Glimpses of
Kashmiri Culture
Culture
maintains its uninterrupted flow
dismantling the man-made barriers between past and
present. Its sweet rhythm and ennobling dignity
does not at all grow stale. Its self-assigned duty
of guarding the eternal values does never become
boring. It is a pleasure and an obligation at the
same time.
Now the scene has
undergone a veritable change - a natural
phenomenon, to speak precisely. Sanskrit had
become the language of the elite only, and Persian
an administrative vehicle of the Sultans. Kashmiri
culture had to seek a new medium for its
expression, under these circumstances. Moreover,
it elected to initiate a rapport with the general
masses for which the home-spun idiom, enshrined in
the Kashmiri language, offered the only choice for
providing tongue to our cultural values. Hence,
the form of expression did undergo a change from
classical medium to modern vernacular, but the
content remained the same. It was definitely a
continuous projection of our tradition, built inch
by inch by the denizens of this Valley, saturated
by the prowess of their mind and spirit.
In the foregoing web
pages, an attempt has been made to portray the
universal truth that to-day is nothing but the
rebirth of yesterday, with its heart-beats intact.
Environs do change, irrepressible strains and
stresses do haunt the body, yet the soul remains
always unaffected and, consequently, unruffled.
 Acharya
Abhinavagupta
Abhinavagupta
was a great scholar and Shaiva
teacher, who possessed knowledge
in all matters relating to Kashmir
Shaivism. The versatility of this
genius was recognised in his own
time. He was one of the best
authorities on Shaiva philosophy
and various branches of Sanskrit
literature.
>>>
|
|
 Lal
Ded
In
Kashmir, some people consider her a poet, some consider her a
holywoman and some consider her a sufi, a yogi, or a devotee
of Shiva. Sume even consider her an avtar. But every Kashmiri
considers her a wise woman. Every Kashmiri has some sayings of
Lalla on the tip of his tongue. The Kashmiri language is full
of her sayings.
>>>
|
|
|
|
|
Bilhana - The Minstrel
Kashmir of yore has been
the cradle of Sanskrit lore and learning. From 9th century A. D. to 12th century
A. D. brightest luminaries in Sanskrit literature have shone on its firmament.
These four hundred years, roughly speaking, form the crux and the culmination of
what may be called the creative and original literary activity of Kashmiris in
the realm of Sanskrit language and literature.
>>>
|
|
Later Hindu
Period of Kashmir History (1148 A.D. to 1339 A.D.)
The Doyen of
Sanskrit chroniclers, Kashmirian Kalhana was
destined to write about the Hindu period of Kashmir
History only upto A.D. 1148. Therafter, being
inspired by overwhelming talent of his illustrious
predecessor, Jona Raja pieced together the reign of
subsequent Hindu Kings up to 1339 A. C. when the
Sultans appeared on the Kashmir-scene.
>>>
|
|
|
|
|
Kalhana - The
Chronicler
Chronicle-writing is not foreign
to the imagination of the Kashmiri Brahmins. A
host of histories Charitas and Mahatmyas amply
testify to this assertion. However, the history as
it is taken in the modern parlance, is absent in
Sanskrit literature. History is not an account of
rise and fall of kings but should embrace in its
ambit the political, social and religious
attainments and aspirations of the people at
large.
>>>
|
|
Ksemendra - The Peoples' Poet
Sankskrit poets and literary luminaries have been often
accused of oriental hyperbole. It may be conceded that by and large such
devotees of Muse did indulge in some kind of exaggeration which became
naseating at times; such kind of poetic fancy becomes pronounced when they
had to extol their patrons, heroes or even their beloveds.
>>>
|
|
|
|
 Habba
Khatoon
Habba
at the very outset of her poetic career rebelled against the
prevalent standards of poetry-writing. Textbook idealism is
not found in the dictionary of her pulsating emotions. She did
not also try to bridge the distance between the ideal and the
real. Her substantial contribution in this domain is to
interpret her life as it was and not what it should be.
>>>
|
|
Abdul
Ahad "Azad" - The Poet of Tomorrow
'Azad'
is inherently possessed of uncommon consciousness of head
and heart. He has never elected to go into the shell like
other Kashmiri Romanticists. Instead, he has tried to
analyse Man in every sense of the word, bereft of any curves
or blind alleys.
>>>
|
|
|
|
|
Concept of
"Maya"
At
the very outset, it may be said without any fear
of contradiction, that in philosophy unalloyed
originality is a misnomer. It is actually the sum
total of the thinking on a particular subject,
collated, coordinated and brought uptodate by the
stalwarts in this field. It would, therefore, be
in the fitness of things to give a bird's eye-view
of the philosophic content supposed to emanate
from the word 'Maya', as discussed in the various
schools of philosophy in India, which has rightly
been taken as the raw material on which the
Vedantins and Kashmiri shaivites built their lofty
edifices later on. >>>
|
|
Panchastavi - A
Brief Study
The
compound word 'Panchastavi' in ordinary parlance
connotes a collection of devotional hymns divided
into five cantos. The very first verse of the
first canto remakes it abundantly clear that these
panegyrics are essentially meant for the
'Rainbow-hued' Divine Energy comprising the
'speech' and 'resplendence of symbols'. Moreover
the whole gamut of Alphabet from AA to Ksa is
presided over by this Transcendental Energy; and
to speak squarely, it is the progenitor of the
sound and sense. At times it has been equated with
super-knowledge, bliss and even this whole cosmic
world.
>>>
|
|
|
|
|
Sanskrit
Chronicles and Sultans of Kashmir
The
history of Muslim period in Kashmir is as
intriguing as it is revealing. Though a sizeable
number of chronicles, both indigenous and foreign,
contemporary as well as remote, is available for
this phase of Kashmir history, yet the conclusions
arrived at and the facts enumerated are in no way
immaculately objective.
>>>
|
|
The Serpentine
Vitasta
From
times immemorial rivers in India have been treated
as sacred. After the Aryan
occupation of the North when towns and cities
began to be built on the banks of rivers, their
utility could not be over looked. Hence by way of
gratitude the rivers were deified and varied
mythological background was woven around these to
justify their deification.
>>>
|
|
Download Book
