Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology Issn No : 1006-7930

Gender and Divinity: A Comparative Study of Gender Notions in Conceiving Divine Devotee Relationship in Verses of Baba Farid and Piro Preman

Aarushi Kumaria Research Scholar, Christ (Deemed to be university) ([email protected])

Abstract - Baba Sheikh Farid was the pioneer of in . The patriarchal society that existed during that time could be seen through his works till it was challenged by the first female Sufi poet of the 17th century, “Piro preman.” The objective of the paper is to study the biased portrayal of women in Punjabi . For this it looks at the works of “Baba Sheikh Farid” and “Piro Preman”. This study investigates the divine and devotee relationship from the time of “Baba Sheikh Farid” to the first female revolutionary poet “Piro Preman.” The verses of Baba Farid and the devotional verses based on Piro’s life written by her have been taken for study. A comparative literary approach was taken for the analysis of the paper. The paper also looks at the Sufi movement’s transformation into the 19th century in .

Keywords: patriarchy, sufism, Punjabi literature, divine devotee relationship, Baba Sheikh Farid, Piro Preman

Past has its own elusive and dynamic ways of constructing memory. The in Punjab hardly mentions any female writer even though Sufi and movements are feminised where a devotee is always referred to as feminine. Most of the earlier works of our time have been written by men who are full of defence against men and the patriarchal structure. is written in several scripts like Shahmukhi and . Punjabi in the form of literature was first found in the works of Sufi poet Fariduddin Ganjshakar who is also called Baba Farid by his followers. Puran Singh stated how the saint of Bhakti and Sufi movements in Punjab were more rebels than followers (Singh 117) Beginning from Baba Farid who spoke for the deprived and dispossessed to Piro Preman’s dehumanization of women, Punjabi literature became a journey of self expression and finding identity for the minorities. Through her works, she captured the essence of womanhood.

Literature clearly establishes the position women held in the society. In the 12th century poetry, women have often been depicted as a hindrance between the union of the man with god. Forgetfulness of the god by the devotee is often compared to desertion of a husband’s house. “0 Farida! Had I known that my 'veil' shall be in tatters soon 1 wouldn't have tied the 'knot' so hard and strong” (Translated by Rana Nayar). The imagery of veil, bride groom and regret of a groom on the union are recurrent images in Baba Farid’s works.

Many metaphors of impressing the husband just like god is to be impressed by man have been used repeatedly in Punjabi literature. Literature has witnessed the roles of women evolving through ages. Most of the writers earlier were men and the portrayal of women in literature was biased since the society was looked at through their eyes. This very bias forms the motif of the paper. The idea that no work of art can be a complete reality and, hence, the representation of women could be biased and half-represented truth can be investigated in this paper focusing mainly on poetry. The paper argues how the notion of conceiving the divine and devotee relationship on the grounds of gender also changed from the first male Punjabi Sufi poet “Baba Sheikh Farid” of the 12th century to the first revolutionary female poet “Piro Premar” of the 19th century.

For too long, men have written about women. Najm Hosain Syed stated this power of the written word “She stands outsides the cycles of time and society” (Awan). The objective of the paper is to look at how women were represented in the oral and written form of poetry and the difference between male and female perspectives of poets. This paper analyses gender roles where women are seen as submissive and obedient, whereas the men are considered to be prominent and strong. Gender images created by folk songs can, reveal a great deal about the societal attitudes toward gender (Mahan).

Sufism played a major role in forming the . The absence of a female voice in Punjabi literature since the 12th century to the 19th century is surprising. Of many Sufi orders which flourished in , three main Sufi poets of Punjab are Farid Shakarganj in the 12th century, Shah Husain in 16th century and Bulleh Shah. There were also some female poets which came but were pushed down by male voices of the times like Dai Phaphal Hafzani (1800-1872) and Jeevan Khatton Nikkami (1835-1898)

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Melancholy can be seen in Baba Farid’s works. He equated a soul’s longing for the divine with the women’s longing for her lover. The vocabulary used is also very rustic. After the partition in 1947, the Dalit communities overtook the care of these in the East of Punjab. From the East of Punjab, majority of Sufis were of the lower caste of chamar and shudras. Some of the Dalits connected to the Quadri and Chishtia orders. Piro Preman, who is one of the main focuses of this paper, also belonged to the lower Dalit caste.

