Women Seer-saints of India and Their Songs Dr Subhadra Desai

n India, as elsewhere in the world, music respective regions. These women belonged to and literature have often converged since the different regions in India and sang in their own Iearliest times. In hymns, songs, and inton­ mother tongues: Tamil, Kannada, Telu­gu, Kash­ ations India has inherited, through millennia, miri, Rajasthani, Gujarati, Marathi, Hindi, and a remarkable legacy in which exceptional litera­ others. Most of them were well known in their ture finds an inspiring voice. And this tradition own regions during their lifetime. Some of the of the synthesis of literature and music that ger­ lyrical forms, composed by these women saints, minated in the Vedic Age has remained alive and date back to more than a thousand years, while vibrant since then. some are a few centuries old. The songs portray Seer-saint-poets of India such as Kabir, Sur­ the divine love of the women seers as well as a das, Tulasidas, Mirabai, Gorakhnath, and others myriad of metaphors encapsulating their feel­ adopted music as a medium to express their ings regarding life. Some songs even articulate devotion as well as their realization of Truth. spiritual wisdom of a high order, which are by In this tradition of saint-composers there was no means inferior to the compositions of other a considerable presence of women who were saints in terms of substance or feeling. spiritual seekers, saint poetesses, ascetics, men­ The songs of these women seers are sung even dicants, and devotees. They recorded their spir­ in the present times by musicians and lay people. itual experiences and realizations in the form of The nameless bearers of these traditions—men songs, which not only bear the distinctive im­ and women of different castes and classes, though pression of their personal journeys but also illus­ mostly of lower castes—have played a vital role trate the social and cultural milieu of their times, in preserving these songs, thereby champion­ their achievements and failures. They were often ing their authors. A feature that characterises not only seers but spirited women who dared these songs, whether by better or lesser or un­ to question parochial social structures of their known authors, is the popularity they continue times and faced innumerable personal hardships to enjoy among the common unsophisticated and challenges. Their single-minded devotion people of the villages. The songs thus appear to and intense love for God transformed them into be, for the common folk, a well-suited oppor­ spiritual heroines of their times. tunity for a cultural activity of a higher order. For instance, songs of women saints of Rajasthan God’s Brides and Gujarat are largely sung by people belonging Spread across a vast expanse of space and time, to lower castes, even in present times—they can these women are unified in their unique lan­ easily relate to these songs. A handful of songs of guage of love, truth, honesty, strength, and women saints of Assam, Odisha, and Manipur in empowerment. This spirit has lived on for cen­ the Vaishnava tradition, were collated from very turies through oral singing traditions in their eld­erly traditional teachers of Assamese culture

