1

"
"'o"

"

.. ..,. .

-c. ':-:- - - -

8RAHM PRAKASH
,

TRANSLA~ION

AND.ANALYSIS

by
"

Hasina M. Jamani

A Thesis
Submitted to the Facult.y of Graduate Studies

and Research, McGill University, Montreal,

"

in' partipl fulfillment of the

'requirement for the degree
of Master of

Arts~

Institute of. Islamic Studies

McGll university
Montreal

""

"

September 1985

.1

l'

-----___.__

r_._~~.-~--,~~-------------~-r
M__ ~-

:1,

.t

f1

_.

\0

~~ .;..~

.~

'1

!1

'

, J l

....

Cl

'

---. ---.-

!
,

.'

.11

__ t ____

----~----~- ~~.~r.c~-' ~--~-----

_// /7

1
1--

--~--

t!,: 1

Author:

"

------ ------------ --.---.--~--

/.

HaSlna M Jaman1

""

~1,

Brahm PrakAsh, A Translation and

''-itle of'Tllesis:

'--

nalysis.
1

Dep&mnt:
"-

'"

Institute of Islamic Studies,

of

McGill University.

,:

1 ~

1-

,Degree:

M.A.

\.

This thesis

seeka to examine

r~ligiO~s~poem --from the

IsmA( tu cOMml,lnity

Brahm 'PrakAsh,

a 9inn-

literary heritage of

the Nizri

of the Inian Sub-conttnent.

The Brahm

,Praksh is a didactic poem, composed

seeks to

guide an Ism'l

,.

.c

in-a mystical vein. It

murid <believer> from

stage to

of

st~ge

progress

s~ritual

toward the

attainment of

the

daren <vision> of the Lord within

one's own self-hood.
,

'

The study reveals that the Brahm PrakAsh,

,
. in ~escribing
the mystical path appears te find its basis in an indisenou5
."

J. _ y

Indian . religious
thesis,

8 '

phenomen9n~/,/'-

therefore,
.

examiilK
"

how

the

reconstruc~ts"

'"

r'

and
(

Brahm

Tantric

restructures. the

8upr-imposing upon the

th" TantricJ'iadition. :This

Praksh
by'

eiement "

Tantric frame-work a Shi<i

form of

.\

r
,r

')

1
Ir

u~
o

..

./

.'. ,

, ,

.(

0'

" ,

., : 1/
Hi

'\

, i

"

Ha ..i na M Ja~n i

, :Auteut r
!J:

Le Brahm 'pcakash , une tra4uction

;,

Ti tre de Thse:

et une analyse.
,
L' inst i tut des t udes i Sla~iqUeS'

Dpartement:

,1

l'universi't de McGill.
Degrc

Maltrise

Cette thse vis~ examiner le Brahm praksh, un 91n&npome

rligieux qu'a

communaut'

produit l'hritage

NizArt IsmA(Il!

littraire de

du ,sous-continent indien.

'Brahm Prakash est un pome didactique-

la
Le

dans une veine

compos~

,mystique. Il essaie' de conduire' un murtd <croyant> IamA( 111

d'une

tage

une

autre

dans

un progrs

spirituel

qui

parvient finalement au daran <vue> du Seigneur au dedans de

loi-m'me.

;'

L'tude, montre ,que le ~rahm

sentier myst'ique,
rligieux
examine,

se fonde

indignedonc,

Praklsh, en

dcrivant le

mani festement sur

un phenomn~

la tradition

comment

le Brahm

tantrique.
Prakish

"\

Cette

thse

reconstruit

et

reforme l'lmen.t tantrique par l'imposition d,'un Ialam d'un

'tearactre ShI (t sur ta charpente tantrique.
"
"

"f(i i

..

:.

,.:l>.. _ _

~_

: ____'....... _ _.:::.._v__.-.. . . . . .

f"~

Il

\.

,'

iv

'.
\

Primarily,

J
l

~ppreciation

without
~Gill

th~s

to th.

thesis

debt

of gratitude

Institute of

whose 'generous
University,

oves a

Ismaili Studies,

con:tribution towars

l would, not

my

have been able

and

London,
study

at

to undertake

the masters programme.

It is to my thesis supervisor, Dr. C.J. Adams, to whom l

ow,e my sincere

thanks for his

which

in reyiewing

he took

study and
}

for making

and painstaking care

pat~ence

the successive

this work

drafts of

presentable. If

this

this study

deserves. any appreciation the credi,t is due to him.

