of cosmic Bliss, Purusa reveals
Himself in all finite being. Essentially they are two in one
and one in two. Creation begins when from Him as affected
by Her, i.e. as nwkala, there issues the primal Bindu or f drop '
(the dot representing the final nasal sound at the end of the
mystic syllable Orh). The same idea is sometimes expressed
more fully by the statement that Prakrti by contact with
Purusa becomes spiritualized (cin-mdtra), and in an effort
towards creation She becomes solidified and changes into the
primal Bindu. In the latter Siva and Sakti exist together in
an as yet undissolved union, shrouded in the bonds of Maya,
bearing the potentialities of cosmic creation, continuance, and
dissolution. It is imagined as existing in the form of a grain
of gram or pulse in the Sahasrara of the microcosm (see
above, 19), where it composes the Void ( 20) or Brahma-
pada there. This primal Bindu under the influence of
Time, according to some divides itself into three, a gross or
seminal Bindu, the germ of the material universe, a subtle
Bindu which contains the gums or modes of matter (the
well-known Sattwa, Rajas, and Tamas), which is termed Nada,
and a supreme Bindu. Nada literally means 'sound', and
denotes or is denoted by the semicircle under the binclu or dot
on the syllable Om ffir). From the Bindu as it thus
divides itself arises an inarticulate sound styled Sabda-
Brahma-n, ' Speech-Brahman ', from which emerge, according
to some, the three cosmic Powers of Knowledge, Will, and
Action: others derive from it the genesis of the material
principle of the finite universe, Mahat or Buddhi, and its
evolutes. The theories of cosmic evolution that are connected
with all this are extremely complicated and obscure, and
o
18 PRELIMINARY NOTE ON YOGA
hardly repay study. But it may be well to call attention to
the similar theory of the ^aiva Siddhanta, one school of which
teaches that from Pure Maya emanates Nada (Vak), the
elemental sound or Logos, and from Nada the Bindu or
cosmic germ, from which are successively evolved the principles
of the finite universe ; in this theory Siva includes the Trinity
consisting of Pati, Pah, and Pa$a, or ' Lord ', ' Herd ', and
'Bond', i.e. Supreme Being, souls bound in the fetters of
finitude, and the three forces binding them, which are Maya,
Anaia or Avidyti, the power of darkness obscuring the native
light of the soul, and Karma, the mechanical influence of
former works upon present experience. Pure Maya is almost
the same conception as that of Sakti as explained above,
25. So far we have dealt with Nada and Bindu in their
general macrocosmical aspects, but they also play a prominent
role in the microcosm of the individual. The following account
is taken from the tiiva-wtra-wmrvini 1 of Ksemaraja, "WV
have seen ( 9) that Kundaliiu, or Sakti, resides within the
Muladhara, ordinarily sleeping rolled up in coils like a
serpent. This serpent-like Kundalini surrounds the micro-
cosmic Supreme, who is in the shape of a minute dot of
light. The first stage towards enlightenment occurs when
a man obtains glimpses of this dot of light. By this
the dot is set in motion, and rouses the Kundalini, or
Sakti, from her sleep. She wakes with a great sound
(nada) and becomes conscious. The soul is thus illuminated
by a flash of the supreme light of consciousness. The Sakti,
being merely the immanent aspect of the Supreme, is identical
with Him. It is this flash of light, or Undu, and this sound
of Sakti, or ndtk, that are mystically represented by tho
mlda-binclu of the syllable dm, written ^, with anmmika (*),
of which the dot represents the Mtulu, and the semicircle the
ndda. By a further extension of the metaphor, this nuda-biwtu
is thus considered to be a representation of the Ultimate
Supreme.
26. Inasmuch as the divine Sakti reveals herself in sound,
3 A translation of this work by P. T. Shrinivas lyetigar Las been
published in the Indian Thought Series, Allahabad, 1912.
PRELIMINARY NOTE ON YOGA 19
Word or Logos, tlie elements of speech, namely the syllables
and their combinations, have a profound mystic significance
in Saiva doctrine. Hence there has arisen a copious literature
on the mysteries of the letters of the alphabet and their
groupings in spells (mantras), of which some idea may be
gathered from the paper * On the Sarada Alphabet * in Journ.
Royal Asiatic Society, October, 1916.
27. Appendix. In the preface to the translation of SS. in
the Sacred JBoofa of the Hindus it is suggested that the catrux
and other terms of Yogic anatomy correspond more or less to
real parts of the human body, and the following identifications
are proposed :
dim : the grey matter of the spinal cord.
Brahma-randhm : the central canal of the spinal cord (but
by modern Hindus identified with the anterior fontanelle).
Mulddha/ra : the sacral plexus.
Haniptim : the epigastric plexus.
Ana/iata : the cardiac plexus.
Fifadd&a : the laryngeal or pharyngeal plexus.
Ajm : the cavernous plexus.
Sakawdm : the medulla oblongata.
Susumnd : the spinal cord.
Ida : the left sympathetic cord.
Pingata : the right sympathetic cord.
INDEX TO THE NOTE ON YOGA
[References are to paragraph. If a word occurs more than once, tlw
more important references (if any) are in italics, and precede the
others,]
abhinive^a, 2.
caitanya, 22.
Absolute, The, 21.
cakra, 9; 27. Cf. circle.
Absolute Being, The, 19.
cic-chakti, 9.
Absolute Spirit, The, 24.
adhara, 9.
cin-matra, 24.
circle, 9; 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19.
adhidaivata, 20.
Cf. cakra.
Agni,5, 14, Cf-fire,
citra, 5 ; anatomical identifi catio n ,
ahanakara, 16.
27.
ajna (circle), 18; anatomical
citrinJ, 6.
identification, 27; 5, 7 note,
citta,' 1, 2,
21, 22.
citta-vrtti, 2; 21.
akasa, 17. Cf. ether.
aksara-bija, 18.
dharana, 2.
akula,^; 21.
dhyiina, 2.
ama, 20.
digit of the moon, 8, 20.
ana, 20.
dvesa, 2.
anahata (circle), 15; anatomical
identification, 27 ; 7 note, 17,
ekagratti-pariniima, 2.
22, 23.
ether, 23. CUkak
anahata-dhvani, 23.
anga, 2.
fire, 21. Cf.Agni.
anava, 24.
apana, 16 note.
Ganges, 7.
apurva-nirvana-sakti, 20.
gi-anthi, 6, 7 note, 23. Cf. knot.
ardhatigi, 18.'
guna, 10, 24.
asamprajnata samadhi, 2.
asana, 2.
harhsa-sthana, 20.
asi, 7.
asmita, 2.
ida (nadi), 5; 7, 8, 9 ; anatomical
astanga, 2.
__ identification, 27,
avidya, 2, 24.
I^ana, 15.
itara, 18.
bana-linga, 15.
blja, 10, 18.
Jamna, 7.
bindu, 24, 25.
jivatman, 22.
Brahma t 9, 23, 24.
brahma-dvara, 6, 22.
Eailasa, 19.
brahma-granthi, 7 note, 23.
kaivalya, 1.
brahma-nadi, 6.
kama, 11, 21.
brahma-pada, 24.
kama-bija, 10.
brahma-randhra, 5; anatomical
kanda, 5.
identification, 27 ; 7, 19, 21.
Kandarpa, 11,
buddhi, 24.
karma, \ 24 ; 16.
INDEX TO THE NOTE ON YOGA
21
klesa, 2.
knots, 6, 21 5 23. Of. granthi.
kula, 12-, 18,19,21.
kula-kundalim, 9.
kumbhaka, 21.
kundalini, 9\ 11,21,22,25.
Laksmi, 15.
linga, 12, 15, 18, 22.
Logos, 24, 26.
mahaprakrti, 11.
mahat, 24.
manipura (circle), 14 ; anatomical
identification, 27.
maya, 24.
Meru, 5.
moon, 5, 8, 19, 20,21.
mudra, 21.
muladhara (circle), 5, 21 ; ana-
tomical identification. 27; 13,
22, 25.
nada, (physical aspect) 23, (cosino-
logical aspect) 24 ; 25.
nada-bindu, 25.
nadi, 5; 6,21.
na-kula, 19.
nectar (from moon), 8, 19, 21,
22
nidra, 2.
nirbija samadhi, 2.
nirodha-parinania, 2.
nirvana (digit), 20.
nirvana-sakti, 20.
niskala, 24.
niyama, 2, 22.
6m, 23, 24.
parama kala, 11.
parama-kula-pada, 18.
FaramaSiva, 19,22.'
Paramatman, 18.
Param Brahma, 18, 20.
Paramesvara, 19, 21.
