Lalleshwari

Lalleshwari (1320–1392), locally known mostly as Lal Ded, was a Kashmiri mystic of the Kashmir Shaivism school of philosophy in the Indian subcontinent. She was one of the first poets of early modern Kashmiri language, and she developed a new style of spontaneous poetic composition known as "Vaakh" (literally, oral style). Out of her original compositions less than 300 are available today.

January 1, 1320 – January 1, 1392

7 quotes found

"I can dispel the clouds, drain the sea, or cure someone hopelessly ill. But to change the mind of a fool is beyond me."

- Lalleshwari

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"I trapped my breath in the bellows of my throat, and a lamp blazed up inside, showing me who I really was. I crossed the darkness holding fast to that lamp."

- Lalleshwari

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"I didn't believe in it for a moment but I gulped down the wine of my own voice. And then I wrestled with the darkness inside me, knocked it down, clawed at it, ripped it to shreds."

- Lalleshwari

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"It covers your shame, keeps you from shivering. Grass and water are the food it asks. Who taught you, priest-man, to feed this breathing thing to your thing of stone?"

- Lalleshwari

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"They lash me with insults, serenade me with curses. Their barking means nothing to me. Even if they came with soul-flowers to offer, I couldn’t care less. Untouched, I move on."

- Lalleshwari

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"yi yi karu'm suy artsun yi rasini vichoarum thi mantar yihay lagamo dhahas partsun suy Parasivun tanthar."

- Lalleshwari

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"Whatever work I've done, whatever I have though, was praise with my body and praise hidden inside my head."