Lalla Ded the Philosopher-Saint: Exploring Hagiography, Mysticism and Intellectual Discourses in Kashmiri Vaakhs

<ns3:p> This paper offers a critical evaluation of Lalla Ded, the fourteenth-century mystic, as a philosopher-saint. Her <ns3:italic>vaakhs</ns3:italic> form a body of intellectual and spiritual discourses. Rather than looking at her <ns3:italic>vaakhs</ns3:italic> solely through the biographical lens, the paper approaches the <ns3:italic>vaakhs</ns3:italic> as a site for philosophical inquiry on the nature of self, divinity, mysticism and social order. The interdisciplinary nature encompassing philosophy, theology and social critique calls for an analytical framework that captures the conversational depth of the <ns3:italic>vaakhs</ns3:italic> . The paper interrogates the core tensions in the <ns3:italic>vaakhs</ns3:italic> using critical discourse analysis as an analytical framework. The <ns3:italic>vaakhs</ns3:italic> reflect her role as a spiritual force, transcending religious divisions and holding significance in contemporary intellectual debates. While scholars describe the <ns3:italic>vaakh</ns3:italic> as a verse, saying, song, and proverb, this paper argues for understanding <ns3:italic>vaakh</ns3:italic> as ‘poetic discourse’, foregrounding its philosophical dimension. Discourse is dialogic and reflective - it emerges from the lived experience of Lalla Ded wherein her inner self constantly and critically engages with religious orthodoxy and social hierarchies of the world outside. By focusing on the dialogic nature of the <ns3:italic>vaakhs</ns3:italic> , the paper attempts to understand the performative elements within it. It pays attention to Lalla’s critique of gender and the exercise of agency. The <ns3:italic>vaakhs</ns3:italic> position her as an early precursor to feminist resistance, making her body of work relevant to modern debates on gender and identity. The paper moves past the prevelant hagiographic interpretations and argues how Lalla Ded’s <ns3:italic>vaakhs</ns3:italic> philosophically engage with existential, theological and socio-political concerns. Based on existing scholarship on mysticism, gender, South Asian philosophy and history, the paper reclaims Lalla Ded as a philosopher-saint and critical thinker in Kashmir’s tradition. Nonetheless, the paper argues against contemporary attempts that render her <ns3:italic>vaakhs</ns3:italic> universal, which detach them from the specific cultural and philosophical milieu that shaped Lalla’s ideas. Kashmir’s distinctive cultural and philosophical richness may be lost if the <ns3:italic>vaakhs</ns3:italic> are shaped to fit larger and more generalised narratives. </ns3:p>