Five Millennia Old
Culture & Literature of Kashmir
- Some Landmarks
T. N. Dhar
‘Kundan’
(Lecture
delivered at RP Memorial Foundation Society on
16th December, 2000)
Ladies and
Gentlemen,
Please bear with
me; I am no scholar. I am simply a student
of literature. Writing poetry is my hobby.
My only qualification for delivering a
lecture on the subject of culture and
literature of Kashmir, before this learned
audience, is that I am a Kashmiri. You may
not, therefore, find any thing revealing or
new in my talk but I assure you that you
will get the fragrance of saffron and the
soothing breeze of the valley, while I share
my views with you. You may not be any wiser
over what you already know but you will
surely feel the bubbling life represented by
the Lotus grown in the Dal Lake and
elsewhere.
- T.N.Dhar 'Kundan'
(URL) |
Culture
Defined
It
is in the fitness of things that today when the
twenty-first century is knocking at our doors and
when our beloved Kashmir is undergoing an
unprecedented turmoil for more than a decade now,
we should be sitting back and reflecting on the
five millennia old culture and literature of
Kashmir, the land of our birth. Before doing so
let us first try to figure out what the word
Culture connotes. According to Professor Terry
Eagleton, ‘Culture, etymologically speaking, is
a concept derived from nature. One of its original
meanings is husbandry. At first the term denoted a
material process, which was then metaphorically
transposed to the affairs of the spirit. The Latin
root for this word is ‘colere’, which can mean
anything from cultivating and inhabiting to
worshipping and protecting. But ‘colere’ also
ends up via the ‘cultus’ as the religious term
‘cult’. The idea of culture signifies double
refusal: of organic determinism and of the anatomy
of spirit. It is a rebuff to both naturalism and
idealism. The very word culture contains a tension
between making and being made, rationality and
spontaneity’. S.T.Coleridge says that ‘culture
is what comes naturally, bred in the bone rather
than conceived by the brain’. Raymond Williams
is of the opinion that ‘culture is the
organization of the production, the structure of
the family, the structure of institutions which
govern social relationships, the characteristic
form through which members of the society
communicate and a structure of feeling’.
T.S.Eliot, on the other hand, has defined culture
as ‘the way of life of a particular people
living together in one place; that which makes
life worth living; that which makes it a society
– it includes Arts, Manners, Religion and
Ideas.’ After the mid twentieth century culture
has come to mean the affirmation of a specific
identity – national, ethnic, regional rather
than the transcendence of it. All these
definitions make culture overlap civilization. In
order to differentiate between the two, one could
say that culture is the manner of our thinking and
civilization the manner of our living. The former
has a definite and telling effect on the latter
and the two together give us our distinct
identity. In effect culture of a society manifests
itself in the form of its civilisation.
Ancient
Hindu Period
If there is a single
terminology that sums up the entire gamut of our
culture as Kashmiris, it is the name ‘Ryeshi
Vaer’ given to our land. ‘Ryeshi
Vaer’ literally means a garden of sages.
This land has produced an innumerable number of
saints and savants, sages and Sufis, who have
always stood for the durable human goods of truth,
freedom, wisdom, humility, simplicity, compassion,
contemplation, worship and the like. The common
Kashmiri has adopted these qualities and infused
them in his thinking and actions. If I borrow the
idiom of Mary Pat Fisher I would say that the map
of our Kashmir cannot be colour-coded as to its
Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist identity; each of its
parts is marbled with the colours and textures of
the whole. We have had Buddhist view of life and
cosmos thrive in this land for many many years in
the past. We have had a distinct non-dualistic
ideology called the ‘Trika’ Philosophy shape
the metaphysical thinking of this land. We have
had the Vedic rituals of the Sanatana Dharma as
the basis of our very existence. There used to be
an admixture of ‘Shakta’ and ‘Tantra’ in
our way of worshipping and then, with the advent
of Islam in fourteenth century we witnessed the
rise of Sufi order in this land. All these in
course of time got merged and produced a blend of
culture, which is humanistic, pious and pure, yet
very simple and straightforward. It has taught us
to t urn from the fragmentary to the ‘total’,
from the superficial to the profound, and from the
mundane material to the spiritual. Religion has
never been an obstacle to this unique culture. I
am reminded of a Sufi, Mohd. Sheikh, who lived in
our neighbourhood at Chattabal in down town
Srinagar. He used to say that the religion is ‘Gaev
gudom’, the rope with which we tie a cow
lest it should stray into the fields and eat the
crop. Once the cow knows that it has to eat only
the grass and walk only along the periphery of the
field, there is no need for the rope any more.
Similarly a man needs the religion only so long as
he does not develop wisdom to discriminate between
right and wrong and reality and falsehood.
Professor Timothy Miller,
a specialist in new religious movements, has
rightly observed that, ‘Human culture is always
evolving and reinventing its own past and present.
