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Community - Prominent Kashmiris |
| Zinda Kaul Masterji |
Parmanand occupies a prominent place among the mystic saint-poets of Kashmir. His original name was Pandit Nand Ram and he was born in 1791 A.D. in Seer village near Mattan. His parents, Krishna Pandit and Saraswati Devi were of religious bent of mind.
Nand Ram got his education in Persian in his own village. He learnt Sanskrit from wandering sadhus. He was a precocious child and wrote verses in Persian under the pen name ‘Gareeb’.
Parmanand was married to Mal Ded, a girl of his own village. She was ill tempered, but he bore her in silence. His father was a patwari and after his death he succeeded to the village patwar. He had two sons and two daughters, but both the sons predeceased him. He sees to have remained radiantly happy in his poverty.
His genius flowered rather late, but then he resigned his patwar and devoted his days to practical mysticism, upasana and yoga. Sahab Ganai, the lambardar, helped to keep him above want. Parmanand died at the ripe age of 93.
Parmanand wrote stotras in praise of deities, didactic poems for spiritual aspirants, three allegorical pieces and some purely mystical poems.
The first allegorical poem is about the Amarnath Yatra, the famous pilgrimage to Sri Amarnath cave; it is significant for the dexterity with which the poet interweaves the pilgrim’s progress from one shrine to another with the yogic pilgrimage within one’s own self, plexus to plexus.
Even more remarkable is the allegory of farming in the poem Karmabhumika. It welds the farmer’s round of duties with the sadhana of a spiritual aspirant.
The third is Kul ta Tsaay (The Tree and the Shadow). The shadow complains that the Tree stands between the Sun and itself. The Tree answers that the Shadow owes its very existence to the Tree, and if the Tree leaves its place the Shadow will be no more.
Parmanand’s love lyrics have a note of abandon, of joy and gaiety and the quality of inspired speech. All creation is an overflowing of God’s joy, a ras-lila. The lyrics also possess depth of meaning and passionate intensity, apart from music and whole-hearted abandon.
Parmanand’s significant contribution consists in his three longer poems, Radhaswyamvara, Sudamacharita and Shiva Lagna. The first is the most musical. It is a lyrical narrative and the poet bursts into song while describing the lila of Radha and Krishna. Sudamacharita is a more mature work, more objective in its treatment. Shiva Lagna tells the story of Sati, her self-immolation and Parvati’s marriage to Shiva.
The last group of his shorter poems read like the meditations of a jiwanmukta. Here the language becomes aphoristic and is sometimes not easy to interpret. These poems are the fruit of his lifelong sadhana and possess a rare mystical insight.
Parmanand is a significant poet, with the accent of greatness in some of his poems.
A few samples of his work are excerpted below. |
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Aaras manz atsavaey
Aaras manz atsavaey,
Vigini zan natsavaey.
laagos posh poozey,
Krishna Joo nendari vuzey,
Voparas kas patsavaey…
Laejhas tani tanay,
Shaehalekh hani-hanay,
Kamov premav hatsavaey…
Vanas manz nana-vaarey,
Chaaraan Krishna pyaarey,
kanev taapav tatsavaey…
Pompur shamahas path
Taran kyaah chhu karan gath,
Matis path kar matsavaey…
Ashikani mokhta haaran,
Chhe ladaan mokhta haaran,
Tooly-toly zan ratsavaey…
Yi pad khaah chhu vanun krooth,
Su parmanand kamy dyooth
Vuchhit vonumut katsaavaey…
We shall enter the ring
We shall enter the ring and dance with Lord Krishna like nymphs. |
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We will worship Him by offering various kinds of flowers so that He may wake up from sleep. We have faith only in Krishna, not in any stranger.
Maidens deep in love embraced him passionately. Every limb of theirs is now cool and refreshed.” What a divine love have we seen!” they say to themselves.
Gopis rushed to the forest bare-footed in search of their beloved Krishna. The hot sun or the heated boulders did not daunt them.
The moth hovers around the candle and is ultimately consumed by the flame. The maidens too have a rare opportunity of going mad with love.
They shed copious tears resembling pearls. They make garlands of these pearls, each of which is equal in weight to a fine rati.
It is very difficult to disclose the secret of love. Many devout persons have not experienced divine bliss. From among those who have known it, there are very few who have expressed it openly.
(Courtesy: T.N.Kaul, Gems of Kashmiri Literature) |
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| Karmabhumika |
Karmabhumikaayi dizi dharmuk bal
Santooshi byaali bavi aanandaphal
Dwayi praana dandajuury dyen ta raath vaayi
Kumbhaka kuuda zora timunuy lay
Hila kar yuth na biheeth rozi kaanh ryel…
By Righteousness the field of conduct fertilize,
Contentment sown produces happiness.
Let your Incoming and Outgoing breaths
Your pair of bullocks be, and make them plough
The field all day and night; control them by
The lash of Kumbhak---holding off the breath---
See that no part of the soil remains untilled.
Let Love your ploughshare be, and Firmness be
The mallet with which you will break the sods
So that no wet of Hate remains within them hid.