0;

The support and

encouragement which l received

parents has been tremendous. 1 am

'sister,

()

Almas / whose

enabled me ta

constant

pa~ticulatly

sUPPo,rt

see thi s s,t udy t,hrough

from my

indebted to my

and motivation

the end.. And i t

has'
li s to

her that 1 dedicate this thesis.

Finally,
Ra~tansi
#

-.t-

must

and Derryl Maclean in

time and valuable

thesis.:

acknowledge

1 am

my

collegues,

Diamond

particular who rendered their

assistance towards the complet ion

also grateful to Miss Salma

of this

<Sr.> Lakhani for'

typing most part of this thesis.

\\

-----,--~,_.

-- ... \".o

\.

'

':-,'_

..

.-.-._._-'--_ _
.._---_.
.......

--;------

---------_.......__.

..

Tran.liter.tion

'

_ l

'\

The transliteration seheme folloved in this thesis , for

Arabie and
the

Persian terms is that

Institute of

Sanskri t'and

vhieh has been

Islamie Studies.

those belonging

vords de~ived

from

Hindu tradition,

they

For

to the

devised by

have been transliterated a's they appear in Benjamin Walker's,

~.

Hinu World

<see the Bibliography>.

super-script for.

are indieated

The sub-seript

and the

respectively.

by and

to preserve ",the attractiveness of the thesis the

reeurring foreign vords sueh as da(.va, ginAn lli etc., have
In order

l'

been under-lined on1y upon their first appearanee.

\ i
\

\1 '

l
"

o
~. ~

'-----

-~-----

vi
,

;
o.

Page
,

.
Inglish Abstract ............................................. ii
R6s'UIIl ........... '

"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

iii

Acknowlegement ~ ........................................... iv
~Transl i

terat ion . " v

Introduct ion

......... , .................. ........... . 1

."

Notes to! Introduction

.................... 13

Chapter 1: Brief Background of the "NizArI

I~mA(

IIi,

da (va in the -Indian Sub-cont inent ................ 15

back~round

a> Historical
)

b> Nature and Structure of

t~e

ginAn Literature

Notes to Chapter I: ............. .

Chapter ,1 t: Brahm PrakS'sh
a> A Translation of the text

................. 37

.................

41

Chapter III:" Brahm Praksh, An Analysis

a> Background to the Tantrie Tradition 55

Notes to Chapter III, Section <a> : 67

b> 4.rantric Element in the ginns,

specifieally in the Brahm Praksh 70

-"1

Notes to Chapter III, Section <b> ." " " 95

11

j~ ~

CO~cludin9 Remarks.: 98
Notes ~ 106.
Bibl iography " oj" ............... 107
...
"

,---(iJ

" 4

",

1
?

..- --1 - - - ---,

--Introduction

'---.its

Sht' t, Ism!' tlism claims a long history.

I~

1200 years

movement

. sub-divided

developmen~s

of

history,

into
of

sries

d\!veloping

\
..

in

:.

,,'

'"

'horrifi~d

W.lvan~w

sequence
the

maintains,

or

the

after
of

These

are

to others

Carmatian band

the Islamic vorld

during
.

became

developments.

parallel

directIy

div~ed

and

some

a ,certain
"

Bahrain

vhich

fourth century - the

Fa~imid

.;:...

separate

running

~hus,

time-period. 1

of

Ism<ilism,

into l'phases', some

the Ism< tIt

the co1l1rse of

its highly civilized capital

Caliphate of Cairo vith

~_

~nd

i ts

advartced

intellectual 1 i fe

the

encyclopaedist (1

brotherhood of""lkhvn !!-Saf" . . which, in' the fifth

attemgted " to, popularize
masses -

the dreaded

~entury

learning and." philosophy among

Assassins of Syria "and pers'ia

th

in the

fifth and the sixth centuries are all different facets of the
same

movement. 2

-Ism(tlism vas
and

may

expressed in

put

be

in

B.

infinite forms

Lewis'

words,

both dootrinal

or9anisation~1."2

Of these
its

This

9r~owth

different 'phises'
and

development in

e~pecially in its Nizrt form, has

of the
the

IsmA(ilt movement,

1 ndian . Sub-cont inent,

by far received the leas't

"

,j,

),

",
:2

attenti'on :"
evolution

This phase presents

history

in the

ad~ustment to Hinduism.

of

yet another characterisitic

Ism<ilipm,

This is evidenced by'the presence of

a widely scattered Ism< il community

f;

its

part~cularly

... more popular,ly known

Indian
in the
y' the Khj . communi ty
not only
-..J Sub-contine~t, but spread during rece~t years to th~, Afr}c.an

1
1

and' th North "~merican 'tont::inents.