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and then published in Odiya texts and Manipuri Brihaddevata (2.82–4) and Arshanukra­ sankirtanas respectively. These women were well mani (10.100–2), which are authoritative trea­ known during their lifetime, within their own tises on the Vedas, record twenty-seven women regions, and—with the exception of Sija Laioibi, seers of the Rig Veda—the first and earliest lit­ the Manipuri princess-saint—they were acknow­ erature in the world—who have hymns attri­ ledged as the first poetesses of their areas. Un­ buted to them. Little is known about them, and fortunately only a negligible amount of works that mainly through traditional sources, but belonging to them can be traced today. the inclusion of their hymns in the two above-­ A remarkable phenomenon that has emerged mentioned treatises is significant for the pres­ in the songs of Andal (ninth century, Tamil ent study, as these women are mentioned as Nadu), Akka Mahadevi (twelfth century, Kar­ brahmavadinah, women seers who attained the nataka), Mirabai (sixteenth century, Rajasthan), knowledge of Brahman, also called rishikas. Tarigonda Vengamamba (eighteenth century, Reference to some of these rishikas is also Andhra), and Sija Laioibi (eighteenth century, found in the Sama Veda Samhita, the earliest Manipur) is the immense yearning to be united literary document on Indian music, in which with God as brides. These women are the best the system of chanting or singing the Sama Veda examples of bridal mysticism, where a mystic hymns in four, five, six, and even seven Vedic woman—or man—shuns all worldly bindings svaras, musical notes, was formalized for the first and considers herself married to the Divine. time in the history of Indian music. Andal was the first of the mystic brides among Of the twenty-seven rishikas of the Rig Veda, all women saints. In a different space and time, Vak, Godha, Indramatri, and Sarparajni have this aspect of devotion is exemplified by other hymns attributed to them in the Sama Veda Sam­ women saints such as Akka Mahadevi, Mirabai, hita. Scholars are divided in their opinion about Vengamamba, Sija Laioibi, and others. these women being real or mythical characters, These women were the earliest poetesses of even though they are mentioned as women seers India, whose feelings and experiences come to in two authoritative Vedic treatises. us through songs. These are oral traditions that The hymns ascribed to the women seers of have been preserved in the different genres of In­ the Vedic age were not only sung as Sama, along dian music, such as Sama Vedic, folk, and Hin­ with Sama hymns of other male rishis, but were dustani and Carnatic classical music.1 also documented in the notation system of the Sama tradition. These Sama hymns are still sung Vedic Seer-poetesses by samagas, experts in different living traditions, The first hymns ascribed to women seers of the which is enormously significant in the history of Vedic period are sung as Sama Veda hymns in the Indian culture. earliest known musical tradition of India. This is evident in the chanting-singing traditions of Bhakti Traditions Samagana prevalent today. The songs by seer- The mediaeval period in India produced many poetesses during the great bhakti movement of saints of the bhakti type, beginning with the the mediaeval period, in the local vernaculars, Shaiva saints of the Tamil region in the sixth are sung in the regional musical forms in their century. Sixty-three Nayanmars and twelve Al­ respective regions to this day. wars of the Tamil region were the earliest Shaiva

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and Vaishnava saints respectively, whose lives with India’s greatest saints. She rejected societal and songs of love for God brought radical trans­ norms with defiance, leaving her marital home formation in the religious life of India. For the to be united with her divine lover Sri Krishna. first time God was not an entity to be feared Her life and music blurred distinctions between or adored from a distance, but was now openly worshipfulness and intense love. Today, after six loved as a master, child, playmate, friend, lover, centuries, celebrated and admired for her role in or father. The various traditions in which the shaping both India’s spiritual and cultural life, her women seers-saints flourished are the following: songs are sung not only in the folk traditions of (i) Shaiva and Vaishnava traditions in the Rajasthan and Gujarat but also by classical mu­ Tamil region sicians in both Hindustani and Carnatic genres. (a) Shaiva tradition of Nayanmars Karaikkal Ammaiyar, literally ‘the saintly (b) Bhagavata tradition of Azhvars, or mother of Karaikkal’, of the seventh century, Alwars is one of the sixty-three great Nayanmar saints (ii) Shaiva and Vaishnava traditions in Kar­ of Tamil Nadu. She is the first saint poetess of nataka and Andhra regions India. In one of her songs, Karaikkal Ammaiyar (a) Virashaiva or Lingayat movement describes herself as a pey, ghost, who dances in (b) Haridasa tradition the company of Shiva, in the cremation grounds (c) Vaishnava tradition of Tiruvalankadu: (iii) Vaishnava and other panths, sects, from

the Deccan or the region around Maha­rashtra ‘Earnest Brass Mirabai’ (a) Mahanubhava panth (b) Varkari panth (c) Ramdasi panth (iv) Gujarat, Saurashtra region, and Rajasthan (a) Vaishnava tradition (b) Mahapanth or Nijara panth (v) Shaiva tradition in Kashmir (vi) Vaishnava traditions in eastern India, in­ cluding Assam, Odisha, and Manipur. Baul mendicants of Bengal of the past and present have had women sadhakas but no record exists of a woman Baul who ex­ pressed her feelings and experiences through her own songs. They are known to sing their guru’s—Mahajan’s—songs. The iconic fifteenth-century saint-poetess Mira­bai, whose life and music assumed the pro­ portions of an enduring legend in India for their unique significance, is widely revered today as one of the best exemplars of all consuming de­ image: brass statue / kapasi.com / kapasi.com image: brass statue votion to a spiritual ideal and equal in stature