Para Siva, 24.
parinama, 2.
pasa, 24.
pasu, 24.
pati, 24.
pingala (nadi), 5; 7, 8, 9; ana-
tomical identification, 27.
prajnaloka, 2.
prakrti, 1 ; 24.
pramana, 2.
prana, 16.
pranayama, 2 ; 21, 2S.
pratyahara, 2.
puraka, 21.
purusa, 1 ; 2, 24.
raga, 2.
rajas, 24.
recaka, 21 note.
Rudra, 14.
rudra-granthi, 7 note.
sabda-brahman, 24.
sablja samadhi, 2.
Sadasiva, 17.
sahasrara (circle), 19, 20; ana-
tomical identification. 27; 21,
, 22, 24.
Sakti, 9- 10, 15, 18,20, 21, 24,
25.
samadhi, 2; 21.
samadhi-parinarna, 2.
samana, 16 note.
samprajnata samadhi, 2.
sarhskara, 2.
samyama, 2.
Saraswati, 7.
sattwa. 24.
feva, 4, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24.
siva-pada, 20.
srnrti, 2.
soul, 22.
sun, 5, 8, 9, 21.
Supreme Sakti, 24.
Supreme Self, 18.
Supreme Siva, 4.
susumna (na or family
(Sanskrit kula), is the group consisting of the jwa
(individual soul), prakrtl (primal matter), space, time,
ether, earth, water, fire, and air. The akol is that which
transcends these. Hence, kol-akol means the totality of
all creation, or the visible creation and that which
transcends it. For the transcendental meaning of these
words, see Note on Yoga, 12, 19.
Vows of silence and the like do not lead directly to
Him. The utmost they can do is to lead the mind to
that knowledge of the Supreme which brings it into
union with Him.
The, c somewhat', i.e. the ineffable Supreme, is not
even Siva and his Sakti, or energic power, for these
have form and name, while the Supreme has neither.
3.
Lai loli drdyes lola re
&M(ldn Itibtum dfri kyoli rath
wuchum pawl it Ji panani gare
suy me rot u ma$ uec/tatur tu> &dth
4.
damah dam kor u mas daman Ji ale
prazalyom dlpli to, nanyeyetn zath
and a rjt/'um u prakdsh mbar bliolum
gati rotnm to, kur'^mas thaph
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation of E and 4.
lalldhau nirgata dumm anrestttm Mikaram v'Mum
Ih'rantw labdho mayd svasmin delte dew grfo st/iitak
tataJi pi dnddirodhem $rajvdtya jndnacMpikdm
sphutati drsto mayd tatra citisvartipo nirdmayah
(From the, printed edition.)]
8. With passionate longing did I, Lalla, go forth.
Seeking and searching did I pass the day and
night.
26 LALLA-VAKYANI [5.
Then, lo, saw I in mine own house a learned
man,
And that was my lucky star and my lucky
moment when I laid hold of him.
4. Slowly, slowly, did I stop my breath in the
bellows-pipe (of my throat).
Thereby did the lamp (of knowledge) blaze up
within me, and then was my true nature revealed
unto me.
I winnowed forth abroad my inner light,
So that, in the darkness itself, I could seize (the
truth) and hold it tight
In these two verses Lalla relates her own spiritual
experiences.
3. She had wandered fruitlessly far and wide in search
of the truth. In other words, she had made pilgrimages
to holy places, and sought for salvation through formal
rifces, but all in vain. Then suddenly she found it in
her own home, i.e. in her own soul. There she found
her own Self, which became to her the equivalent of
a gmU) or spiritual preceptor, and she learned that it and
the Supreme Self were one.
4. Suppression of breath is one of the most necessary
yoga exercises. See Note on Yoga, 21, and Vocabulary
s. vv. nodi and joraw, 2. Lalla compares the air-passages
to the pipe of a bellows, by gently compressing which the
feeble light of a lamp is allowed to blaze up. Otherwise
it would be blown out.
It was the light, not the lamp, which she winnowed
forth abroad. That is to say, the light which had at
first burnt dimly in the inmost recesses of her soul, now
suffused her whole being.
5.
par toy pan yew! 1 torn* mftP
yfytf fiyuv u w6n u flen kytfi rath
yemittay advy* man tSpoto*
tamiy clytithuy mra-gwu-imth
8.] LALLA-VAKYANI 27
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation,
dtmd paro dinam rdtrir yasya sarvam idam samam
bkdtam advaitamanasas tena c/nto 'mar&varak
(From the printed edition,)
The following is the text of Stein B :
err
The MS. numbers this 20 by error.]
He who hath deemed another and himself as
the same,
He who hath deemed the day (of joy) and the
night (of sorrow) to be alike,
He whose mind hath become free from duality,
He, and he alone, hath seen the Lord of the
Chiefest of gods.
Duality is the considering God and nature to be
distinct. The true believer, who c sees God ', is one who
recognizes that God is all in all, and that all creation,
and all experiences, are but modes of Him. For the
curious expression sura-guru-nath for 'the Supreme', see
Vocab, s. v. guru.
6.
yimav kyun u tlm zlwanfi \
wkemis samsdranis pdnhes
" atof ganjdt *kith-*Atfi Ai$
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit transktion.
ciddnando jndnarupah prakdsdMyo nwdmayah
yaw labdJio dekavanto 9 pi muktas te *nye 'nyatkd stkltdk
(From the printed edition.)
28 LALLA-VAKYANI [7.
The following is tlie text of Stein B :
II cf .
ii
spfjl
They who have gained experience of the Know-
ledge-light, of that Self which is compact of pure
spirit and of bliss,
They, while yet alive, have gained release (from
earthly births).
But, to the tangled net of continual rebirth,
Have ignorant fools added knot by knot in
hundreds.
Parama Siva, the Supreme Self, has two aspects, as
the Siva-fattwa and the Sukti-taUwa. The former is
pure Spirit, the pure light of Intelligence, without
anything to shine upon. The latter is perfect Bliss, th<-
supremest Self-satisfaction, absolute Rest. The ideas of
pure Spirit and Bliss therefore comprise the whole idea
of the Supreme Deity. The object of the devotee is to
gain a perfect knowledge of Him, and to recognize that
He is the Absolute Self of all things. The ' ignorant
fools' are those who have not acquired this knowledge,
and who are therefore born and reborn again. Set>
Kashmir SJiaivkm, pp. 62, 64.
7.
natha, I napau na par zdnnm*
saddy* 1 I6dum yih kodeh f
% l k Lo/i lok Wi myul u na zomm
&h km lok kvssa chuh sand eh
* V.I. na parzouum
f V. 1. saddy* gtirum yekity deh
[RajSnaka Bhaiskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A. 1
1 See p. 5.
7.J LALLA-VAKYANI 29
natha na tvam w cdtmdpljmto
svasyalkyam ca tmya t&ia ka, dvdm itl
(MS. has svasyaikath,)
The following is the text of Stein B :
7. Lord, I have not known myself or other than
myself.
Continually have I mortified this vile body.
That Thou art I, that I am Thou, that these are
joined in one I knew not.
It is doubt to say, 'Who am I?' and 'Who art
Thou?'
Or, if we adopt the alternative readings :
Lord, I have not recognized myself (as one with
Thee).
Continually have I shown affection for this
single body.
That Thou art I, &e., as above.
An impassioned declaration of the oneness of the Self
with the Supreme Sel Lalla declares that in her
ignorance she has not known the true relation of herself
to others. In other words, she has clung to the con-
ception of her personal identity, and been ignorant of the
real nature of her Self, as only one manifestation of
the Supreme. She has worn her body out by attempting
to gain salvation by good works, not recognizing that
these lead only to further transmigrations and are all in
vain. The only hope of salvation is the recognition of
the identity of her Self with the Supreme. To wonder
who I am, and who He is, i.e. to doubt this identity,
is indeed the fatal doubt of doubts.
In the alternative text, the meaning is much the same,
though couched in somewhat different language
30 LALLA-VAKYANI [8, 9.
8.
Skiv wd KesJiev wd Zin wd
Kamalaza-ndtk ndm dorm yuk
ml abali ko&tan Ikaioa-rnz
i wa mil wd sufi
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
m m o vd Icexavo vdpijino vd druhino 'pi vd
m math cikitsatu,
The following is the text of Stein B :
ftf
Let Him bear the name of Siva, or of Ke6ava ?
or of the Jina, or of the Lotus-born Lord, whatever
name he bear,
May he take from me, sick woman that I am,
the disease of the world,
Whether He be he, or he, or he, or he.
By whatever name the worshipper may call the
Supreme, He is still the Supreme, and He alone can
give release. Kesava means Visnu; by the name of
f Jina' is indicated both a * Jina', the Saviour of the
Jains, and also the Buddha. I suspect that here it is
confused with the Arabic Jinn, the 'genius' of the
Arabian nights. The Lotus-born Lord is Brahma.