,l

Tnese Khjs

qonsi!de,r

,!r

,,

i
1
,
i

Ism<~!

themselves to "have been a

product of the

movement

which spread in the Indian

Sub-continent during the medieval

"era.
()

Sa.tpanth, "the Path to the Tru.th" , i'5 the name of a sect

1
i

by

'f l

. !,

which

Nizr

Sub-continent

by

alleged to have

medieval era.

1 spt < l i sm
various

Nizri dcs

"
consider themselves
to

'0

day Nizr

into
and

arrived there for da<wa

The present

was ,spread

the

pirs

Indian
who

are

purposes during the

Ism<ls 'or

have been converted from

Khjs

Hinduism to

Islam by tQe da(wa activities of these Nizr d(s and prs.

As a sub-sect
." that
\

after the

of Sh< Islam the

dea th of

the prt.ophet

Nizr

Ism~<ls

hold

Mu:tlammad, the

di vine

themsel~es

in (Ali

power, guidancecand leadership, manifested

as the first Imm and that religious authority is 'trans~erred

by inheritedjright to his successors.' Over a period of time,
"

/
1

the Shi<! sect divided into several branches depen,din.g on the

person in

the
main line of
,
k

allegiance. The 1 sm (tils

descent to W\lom they

get their name \from

..
,

gave their
(,

fact t'hat

th~

0;,

'0

'{)

(~ --....-~

_it."""_
..

..- - _ ..." . - j ..........:. ......

..r.d.Jt

as

resu] t of

aIIegiance

spI it

to Imm

Imm l sm ( l'

in

the

8th century,

they

Ism( U, while

the majority

considered

brother Mns

K~im

as the successor

gave

to Imm

Ja(ffr al-~diq. They came to be known as Ithn-<Ashars.

Similarly, in the lO-llth centuries, at the death of the

al-Mustan~ir,

FPmid Caliph
followers

The

as

in Egypt,

stronghold

Nizrs, while

Musta(l, who

al-Mustn~ir'

of

establ i shed thei r

another

the

at Alamnt and came

followers

of his

be known as

Isim

origins to

established

followers of Agh
of his claims of

Although

at

this Nizr

.
direct linal

this Khj

Nizr

Is~(il

also known as Khjs,

Ism< H branch

Khn IV, whom they

brother,

F~imid Caliph

Presently,

Alamt.

Nizr,

to be known

younger

Bohrs. The

commun i ty of the l ndian Sub-cont inen t,

occurred.

son,

eldest

succeeded al-Mustan~ir, as the

came to

trace its

major split

they

of Shi<
are

the

cons~er Imm, because

descent from (Ali.

community

prbduct of the da<wa activities of

considers

itself as

the Nizr d<is and pirs

during the medieval era, the coming of these Njqzr d (s and

pirs was

not the

first time that

the Ism(l

element had

entered upon the l ndian soi 1. The l ndian Sub-continen t, as i s

1

well-known,

has been

an

area of

concern

for the

nascent

"

IsmA<tlt

da<wa from

IsmA<tlism

in the

pre-FAtimid

times.'

Indian Sub-continent

The emergence

of

can, therefore,

be

seen into two phases:

a>

F~imid

b>

Nizd and post-Nizrt phase.'

It

is

l smA <t 1 i

pre-F~imid

and

al1eged
element

that
had

period i.e. till 1094.

the

earliest

wi th

India

contact

came

which

the

to

the

pr ior

establ i shment of the FAt im~d Cal ipha te, f rom the time of dawr
al-!!!.!., when one wing

of the da<wa was to work

in'Hind and

Sind. MUQammad bin Ism< il, the seventh lmm of the Ism< His
is himself
taken

supposed to have fled

refuge

authenticity
regarding

in

Sind.'

of

such

the

S.M.

