Lalla-Naked-Song
Lalla lived in Kashmir in the 14th century, when many doctrinal streams were merging: Shaivism, sufism, Vedantic non-dualism, and other -isms, but Lalla is beyond religious categories, a living combination that cannot be described in those terms.
Lalla lived in Kashmir in the 14th century, when many doctrinal streams were merging: Shaivism, sufism, Vedantic non-dualism, and other -isms, but Lalla is beyond religious categories, a living combination that cannot be described in those terms.
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The millstone stops, and the hole<br />
where the grain is fed in fills<br />
with grain. The channel leading<br />
to the grinding work is covered over<br />
and hidden, and the miller<br />
himself has disappeared.<br />
* * *<br />
What has happened to me?<br />
All these songs tell one story:<br />
that of <strong>Lalla</strong> on a lake, not knowing<br />
what sandbar I'll run aground on.<br />
What kind of luck have I had?<br />
I made harmony out of a man's clumsy<br />
plastering job on the ceiling.<br />
Still I wonder which<br />
sandbank will strand me.<br />
And how is it now with me?<br />
Magnificent, this becoming<br />
more and more awake.<br />
Sir, have you forgotten the promise<br />
you made in your mother's womb,<br />
to die before you die?<br />
When will you remember<br />
what you intended?<br />
Don't let your donkey wander loose!<br />
It will stray into your neighbor's<br />
saffron garden. Think of the damage<br />
it might do, and the punishment!<br />
Who then will carry you naked<br />
to your own death?<br />
* * *
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