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The female pey has her journey on a bright moon day in the month sagging breasts and bulging veins of Margazhi—December-January—to the abode hallowed eyes and bared teeth of her beloved deity: ruddy down on her sunken belly long canines In the month of Margazhi, and lanky shins on knobby ankles; on an auspicious bright moon day, she lingers, howling, at the cremation bejeweled girls who would join us for the ground. bath come along. Dancing here, Graceful girls of Ayarpadi cowherd clan, with effortless composure sweet little ones! as his matted locks radiate in all directions, Narayana, the son of Nandagopa is known our father resides at Tiruvalankadu.2 for his sharp spear and fierce deeds: He is the darling child, lion cub of The Azhvars lived between the sixth and the the beautiful-eyed Yashoda. ninth centuries and were devotees of Vishnu. Our dark-hued, lotus-eyed, radiant, moon- faced Lord alone will grant us our boons. They considered life in Girls come, assemble, and Andal the world as transient win the world’s praise. and aimed to achieve liberation through The other celebrated work of Andal isNac ­ divine union with chiyar Tirumoli. their God. The term The Virashaiva or Lingayat movement and ‘Azhvar’ means ‘one the Vaishnava-Haridasa tradition in Karnataka who is immersed in flourished from twelfth century onwards. The divine love’. Vira­shaivas visualized a society free from discrim­ Andal, who ination based on caste, creed, and wealth. Their lived in the ninth philosophy rejected the prevailing social, political, century, was the and religious systems. The adherents of this faith ‘ sole woman among were also known as Lingayats, ‘those who wear a A ndal’ - P olished S outh I ndian B ronze / L otus culpture the twelve Azhvar linga—Shiva’s emblem—on one’s body’. saints and, like Mira, Among the thirty-four Vira­shaiva women was dedicated to vachana-kartris, composers of vachana,3 Akka her Ishta Devata, Mahadevi was the most eminent and radical Chosen Deity, since woman saint. She was a wandering mystic who preadolescence. Her shunned all worldly ties to embrace Shiva as her collection of thirty immortal husband. She lovingly addressed her verses, Tiruppavai, deity as Chenna Mallikarjuna in her vachanas. is a much loved sac­ She rejected the authority of the Vedas as well red literature in most as prescribed discriminations based on caste, Tamil Hindu house­ gender, and class. Her fearless expressions are holds to this day. in the form of vachanas, numbering more than In her first song a thousand, which contain spiritual wisdom of Andal sings of the highest order and are sung even today.

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—No bleed here— In a vachana Akka Mahadevi recounts for her friends her dream about Shiva, the bestower of blessings, who comes to her for bhiksha, alms. In Maharashtra, Mahanubhava, the Varkari and Ramadasi panths grew during the period between the twelfth to the eighteenth cen­ turies. The Varkaripanth , a living tradition in present-day Maharashtra, was led by saints belonging to diverse backgrounds such as the heretic brahmanas, social outcastes, shudras, the untouchable Mahars, and even devadasis.­ Women leaders were common in this sect, and saints of this tradition such as Muktabai, Bahina­bai, Janabai, Soyarabai, Nirmala, and Kanhopatra were reputed to be immersed in love for the Divine. Their songs, well known as abhangs, were addressed to their favourite deity Vitthala—Vishnu—of Pandharpur. Statue of Akka Mahadevi at her birthplace, Udathadi In an abhang, Janabai sings in praise of In time past we were, Pan­dharpur, the abode of her beloved deity in time future we shall be, Pan­dharinath, or Vitthala, where devotees con­ Throughout the ages we have been, gregate to sing and dance intoxicated in divine Forever the sun rises and sets, love. Janabai says: ‘One who sings God’s name Forever Shiva creates, from the heart is sure to find refuge in Him.’ dissolves and creates again. The Shaiva rebel saint Lalleshwari, or Lal­ded, * * * of the fourteenth century, is the most prominent He from whose navel steadfastly woman saint-poetess of Kashmir. She composed proceedeth in its upward course in the vernacular language of the region, while the The syllable Om, and naught but it, language for scholarly writings prevalent during And for whom the kumbhaka exercise her time was Sanskrit. The compositions of Lal­ formeth ded are known as lalvakh; they are full of imagery A bridge to the Brahma-randhra, and exceptionally poetic in nature. A few selected He beareth in his mind the one and only mystic spell (manthar or mantra), vakhs of Lalleshwari are illustrated here: And of what benefit to him are thousand spells? With a rope of untwisted thread am I towing * * * a boat upon the ocean, Thou alone art the heavens, Where will my God hear? and Thou alone art the earth. Will He carry me over? Thou alone art the day, the air, the night. Like water in goblets of unbaked clay, Thou alone art the meal-offering, sandal paste, do I slowly waste away the flowers, the water of aspersion. My soul is in a dizzy whirl. Thou alone art all that is. Fain would I reach my home? What, therefore, can I offer thee.4

