Voices of Devotion: The Oral Tradition and Saint Poetesses of India

Oral tradition has been recognized as the primary source of cultural and literary heritage everywhere in the world, and India remains one of the world’s richest sources of oral tradition. What is unique to Indian oral tradition is the role played by women in it. Some earliest forms of oral poetry (composed during the 6th century BCE to 16th century CE) are found in the body of literature established by the ancient Indian poetesses. Their narratives and songs composed in verse form are the outpourings of their hearts containing the highest form of spiritual realization, metaphysical truth and metaphorical imageries. Their mystical experience led them to compose such compelling poems that they have collectively became the manual of liberation, social integration and reformation as well as a tool to challenge the social and religious orthodoxy. Our wise foremothers made a remarkable contribution to the oral tradition in poetry and as an indigenous heritage that is worthy of preservation and transmission from one generation to another. Their poems are expression of their profound faith and boundless love for the divine, their spiritual longing for a personal deity, and ultimately of their quest for enlightenment. The oral tradition in poetry in India first began with composition of gathas (songs) by Buddhist senior nuns (theris) during the late 6th century BCE. Later that poetic tradition was carried on by poet- saints like Akka Mahadevi, Lal Ded and Mirabai through their Vachanas, Vakhs and Bhajanas. Their verse narratives delineate their journeys of ascendance from the confinement within a marginal/peripheral space of objectification to a space of freedom attained by spiritual awakening. The creative space opened up by them invited the hitherto unheard voices of the marginalized, the women and the so-called lower castes people who were excluded due to oppressive notions based on ritualistic purity.