with his sons and

Stern

informa t ion

ear1y

Ism<ili

however,

doubts

provided ... by

activities

in

to have
the

Juwayni

the

Indian

Sub-con t inen t 10

The

Ism<U sources,

on the

mention of the establishment of

the'" 9th century, by a

other

hand, first

Ism< H activity in Sind in

certain dA< named al-Haytham. 11

penetration eventually led to the

principality in Sind, when it

make

Thi s

establishment of a Ftimid

is maintained that the Ftimid

-

Caliph,

al-Aziz, sent

al-Shaybn 'with

a military

escort,

which took Multan in 977 <in the medieval era Multan and Uchh
constituted Upper Sind>.
continued to
the

si tuation

,The khutbah of the

be read there
in

Sind

Ftimid Caliphs

for severa! decades. 12

until raids

of

MaQmud f:'()f

This vas
Ghazna

temporil'r*i 1y

brought

Ghaznavids. When
F~imids

the

under

the

the Ghaznavids'

who

authori ty over

Sind

for a

ru le rapidly

while had

Sind and ruled the

century until

domination

of

degenerated,

succumbed, again

seized

province for more

than a

the final conquest of

Sind by the

GhOrids in

1175 compe1led the Ism<l movement to go underground.

The

subsequent history

the

of the

Ism< lts is

13

genera11y

associated wi th the resurgence of the Sumra dynasty, which i

alleged to have had Carmation
f ind,

J.

maintains

references

activities

in the

quest ionable

inclinations. One continues to

Hollister,

occasi6nal

to

through

these

two

MalQidah

Sub-continent .14

But,

centuries,
or

Carmation

spart from

regarding l sm < t 1

information

this

activities

in

Sind, nothing can be attested about them unti1 the appearance

of

Nizr s on

the

the

believed to have begun,

di( 15

and pirs,

Indian

scene.

movement

is

as mentioned above, by various Nizr

who are

Sub-continent at

Thi 5 l sm (Hi

supposed

to have

least from

arrived to

the thirteenth

the

century

onwards.

Al though,
considered

the

Nizr

continuation

movement,
of the

previously existing in the Indian

few factors

1
~

,'

which make

distinct 'phase

in

the

in

same

Ism!< tH

can

be

movement

Sub-continent', there are a

the Nizri movement

history

fact,

of

stand out

Ism< Hism.

as a

EarBer

Ism!<l as weIl as non-Ism!<ili historical sources attest to

6
domi~tion

Isma<tlt

in

invasiQ~ in ~175. This

that the

Sind

at

least

until

information together

Nizrt ptrs began

completely

from

facilitated

the penetration

GhQrid

with the

their da<wa activities

suggests that the Ism1tli element

Sind. 1

the

fact

in Sind,

had not been_obiliterated

Their

p~esence

of the

Nizri

could

have

da<wa into

the

northern parts of the area, and that, in turn perhaps, led to

the

rise and

there is no

development of

Satpanth Ism< lism.

However,

specifie evidence to establish if

there was any

eonnection between the two Ism<il movements.

Moreover, the

Khejls

vith whom

ve are

themselves to have
the

"

arrivalof

concerned in

this study

been converted from Hinduism

the

Nizrt dcis

and

pirs

consider

to Islam by

to the

Indian

Sub-continent during the medieval era.

Our study concentrates on this

movement

whose da<va

activities

second phase of Ism1li

resulted

in the

rise

of

Satpanth Ism<lism in the Indian Sub-eontinent. However, our

aim is

not to coyer the

entire movement as it

developed in

,/

the Indian Sub-continent.

But, seeks to examine an aspect of

the thought of Satpanth Ism<lism as

converts . by

the

Nizlri

dl< is

and

it was conveyed to the

ptrs

in

the

Indian

Sub-cont inent.

II

)
An attempt to study any

religious aspect of Satpanth or,

~1
7

Nizrt I sm ( Hi sm must necessarily begin by an examination

of
1
l

'

the community'5
ginn

major religious literature, the

li terature COl1st i tutes

indigenous literature
ginn

i5

literature
composed

appe~ation

constituting
Indian

several

pirs who

activities

in the

entire corpus

given

of

Tlie term

to a

devotional

vernacular

literature i5 attributed to the

d'<!s and

the

preserved by the community.

collective

in

almost

ginAns. The

body

of

compositions

languages.

This

gin!n,

authorship pf various Ni.z!rt

are believed

to have

Indian Sub-continent,

earried on
on

da(wa

behalf of

the

ImAms of the Nizrt IsmA(tlt sect of Persia.

The nature of Satpanth or

1
;

Nizrt Ismi(tlism can be best

reflected by examining the gin'n literature, sinee the ginns

1i
i

j
j

are

seen as

product of

Satpanth

religion. However,

to

examine the literature in i ts entirety falls beyond the scope

1

of this

study. Our study seeks

Brahm Praksh

to study a gin'"

<Divine Illumination>

from the

called the

ginn corpus.