There is no cultural vacuum from which anything
truly new under the Sun could arise.’ We call
our way of life ‘Sanatana Dharma’ or the
eternal norms of Do’s and Don’ts of life. Our
belief is that God, Universe and the Vedas are
eternal and co-existent. Strict adherence to the
prescribed norms ensures cosmic harmony, order in
the society and the welfare of mankind. Due to
this belief Hindus, the original inhabitants of
this land, were neither interested in recording
their history nor inclined to force their way of
thinking on any one. The basic ideology has been
twofold. One, ‘Ekam Sat Viprah bahudhah
vadanti – the Truth is one and the learned
describe it in many different ways’ and the
second, ‘Aano bhadra kratavo yantu vishvatah
– let noble and beneficial thoughts come to us
from all sides of the world’. John Renard,
Professor of Theological Studies at St. Louis
University, USA has said about Sanatana Dharma,
‘I have been intrigued by the tradition’s
flexibility – some call it ability to subsume
every religious idea. The larger Hindu tradition
represents an extra-ordinary rich gallery of
imagery of the Divine. It has encouraged visual
Arts to match the Verbal. There is complete
religious tolerance and it is free of large scale
proselytizing.’ This eternal way of life, this
age-old culture of ours is said to be five
millennia old on the basis of the Saptarishi
Samvat adopted by us from time immemorial. Ours is
perhaps the only almanac in the country, that
gives this Samvat and the running year is 5076. It
is a fact that the only recorded History in India,
the ‘Raja Tarangini’ has been written by a
Kashmirian, Kalhana. Yet ironically we do not have
any record of our cultural heritage and historical
events of the prior period and, therefore, we are
unable to paint a correct picture of the life and
faith of our ancestors who lived in this pious
land. As in the rest of the country, we have to
draw upon legends, fables and other types of
literature, verbal or written, in order to
visualize the picture of our ancient heritage. It
is very significant that in the Indian tradition
the two great epics, ‘Ramayana’ and
‘Mahabharata’ along with the ‘Puranas’
form the corpus of our history, from which we have
to figure out what our past has been like. Kashmir
also has its own ‘Purana’ called the
‘Nilamat Purana’, which throws some light on
our heritage. This ‘Purana’ vouches for the
fact that after the water was dried from the vast
area of Sati Sar, sages were invited to settle in
the valley and do their penance in the calm and
peaceful environment of this sacred valley
surrounded by the western Himalayan ranges. The
aborigines, Nagas, Pishachas, shvapakas etc. were
assimilated and as tribes became extinct in course
of time. During this period the rituals and the
injunctions of the Vedas only were followed. The
inhabitants today in effect are, therefore, the
progeny of the sages who settled here for penance
and eventual emancipation with a sprinkling of
immigrant population.
Buddhist
Period
The fact that an
important congregation of Buddhists was held in
Kashmir, during the reign of the King Kanishka,
shows that this ideology had found favour with the
peace loving citizens of Kashmir in course of
time. It is from here that the ideology travelled
as far as Japan via Tibet and China. This ideology
had Tantrik philosophy as its background and
focussed on ‘Mantras’ or recitation,
‘Mudras’ or physical gestures and
‘Mandalas’ or meditation. The Sanskrit word
for meditation, ‘Dhyana’ became ‘Gom’ in
Tibet, got mixed with ‘Jen’ of China’s
Confucius and eventually became ‘Zen’ of
Japan. In Kashmir, however, a strong non-dualistic
philosophy, called Kashmir Shaiva Darshan, drove
out this ideology but not before it had left an
indellible mark on our culture. There are a number
of places, which are named after the ‘Bauddha
Viharas’ and are called in local language as ‘Yar’.
In Srinagar itself we have a locality named as
‘Bodager’ a corruption from ‘Buddha Giri’
or the Buddha’s hillock. These together with the
non-violent passivity of Kashmiris and their life
style imbued with the tenets of Buddhism stand
testimony to the fact that this ideology had sway
on our thinking for a long time. Buddhism
accommodated itself to the local ideas while
revaluing them by changing the spiritual centre of
gravity. Tantra was given the meaning of extension
and interpenetration. The eightfold path of this
theology, right view, right aspiration, right
speech, right behaviour, right livelihood, right
effort, right thoughts and right contemplation
permeated into the life of the common man.
Period of
the Trika Philosophy
It appears that while the
Buddhist thought did shape the lives of the
inhabitants, it did not quench their thirst for
knowing the reality nor did it satisfy their
spiritual quest. The genius of Kashmir evolved its
own version of non-dualistic philosophy, which was
an improvement on the philosophy of Shankara in as
much as it did not accept the creation to be an
illusion. This philosophy branched into two, the
‘Spanda’ or the vibration system and the
‘Pratyabhijna’ or the cognition system. This
unique school of thought espoused that the Divine,
which is pure light, of His own free will and by
His own inherent powers, appears in the form of
His creation and this is nothing but a play of His
own free will. The creation gives an indication of
the mundane, the spiritual and the ethereal
existence, whereas the Divine indicates the light
in the form of knowledge and manifestation in the
form of action. This was the knowledge aspect of
the Kashmir culture then and the ritualistic
aspect was governed by the Vedic injunctions. Of
course these rituals also were modified to suit
the local conditions. The ‘Sanskaras’ codified
by Rishi Katyayana were in vogue in the rest of
the country whereas in Kashmir those codified by
Rishi Logaksha were implemented. It was the effect
of this philosophy that spirituality and divinity
was manifest in the life style of the common man.
Although many Hindu holy places and temples were
destroyed by Sikander But Shikan, who ruled from
1389 to 1413, yet the ruins of these temples at
many places including that of Martand Temple stand
testimony to the Sun worship also being prevalent
here. There is a hill feature named as ‘Aeta
gaej’ a corrupt form of Sanskrit ‘Aaditya Guha’
meaning the cave of the Sun. This corroborates the
fact further.