Piro was a Muslim prostitute who was sold and later changed her religion and identified with the Sikh sect of Gulabdasi. She was first mentioned and established as the first Punjabi poet by Devinder Singh in 1974 in ‘khoj darpan’ with the title “Punjabi di pehli istri kavi.” This was the first article which gave history and culture the chance to be seen from the eyes of a woman. In her , she calls herself vesva which is a low caste Muslim woman. She then became a devotee and voiced the unjust through her writing. Most of her writings are about herself. She is believed to critique the patriarchal notions of previous Sufi writers such as Bulleh Shah. There is unabashed use of language which adds colourful and powerful dimension to her speech. Piro talks of the miracles of the god in saving her and helping her escape the previous life of abduction and prostitution. “She makes place for herself as shakti (goddess/energy) of her guru” (Malhotra 12). She also compares her state to that of Sita trapped in a world full of Ravana. The manuscript of her verses was later converted into a play based on her life. Such was the power of her poetic words that in Shahryar’s drama, the divine acknowledges her poetry and offering even above him. She talks about the journey of finding her true self away from society which imposes roles and ideal women behavior on her. The divine and her lover (later husband) in her works appreciate her love for poetry and freedom from patriarchy. According to her she is already united to the divine, whereas Baba Farid in his poetry yearns to be united with the divine. She also uses many sexual symbols through the use of metaphors of love with Gulab Das. The attacks she makes on Muslim orthodoxy points to the social scandals that she had to deal with to present her point of view. One can see in her work conflict with her friends, family, relations, and religious leaders who restricted her freedom and prevented her from fulfilling her choices.

In the words of Baba Farid, women are seen as silent and veiled and they conform to the male voices and patriarchal notions of society. The devotee is yearning to be accepted by the husband who can finally help her reach the divine. Piro refused to wait for the acceptance of the husband/lover and tried to reach the divine through her poetry. According to her, just like the society, religions also belonged to men. It was believed in Sufism that divine command could not be denied. She challenged this notion which asked her to fulfill the commands of a husband which is repeatedly used in earlier works such as Baba Farid’s as a symbol for divine.

In Baba Farid’s work, the soul who craves for devotion is portrayed in a feminine form, whereas the divine is portrayed in a masculine form. Bride groom and wedding metaphors are used by him to signify that for a woman to reach to the divine, marriage is important. On the other hand, for a man, it works as a distraction. The death symbolism is used along with the marriage in order to state that the marriage with the woman will cause him distractions and take him away from divine. The marriage for women is the reach to divine. The death will eventually unite soul with the supreme power.

ਜਿਤੁ ਜਿਹਾੜੈ ਧਨ ਵਰੀ ਸਾਹੇ ਲਏ ਜਲਖਾਇ ॥

ਮਲਕੁਜਿਕੰਨੀਸੁਣੀਿਾਮੁਹੁਿੇਖਾਲੇਆਇ॥

ਸਾਹੇਜਲਖੇਨਚਲਨੀਜਿੰਿੂਕੂੰਸਮਝਾਇ॥

That day the messenger of death, which she has only heard about Comes to show its face The time of marriage cannot be avoided Explain this to the soul

Dhundhandi – ay suhag ku tao tan kai kaor.

Jina naon Sohagni tina chak nah or

They who call themselves as wedded, for them there is no place in their mind for infatuation for anything else. The metaphors of impressing the husband and being accepted by him or failing in being accepted have been used in many other verses by Sheikh Farid. Man's ultimate duty is seen as to win the love of God as it is the women to win the love of her husband, and as such. Women are seen as a distraction (materialistic world). The angel of death is glorified as he takes the soul bride to the divine husband even against her will. Piro identified such metaphors and rejected this notion that man is the dominant entity. Her writing is bold, rebellious

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and forceful rejecting all gender notions and societal roles. “We will dance away the norms of the clan and the world” [Translation Malhotra]. She does not use the metaphors of husband and wife in her poetry. Her poetry is written from a feminine point of view which views man and woman equal in the eyes of god (Malhotra, 1513). “piro! I will not accept the companionship of a lie Those that are separate will never meet, just like a broken thread They disperse as people do when they disembark from a boat” (Translation: Anshu Malhotra 2009) metaphors the Sufi poets were reinforcing traditional gender roles. In Sufi poems, Ranjha is the one who binds devotee with divine. Such an idea is portrayed in the work of Baba Farid where women need man’s acceptance and love in order to reach to divine. For a woman, husband should be the divine. The devotee traditionally began referring to himself as female, Heer while the divine was represented as male Ranjha. The devotee is referred to as an abandoned lover yearning for the acceptance of her husband, the divine. Piro Preman refused to be an abandoned lover at the mercy of a cruel beloved. She refused to wait for a beloved who would give her acceptance and love. In ’s Heer Ranjha, Heer is presented as submissive to her lover and incapable of rational thinking. Heer is seen as the other. Much instances of Heer Ranjha are used by many poets. Same romantic symbolism can be seen in the works of Babe Farid’s verses.

ਜਿੰਿੁਵਹੁਟੀਮਰਣੁਵਰੁਲੈਿਾਸੀਪਰਣਾਇ॥

ਫਰੀਿਾਜਕੜੀਪਵੰਿੀਈਖੜਾਨਆਪੁਮੁਹਾਇ॥੧॥

ਫਰੀਿਾਿਰਿਰਵੇਸੀਗਾਖੜੀਚਲਾ拓ਿੁਨੀਆ拓ਭਜਤ॥

Translation: The soul is the bride and death is the groom who will take her away towards the divine. Fareed it is difficult to become a servant to the lord While Farid usually uses Farida in his poems which denotes to slave and does not refers to him. He tries to exclude himself from the poem. Farida (slave) is usually used for the woman who is a slave to man just like a man is a slave to god. Fareeda also means the one who is pure and untouched so it can be used for the lord who is described as the master of all. The soul who is the bride cannot reach or touch the Fareeda without the death in form of her husband. The idea of rich and poor has also been used quite often in his poetry to convey to the reader that the woman is poor and the weaker gender. Piro Preman wrote, “Piro herself is Piya, not separate from him”. She believes that we are already one with god and no one is a slave in his eyes (Khalid).