It has been made the focus of our study for two reaaons:

l
a> ~he ginn Brahm praks~ ia attributed to the authorship of
. Shams al-Otn,
initial

a Niz!rt ptr who

phase t;>f

the Nizri

is

a~leged

to

IsmA(Ilt da(wa

Sub-continent. Th Brahm Pr~ksh

tepresent the
in the

Indian

would, therefore, represent

the earliest 'efforts of the p.tr to project Satpanth or Nizd

l.mI(tlism to nev conyerts f:om

and situation.

H~npuism

in a nev environment

.,

l'

b> the Brahm Prakasn deala vi th a mystical concept of sumi ran'

<contemplation>
IsmA<tlism.
in

which

exhibits

Although this

the entire

ginan

the

c~ncept

Brahm

i8

PrAsh

understanding a

an

i5

dealt

Satpanth

some manner
vith in

an

the Brahm Praksh. Hence,

important

composi t ion

for

of IsmA c 1lism,

fundamental spiritual aspect

'as i t was conveyed

of

is echoed in

literature, it

elaborate and consistent manner in

the

essence

by the Nizd pt r to the

nev converts in

the Sub-continent.
Yet, another reason
that

for our dealing vith

of sumiran

the concept
among the\ presen t

day Nizari Ism<I11 religious

religious

to

system

adheres as a

an

a significant

Ism<ll!

upon him

formulated

for

a set
the

of'birth or

of religious duties and

practise

of

the

Nizart

religious obligations are suppos,d

to

jam8<lt khi na

be 9bserved

in their

for

the

purpose.

Among

of these

made inc'umbent

duties, although

institutionalised - as a part
be held in the

A~.

various
/

<tithe> ,etc., are

Some

<House of
the

performance of the.dGCI <rituel prayer>

system. The

IsmiCII! faith. AlI these

established

place

murtd <believer>

member of the community, by virtue

otherwise, imposes
obligations

which

occupiea

thisi ginn ia .

; payi ng ,the dashond v

upon
not

~ties,

an Isml t 1lt

obli

murtd.

tory, have

been

of the rel gious ceremonies to

jamlcat khana - by vha

is

termed vithin the,.'

/

community religiou8 organisation, a

oall or majlis. 16

\
\

Among the v;rious

maoOlts into which an

ini:tiates himself,. principally on

IsmA< tH murtd

his ovn accord, initiation

into a special maodlt, known as the bayt !!-khyAl <chamber of

contemplation> assumes the hiqhest
is set

up for dhikr

murtd in

practises which
spi~itually

progressinq

Illumination <darian>

his mokSa <\liberation>

For

practise

IsmA(i11 murd is

of

given a

personal

to

him.

practise, i.e. meditate

btini

<inner>

Illumination.
composition

self

from human life

on earth.

as

bandagi,

an

(~

<the great Name>

of the Time>, which henceforth

The

initiate

towards the

to study

known

is

on his bol, in order

Hence, the

attainment of
forms the

i!m

or

aid a

of darian

dhikr, also

by the Imam i-zamn <the Imam

.(

towards the

this

are believed to

The attainment

baeis for

remains

significance. This manOU

the basis

of

to

to deve10p his

attainment

Brahm Praksh

supposed

of

spiritual

forms an

important

a fundamental

practise

among the Indian Isml<tls.

The
composed

ginAn

Brahm

PrakAsh

conai,sts

of

in a

mixture

of old

Gujarat'i

and

composed in a mystical vein,

150

couplets,'

Hindi. It

is

discuasing the various mystial

, states and
,,

stages towards

6abda
"-

','

of the

mystica1

experience and contains instructions on how to attain it. The

gin4n begins br

(-

the realhation

<True Word>,
off

breaks

~.el's8ness
"

-----_.-._-

an emphasis on the divine

the

.!!!!

<Azam

to

give

fairly

of

vadous

asctic

of t'he

propert ies of .!!!

,Ofs.

detailed

account

practises

which

""'~~

It

then

of

the

ar~

not

'"

.~

~-_

':1ft':"
'r

..

_-~-

..

. ' .