Sufi
Influence
Towards the end of the
thirteenth century and the beginning of the
fourteenth century Islam came to Kashmir. On the
one hand the invaders came to conquer and rule the
land and on the other hand this place attracted
the Muslim Sufis also. These Sufis believed in
‘Khalwa’ or spiritual retreat and propagated
going from the outer exoteric to the inner
esoteric. This coincided with the prevailing
tradition of ‘seeking to refine deeper
realization of the Divine within one’s
consciousness rather than engaging in critical
theological discussions; realizing the
possibilities of the soul in solitude and silence,
and to transform the flashing and fading moments
of vision into a steady light which could illumine
the long years of life’. Thus came into
existence a synthesized cultural framework that we
proudly call ‘The Rishi Cult’. Glimpses of
this blended culture could be seen in the day to
day life of an ordinary Kashmiri. My father used
to swear by ‘Dastagir Sahib’, a revered Muslim
Sufi saint. Any Muslim passing by a Hindu shrine
would bow in reverence and any Hindu passing by a
Muslim holy place would fold his hands in
obeisance. There are innumerable holy places and
shrines where both Hindus and Muslims would go to
offer prayers. Hindus and Muslims equally revered
Lal Ded and Peer Pandit Padshah, and other Hindu
sages. Both the communities likewise held Nunda
Rishi, Bata Mol Sahib, Dastagir Sahib and other
Muslim saints in high esteem. A Muslim lady, after
washing her face at the river Vitasta called
‘Vyath’ in Kashmiri,
would join her palms and
pray thus, ‘Afu Khodaya fazal kar, badas ta
janas, Hyandis taMusalmanas – God shower
your grace on good and bad people alike, both on
Hindus and on Muslims.’ A Hindu woman, after
pouring milk and water on the Shiva Lingam in the
temple would pray thus: ‘Sarve Bhavantu
Sukhenah sarve santu niramayah sarve bhadrani
pashyantu ma kaschit dukh bhag bhavet – Let
all be happy, free of worries. Let all be met with
beneficial and pleasant things and let no body
meet with grief and unhappiness’. Salutations
would be offered to Muslim elders by the Hindu
youngsters and to Hindu elders of the area by the
Muslim youngsters whenever and wherever they met.
In return they would receive blessings in
abundance.
The Other
Facets of Culture
To sum up we can safely
say that the origin of the cultural stream of
Kashmir is Vedic. It has absorbed the influences
from Buddhism. It has been shaped by the Trika
philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism and it has drawn
from the Muslim Sufism and in turn influenced it
deeply. The enormous literature that has been
produced by the sages and savants of this land
portrays a picture of ‘Jnana’ or Knowledge
dressed in ‘Bhakti’ or Devotion. The message
has all along been one of humanism, simple living,
high thinking, altruism, contentment, purity and
piety. The other facets of our culture are
shrouded in mystery. Take the case of the Arts.
The old Sanskrit and Sharada manuscripts are full
of beautiful paintings and pictures of gods and
goddesses. Picturesque flowers and petals are
drawn on the margin of the pages and the text is
written in beautiful hand in the centre. The
colours used in drawing them have been made
indigenously from natural material like leaves,
herbs etc. They are so prepared and mixed that
even the passage of time running into centuries
has neither damaged nor faded them. The art is so
prolific and profound that it indicates the
existence of a well-developed system. Even today
one can see samples of these paintings on the top
of the horoscopes and on the margin of the
manuscripts written on hand-made paper. The
portraits and the figures are exquisite and
amazing and a well-organised research will throw
light on its origin and gradual development. No
wonder that the artisans of Kashmir have made a
name in embroidery, papier machie and the patterns
woven on carpets. In modern times Kashmir has
produced a good number of artists, who have
experimented with traditional and modern
techniques but have distinct styles of their own.
Sarva Shri K.N.Dhar, Dina Nath Almast, Ghulam
Rasool Santosh, P.N. Kachroo, Manohar Kaul, Bansi
Parimoo and many other luminaries fall in this
category.
Music is another area
where very little is known of its past. Today we
have almost identical marriage songs for Hindu and
Muslim marriages. The difference is that whereas
the Hindus sing them in ‘vilambit’ or
elongated tune, the Muslims sing them in
‘Drut’ or fast tune. The effect of SamaVedic
recitation is apparent from the former. If you
listen to these songs from a distance you will
mistake them for ‘Sama gana’. Kashmir has a
tradition of very rich folk songs which depict the
emotions, feelings and sensibilities of a common
man as also troubles and tribulations faced by him
from time to time. Floods and famines have been
vividly described in these songs. Then we have a
well-organized classical music called ‘Sufiana
Kalam’ or the sayings of the Sufi saints. It has
different ‘Ragas’ and usually the sayings of
‘Lal Ded’ the great poetess of Kashmiri
language are sung in the beginning of each
‘Raga’. In recent times we have had many a
great exponent of Sufiana Kalam, Mohd Abdullah
Tibbetbaqual and Ghulam Mohd. Qalinbaf being among
the prominent ones. The former told me once that
all these ragas which are in vogue these days have
been formalized by Arni Mal, another great poetess
of Kashmiri language. I have also heard Ustaad
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan state in one of his
interviews on the All India Radio about the origin
of Ragas that the ‘Rag Khammach’ has
originated in Kashmir and was derived from the
voice of a parrot. While the ‘Tumbakh Naer’
and the ‘Not’ or the pitcher form important
instruments of the popular folk music
‘Chhakri’ – a chorus, the multi stringed
‘Santoor’ is the soul of the Sufiana Kalam. It
is well known that Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma has
successfully introduced Santoor into the
film-music. Other musical instruments are also in
vogue in Kashmir and a well-known name in Sitar
recital is that of Pandit Shambhu Nath Sopori.
Chhakri was given a new direction and lustre by
the late Mohan Lal Aima.
As regards the festivals
and the rituals, these are primarily religious in
character and therefore, different in different
religious groups. But there are some commonalties.