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The women saints from Gujarat and the Sau­ Like Mirabai, she believed she was wedded to rashtra region chiefly belonged to two religious her divine Lover. In the course of her struggle traditions, namely Vaishnava and Mahapanth, against the oppressive social order of her time, or Nijara panth. she was drawn towards philosophy and yoga and The spiritual precepts of the Mahapanth were became a great yogini and poetess of her time. designed for practice by man and woman together These eminent seer-saints as Mirabai, Andal, as husband and wife, or even otherwise. Close Akka Mahadevi, Lalded, and others paved the secrecy was maintained around these tenets, and way for a remarkable number of women spir­ only a practitioner had access to them. Practition­ itual seekers, most of whom led ordinary lives ers came from all walks of life and often belonged but inspired by their love for God achieved ex­ to the lower strata of society. In several instances ceptional heights in their spiritual lives. Most women became the guru or the initiator. Refer­ of them, though unlettered, were not deterred ences to women belonging to this panth such as from singing to God in their simple vernacular Toral, Liralbai, Lidalbai, Amarbai, and others are languages. Their compositions were not written traced back as early as the fourteenth century. down for several centuries, but were carried for­ In one of her songs Liralbai, of the sixteenth wards till the present through the age-old oral century, sings: traditions of India. O Ram, The abiding influence of the songs of women Who created this body? seers, albeit uneven and scattered across com­ Why did you make it so (transient)? munities in present-day India, is evidence of the The moon, sun, the multitude of stars, deep impact they exercised in their own time. Hammer and sickle, shapes and designs, For the literary and musical value of the songs All reside within me. and their messages of transcendence, of sublime Why did you then make it so (transient)? surrender, or even of assertion of women’s auton­ Orchards, trees, wind, and water, omy, they constitute a priceless heritage to the Dwelling spaces, gardens, whole world. P my tree-beds and fruits, even the reaper, Notes and References all are within, Why did you then, make it so (transient)? 1. Sama Vedic hymns ascribed to four women seers of the Vedic age, and songs and lives of Lock and key (of my existence) dwell in me, about seventy-five women saint-poetesses of the the opener is also present, mediaeval period, which are sung even today, Ganga, Yamuna, the holy pilgrimages, have been traced by this author. are all within, 2. Translation by Karen Pechilis, Interpreting Why did you then, make it so (transient)? Devotion (New York: Routledge, 2012), 188— Tiruvalankadu is about sixty kilometres from O tell me, my Ram, Chennai (Madras). why did you make this body so transient? 3. Vachanas are prose texts in Kannada composed Liralbai seeks to know the Truth, O Ram. by Virashaiva saints that evolved in the twelfth century. Known as the Mirabai of Andhra Pradesh in 4. See George Grierson and Lionel Barnett, Lalla- the eighteenth century, Tarigonda Vengamamba vakyani, or The Wise Sayings of Lal Ded (Lon- was an ardent devotee of Lord Venkate­shvara. don: Royal Society, 1920).

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