9.
idn gol u toy prakd$h dv zune
tender gol* toy motuy Uth
iWi gol* toy l$k-ti nd kune
gay lliur Ihuwak mar vemrzith-L, .
* V. L swar mlitk ta
9,] LALLA-VAKYANI 31
[Rajanaka Bha,skara's Sanskrit translation from Stein A.
Ikanau naste kdsate candraUmtam
tasmia nade kafale cittam eva
elite naste drtyajatau ksanena
jQrtkvgdMda'ih g&cchati kvdpi sarwm
The following is the text of Stein B :
TH
D2
36 LALLA-VAKYANI [14, 15.
14.
Skw gur u toy Keskfa paldnas
Brahma pdyirin icolases
yogi yoga-kali parzdnes
his clev as&wawdr f$(7i cedes*
* V.I. <#&
15.
andJiaili kha-swaruph shumhy
ye% nav na lo&^n na guth a r ta rupJi
a7iam-vimar$/ie ndda-linduy yes won*
Miy (lev ashmwarpeth cedes*
* V. I. ceres
[Rajanaia Bhaskara'a Sanskrit translation of 14 and 15 in Stein A,
wro 'foali kexav&s tasya, paryanam dtmab/iMS tailm
pddayantram tatra yoyyah mil ka iti me vada
andliatal khasvarupah sunyast&o mgat&mayali
awdmartipavarnQ 'jo nadavindmtmako 'pi saJi
(MS. has anam&mmojb rupo. We follow the printed edition.)
The following is the text of 14 and 15 in Stein B :
II fT^t^ II
^\^ II ftg ^K II ^0 II]
14. Siva is the horse. Zealously employed upon
the saddle is Visnu, and, upon the stirrup, Brahma.
The Yogi, by the art of his y5ga, will recognize
who is the god that will mount upon him as the
rider.
15.] LALLA-VAKYANI 37
15. The ever-unobstructed sound, the principle of
absolute vacuity, whose abode is the Void,
Which hath no name, nor colour, nor lineage,
nor form,
Which they declare to be (successively trans-
formed into) the Sound and the Dot by its own
reflection on itself,
That alone is the god that will mount upon him.
Siva here is not, like Visnu and Brahma, the personal
deity. He is the ' Siva-tattva', the first phase of the
Supreme in the universe. The Yogi understands that
this is but a manifestation of a deeper Reality of the
Absolute Spirit. He is, as it were, hut the horse upon
which the Supreme rides. The Supreme is described
under various mystical names in verse 15. He is the
unobstructed sound, the sacred syllable QM, which,
once uttered, vibrates in perpetuity (see Vocabulary, s.v.
anahath). His essence is the kha t or sky, i.e. ethereality
(cf. verse 1), whose home is in the Void conceived to
exist in the Sahasmra, in the sinus of the forehead of the
microcosm (cf. again verse 1, and also note on Yoga,
20, 24) ; nothing whatever can be predicated concerning
Him. The ' Sound and the Dot' refer to the theory
regarding the first stage of enlightenment. The Supreme
resides in a man's siibtile body in the form of a minute
dot of light, surrounded by coils of His Para SaM, or the
Supreme Energy. When by yoga, or intense abstract
meditation on the Ego, the man gets his first glimpse of
this dot, the Litter is set in motion, and the Paid Bakti
is roused, and awakes with a loud cry. For further par-
ticulars, see note on Yoga, 23, 24, 25,
The commentator quotes the following lines on the
sacred syllable dm, which illustrates what is said above;
iikto ya esa ucedras tatra yd '*a& sphuran Mitah \
avyaktdnulcrti-praijd dhwanir varnah $a katfyate \\
ndsyofadr&yitd kaxcit pratihantd na vidyate \
swayam uccarabe (Uvah prdmndm urasi sthitak \\
eko wddtmako varnah sarva-varndvibhdga-vm \
so 'n-astam-ita-rtipatwad andhata iJi$ditah \\
That spoken utterance which continues vibrating there
(i.e. at the point of utterance), a sound that mostly has
the semblance of inarticulateness, is the syllable (vn)>
38 LALLA-VAKYANI [16.
There is no one who causes it to be uttered, and no
one who checks it. The God dwelling in the human
breast utters it Himself.
This one syllable consisting of the Nada and containing
all syllables without distinction, is here called * unob-
structed ' because its nature is imperishable.
16.
titri sdil kJwt u toy ture
Mmi tr a h gay ben al&i vimarsM
feaUavye-rav Mti sab same
Shiwa-may faird&ar
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
mayajdAyavh taj jadam lodfiamycwh
satiif.rty&kJiyau tad glianaimm Ji imam ca
cifsiiryo 'minpSdilo tnni sadyo
jdtlyan muktam nlram ddyam t
(The printed edition has bodha-mram )
The following is the text of Stein B :
I) ^ ]
When cold liath obtained the mastery over
water, the water becometh ice ;
Or, again, it may be turned to snow. Thus
there are three different things ; but, oiv reflection,
we see that they are not different.
When the sun of the Supreme Consciousness
shineth forth, the three will become the same.
Lo ! By it all things, whether with life or with-
out it, the universe itself, are seen as only &iva.
17.] LALLA-VAKYANI 39
Just as the sun reduces ice and snow to identity with
water, so the sun of true knowlege makes the soul
recognize not only its identity with the Supreme, but
also that the whole universe is one, conjured forth out
of the Absolute by the divine Maya, See Note on Yoga,
24.
17.
(lev watd diwor u watd
p$tha lona, ckuy yeka, wdth
ptiz kas karakh) hotd laid !
Tear manaB ta pawanas sangath
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
caityam devo nirmitau tlvau tvayd yau
ptijdhetos taw hldto na bUmau
clevd 'meyam citsvartipam vidheyam
tadvydpfyartham prdnaeittatkyam eva
(MS. lias devah, and tadvaptyartha. Printed edition has dM '
The following is the text of Stein B :
An idol is but a lump of stone, a temple is but
a lump of stone.
From crown to sole each is of but the one stuff.
learned Pandit ! what is this to which thou
offerest worship ?
Bring thou together a determined mind and thy
vital airs.
Idol-worship is vain. In lieu of worshipping stocks
and stones, thou shouldst perform the Yogwyrandgnihotra,
a spiritual offering of the vital breaths ; ire. practise yoga
by bringing thy vital airs under control. See Vocabulary,
s.vv. nddi wAprdn, 2, and note on Yoga, 5, 21.
40 LALLA-VAKYANI [18.
18.
osd lol p&Aiem* sdsd
me mml wdsd klvtil m Jieye
lok yid sakaza SMntara-bukb" d$d
7
makaris sdsd mal kydhpeye
* V, 1. patfnem
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A,
mdlinyam ety uddslnam rajobhir maknro yathu,
The following is the text of Stein B :
WIT
ii
Let him utter a thousand abuses at me.
But, if I be innately devoted to $iva (or if I be
devoted to iva the Eeal and the True) disquiet will
find no abode within my heart.
Is a mirror fouled if a few ashes fall upon it?
On the contrary, the ashes serve only to polish the
mirror. A reply to her critics.
19.
Men* ay ta ga&kun ga&fie
pakm ga&M den kydwu rath
keJi na-tct, ]&h na-ta keh na-ta kgdh
*V.L.
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A,
jardgata, k&nataro y d>y& deho
jdto 'vasdyo gamandya kdryah
samdgatdh mo yata, eva tatra
20,] LALLA-VAKYANI 41
They came and came, and then they have to go.
Ever must they, night and day, move on and on.
Whence they came, thither must they go.
What is anything? It is nothing, nothing,
nothing.
Or, if we read a&han, the first line means, they
came becoming emaciated (i.e. came wearily), and
then they have to go.
The weary round of perpetual birth and rebirth. Of.
Koheleth, sii. 8, 'Vanities of vanities, saith the Preacher.
all is vanity'.
20.
mud zonitli pasldth ta kor u
kol u shmta-u'oit" 1 zada-rtii? as
yu* u yih dapiy tas tiy lol*
/ t7 L tj i/
yuhuy tattwa-ridk chuh abfiyas
*V.l. log
[Rajanaka Bkaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
jhdtva sarvam m&d/iavat iutha svasthah
mitva, sarvam frotrahlnem IJiavyan
drstvd sarvam turnam andhatmm eld
tattvdbJiyasah klrtito 'yam
(MS. has ludMndmih Cf. verse 26.)
The following is the text of Stein B :
8^> H]
Though thou hast knowledge, be thou as a fool;
though thou canst see, be thou as he that is one-eyed ;
Though thou canst hear, be thou as one dumb ;
in all things be thou as a non-sentient block.
4:2 LALLA-VAKYANI [21.
