Vol. 3, Issue 1, Part A (2021)

Lal ded’s vakhs offer valuable spiritual insights of religious practice to those seeking communion with God. Her advice is not only theoretical but has practical content also as she herself was a practising yogini. She offered the practice of Shaiva yoga along with its essential component of changes which a person needs to make in the way he leads his life. This also required change in his mind set of the sadhak. Nature of godhead also is an important theorisation since it defines the vision of God that a seeker needs to understand in the path of moksha. For bhakti (devotion) and sadhna (meditation), jnana (knowledge) is important. This paper seeks to explore those elements in her vakhs which tell about the path to God. Her vakhs, notice not only had the influence of earlier ideologies prevalent in Kashmir, but also included her own experiences as a Shaiva yogini. Her theories and practice almost prepared a pattern for all later bhakti saints in Kashmir, even after centuries, albeit with more stress on bhakti per se. This paper seeks to explore all these elements as evinced in her vakhs.