JK/NKK 8
a:yas kami diSi tà kami vate,
gatshà kami diSi kavà za:nà vath |
antiH da:y lagimay tate,
chanis phôkas ka:nh ti no sath ||
From which direction
did I come, and
by what road?
In which direction
shall I go, and how
know the path?
In the end, may I
receive right guidance
to take me there.
There is no substance
in an empty breath.
Note: It is clear that Lalla is telling us the importance of a trustworthy guide (called "gu:ru" in the Indian tradition). What is not so clear is how to interpret "There is no substance (nothing true or real) in an empty breath." Some have interpreted this to mean that controlling the breath (to which she refers elsewhere) is not enough. Grierson pointed out (page 61) that we are to think of our life as one breath. It is subject to illusion (ma:ya), but in Kashmiri Shaivism it is not thought of as unreal, but rather part of the Divine, as are we. But I am inclined to the view that she meant empty words, not backed up by experience. Fortunately, I am only a translator, and do not have to decide among the various interpretations.
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॐ
Monday, December 26, 2016
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॐ THE POEMS OF LALLA OF KASHMIR JK/NKK 6
JK/NKK 6
kya:h karà pa:ntsan döhan tà ka:han,
vvakSun yath lyaji yim körith gay |
sö:riy samàhan yith razi lamàhan,
adà kya:zi ra:vihe ka:han ga:v ||
What shall I do with
the five, the ten, and
the eleven?
They have all
scraped out the pot.
If they had all pulled
together on the rope,
then the eleven
would not have lost
the cow.
Note: The "five" are the five elements of earth, air, fire, water, and vacuity. The "ten" are five motor-nervous system organs (karmendri:yas) plus five senses of perception (gya:nendri:yas). The "eleven" are these ten plus the mind, which supposedly controls them. They are here visualized as masters of a single cow, which is the spiritual self with its aspirations regarding realization of the Supreme. When the cow is being pulled in many directions by these eleven masters with their individual ropes, the "pot" (either the physical body or its head) is "scraped out" by all of them (loss of energy, vitality, and concentration occurs), and the "cow" is lost, which would not have happened if all these sensory "masters" had been working together, pulling in the same direction.
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॐ
kya:h karà pa:ntsan döhan tà ka:han,
vvakSun yath lyaji yim körith gay |
sö:riy samàhan yith razi lamàhan,
adà kya:zi ra:vihe ka:han ga:v ||
What shall I do with
the five, the ten, and
the eleven?
They have all
scraped out the pot.
If they had all pulled
together on the rope,
then the eleven
would not have lost
the cow.
Note: The "five" are the five elements of earth, air, fire, water, and vacuity. The "ten" are five motor-nervous system organs (karmendri:yas) plus five senses of perception (gya:nendri:yas). The "eleven" are these ten plus the mind, which supposedly controls them. They are here visualized as masters of a single cow, which is the spiritual self with its aspirations regarding realization of the Supreme. When the cow is being pulled in many directions by these eleven masters with their individual ropes, the "pot" (either the physical body or its head) is "scraped out" by all of them (loss of energy, vitality, and concentration occurs), and the "cow" is lost, which would not have happened if all these sensory "masters" had been working together, pulling in the same direction.
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॐ
Sunday, December 25, 2016
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॐ THE POEMS OF LALLA OF KASHMIR JK/NKK 14
JK/NKK 14
ha: tsyata: kavà chuy lôgmut parà mas,
kavà gôy apàzis pazyuk bront |
dàSi-bôz vaS kôrnakh par-darmas,
yinà-gatshanà zyanà-marànas kront ||
O Mind, why have you gotten drunk
on foreign wine?
Why have you put the unreal
before the real?
Lack of wisdom has put you
on an alien path,
and the ordeal of
coming and going,
birth and death.
Note: This poem contains tricky symbolism and double meanings. The wordplay is extremely clever, and makes the translator's job harder. I've tried to translate on the level that makes for the best poetry. What Lalla is suggesting here is that she was, for a time, seduced by alien (probably theistic/dualistic) doctrine. There is other evidence that this may have been the case, because in another poem she says that she has read (and is still reading) the Bhagwad Gita. Lalla's work (which has been claimed by Hindus, Sufis, and Buddhists) goes beyond the sectarianisms of her day, but I think it is closest to Kashmiri Shaivism. That she intended it to be universal is indicated by the words, in another poem:
"mo za:n hyond tà musalma:n," Forget about "Hindu" and "Muslim,"
because "Shiva lives everywhere" and "the sun shines on all alike." Too bad this tolerant attitude is not coming into play today.
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॐ
ha: tsyata: kavà chuy lôgmut parà mas,
kavà gôy apàzis pazyuk bront |
dàSi-bôz vaS kôrnakh par-darmas,
yinà-gatshanà zyanà-marànas kront ||
O Mind, why have you gotten drunk
on foreign wine?
Why have you put the unreal
before the real?
Lack of wisdom has put you
on an alien path,
and the ordeal of
coming and going,
birth and death.
Note: This poem contains tricky symbolism and double meanings. The wordplay is extremely clever, and makes the translator's job harder. I've tried to translate on the level that makes for the best poetry. What Lalla is suggesting here is that she was, for a time, seduced by alien (probably theistic/dualistic) doctrine. There is other evidence that this may have been the case, because in another poem she says that she has read (and is still reading) the Bhagwad Gita. Lalla's work (which has been claimed by Hindus, Sufis, and Buddhists) goes beyond the sectarianisms of her day, but I think it is closest to Kashmiri Shaivism. That she intended it to be universal is indicated by the words, in another poem:
"mo za:n hyond tà musalma:n," Forget about "Hindu" and "Muslim,"
because "Shiva lives everywhere" and "the sun shines on all alike." Too bad this tolerant attitude is not coming into play today.