Distribution of ‘Tahar’, the cooked yellow
rice on festive occasions is common between Hindus
and Muslims. Night long singing of hymns in praise
of the Divine is another common feature. The
annual ‘Urs’ or commemorative days of various
saints are also celebrated jointly by all the
ethnic groups with due reverence. The Hindus of
the valley are called Kashmiri Pandits or
‘Bhattas’ meaning in Sanskrit the honoured
one. The important festival that has become their
identity is the celebration of Shiva Ratri in the
month of February. Unlike elsewhere in the
country, here the festivities are fortnight-long
and this festival has the same importance for us
as the Ganesh Puja has for Maharashtrians and the
Durga Puja has for the Bengalis.
Not much is known about
the tradition of dramas and dance of Kashmir. Many
dramas have been written in Sanskrit. Obviously
these must have been staged because Sanskrit plays
have always been written for being staged on
various festive occasions like the advent of the
spring season. It is said that King Zainulabdin
had patronized drama writing and theatre. He was
himself fond of witnessing plays being staged and
would encourage stage artists and actors. During
his time, Yodh Bhat and Som Pandit had written
some plays with serious themes. The existence of
folk dance called ‘Banda Paether’ with a
strong satirical accent and the melodious group
dance called ‘Rouf’ as also ‘Veegya Natsun’
on the occasion of marriages and yajnopavit
ceremonies, indicates that there must have been a
very well knit dance tradition in the valley. A
unique and well-developed dance pattern with
rhythm and synchronized steps accompanied by
lively music is prevalent in Ladakh. It is,
therefore, certain that there must have been a
dance system in vogue during the Buddhist period
in the valley also, if not earlier. This is a
matter for future researchers to remove the veil
of ignorance from this facet of our culture.
Our Language
The inhabitants of
Kashmir have a distinct language called
‘Kaeshur’ or Kashmiri. Although there are two
different views about its origin, yet a
dispassionate and scientific analysis will show
that it has developed from the language of the
Vedas. Thereafter the syntax, vocabulary and idiom
of Sanskrit enriched it. During the Pathan and
Mughal rule, when Persian became the court
language, it adopted a number of Persian words.
During the rule of the Sikhs, the language of the
Punjab also influenced this language and later,
with the adoption of Urdu as the official language
by the Dogra rulers, it had to borrow from Urdu
language as well as from English. There are
references in various chronicles that during the
Buddhist period some religious books were written
in local Prakrit, which has to be Kashmiri but
these books are extinct although their
translations are available. The initial glimpse of
this language is had from the verses written about
the love life of the queen of Raja Jayapeed during
8th century and in the Sanskrit work,
‘Setu Bandh’ of King Praversen, who
incidentally established Srinagar as the capital
of the valley for the first time. This language
was then referred to as ‘Sarva gochar Bhasha’
or the language of the masses. The Sanskrit
writers used to write in this language side by
side with Sanskrit. But a systematic literature in
Kashmiri starts from ‘Mahanay Prakash’ written
in thirteenth century by Shitikanth in the same
Vakh form, which was used later by Lal Ded.
Kashmiris had evolved a script of their own and
this is called Sharada script. It largely follows
the pattern of the Devanagari script in the matter
of the alphabets and combination of vowel sounds
with consonants and appears to have been developed
from the old Brahmi script. Unfortunately this
script did not get official recognition for
obvious reasons and has gone in disuse. It may not
be out of place that even Ghulam Mohd. Mehjoor,
the eminent poet was in favour of retaining the
Sharada script. The official script is based on
Persian script with some modifications. Because of
a large number of vowel sounds and shades in this
language this script hardly meets the requirement.
It is time that the alternative script based on
Devanagari alphabets, with two or three
modifications is also given recognition. It may be
mentioned that such a script is currently used by
all the publications and journals issued from
Jammu and Delhi.
Literature
It is the rule of nature
that a change in thinking results in the change in
action, which in turn changes the environment. All
these changes are reflected in the literature
produced from time to time. The literature is the
mirror of the culture and the civilization of a
society. Kashmir was a seat of learning because of
which it is called ‘Sharada Peetha’ or
the seat of the Goddess of Learning. Just as the
name ‘Ryeshi Vaer’ denotes the culture
of this land, the name ‘Sharada Peeth’
indicates the greatness and vastness of the
literature produced by the Kashmiris. Up to the
time of Sultan Zainulabidin, known as ‘Badshah’,
who ruled from 1420 to 1470, Sanskrit was the
language of the elite. No wonder, therefore, that
a galaxy of Sanskrit scholars hailed from Kashmir
and their contribution to the Sanskrit literature
is monumental.
Sanskrit
Literature
The literature in
Sanskrit of this land can be divided into two
groups. The first group relates to the Kashmir
Shaiva Darshan. The prominent authors in this
group are Utpala Deva, Somananda, Vasu Gupta,
Abhinav Gupta and Khema Raja. The scholarly works
include Spanda Karika, Shiva Drishti,
Shivastotravali, Parmartha Sara, Pratyabhjna
Darshan, Tantra Sara, Malini Vijaya, Rudrayamal
and the monumental work, Tantralok of Abhinava
Gupta Acharya. A number of treatises and
commentaries have been written on these works in
order to bring to light the true purport of this
unique philosophy. It is a matter of concern that
there is no effort on the part of the state
government to preserve and develop this important
and world acclaimed school of philosophy. It has
been preserved by individual effort of largely
those individual scholars who are ‘Sadhakas’
or the disciples of Swami Lakkshman Joo. However,
there is an ‘Abhinava Gupta’ centre at Lucknow
established by Dr. Pandey where this philosophy is
studied by young scholars. Dr. Baljinnath Pandita
and Dr. Neelkanth Gurtoo as also late Dr. Dwivedi
of Rajasthan University, Jaipur have edited and
translated some of the selected works of Shaiva
Acharyas.