Whatever any one may say to thee, say thou the
same to him (or, if we read boz, whatever any one may
say to thee, listen thou and agree).
It is this that is the true practice for obtaining
the knowledge of the basal truths.
For the basal truths, or fundamental and ^ general
factors of which the apparent universe consists, see
Vocabulary, s. v. tattw^ We may compare Kabir's famous
advice :
sdb-se hiliye $al-e miliye
l\ sab-se kahiye
basiye apne gam
Meet every one in a friendly way,
Greet every one by name.
Say c yes Sir', 'yes Sir ', to each one who addresses you.
But Hve in your own village (i.e. stick to your own
opinions).
21.
gal gantfriem hoi pafne
tiy yex yih
tiz
amalon u ta kas Icyah
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
nindantu va mam athavd stuvantu
kurvantn rdrcdm mmclliaih svapuspaih
no, fianam ciydmy atJiam visdrhm
visiutdhabodMmrtapdnasvaxtka,
(Printed edition has supuspaih.)
The following is the text of Stein B :
ii ^ji v&ft ii
11
wr vffi 11 ^q i]
22.] LALLA-VAKYANI 43
Let him bind abuse upon me, let him orate
blame against me,
Let each one say to me what pleaseth each.
Yea, let him worship me with the offering of
his own soul for the flowers.
Still keep I myself untouched and undefiled
by all these ; so who getteth what therefrom?
She is callous to the blame or praise of the world. The
rendering 1 oisahaza in the third line is doubtful. Perhaps
we should translate 'let him worship me with flowers of
reality, i.e. with real flowers'.
22.
tttn &Jiezi ta mzan dse
bhu-tal gaganas-kun vikdse
te^/V Rah gros u mdwa&e
S/iiwa-puzan gwuh kitla dtmdse
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
ndfau gate ^rke khalu wdnasawjiie
meyaksaydkhyd rajanl vibMii
jwdkJiyacandrah sivad/tamm Imah
ca,
The following is the text of Stein B :
. o sgftf^r err
n]
The day will be extinguished, and night will
come ;
The surface of the earth will become extended
to the sky ;
44 LALLA-VAKYANI [22.
On the day of the new moon, the moon swal-
lowed up the demon of eclipse.
The illumination of the Self in the organ of
thought is the true worship of Siva.
Once the mind realizes the true nature of the Self, as
one with the Supreme Self, here given the name of Siva,
all things fade into nothingness. There is no distinction
between day and night, and the boundaries of the appar-
ently solid earth merge into those of the sky, so that earth
and sky become one. Nay, the demon of eclipse is
eclipsed himself.
According to Hindu tradition, the moon contains
sixteen digits, each containing* a certain amount of
nectar. Each day the gods drink the nectar in one
digit, so that on the sixteenth day only one digit
remains. This accounts for the waning of the moon.
The nectar of the sixteenth day is that which remains
over on the day of the new moon. On the occasion of
a solar eclipse, the moon and the sun are together, and
the nectar of the sixteenth digit, becoming heated and
caused to evaporate by the proximity of the sun, ascends
into that luminary. Rahu, the demon of eclipse, then
swallows the sun in order to drink the nectar. So much
for the tradition explanatory of the natural phenomenon.
Here Lalla describes the process of absorption in the
Sahasr&ra (see note on Yoga, 21). To the fully en-
lightened soul, the day of earthly illusion disappears, and
all is night ; the apparently solid earth loses its bounds,
and becomes merged in the sky ; in the illumination of
the Self, so far from Eahu swallowing (the nectar of)
the moon, it is the moon in the Sahasrara that swallows
the dark demon of ignorance.
There is also a more mystical side to this verse.
Normally there is a distinction between the subject of
cognition (pramatar), the object of cognition {pramya),
and the instrument of cognition (pramdna). The pra-
matar is here typified by Rahu, the demon of lunar eclipse,
the jprameya by the moon, and the gramma by the sun. 1
The thinker is able to ' swallow the moon ', i. e. to think
1 ArhaK pramanam, somas tu meyam, jnana-kriydtmalca u \
Rahur mayapramata syat tad-acchadana-kovidah \\
Verse quoted in the Commentary,
23.] LALLA-VAKYANI 45
away the phenomenal world into a blank ; but he cannot
completely dissolve it, for there still exists the triad of
praviatar, praweya, and pramdna, until the Para Samvifl,
or Higher Consciousness, is attained, by which all three
are fused together and sublimated into a void of infinite
Unity. Lalla here refers to the presence of Para Samvid.
Whereas in ordinary meditation c Eahu swallows the
moon ', i. e. the thinker effaces the phenomenal world,
the Higher Consciousness (typified by the moon residing
in Sahasrara ; see note on Yoga, 19, 20) absorbs the
consciousness of the thinker into itself, entirely sub-
limating its contents into Void.
23.
manasay man Miawa-saras
ndruc tt clivkk
d u tuld-koti
iull i%l u fa tul na kth
|R5janaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
kmddham mano vaJinisamanartipfn'ii
fira&fytam LMranatau vibkati
vicarataJi sarvav'rfcdrah Inau
era
The following is the text of Stein B :
c!T g^f T ^ II <^ ll]
Look upon thy mind alone as the ocean of
existence,.
If thou restrain it not, but let it loose, from its
rage will issue angry words, like wounds caused
by fire.
Yet, if thou weigh them in the scales of truth,
their weight is naught.
46 LALLA-VAKYANI 24, 25 ]
According to legend, a terribly destructive fire, named
vadavagni) is imprisoned at the bottom of the ocean. If
it were to burst forth, the whole world would be destroyed.
Similarly, if the fire of wrath burst forth from the ocean
of the mind, it would leave deadly scars, and yet, to the
wise man, it is nothing.
If, instead of aur&c* clokh, we read ndrafafi-cfw&Ii, which
could be spelt in Nagari with identically the same letters }
we must substitute s wounds caused by a fishing-spear '
for ' wounds caused by fire '. Otherwise the meaning of
the verse would be the same.
24.
sJtll ta man chug jpon, u kranje
moche yew? rot n mdll^ yud 11 wdv
Iwst u i/us* mast-wala, gancle
tih yes tagl toy snh ado, nffidl
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
tilasya wdnasga, ca rahanam bJiatau
tair em Gakyaw nipnnam vidMtwU
vayuw karSndtha gajam ca tantund
yaih sakyate timribhayltum sud/iwaiK\
Integrity and liigh repute are but water carried
in a basket.
If some mighty man can grasp the wind within
his fist,
Or if he can tether an elephant with a hair of
his head,
Only if one be skilled in such feats as these,
will he be successful (in retaining integrity and high
repute).
The vanity of earthly repute.
25.
prakreth Jioz^m pawana-sotiy
lolaki ndra wolinj*
26.] LALLA-VAKYANI 47
[Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
kdmddikam kdnanasatkam etac
chittvdmrfam lotilmmyau maydptam
prdmdhirddJidt prakrtlm ca bhakiya
manas ca dagdhvd sivadMma labMam]
By (controlling) my vital airs I cut my way
through the six forests, till the digit of the moon
awoke for me, and the material world dried up
within me.
With the fire of love I parched my heart as a
man parcheth grain,
And at that moment did I obtain Siva.
In the spiritual body of a man there are six ca&ras, or
seats of a Sakti, impelling him to experience the objective
universe and to look upon it as real. These must be
mastered before true enlightenment is reached, and Lalla
compares the 'process to cutting a way through six
forests. A mystical moon, the abode of the Supreme
Siva, is supposed to exist under the frontal sinus, and,
once he has mastered the six ca/cras, the devotee becomes
cognisant of this moon and is absorbed in the Siva.
The mastery is effected by control and suppression of
the vital airs (see Vocab., s. v. prdn 2), and the exciting
cause is ardent love, or desire, for Siva. For further
particulars, see Vocab., s. vv. sheh and som, and Note on
Yoga,9ff.and21.
26.
Utta-turog gayan* brama-wonP
nimesJte akl kliancU yozana-hck
\etani-wagi lod* ratith zon u
prdn apdn sandorith pak?i a ck*
*V.l.
na wagi yih ratify zoti u
prdn apdn pJiut&fiias pdkh a ch
48 LALLA-VAKYANI [27.
[Bajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
cittdbhitUak sarvagatis tmahgak
handntare yojanalafoagami
dhdryo Mhenckena vivekavalga-
nodena myndvayapafoaroilhat
(MS. has iuranga instead of turafigah.)]
The steed of my thoughts speedeth over the
sky (of my heart).
A hundred thousand leagues traverseth he in
the twinkling of an eye. .
The wise man knew how to block the wheels
(of the chariot) of his outward and inward vital airs,
as he seized the horse by the bridle of self-
realization.