In Baba Farid works, divine is seen as the supreme power and to unite with the divine, one needs to renounce the world of materialistic joy. The imagery of sexual union was celebrated in the verses as the union of devotee with the divine. In Baba Farid’s poems, man was given the position of divine which women through marriage and devotion can achieve whereas in Piro Preman saw men and women both as equal and divine as the ultimate supreme power. Piro believed that all the religions of the world are constructed by the men and for the men where woman has only a subordinate position there (Mir 2010). The devotee in Baba Farid’s poems is identified as a feminine and the portrayal of the human soul is of a woman or wife whereas god is presented in a masculine form (Harnam Singh). Piro Preman invokes Mira’s and Sita’s image of purity and devotion to define her relation with Gulab Das.

ਜਿਤੁ ਜਿਹਾੜੈ ਧਨ ਵਰੀ ਸਾਹੇ ਲਏ ਜਲਖਾਇ

ਮਲਕੁਜਿਕੰਨੀਸੁਣੀਿਾਮੁਹੁਿੇਖਾਲੇਆਇ॥

ਸਾਹੇਜਲਖੇਨਚਲਨੀਜਿੰਿੂਕੂੰਸਮਝਾਇ॥ (Thind)

Translation: That day the messenger of death, which she has only heard about Comes to show its face The time of marriage cannot be avoided Explain this to the soul

“He is eager to fly away”

Different vocabulary is used. Baba Farid has used words such as greying of hair, alienation of house by woman, her youth. Using of differential, silent and veiled symbols like a bride for a woman shows how women were looked in the devotion of the god. Baba Farid also use very rustic vocabulary. Male voice has been given and “he” is used for the supreme power and Farida which means a slave for the bride. The metaphors of full of

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defense against male authority and martialised society” (Awan) Piro rejecting the notion uses strong imagery and bold languages like “I will not accept the companionship of a lie” (Translation by Anshu Malhotra 2009)

Contradictions can be clearly seen. She tries to voice out that other Sufi poets put women into two roles which she tries to fight out but in some of her works it can be seen that she herself unintentionally is putting women into those two roles. Piro in her poems depict woman taking a lot of decisions on her own but despite the feminist awareness shows an image of the woman who cannot live by herself. Piro needs a man, her Ranjha to realize her full potential in order to reach to the divine. “And so it seems Piro needs a man who will give her support so she may fully realize her poetic potential” (Malhotra 26). In one of his songs, he is equation the oppression of a man with that of the oppression of the Muslim invaders in the 12th century which goes on to say that he was actually aiming for the equality for reaching the divine and was trying to portray this oppression through his songs. The notion of slavery is not of a man and woman but of the slavery due to Muslim invaders.

However, one song of Baba Farid cannot make claim for all his songs some of which were written before the invaders. The images of wife and husband are used in which wife is the weaker gender who is an obstacle of a man to reach to divine. Also taking in account of the orthodoxy which was present during that time, goes on to show the ideas of gender during 12th century which are portrayed by his works. The five evidences prove to hold more power over one contradiction. Her usage of vocabulary, bold statements and imagery shows how there was difference in the gender notion of the Sufi Punjabi poets from 12th to the revolutionary of 17th century which was challenged by coming up of the first female Punjabi Sufi poet.

Sufism came in Punjab in 12th century by Baba Farid where husband wife symbolism were used to define the love for divine. Although, women poets were present at that time, their writing and voice was pushed down by patriarchal society. The divine devotee relationship in Sufi Punjabi poetry of 12th century by Baba Sheikh Farid was challenged by the first female revolutionary poet Piro Preman in 19th century through her bold imagery. She broke the conventional notions of womanhood portrayed in earlier time through poetry and folk tales like Heer Ranjha and gave voice to freedom. Heer–Ranjha symbolism was used where Heer’s decisions and freedom were in the hands of Ranjha. It was the first time a female voice was heard in the patriarchal times. The idea of male dominance which can be seen in Baba Farid’s works where woman was seen as the other sex, was carried along by other male poets till challenged by Piro Preman. Baba Farid equated longing for the divine with the longing a woman has for her husband. Piro Preman criticized Heer Ranjha narrative as well. She invoked Sita and Mira in her verses and believed that god rather than a man was her savior. Piro Preman’s relationship with Gulab Das and its influence on her devotion and writing could be the further scope of research. There is very less point of view taken of a female writer in these research papers. There could be a feministic read of her writing.

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