The second group
comprises books on subjects other than Philosophy.
The most distinguished name in this group is that
of Kalhana Pandit, the author of the famous
‘Raja Tarangini’, the only book of chronicle
written in Sanskrit. This book gives an account of
the Rulers and the events from the 8th
century to the 12th century. It was
later extended and supplemented by Jona Raja,
Shrivara and Prajna Bhatta and brought up to date
till the reign of Zainul-Ab-din. There are a
number of books in Sanskrit written by Kashmiris
on a variety of subjects like Linguistics,
Aesthetics, Poetics, Sexology and the fiction.
Mammtacharya is a great name because of his work,
‘Kavya Prakash’. It is said that the scholars
would accept no work in Sanskrit unless it had the
seal of approval from Kashmir. A very prominent
poet brought his book to Mammata for approval
after it had already gained recognition in the
Sanskrit world. The Acharya said, "The book
is very good but alas I wish you had brought it
earlier. I have recently completed the chapter of
my book on ‘Kavya doshani’ or the faults and
flaws in poetry writing. I had to strive hard to
find examples for different flaws but here in your
work I could have got the examples for all the
flaws at one place and it would have saved me a
lot of effort." Such was the scholarship of
Kashmiri Sanskrit luminaries. ‘Dhvanyalok’ of
‘Anandavardhan’ added a new dimension to
linguistics and poetics. Earlier the definition of
a ‘Kavya’ was ‘Vakyam rasatmakam kavyam
– any composition which gives tasteful
pleasure is poetry’. With this work scholars
were forced to change their opinion and define
poetry as ‘Vakyam dhvanyatmakam kavyam
– a piece of writing that gives a message by
inference and suggestion is poetry.’ The
scholars of Sanskrit from Kashmir had always
something novel to say and propound. They were
multi-disciplinary scholars and respected in the
entire country as geniuses. Kshemendra, the author
of ‘Kalavilasa’, was another great writer who
dazzled scholars with his writings full of wit and
satire. Then there were host of others including
Bilhana, Kaiyata, Udbhatta, Hayata, Koka Pandit,
Jagaddhara whose literary, philosophical,
devotional and authoritative works have made them
immortal in Sanskrit world. The eleventh century
poet, Bilhana wrote ‘Vikramanka Deva Charitam’
in praise of the Karnataka king who honoured him.
Manakha wrote ‘Shrikantha Charitam’ in 12th
century. Bharata’s ‘Natya Shastra’ is an
authoritative treatise on dramaturgy. During the
reign of Badshah Bhatta Avatara wrote ‘Banasur
Katha’ and ‘Zaina villas’ and Yodha Bhatta
wrote ‘Zaina Prakash’. Another big name in
Sanskrit literature from Kashmir is Gunadya, who
wrote ‘Brihat-katha Manjari. It is felt that
many of the stories from this book have been
included in the great storybook, ‘Katha Sarit
Sagar’. A Russian scholar of Sanskrit revealed
during the World Sanskrit Conference at Varanasi
in 1981 that the story of their famous ballet
‘Swan Lake’ also has been taken from this
collection. There are modern scholars like Pandit
Lakshmidhar Kalla, who have opined on the basis of
the internal evidence that even Kalidasa hailed
from Kashmir. However, let that be as it may.
Contribution
to other Languages
When Persian replaced
Sanskrit as the court language, the local
Kashmiris faced a serious problem of learning the
language in the shortest of time. It is said that
by-lingual and tri-lingual verses were composed,
committed to memory and thus an effort was made to
learn the new language. Two samples will show the
ingenuity of the people. (1) Roni lagani
Zongla bastan, Natsun hao raqsidan ast, banda
paether murdami raqas sonth amad bahar. -
Tying the jingles is called ‘Zongla bastan’,
dancing is called ‘Raqsidan’, male folk dance
is ‘Murdami Raqas and the advent of spring is
called Bahar amad. (2) The second is in the form
of question and answer and runs thus: kuja budi,
kahan tha, kati osukh? Dere tha, khana boodam,
gari osus, Chi khordi, kya tse khyotho, kya khaya?
Du nano, do rotiyan, tsochi jorah. The
questions are in three languages about where the
person was and what did he eat, and the answer
also is in three languages that he was at his home
and had eaten two loaves. In the absence of any
authentic information with me I am unable to give
an account of the prominent Persian scholars of
Kashmir of the olden times. I would, however, make
a mention of two very important names. The first
is about a great poet Ghani, who lived during
Aurangzeb’s time. He is reported to have
declined the invitation of the king to visit his
court. His habit was to close all the doors and
windows when he was in and leave them ajar when he
was out. His explanation was that the most
precious item in his house was he himself. The
inscription on his tombstone is ‘Chu Shama
Manzile Ma ba Payi Ma’. It means that
‘like a burning candle my destination is under
my very feet’. This shows that he was a
spiritual poet, who was unconcerned with worldly
affairs. The second name that I wish to mention is
that of Pandit Bhawani Das Kachroo. He is known
for his long poem ‘Bahar-I-taweel’ or a long
meter. This poem is written in praise of the
Divine and shows an extra ordinary control on
Persian vocabulary that the poet had. His wife,
Arnimal too was a great poetess of Kashmiri
language in her own right. There are many
devotional poems written in Persian with an
admixture of Sanskrit. A great saint Krishna Kar
has written in praise of Goddess Sharika in these
words: ‘Avval tui aakhir tui, batin tui
zahir tui, hazir tui nazir tui, Shri Sharika Devi
namah. Man az tu nadi chakri man, pran az tu
pranayami man, Dhyan az tu japa malayi man Shri
Sharika devi namah.’