O, if we adopt the alternative reading of the last two
lines, tve must translate them :
If a man hath not known how to seize the
horse by the bridle, the wheels (of the chariot) of
his outward and inward vital airs have burst in
pieces.
As explained in the notes on the preceding verse,
self-realization is obtained by mastering the vital airs.
The two principal airs are the outward and the inward,
known as prdna and ajpana. See Vocabulary, s. v. yrau, 2,
and Note on Yoga, 2, 16, 23.
27,
klieth ganfllth shemi nd manas*
brdntkyimav trw 4 timqy gay khaW
shastra btizitli ekuh yv
sok u najpoW' to, daiiiy
* V. 1. khena ganflana-nielie man tJiomtli dur^
28.] LALLA-VAKYANI 49
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
khddandd 6Msandd vdpi mano yu>sy& gatabhramam
90, mtiktO) nottamarndd yo grkndty arf/iam Id so 'nrnak
The following is the text of Stein B :
n ift wif n
r ^IT wt n n]
By eating and apparelling the mind will not
become at peace.
They only have ascended who have abandoned
false hopes.
When they have learnt from the scriptures
that the fear of Yama is terrible (to him who is in
debt to Desire),
And when the lender hath trusted them not
(with a loan), then indeed live they blessed and at
peace.
Or, if we adopt the alternative reading, the first two
tines must be translated :
They only who have kept their minds from
eating and apparel, and who have abandoned false
hopes, will ascend.
Yama is the judge of the soul after death. Desire is
compared to a money-lender, who gives a loan of fruition,
but demands a hard repayment of principal and interest.
Happy indeed is the contented soul to whom he refuses
to make the loan.
28.
yewa tur Mi tim amlar Jietd
JcsJiod yewa gall tim dhdr ann
Mttd! swa-para-ve&aras petd
50 LALLA-VAKYANI [20.
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
ntdrthatii msanam grdJiyaia ksudhdrth&m bhojanaiii taUta
mano vive/titdm neyam alath Ihogdnucintan&ik
The following is the text of Stein B :
^35 ; 3rflf ^ W^ II fffTT ti
?C ft ^n
Don but such apparel as will cause the cold
to flee.
Eat but so much food as will cause hunger to
cease.
Mind ! devote thyself to discernment of tin*
Self and of the Supreme,
And recognize thy body as but food for forest
crows.
29,
ta dam no ga&ki
no prdwakh mokti-dwtir
ilas lawan-zan mllith go&hi
td-ti chug durlah mhaza-ubar
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
tivabMv&ldbdhaii, na samo 3 $ti kdranam
tathti, damah kimtu param v
tathfakatdptdv api nmsa lMiyaK\
Quietism and self-command are not required
for (the knowledge of) the Self,
Nor by the mere wish wilt thou reach the door
of final release.
30,31.]' LALLA-VAKYANI 51
E'en though a man become absorbed (in his
contemplations) as salt is absorbed in water,
Still rarely doth he attain to the discernment
of the nature of his Self.
Ordinary aseetism, and even ardent desire, are common
enough, but without the knowledge of the true nature
of Self, they are of no avail for ultimate release.
30.
mdrun, sahaz ve&arun
drog u zdnun kdpan tray
ehuy ta dur u mo gamn
[Rujanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
IdlJiam tyaktvd vaimanasyaf/i. ca tadvat
kdryo nit-yam svasvaMdvdvamarsa/i
sMiyd&iinyam naiva bkinnam yat/icuvam
tamdt tvam tadbJiedabuddkw vrt?taiva~\
(Printed edition has unyac cMnyam.)
Slay thou desire ; meditate thou on the nature
of the Self.
Abandon thou thy vain imaginings ; for know
thou that that knowledge is rare and of great price."
Yet is it near by thee ; search for it not afar.
(It is naught but a void); and a void has
become merged within the Void.
C verses 11 and 69.
81.
adfrflie lUb^m zanas
suli yeli (jyutkum
soruy my ta M no
E2
52 LALLA-VAKYANI [32.
[ Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
cittdclane mrmalatvam prayate
prodbMta me $ve jane pmtyabhijna
drsto devah wasvarilpo maj/dsau
ndhan na foam nalva cdyam prapancaJi]
The foulness of my mind fled from me as
foulness from a mirror,
And then among the people did I gain repute
(as a devotee).
When I beheld Him, that He was near me,
I saw that all was He, and that I am nothing.
32.
keh cliy nendri-hatiy wudiy
kvJi chiy man karith aputiy
7 I U
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
kascit prasupto 'pi vibudcllia eva
kamt praluddho 'pi ca suptatulyah
snato 'pi kascid asmir mato me
Wmktva striyavi cdpy aparah supwtah
(MS. baa svapnatulydh and priyam. We follow the printed edition.
The i of bedrid is apparently lengthened before the caesura ;
cf. verses 50 and 56.)]
Some, though they be sound asleep, are yet
awake;
On others, though they be awake, haih slumber
fallen.
Some, though they bathe in sacred pools, are
yet unclean ;
Others, though they be full of household cares,
are yet free from action,
33.] LALLA-VAKYANI 58
* Sleep* is the sleep of illusion. ' Uncleanness ' is
impurity of soul. All action is defilement, and hinders
the soul from obtaining* final release. But, says Lalla,
the real freedom from action is that of the soul. The
body may be a slave to duty, and yet the soul may
be free.
33.
dwddasMwta-manelal yes clewas
ndsika-pawana- dor 1 andhata-rav
pdnay &uk d#v ta ar&un to
[Rajaiaaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
yd dvddatdnfe way am eva Jcalpite
mdodite devagrhe svayam ttkifaA
mmprerayan prdwravim $a xafakaro
\ so, kam arcayed ludJiak
The following is the text of Stein B :
W ll]
He who hath recognized the BralMWrrandhra as
the shrine of the Self-God,
He who hath known the Unobstructed Sound
borne upon the breath (that riseth from the heart)
unto the nase,
His vain imaginings of themselves have fled
far away,
And he himself (recognizeth) himself as the
God. To whom else, therefore, should, he offer
worship ?
54 LALLA-VAKYANI [34.
The * Unobstructed Sound' is the mystic syllable Mi,
for a full account of which, and for the meaning of this
allusion, see the notes on verse 15. Dwadashdnta-
mandal, or, in Sanskrit dwadaxdiita-mandala, is the
Hmhwa-randhrd (see Note on Yoga, 5, 7, 19, 21, 26).
As a technical term it is said at the present day to be
a spot or cavity in the anterior fontanelle of the brain,
under the frontal sinus. Other authorities identify it
with the central canal of the spinal cord. It is closely
connected with the Sakasrara, which, in each man, is
the abode of the Supreme Siva, who is to be recognized
as one with the Self, i.e. as the Supreme Self. Hence,
if a man recognize this, he knows that he himself is the
Supreme Self within himself, and that it is unnecessary
to worship any other deity.
34
okity $m-kar yes ndli dare
Icumfaiy brahmdndas sum gau*
akh suif mantfflr kitten kare
tas $d# manth a r kytift kare
* V.I. soma-gare
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
a lrahmdn(]an nabkito yew nit-yam
omkdmMyo mantra eko Mr/o 'yarn
krtm citt&m tadvimarsSikasdram
kim tawjdnyair wantravrndair mdJieyam]
He from whose navel steadfastly proceedeth
in its upward course the syllable 6m, and naught
but it,
And for whom the JcumlhaJca exercise formeth
a bridge to the Brahma-randJim,
He beareth in his mind the one and only
mystic spell,
And of what benefit to him are a thousand
spells ?
35.] LALLA-VAKYANI 55
Or, if we take the alternative reading of the
second line, that line must be translated :
And whom the JcumbJiaJca exercise leadeth into
the abode of the moon by the Bmhma-randhm.
This verse, like the preceding, is in praise of the
mystic syllable o>h s which is here stated to possess all
the virtues of all other mystic syllables, or spells, put
together. By the ( navel' is meant the ktnda, or
mysterious bulb supposed to exist in the region of the
navel and the pudendum. It is the focal centre of all
bodily thought and action, and from it radiate the
various tubes through which circulate the vital airs.
In the true devotee, the syllable is fixed here, and
perpetually rises upwards (as stated in the preceding
verse) from the heart.
The knmbhaka or 'jar J exercise consists in meditation
accompanied by 'bottling up* or retaining the breath
after inspiration (ptiraka). The devotee by this sup-
pression blocks up the vital airs circulating through the
tubes radiating from the kanda, and thereby causes
the organ of thought to become absorbed into Siva
represented by the mystical moon supposed to exist in
his brain. For further explanation of this extremely
recondite theory, see Note on Yoga, 5, 21, and
Vocabulary, s.v. som.
