Vakhs (Lal Vakh)

Introduction

Lal Ded, also known as Lalla or Lalleshwari, was a 14th-century Kashmiri ascetic associated with the tradition of Kashmir Shaivism. Her vakhs are mostly four-line verses in old Kashmiri that describe breath control, inner discipline and self-knowledge as the way to Shiva, and mock fasting, pilgrimage and the worship of stone images. They lived in oral tradition for centuries, so which verses are genuinely hers cannot be settled; the first major edition with English translation, by George Grierson and Lionel Barnett, appeared in 1920. Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir both claim her – Muslims call her Lalla Arifa – and she counts among the earliest poets of the Kashmiri language.