Kashmiris within and
outside Kashmir have written in Urdu also. The
well known names include Pandit Ratan Nath Sarshar,
Pandit Brij Narayana Chakbast, who wrote Ramayana
in Urdu, Pandit Daya Shankar Naseem, Pandit
Dattatreya Kaifi, Pandit Anand Narayan Mula etc.
More recently we have had poets and writers like
Prem Nath Dar, Prem Nath Pardesi, Ghulam Rasul
Nazki, Ali Mohd. Lone, Shorida Kashmiri, Dina Nath
Mast, Pushkar Nath, and others who have made a
rich contribution to literature both in prose and
poetry. Writers have not lagged behind in Hindi
either. Dr. Toshkhani, Ratan Lal Shant, Mohan Lal
Nirash, Madhup, Dr. Agnishekhar, Khema Kaul, Dr.
Krishna Razdan, Haleem, Maharaj Krishna Bharat and
many eminent scholars have contributed both in
prose and poetry. Their language is Hindi but the
aspirations and feelings projected are those of
Kashmiris. I have also given two books, "Main
Samudra Hun’ and ‘Main Pyasa Hun’, both
collections of my Hindi poems.
Kashmiri
Literature
I am proud to say that my
mother tongue is very rich in literature,
particularly in poetry. The prominent forms in
which poetry has been written have been taken from
Sanskrit, Hindi, Persian and English. From
Sanskrit we have adopted Vakh and Shruk or
‘Vakya and Shloka’ as also Vatsun or ‘Vachan’.
Hindi has given us Geet and Urdu Ghazal, Qita,
Nazm and Rubai. From English we have taken sonnet
and free verse. Lal Ded and Nunda Rishi of the
fourteenth century are two great names who have
written mystic and spiritual quatrains. Our poetry
starts systematically from Lal Ded whose Vakhs
were first translated into Sanskrit by
Bhaskaracharya and then into English and many
other languages. These Vakhs are dipped in Shaiva
philosophy and enjoin upon us to go inwards in
order to attain the reality. ‘Gorun dopnam
kunuy vatsun, nebra dopnam ander atsun –
my preceptor advised me in nutshell to go from
without to within’. Nunda Rishi wrote Shruk,
which are replete with Sufi mysticism. He has
praised Lal Ded in these words; ‘Tas Padman
Porechi Lale, Yem gale amreth chyev, Shiv Tshorun
thali thale, tyuth me var ditam Deevo – Lala
of Padmanpura drank the nectar and perceived Shiva
in everything. O God, give me a similar boon (so
that I see the Divine in the similar way).’
These two poets are great names in our spiritual
and mystic poetry. Whereas Lal Ded has propounded
jnana and Shaiva philosophy in her Vakhs, Nunda
Rishi has put forth the Sufi ideology in his
Shrukhs. All the Kashmiris hold both in high
esteem. During his itinerary, Nunda Rishi reached
village Tsrar. He is reported to have
spontaneously uttered these words there, rhyming
with the name of the place, ‘Vola zuva yati
prar – let me wait here till the last,’
and it is here that he left his mortal frame.
While this spiritual
writing must have continued as a sub-stream, in
the sixteenth century we suddenly see emergence of
a new theme in the poetry of Zoon, later known as
Habba Khatoon. She has sung songs of love,
separation, and ill treatment at the hands of the
in laws and other human feelings. The Kashmiri
poetry thus came down from the spiritual heights
to the mundane human level. Her lament was,
‘Varivyan saet vara chhasno chara kar myon
malino ho – I am not at peace with my in-laws,
would somebody come to my rescue from my
father’s side?’ Arnimal further strengthens
this human romantic and love poetry in 18th
century. Her diction and selection of words and
the musical meters used by her are exquisitely
beautiful. She had profound knowledge of classical
music and is believed to have rearranged the Ragas
in use for the ‘Sufiana Kalam’. For the first
time she uses what in Sanskrit are called
‘Shabda-alankaras’ or decoration of the words,
like alliteration and internal rhyming. An example
would show her master craftsmanship. ‘Matshi
thap ditsnam nyandri hatsi matsi, matshi matsha-band
sanith gom, vanta vyas vony kus kas patsi, vunyub
karith gom – I was in deep slumber when he
caught hold of my wrist. The gold wristband cut
into the very flesh of my wrist. Friend! Tell me
who is to be trusted in these circumstances. He
has left me crust fallen’. Rupa Bhawani is
another great name in the spiritual poetry. Her
Vakhs are full of Shaiva philosophy and the
language is sanskritized. She lived a hundred
years in 17th century and is regarded
as an incarnation of Goddess Sharika. There are a
number of anecdotes about her interaction with
Muslim Sufi saints. In one such encounter with
‘Shah Qalandar’ it is narrated that the two
were on the opposite banks of a river. The Sufi
called her, ‘Rupa (literally Silver) come over
to my side, I shall make you Son (literally Gold).
She replied, ‘Why don’t you come over so that
I make you Mokhta (literally a pearl as also
emancipated).
By this time the Persian
influence had gone deep into our literature. Poets
started writing ‘Masnavis’ or long fables in
verse. The prominent poet of this period has been
Mohmud Gami, who lived during 18th and
19th centuries. The Persian stories
adopted by him included those of Laila Majnun,
Yusuf Zulaikha, Shirin Khusro, etc. Yusuf Zulaikha,
which has been translated in German language, is
the most famous of his compositions. He no doubt
introduced the Masnavi style but it reached its
zenith at the hands of Maqbool Kralawari. This 19th
century poet has written a monumental masnavi, ‘Gulrez’,
which has become very popular with the masses.