Regarding the rahma-randhra> see the note on the
preceding verse. It is situated close to the Sa&asrara,
which is the abode of the moon (see Note on Yoga, 8, 19).
35.
samaras aye* tapasiy
bodha-praka&h lobum sahaz
maren na kuh ta mara na kam
mara necJi ta lasa neck
[Rajanaka ShSskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.,
dsadya samsdram aham vardfo
mriye na kasyapi na ko 'pi me va
mrtdmrte mark prati tulyar&pe
(MS.
56 LALLA-VAKYANI [36.
I came into this universe of birth and rebirth,
and through asceticism gained I the self-illuminating
light of knowledge.
If any man die, it is naught to me; and if
I die it is naught to him.
Good is it if I die, and good is it if I live long.
Praise of perfect contentment. The idiom of marew
na Kh is worth noting. Literally it is ' no one will die
for me ', or, as we should say in Ireland ' no one will die
on me', i.e. if any one die it will not be my business.
The commentary here quotes the following verse of
Utpala Deva [tiwa-ttdtrJvafo, xiii. 3] as to the point :
tavake vapusi
tisthatah satatam arcatah Prabhum
jlvifam mrtam MdmyaA astu me
As I stand in thy imperishable body, which is composed
of the cosmos, and is of the nectar of pure spirit, and as
I everlastingly worship the Lord, let me have life or lot
me have death (for it matters not).
36.
pmthuy twthan ga&han sannyas
Utta ! parith mm nishpath as
(teshekh dure dramun nyul u
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
yatnetia mohaikadkiya saddml
mmnydsinas twthavaran $raya,nt%
ciUaikasadikyo na $a labfiyate taw
(Printed edition has nwksjfokadJui/ali.)
The following is the test of Stein B :
37.] LALLA-VAKYANI 57
An ascetic wandereth from holy place to holy
place,
To seek the union brought about by (visiting
a god, and yet he is but) visiting himself.
my soul I study thou (the .mystery that God
is thy Self) and be not unbelieving.
The farther thou wilt look (from thy Self), the
more green will seem the heap of grass.
The uselessness of seeking God by long pilgrimages,
when He is really the Self of the seeker. Dramun is the
dub grass of India. Here, a pile of this grass is used
metaphorically to indicate worldly pursuits. The further
a man's thoughts wander from the consideration of the
identity of the Supreme and the Self, the more tempting
will these worldly pursuits appear.
37.
paivan puritJi yu$ u aid wagi
tas bom spars/ii na bocJia, ta tres/t
till yes kanm antil? tagi
samsdras $uy zeyi nech
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
yah purakena cittan svam rodfiayet fautfrdddikm
na pldayati samsdre saphalam cdsyafimtam
(MS. has ksuttrdacikam.)]
He who rightly inhaleth his vital airs, and
bringeth them under the bridle,
Him, verily, nor hunger nor thirst will touch.
He who is skilled in doing this unto the end,
Fortunate in this universe will he be born.
or inhalation of the breath, is one of the
methods employed to encompass prdnayama, or restraint
of the vital airs, a necessary process for the obtainment
of complete yoga, or union with the Supreme. See Note
on Yoga, 2, 21, 23, and Vocabulary, & vv. nd/H
58 LALLA-VAKYANI [38.
and pran 2. By these ^0-processes, when a man is
reborn into the world, he will be able in it to effect
this union. With the second line the commentary
compares BJiagavad Gfata, ii. 14, 15 :
mdtrd-sparxds in, K&unteya, titotna-wkha-duhklia-ddh \
dyamdpdyino 'nityds tas titiksaswa^ B/idrata II
yan hi na vyatkayanty ete pumsam^ purwarsdbha \
sama-diMha-sukham dJilram so *wrtatwdya kalpate It
It is the touchings of the senses' instruments, Kuntf s
son, that beget cold and heat, pleasure and pain; it is
they that come and go, that abide not ; bear with them,
O thou of Bharata's race.
Verily the man whom these disturb not, indifferent
alike to pain and pleasure, and wise, is meet for immor-
tality, chief of men. (Barnetfs Translation.)
38.
zal tfiamawnn JmfawaJi i^randwun
wftrdJiwa-gaman pairiv fearith
kdtJut-clJieni dod shramdwun
antifr sakofa kapata-fearith
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
pddais tadvad vuomaydnam
L 60 prdna = 1 iiddt, 60 nodi*
= 1 ahoratra (day and night). Thus in one day-night
there are 21,600 wdsa-praxvasaS) or hamsa-japas.
41.
CLJJQS kami diski to, kami wate
ga&ha kami di&hi kawa tana wath
antifc day lagimay tate
chenis phoka* ka&h-ti no sath
42.] LALLA-VAKYANI 61
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
kayd dtia, kena pathdgatdJiam
ittJiam gatiw, veclmi nijdm na tamdcl
(Printed edition has pathdtha kena.)
The following is the text of Stein B :
From what quarter did I come, and by what
road?
To what quarter shall I go? and how shall
I know the road ?
In the end, if I gain the good counsel (it is
well),
For there is no substance in an empty breath.
'Reason thus with life> a breath thou art.' Lalla
knows not whence she came or whither she will go.
Life is but an empty breath. The one thing thafe is
worth grasping is the teaching of the identity of the
Self with the Supreme Self.
42.
gagtm b a y Ihti-tal &y
&y chukh denpawan ta rath
a/rg bandan posh pofi? & a y
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A*
didSo bMr vdyur dpo 'nilas ca
rdtrix cdhas ceti sarvam tvam eva
62 LALLA-VAKYANI [43.
Thou alone art the heavens, and Thou alone
art the earth.
Thou alone art the day, the air, the night.
Thou alone art the meal-offering, the sandal
inunction, the flowers, the water of aspersion.
Thou alone art all that is. What, therefore,
can I offer thee?
Another plea for spiritual, as against formal worship.
The whole creation is but an emanation from the Supreme.
Any offering made by man can only be an offering of
Himself to Himself.
43.
gem* IvJb manmatJi wad Mr
wata-nosl? month ta Ugun das
tamiy saJiaz YfaJtwar gornn
tdmiy wruy ryondnn
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
kamo lobho 'hamkrtis ceti yma
sarvaw tyaUvti bhasmavad Ihdvajdtam
(MS. has canrah and bhuvajdnum. Printed edition calm yena.)]
He who liath slain the thieves desire, lust,
and pride
When he hath slain these highway robbers,
he hath thereby made himself the servant (of all).
He hath searched -out Him who is the real and
true Lord.
He hath meditated and found that all that is
is ashes.
The true saint is the servant of all, by his humility
and loving kindliness.
44.] LALLA-VAOANI 63
44.
pdnas logitJi ridukh me Wi
me &e Marian lustum dok
um
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
deMdisatkoxapidhdnatas tvdm
aprdpya Jkhinndsmi dram
jndtvMya vifrantim updg&tcl faam
(MS. has deMpi , upAgatatvat.)]
(This verse lias throughout a double meaning.
The first meaning is : )
Absorbed within Thyself, Thou remainedst
hidden from me.
The livelong day I passed seeking for 'me'
and 'Thee'.
When I beheld Thee in my Self,
I gave to Thee and to my Self the unrestrained
rapture of '(our union).
(In the second meaning, the two words me and &?,
4 1 Thee', are taken as one word me&e, which means
1 earth', and we get the following translation : )
My body befouled I with mud, and Thou
remainedst hidden from me.
The livelong day I passed seeking for mud.
Wheji I beheld the mud upon my body,
I gave my body the unrestrained rapture (of
union) with the mud.
In the first version, Lalla tells us how, in the days of
her ignorance, she imagined that she could distinguish
between her Self and the Supreme Self, aad then, how,
64 LALLA-VAKYANI [45.
when sbe had discovered their identity, she was filled
with the rapture of union. Moreover, as the Supreme
Self was identical with her Self, He also was filled with
the same rapture.
In the second version she sarcastically compares earthly
possessions and desires to the mud with which an ascetic
daubs his hody. He who cares for these has all the joys
of possession, ignorant of the truth that they are worthless
as mud.
45.
kusk posh til dlpJi zal nd ga&U
sadlkawa gora-hath ym u mani Hyt
.
soda peze sakaza afoiy no, zfye
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
puspddikam clravyam idam na tasya
pujasn, prajiia., upayogi hmcit
guntpad&ml drflhaya, ca bJiaktya,
swrtydrcyate yena visufldJia atwd
(By poetic licence the u ofpujasu is shortened before pr. Printed
edition lias ptijasu sarwm upayogi in which the second a of
sawam is lengthened before the cassava ; cf. verse 32.)]
Kuforgraaa, flowers, sesame-seed, water, all
the paraphernalia of worship are wanted not
By him who taketh into heart with honest
faith his teacher's word.