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॐ
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॐ THE POEMS OF LALLA OF KASHMIR JK/NKK 2
JK/NKK 2
lalith lalith vaday bà va:y,
tsyata: muhàc pyayiy ma:y |
roziy nà patà loh-langaràc tsha:y,
niza svaru:p kya: môThuy ha:y ||
Lalit, Lalit, I will weep for you.
O Mind, you have fallen under the spell
of maya.
Even the shadow of worldly possessions
will desert you.
You have forgotten
your own nature.
Why this foolishness?
Note: "lalith" is a double meaning, and can also be translated as "slowly" or "gently." But these meanings can only be considered to be secondary; the first meaning is her own name, by which she addresses herself. (Of all the other authors who have written on Lalla's poems, only Shambhu Nath Bhatt and Janki Nath Bhan, authors of the 1971 Köshur Sama:cha:r collection, have gotten this right.) In her poems, Lalla generally calls herself "Lali," which is a short form of "Lalita," a name of Parvati, consort of Shiva. Here she uses a slightly fuller form of that name. Other theories, such as that "lal" referred to a big belly that hung over her pudenda, thus protecting her modesty, are imaginative and creative, but lack any evidence in her poems or elsewhere.
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॐ
lalith lalith vaday bà va:y,
tsyata: muhàc pyayiy ma:y |
roziy nà patà loh-langaràc tsha:y,
niza svaru:p kya: môThuy ha:y ||
Lalit, Lalit, I will weep for you.
O Mind, you have fallen under the spell
of maya.
Even the shadow of worldly possessions
will desert you.
You have forgotten
your own nature.
Why this foolishness?
Note: "lalith" is a double meaning, and can also be translated as "slowly" or "gently." But these meanings can only be considered to be secondary; the first meaning is her own name, by which she addresses herself. (Of all the other authors who have written on Lalla's poems, only Shambhu Nath Bhatt and Janki Nath Bhan, authors of the 1971 Köshur Sama:cha:r collection, have gotten this right.) In her poems, Lalla generally calls herself "Lali," which is a short form of "Lalita," a name of Parvati, consort of Shiva. Here she uses a slightly fuller form of that name. Other theories, such as that "lal" referred to a big belly that hung over her pudenda, thus protecting her modesty, are imaginative and creative, but lack any evidence in her poems or elsewhere.
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॐ
Saturday, December 24, 2016
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॐ THE POEMS OF LALLA OF KASHMIR JK/NKK 23
JK/NKK 23
na:bàdy bö:ras aTàganD Dyôl gom,
diha-ka:n hôl gom hyakà kàhyo |
gvarà sund vatsun ra:van-tyôl pyom,
pahali-rôs khyôl gom hyakà kahyo ||
The knot of my candy load (of worldly pleasures) has come loose,
my backbone is bent, how will I manage?
The guru's word has been a painful loss,
I am a shepherdless flock, how will I go on?
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॐ
na:bàdy bö:ras aTàganD Dyôl gom,
diha-ka:n hôl gom hyakà kàhyo |
gvarà sund vatsun ra:van-tyôl pyom,
pahali-rôs khyôl gom hyakà kahyo ||
The knot of my candy load (of worldly pleasures) has come loose,
my backbone is bent, how will I manage?
The guru's word has been a painful loss,
I am a shepherdless flock, how will I go on?
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॐ
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॐ THE POEMS OF LALLA OF KASHMIR JK/NKK 1
JK/NKK 1
a:mi panà södàras na:vi chès lama:n,
kati bozi day myon myati diyi ta:r |
a:myan Ta:kyan pony zan Sama:n,
zuv chum brama:n garà gatshàha: ||
I am towing my boat on the ocean (of embodied eistence)
with a rope of untwisted yarn.
May God hear my prayer and
carry me across safely.
Like water in unbaked clay,
my efforts are all for naught.
How I wish I would arrive home!
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॐ
a:mi panà södàras na:vi chès lama:n,
kati bozi day myon myati diyi ta:r |
a:myan Ta:kyan pony zan Sama:n,
zuv chum brama:n garà gatshàha: ||
I am towing my boat on the ocean (of embodied eistence)
with a rope of untwisted yarn.
May God hear my prayer and
carry me across safely.
Like water in unbaked clay,
my efforts are all for naught.
How I wish I would arrive home!
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॐ
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
WORKING WITH DAD
Mentally, Dad was vanishing fast. Incipient Alzheimer's. Sandy and I were there on a visit. I think he still knew us, but you couldn't be sure. After breakfast, he wanted to cut back some tree branches from the eaves. He showed me where the long-handled pruner was. At the side of the house, I did the cutting and he did the directing.
Working from the ground, trimming the branches back was hard and uncomfortable. I knew I could do it better from the roof. So I got the ladder and climbed up. From there, I made rapid progress. "You should come down," he said. "Why?" I asked. "Because it's dangerous."
Back on the ground, I helped him to cut the branches into small pieces, filling a 32-gallon trash can. As we neared the end of the job, I remarked that it was almost done. "All good things come to an end," he said.
21 December 2016
Working from the ground, trimming the branches back was hard and uncomfortable. I knew I could do it better from the roof. So I got the ladder and climbed up. From there, I made rapid progress. "You should come down," he said. "Why?" I asked. "Because it's dangerous."
Back on the ground, I helped him to cut the branches into small pieces, filling a 32-gallon trash can. As we neared the end of the job, I remarked that it was almost done. "All good things come to an end," he said.
21 December 2016