From here onwards three distinct streams of poetry
continued to flow unabated, the Sufi mystic, the
devotional and the romantic. There is a long list
of Sufi poets, who espoused the cause of purity
and piety as also mutual brotherhood between
various religious groups. These included Rahman
Dar, Shamas Faqir, Sochha kral, Nyama Sahib and a
host of others. Their philosophy was monotheistic
and they laid stress on ethical and moral values.
Their poetry shows a deep influence of Advaita
Philosophy. ‘Ognuy sapan to dognyar travo,
pana nishi pan parzanavo lo – Trust in
oneness and shun duality; try to know thy real
self.’ ‘Ognuy soruy dognyar naba, haba yi
chhui bahanay – Truth is one and there is no
duality; all else is a fallacy.’ In the second
stream of devotional poets the names of Prakash
Ram, Krishna Razdan and Parmanand are prominent.
While the first two wrote devotional poems called
‘Leela’ in praise of Shri Rama, the last named
was a devout of Shri Krishna. ‘Aaras manz
atsaevay, vigne zan natsaevay – Let us join
the circle of dancers and dance like nymphs in
ecstasy for Shri Krishna. Parmanand, who lived in
19th century, has written a memorable
long poem wherein he has compared the human
actions with tilling of the land right from
ploughing up to the time of reaping the harvest.
‘Karma bhumikayi dizi dharmuk bal, santoshi
byali bhavi aananda phal –your actions are
the land where you must put in the fertilizer of
righteousness. Sow the seed of contentment and you
will reap the harvest of supreme bliss.’ Prakash
Ram wrote the first Ramayana in Kashmiri and
captioned it ‘Ram Avtar Tsaryet’. In the
romantic stream of poetry, the next important poet
has been Rasul Meer. He has written beautiful love
poems in musical meters. His famous poem starts
with these words, ‘Rinda posh maal gindne
drayi lolo, shubi shabash chani pot tshayi
lolo – My beloved has come out to play in an
ecstatic mood, praise be to her shadow that
follows her’. The description in the next line
is noteworthy. ‘Raza hanziyani naaz kyah
aenzini gardan, ya Illahi chashmi bad nishi rachhtan,
kam kyah gatshi chani baargahi lolo – The
gracious one has a neck like aswan. God! Save her
from evil eye. By that your grace will be no
poorer.’ Rasul Meer was the first poet who
addressed his poems to a female beloved. The
earlier poets had made a male their love, perhaps
because they were pointing to the Divine and not
the human.
Modern
Period
The twentieth century is
the period when the Kashmiri language made an all
round progress. The three streams that were
flowing continued and some new trends also
developed. Master Zinda Kaul is a great name among
the mystic poets of this period. His book
‘Sumran’ won him the Sahitya Academy award.
His suggestive poems are par excellence. A short
poem of his reads, ‘Tyamber pyayam me
khaermanas, alava hyotun kanzael vanas, taer ti ma
laej phaelnas, dil dodum jigar tatyom, krakh
vaetsh zi naar ha – A spark fell on the
haystack, the entire jungle caught fire. It
didn’t take long to spread. My heart burnt and
the liver heated up – shouts came from all
sides, fire! Fire!’ He has described God in
these words: ‘Kaem tam kar tamat bonah pot
tshayi doorey dyuthmut, sanyev kanav tee
buzmut, saenis dilas tee byuthmut – Someday
somewhere somebody has seen His shadow from a
distance. We have heard it with our ears and our
heart is convinced of His existence.’ Ahad
Zargar is another important poet of this stream
who has written masterly poems on mysticism and
spirituality. The immortal poet Mehjoor, who is
called Wordsworth of Kashmiri language, has
carried the romantic poetry to new heights. He was
acclaimed by no less a personality than
Rabindranath Tagore. The Hindi poet Devendra
Satyarthi, collecting folk songs of different
Indian languages was aghast to find that
Mehjoor’s poems were being sung by peasants in
the fields just like folk songs during his life
time. He had this message for his fellow country
men: ‘hyund chhu shakar dodh chhu
muslim ahli deen, dodh ta shakar milanaeviv pana
vaen – Hindus are like sugar and Muslims
like milk, let us mix the two (to create a
harmonious society)’. Another great name of this
period is that of Abdul Ahad Azad. He did not live
long but left an indelible mark on our literature.
He was virtually the harbinger of the progressive
poetry in Kashmiri. His long poem ‘Daryav’ or
the river is a masterpiece. He has ridiculed
romance in the face of poverty, want and hunger.
‘Madanvaro lagay paeree, ba no zara ashqa
bemari. Tse saet gaetsh fursatha aasen, dilas
gaetsh farhatha aasen, me gaemets nael naadari, ba
no zara ashqa bemari – My love!
Romance is not my cup of tea. It needs leisure and
peace of mind. I have none and I am crestfallen
due to my poverty. So no romance for me please’.
Post Independence period
is a period of renaissance for an all round
development of literature in Kashmiri. Kashmiri
poets were influenced by the philosophy of Marx
and the progressive literature of other languages,
notably that of Urdu. While Allama Iqbal was the
ideal for many, Faiz, Jaffri and other Urdu poets
were heroes for others and they took a cue from
their writings. Whereas most of the mystic poetry
was full of obscure and suggestive idiom, the
poetry of this new genre of poets was frank and
forthright; sometimes sounding like slogans. In
response to the Pakistani tribal raid, the writers
formed Kashmir Cultural Front in defence of
inter-ethnic harmony and as an affront to
religious fanaticism. The literature created could
not remain unaffected by the political and social
uprising. Earlier in 1945 Mirza Arif had started a
cultural organisation by the name of ‘Bazme adab’.