In his own loving longing he will ever meditate
upon Sambhu.
He will sink into the true joyance ; and so,
becoming in his nature free from action, he will not
be born again.
$ Action worts, desire is the great enemy of absorp-
tion into the Supreme, and causes perpetual rebirth.
By recognizing the identity of the Self with the Supreme,
as taught by the guru, or spiritual teacher, a man becomes
free from the bond of action,
Sambhu is a name of Siva,
46.] LALLA-VAKYANI 65
46.
asl poncU zosi zami
nethqy sndn kari llrtkan
nisie cAuy to, parzantan
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
snatafii Jiasantam vivid haw vidheyau
kurvant&m etatparajdtam ant&m
pafydtmatattvaw nijadeha era
kriapradesdntctramarganena
(Printed edition has Uatpura eva santam, pagyatmadevam, and Mam.)
The following is the text of Stein B :
n
f%fil Wt^t ffT ^^rfT't, I) $ ll]
He it is who laugheth, who sneezeth, who
cougheth, who yawneth.
He it is who ceaselessly batheth in holy
pools.
He it is who is an ascetic, naked from year's
end to year's end.
Recognize thou that verily He is nigh to
thee.
* The Kingdom of heaven is within you. 5
The ascetic wanders about to holy places and torments
Ms hody in his search for God. He knows not that all
the time He is the ascetic's Self, and is hence ever close
at hand. When the ascetic performs the most trivial
action, it is really not he who does it, but the Supreme,
Who is identical with his Self.
LALLA-VAKYANI [47.
47.
yeth saras sdr*-pkol u nd ve&y
tail sari mkaliy pdn" cen
mrag srugal gan$ zala-hastiy
zen nd ten ta totuy pen
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation in Stein A.
sarovare yatra na sarmpasya
kano } pi maty eva vidtram etat
mvanlliate tatpayasa, samastam
bMtam stJiiiam Mdvi ca dehijdtam
(Printed edition has the last line yavat pramanam Tckalu dehijdtam.)
The following is the text of Sfcein B :
ll]
It is a lake so tiny that in it a mustard seed
findeth no room.
Yet from that lake doth every one drink water.
And into it do deer, jackals, rhinoceroses, and
sea-elephants
Keep falling, falling, almost before they have
time to become born.
^The real insignificance of the universe. As compared
with the Universal Self it is of no account ; yet foolish
mortals look upon it as something wonderful, and enjoy it.
Life, too, is but a momentary breath, as compared with
eternity; and, in reality, an unsaved soul, in whatever
form it may be born, has no time to live, but, from the
point of view of Eternity, lives for but an instant, and
dies and dies, and is born and reborn, again and again.
48,49.] LALLA-VAKYANI 67
48.
Lai loh IMfis tfiadan ta gwdran
wuchnn hyot^mas to$* rfttfcmas bar an
me-ti kalganeye zi z^mos tat*
mal wondi zSlum
feli Lai ndv dram
yeli dal* trotfinas taf
[Eajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation of 48 and 49 in Stein A.
drastum vibhuw, tlrtJiavaran gatdham
tato 'jpi Minndsmi ca mwasena
wdntar nivwtd khalu
(MS. has khinnd ca manasena.)
tato 'tra tfwtvavarandni IMyo
jndtaik maydtrdlva b/iavisyatiti
Ihaktya gadd tani ca \samprd\mM
lalleti loke prathita taddhcwn,
(MS. drstawtruncP. For the emendation, compare Terse 63. The
MS. is partly defaced in the third line. Judging from the remains of
the characters, the missing syllables seem to have been those put
between brackets. Printed edition bears out the above emendations.
It also has Ihaiiktva for lliaktyd.)}
48. I, Lalla, wearied myself seeking for Him and
searching.
I laboured and strove even beyond my strength.
I began to look for Him, and, lo, I saw that
bolts were on His door,
And even in me, as I was, did longing for
Him become fixed ; and there, where I was, I gazed
upon Him.
68 LALLA-VAKYANI [50.
49. Foulness burnt I from my soul.
My heart (with its desires) did I slay.
And then did my name of Lalla spread abroad,
When I sat, just there, with bended knee.
48. Ineffectual human efforts. In her unregenerate
days Lalla had striven to find God. Then, by God's
grace, she was permitted to see that the door of approach
to Him was barred to all human effort, and that no
strivings of hers were of avail. So she stood there,
outside the door, full of naught but longing love, and
He revealed Himself to her, for she found Him in her
Self.
49. A continuation of the preceding verse. When
she had given up effort, and, having cleansed her mind
from earthly passions, waited in patience with humility ;
then, and not till then, did she gain the true wisdom,
and her reputation as a prophetess became widely spread.
50.
trayi nengi saraJi, sar^ saw.
ah nengi saras anlifajay
EammokJia Kausam akh sum saras
sati nengi saras skundkdr
[Raijanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation.
wratrayaiii nlratnayau swardwi
dlcdsam ani/dwy api
mardwi Sunyam Main saptavdram
(From the printed edition. The last syllable of tathw'kadtikam is
lengthened before the caesura; cf. verses 32 and 56.)]
Three times do I remember a lake overflowing,
Once do I remember seeing in the firmament
the only existing place.
50.] LALLA-VAKYANI 69
Once do I remember seeing a bridge from
Haramukh to Kausar.
Seven times do I remember seeing the whole
world a void.
As a result of her having achieved the perfect know-
ledge, not only, as told in the preceding verse, has she
gained a great reputation, but she has become endued
with the power of remembering the occurrences of her
former lives.
At intervals of a kalpa (i.e. a day of Brahma, or
432 million years) the universe incurs a partial dissolution
(kJianfla-pralaya). A hundred years of Brahmii each
) ear being made up of these ka/pas, or days of Brahma
constitutes a mahd-Mpa, or great kalpa. At the end of
this vast period of time there is a ' great dissolution'
(maha-pralaya) in which not only is our universe
destroyed, but all the worlds of the gods with their
inhabitants, and even Brahma himself.
The lake mentioned by Lalla is, as in verse 47, the
universe. By its overflow is meant a partial dissolution,
three of which she remembers experiencing. "When the
only place that exists is the firmament, it is a great
dissolution, and she remembers seeing one of these.
Between the peak of Haramukh to the North and the
mountain lake of Kausar to the South, lies the Valley of
Kashmir. At the beginning of the kalpa now current
this Valley is said to have been a lake called Satlsaras,
and across this lake, from Haramukh to Kausar, she
remembers a bridge. 1
Seven times altogether she remembers seeing the
world becoming absorbed into the Void (cf. Note to
Verse 1).
Lalla's object in mentioning these experiences over
such enormous periods of time is to emphasize the eternal
pre-existence of the soul, and its perpetual birth and
rebirth unless released by the true knowledge.
Cf. Verses 93 and 95.
1 Cf. Bqja-tarahgint, i. 25. ' Formerly, since the beginning of the
Kalpa, the land in the womb of the Himalaya was filled with water
during the periods of the [first] six Manus [and formed] the ' Lake of
Sati 1 (S&fisaras). Afterwards . . . Kasyapa . . . created the land
known by the name of Kitbnir in the space [previous?y occupied by]
the lake.' Stein'* Translation.
70 LALLA-VAKYANI [51-4.
51.
karith wodaras lahu klesh
phmth dw&r lazani wot 1 tdtiy
Sfiiv chug krutli* ta ten wopadesh
52.
yosay sftelfiit/ris tapatas
oy s/iel cUy pndfii-won u desk
soy s/iel shiba-wonis gratas
SJdv ckuy &rtitk u ta fan wopactisk,
53.
rav w&ta thali-tJiali topHan
topHan wottom u wottom u desk
Warun mata litka-garu atftan
Shiv elmy faM" toy Un u
54.
yilay matru-rwp* 1 pay
yihay Widrye-ri&p* kari vishesh
yikay mdi/H-riip* ani* zuv heye
Shit? clmy JtrtitJiP ta %en wopadesJi
[Hajanaka Bliaskara's Sanskrit translation of 51-54.
prasudaram kle&ayutam mnlya
jaio maldkto *py anuydti samtatam
yatpreritak saukhyatlhiya narali stnm
kastma labkyan $rm tarn guwli hvam
yatlia &lMlva svajdtMeddt
pltfiddmdndvidharupalh&gini
tathfava yo 'nantatayd vibhdti
kastena, labhyam $rm tarn giwoh umm
Mate Male $vaih, kiranair yMd ravih
jalam tathd sarvajagadgr/ifcu
51-4.] LALLA-VAKYANI 71
Wtdrydsvartipena vildsajkdrinl
gac chaklir ante wrtirupam eti ca
kastena hlliyam frnu, tarn guroh Svam
(From the printed edition.)