With right Discrimination build the dams,
And clean the sluices with the Vedic texts,
Let equal Goodwill spread the water evenly.
The spring, your youth, a few days lasts. Waste not
One hour of it. Sow now your seeds; begin
With praise to God, who grants success.
Mind-waves are holes by rats---the senses---made,
Fill these with sods of Mantra-sound, and bid
The rats adieu---tell them to leave your fields.
The field of Practice will the fresher be
For weeding, which Devotion represents;
The final watering is austerity, which makes
The ears of corn to sprout. By Reverence
The field will bloom, as does a lotus-bed.
The objects of the senses are your cattle; keep
Them well---no harm. But let these not devour
Your crops; come out to keep a careful watch.
The field will be in blossom when the ears are ripe.
With Scythe of non-attachment mow it down,
And bind the sheaves with blades of grass…
These sheaves, with Duty bound, upon your back
Do carry. Get your friends to help---work hard
And daily, regularly gather corn, so that
You may soon have a barn of golden corn.
Make one stack---rise above the gunas three
Of Nature, called Sloth, Passion, Balance. Mind
Not honour or dishonour, win Nirvan.
Let meditation be the threshing block at which
You separate good grains of Truth from chaff;
Thresh well the grass by Reason’s stick.
Thus working by Renunciation’s hand
Keep white and brown grains separate, and while
You seem asleep, your Harvest watch.
Weigh your produce with scales of “I am He”
You will feel relieved when it will reach the Ghat.
By Mind-control, Goodness and Practice now
Propel the boat on waters of Firm Faith
And Peace. And then well satisfied retire to rest
At Maanasbal, the “Strength of Mind”.
Pay to the King, O farmer, what is due to him;
And see that the servants and Jagirdar are paid;
Then you will neither owe nor have aught overpaid;
Keep well-selected seed for future springs,
Then sow each grain. This Altruism will yield
No end of ever-fresh crops. Good multiplies.
Remove what keeps you separate from God,
And then of Yoga-Maya be Enjoyer. Since
You are a Sadhu called, be one.
If you the Teacher’s Word do follow well
All Karm---the store, the part you operate,
And what you now produce---is burnt and gives
A flame of Knowledge of the Self.
With knowledge of the Self-existent Light
You will not care for honour or disgrace.
And so to Highest Centre’s bliss attain.
Parmanand was a farmer who paid up
All dues, and left the borrowed house
For his own Home of peace, his Lord Shri Krishna.
(Tr. Zinda Kaul) |
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A Lol Lyric
The sun has streaked the sky with light,
The morn is come.
In gardens rose and jasmine bloom,
The songbirds sing their songs of love
My love, have you not heard of me?
It is the time of blissful peace,
The time when nectar rains down the sky.
This surely is the immortal hour,
The hour of God’s immortal dower.
This is the time, O Lakshmana,
To open the windows of your love.
(Tr. Jai Lal Kaul) |
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A Philosophical Poem
You are what you are (undefinable in any other terms) imperceptible to any but your own self; that which makes
the eyes see is not visible to the eyes.
There is not
much in seeing the objects of sight; the great thing is
to see the seer.
In the realization of the self, the so-called control
of the mind and the senses is not of much avail; the self
is to be attained by conviction of faith. The true self
is to be contemplated, the selfless Self to be meditated upon…
There is no victory for the mind except in retreat.
Desirelessness alone can make one fully happy and blissful.
God’s grace to the soul means nothing but that the soul
holds nothing dear but God.
(Tr.Zinda Kaul) |
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Sahaza Vyetsaar
Gindunaah chhu zinda marun
Sahaz vyetsaar karun
Sahazas praav patse
Sham ta dam naav gates
Paan ros paan sworun…
Veedav chhu vonmutuy
vidyav vani onmutuy
vyedi nishi tsonmutuy…
Shakt vanhas ta Shivay
Zaav kas ta aavagavay
Neshdyan sheshravay…
Sat tseth aanandmaye
Vaatith mwayi mwaye
Praavith yas na mwaye…
Vaara yeli vuchhizi mandar
Roozizi na tathy andar
Anduvand shyamswandar…
Vuchhu traavith ta dare
Yor zaani tor laare
Tas vyan kyaazi laare
Sahaz vyetsaar karun
To seek unity with God is to venture forth
And hazard all, to experience death in life
And be reborn to the higher Self within.
Not by control of mind and senses but
Renouncing self and ever intent, you will
Come to the selfless Self by faith devout.
Known by the knowers blest, the Vedas speak
Of him beyond the prescribed paths. He shines
On all that is as doth the glorious sun,
Undying and unborn. As Shakti known
To some, to some as Shiva, He is the Ground
Of all, as Being, Bliss and Consciousness,
And yet aloof, untouched by everything…
This inmost Sanctum seen, shut not yourself
Within, for God is everywhere without.
Throw open all sense-gates and let the mind
go where it will. It cannot go where God is not.
(Tr. Jai Lal Kaul) |
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