Many enthusiastic writers got involved with this
organization. Mirza Arif himself is a well-known
name for his Kashmiri Rubaiyas, which are crisp
and meaningful. The prominent poets of this new
movement are Dina Nath Nadim, Rehman Rahi and Amin
Kamil. Nadim revolutionized the entire face of
poetry. He used pure Kashmiri diction, gave
expression to the desire and aspiration of the
common man and raised his voice strongly in
defence of peace. He wrote operas and sonnets for
the first time and his poems have been translated
into many languages. One of his immortal poems
against wars and strife is ‘Mya chham aash
pagahaech, pagah sholi duniyah – I have full
faith in tomorrow for tomorrow will bring new
light to the entire world.’ He is the
trendsetter of progressive and humanistic poetry
in Kashmir. His operas, ‘Bomber ta Yambarzal’
‘Neeki ta baedi’ etc are the milestones in our
literature. Rahi is another Sahitya Academy
awardee, whose ‘Nav rozi Saba’ shows the
influence of Iqbal very clearly. He has also made
a rich contribution to Kashmiri poetry. He sang,
‘Yaer mutsraev taer barnyan, Maer maend phyur
mas malryan, vaer zahir vaets aaman ta lolo –
The benefactor has thrown the doors open and
filled wine into the big pitchers; It appears that
the common man will get his share now.’ Kamil
has written short stories and poetry both. His
diction is rustic and meters musical. ‘Khot
sorma sranjan tala razan bhav bahar aav
– The price of the items of make-up for ladies
and the ornaments have shot up, it appears the
spring has arrived’. This period produced a
galaxy of poets who contributed to the enrichment
of our literature. Noor Mohd. Roshan, Arjun Dev
Majboor, Ghulam Rasool Santosh, Moti Lal Saqi,
Chaman Lal Chaman, Prem Nath Premi, Makhan Lal
Bekas, Ghulam Nabi Firaq, Vasudev Reh, Ghulam Nabi
Khayal were active within the valley and outside
there were B.N.Kaul, Shambu Nath Bhatt Haleem and
myself who wrote on a variety of subjects.
Prose writing also got a
philip during this period and continues unabated
to date. The master short story writers include
Akhtar Mohiuddin, Som Nath Zutshi, Ali Mohd. Lone,
Umesh, Bansi Nirdosh, Hriday Kaul Bharati, Deepak
Kaul, Hari Krishna Kaul, Santosh and Kamil. They
gave expression to the emotions and feelings of
the common man and picturized the life of the
inhabitants of the valley. Akhtar, Lone, Kamil and
Hari Krishna have written novels also and given a
lead in this direction. Radio Kashmir and later
the Door Darshan Kendra at Srinagar provided an
opportunity and thereby played an important role
in encouraging these writers. The Academy of Arts
and Culture has also been publishing the works of
these artists and anthologies, which inspires
other young writers to try their pen. Moti Lal
Kyomu has been a pioneer in the field of drama and
Pushkar Bhan in satirical radio plays. Hari
Krishna Kaul is also a successful drama writer.
There are a host of other writers whom I have not
mentioned for fear of digressing from the central
point. My apologies to them since I hold all of
them in high esteem and recognize their
contribution to the Kashmiri literature. I am
trying to convey that our language is rich in
literature. There have been some translations into
other languages but it is not enough. Some of the
names that come to one’s mind, who have done
pioneering work in popularizing Kashmiri
literature are Professors Jai Lal Kaul, Nand Lal
Talib, T.N.Raina, P.N. Pushp, K.N. Dhar, B.N.
Parimoo, MotiLal Saqi and R.K.Rehbar. There is a
pressing need for translating the selected works
from Kashmiri into other Indian and foreign
languages so that the readers and scholars in the
entire country will be acquainted with its depth
and vastness. Kashmiri is the beloved mother
tongue of all the Kashmiris irrespective of their
creed or faith. Both the communities, the Hindus
and the Muslims have produced poets, writers and
artists of repute. It is, however, a pity that the
language has not been receiving the official
patronage that it deserves.
Post 1990 period has been
a period of turmoil, which brought shame to the
composite culture of the valley. The Hindus had to
migrate to Jammu, Delhi and other parts of the
country to escape the wrath of the foreign
provoked and controlled militancy. During the last
decade of their exile Kashmiri writers have
authored a lot of literature. In this literature
there is a lament of losing their hearth and
homes, a craving to go back to their roots and
pain and anguish at the way in which politics and
narrow aggrandizement have cut at the very roots
of their rich culture and shattered their proud
tradition. The worst casualty have been the mutual
trust, relationship and understanding between
people of different faiths. Ladies and Gentlemen!
May I, therefore, conclude by reciting this verse
of mine:
"Byeyi vaeth
deenaek ta dharmaek fitnai,
Byeyi gav byon alfas nish bey.
Gotsh na yi ravun hasil kor yus,
Dashi thaev thaev astanan manz."
(Again we are witnessing
conflict and confrontation in the name of
religions. Again one is getting separated from the
other. I am afraid we may not lose all that we had
achieved after offering prayers repeatedly at the
shrines and holy places.)
I am grateful to the R.P
Memorial Foundation Society and the organizers of
this meet for providing me this opportunity of
sharing my views with all of you, on the rich
tradition of the place of my birth. Thank You.
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