The following is the text of 52, 53, and 54 in Stein B :-^
it
II $3 II
51. Comely and full of sap were they born from
the mother,
After causing many a pang to her womb.
Again and again thither did they come, and
waited at that door.
Hardly, in sooth, is iva to be found, Meditate
therefore on the doctrine.
52. The same rock that serveth for a pedestal or
for a pavement
Eeally is but (part of) a district of the earth.
Or the same rock may become (a millstone)
for a handsome mill.
Hardly, in sooth, is Siva to be found. Meditate
therefore on the doctrine.
72 LALLA-VAKYANI [51-4.
53. Doth not the sun cause (everything) to glow in
every region ?
Doth it cause only each good land to glow ?
Doth not Varuna enter into every house ?
Hardly, in sooth, is Siva to be found. Meditate
therefore on the doctrine.
54. The same woman is a mother, and giveth milk
unto her babe.
The same woman, as a wife, hath her special
character.
The same woman, as a deceiver, endeth by
taking thy life.
Hardly, in sooth, is Siva to be found. Meditate
therefore on the doctrine.
A group of verses linked together by their fourth lines,
which are identical in each. Verse 80 belongs also to
this group.
51. The soul, while still in the womb of its mother,
remembers its former births, and determines to seek
release from future transmigration as soon as it is born.
But directly it is born it forgets all this, and, becoming-
entangled in worldly desires, is condemned to visit
wombs again and again, and to wait a,t their doors for
admission again into the world. Cf. Verse 87.
As the attainment of Siva is thus hard for a mortal
once he is born, Lalla entreats him to heed her doctrine,
and thus to obtain release.
52. All things are but forms of tbe Supreme. She
uses as a parable the fact that though a pedestal, a
pavement, a tract of land, or a millstone, may all differ
widely in appearance, at bottom they are all the same
only stone.
53. Another parable showing the universality of the
Supreme. He is everywhere without exception, just as
the sun shines impartially on every spot in the earth,
and just as Varana, the god of water, is found in every
house, and not only in the houses of the good. The facts
described are those mentioned in Matt, v. 45, but the
application is different.
55.] LALLA-VAKYANI 73
54. Another parable to the same effect. The infinite
variety of a woman, as a mother, as a wife, or as a Delilah.
Yet she is, throughout all, the same a woman. The
Sanskrit translation makes the Delilah to be the faifi,
which misleads people from the truth, appearing at one
time as a mother, and at another as a wife, but always
a misleader.
55.
kanflev geli 1eJ kanctec wan-wds
vepJiol** 1 man nd ratith ta was
ittu rath ganz^nth pamtn li xhwds
yniliuy cliukh ta tyitthuy as
[Kajanaka Bliaskara's Sanskrit translation.
yrJie nivd&o na vimohahetur
vaiiB 'tkavdyogivaraiJi pradistah
divdiiuam svdtmaviwarsaudilliyd
yathd stliitas tvaw paramo 'sty npayah
(From the printed edition.)]
Some have abandoned home, some have aban-
doned hermitage ;
But fruitless is every abiding-place, if thou
hast not thy mind under subjection,
Day and night counting each breath,
As thou art, so there abide.
Some, in the hope of salvation, have abandoned house
and home for a hermit's life, and others, in a like hope,
have given up such a life, and have become ordinary
householders. But it matters not where one lives, so
long as one applies oneself to learning the mysteries of
Self. The devotee should practise restraining his breath
one of the chief means of securing emancipation. See
Verses 37 and 40 and Vocabulary s. vv. mAi and prdn 2.
'Caelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt.'
74 LALLA-VAKIANI [56,57.
56.
ye gord Parameshwara, !
Ldvtam be chuy autar vyod u
dosheway woyaddn Jcandd-purd
h a h kawa t a nm u to, hah kawa M u
57.
ndbi-sfMna, chey prakreth zalawam
hidis tarn yeti jjrdn w&ta-goV*'
bm/imdnda pet ha sufi nadi wahawani
h a k tawa i^nin^ to, hah tawa tot*
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation of 56 and 57.
guro I mamtutam iipadesam ekam
kumsva bodhdptikaram daydtah
hdh-huh imau $tah samam dsyajdtdv
'sti Mh Aim atfia, huh su&tah
ndlhyutthito hdh jathardgnitapto
huh dvddasdntdc c/iuirdt sar
hdh $rdnab?ititd 'sty atha huh apdnah
Mdhdnta evam munibhih pradistah
(From the printed edition. The a of mamfatam and i of kirn are
lengthened before the caesura ; cf. verses 32 and 50.)
The following is the text of 56 and 57 in Stein B :~
gasft (sic) frf ii wi cnft ii 88 11
tg^ *Jcft il
(sic) fT? II
or bulb, the focus of all bodily action, from which radiate
the various nddit, or tubes, through which circulate the
prdna*, or vital airs. This kanda is called kaiula-purd, or
' City of the Bulb ', in verse 56, and nabi-Mdn, or that
which has its position near the navel, in verse 57. One
of the vital airs called the prdna /car* lo)(rjv rises
directly from the kanda through the windpipe, and is
expired through the mouth. Hence it is hot. For
further particulars, see the Note on Yoga, 5, and the
Vocabulary, s. vv. kandd-pitrd, nddi t and pran> 2. So
much for the hot air.
The Bralna-randhra is the anterior fontanelle in the
upper part of the head ( 5, 27). Near this is the
sahawdra, ( 19, 20, 21, 27), a spot which is the upper
extremity of the tube called the twxumnd nadi, the other
extremity of which is the kanda already mentioned.
76 LALLA-VAKYANI [58.
This saJiasrdra, is considered to be the abode of that
emanation of the Supreme Siva which is the man's Self,
and which is mystically spoken of as the moon. The
moon is universally looked upon as the source of coldness,
and hence the vital air passing 1 down the susnnmd nddi is
cold. When this meets the hot air, pwna, coming
upwards from the kanda (close to which is the microcosmic
sun, 5, 8, 9, 21), tia&prdw is deprived of its heat by
contact with the down-flowing stream, and hence, in this
case, the expired air is cold. For further particulars, see
the Vocabulary, s. v. torn.
H^k is a short abrupt expiration, and kali is a prolonged
one ; and at the bottom of the teacher's explanation lies
the idea that in the short expiration the hot upward
current of air suddenly meets the downward current of
cold air, and is checked by it. Hence it is cooled. On
the other hand, a prolonged expiration has time to
recover itself and to regain its heat. The sun is located
in the pelvis, and so the upward breath is hot ; and the
moon is at the brain, and its currents are downwards and
cold.
58.
yili rasani wo^orun tly manthfir
yuhuy log u Md ihJias par&un
[Rajanaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation.
Jcaromi ytii karma tad eva ptijd
vadami yac cdpl tad eva matitrah
yad eva, cdyati taflifiiva yogdd
dravyain tad evdsti mamafca tantram
(From the printed edition.)
The following is the text of Stein B :
59.] LALLA-YAKYANI 77
Whate'er work I did, that was worship.
Whate'er I uttered with my tongue, that was
a mystic formula.
This recognition, and this alone, became one
with my body,
That this alone is the essence of the scriptures
of the Supreme Siva.
Laborare est orare ; but the labour, it is understood, must
be dedicated to the Supreme. When all that one does,
and all that one says is dedicated to Him, this is equal
to all burnt offerings and sacrifices.
59.
Wi nd J)6k nd dJiy'iy nd
gaiiv ptinay Sarwa-kriy maMth
anya,u clytitJmkh ke&k nd mway
gay sath lay* pwr pashlth
[RajSnaka Bhaskara's Sanskrit translation.
ndham na ca tvau na ca kdpi cared
dhydnasya yogydtra pade 'ttiante
ko 'py anvayas cdtra na Vhati tamdfl
vismdrya Imam svam ivdtra $a,dbhih
(From the printed edition.)]
There is no * Thou ', no * I ', no object of con-
templation, not even contemplation.
It is only the All-Creator, who Himself became
lost in forgetfulness.
The blind folk saw not any meaning in this,
But when they saw the Supreme, the seven
worlds became lost in nothingness.
All that exists is but the Supreme in one or other of
His manifestations. When, therefore, an untaught man
knows not the unity of Self and all creation with the
78 LALLA-VAKYANI [60
Supreme Self, and imagines that there is a difference
between 'I* and 'thou', or between contemplation and
its object, ifc is really the Supreme, temporarily blinded
by His own illusive power, Who is lost in this ignorance.
This paradox, and the logical inference to be derived
from it cannot be understood by the blind, i, e. those who
are sunk in ignorance of the nature of things. But
when a man has once grasped the facts, the whole
universe disappears for him, and he gains release.
The last line may also be tr