)
, eentred on attainins . t:he brahm

continues to nalle
~,

brahm s'ukh,
The

ti"

blisr- !t thn

their'

absorption in the

attai';ed

sa~ Asbda.

sec~ion

last

<divine

veral ad.,'pts who in

by their absolute

~--:----

!!!.!h

10

of

the' work

deals

with

the

ecstatic

eXPerience vith the divine Lord in the unfathomable depths of

one' S ovn self-hood,
1

-"

th~

that results from

contempla.tion of

the sat abda.

1
1

1
1

Chapter One of our study seeks

to offer a background to

f,

the introduction

of Satpanth or

Indian Sub-cont.inent and an introduction

!i

NizArt - 1 sm4< tlism

into the

into the nature and

structure of the ginln 1 i terature. This chapter will form the

basis for

understanding the

type and

nature of

Is~<tlism

vhich
evolved in the Indian Sub-continent

Chapter Two
text of

orthe

the Brahm

study offers

Praksh into

a translation

English.

Chapter

of the
Three is

divideCl- into
describing

two sections.
the verious

'\,

The

ginn Brahm,

PrakAsh, while

mystical states' and

stages of

the

Dlystidal path structures a ~eculiar esoteric voc;~bulary which

is found

to belong

largely to

v.~ll-formulated

system of

thought, namely

the Tantric tradition, an

religious phenomenon.
background' into
yocabulary

()

Therefore, section <8> offers

that aspect of

appears

indigenous

similar

the

a brief

tradition whose

the Tantric

to

I~dian

Brahm

ginAn

PrakAsh.

Section <b> examines how the gin'n Brahm Pr.kAsh restructures

the' Tantric

el..ment in i ta

.,~~~-

fra vork, so

~"'--*"---,---

.........-

as to make

~--~~-_._~~._--

"

it an

/
/

..

1
1

1
11

integral

aspect

of

IsmACtl! thought,

still

retained

...
and

esteemed among its Adherents.

-'!'he 'l'eKt

The copy of
to us hy

the 'ginAn

the Ismailia Association of

texts vere obtained

(
1

.". iF

a photocopy

1~2l.1.

for
j

of the'

India. l

Initially two

'

the India Association. The first one

text

pUblished by

Lljt DevrAj

in

The second was published by the Ismailia Assoei4tion

India in

book form

vith a

few other

major ginAns

of

several dCts and\.ptrs. This book is published vith the title

"Pavitra Ginlnano

fro~

was made available

Brahm,PrakA~h

Sangrah", or Compilations of

Holy GinAns,

lst edition, 1966

. We have used the Lljt Devrlj
it is
reason

the earlier
for

our

eopy for our study, since

versOn available
choice is

content between the

the

to us. l

Yet, another

'

significant

variations

two versions. For instance,

in

~he

of
copy

published by the Association, the terms referring to the Imam

in the ginAn
to all

have been rendered as (Alt,

the Imams in general,

reteins alfferent
the

~nuscript

which of the

.(

vhereas the L!ljt

word-terms.

copy, we are not

,tvo

AS ve

Devrlj copy

do not have

in a position

is closest to the

in several' private publications

Devr&j copy. Thua,

the name referring

ori~inBl,

show the

us~

indicatins that the version

Bceess to

te determine
but referewces
of

the LAljt

publiahed .by

_----------

_....

12

hi.

v s extensivley
1

taken'

over

by

used btfore ,the

Association

the

ninetfen-seventies.

The
.

LAljt . DevrAj copy

Gujarati script, as has been the

ginln

li~erature~

Gujarati

which

script from

the

publication task

has

in

the
is

early

written

-)
'r

in

case with almost the entire

been

original

transliterated into
Kh&jki script

for

convenience of IsmA C t11 raders who do not read Kh&jkt.

l'

was

the
the

-{

13

Not.. to Introduction
lW.
Ivanov, IsmAili
Literature,
A Bibliographical
Survey, <Tehran: Tehran"university Press, 1963>, 5.
,

2B. Levis, Origins of

and Sons Ltd., 1940>, 1.--

IsmACtlism, <Cambridge: W. Heffer

3Ibid.
Of the fev studies that have been undertaken, Azim
Nanjt offers us an excellent historieal background of ~he.
Niz4rt movement in his vork: The Niz8.rI Isma< il.! Tradition in
the Indo-Pakistan
sub-ContInint,<Oelmar: Caravan
BookS;
~4>7:FOr a good background of IsmiCI1! penetration into the
Indian Sub-continent see, Derryl Maclean, "Religion' and
Society
in
Arab S~nd,"
<Ph.D.. dissertation;
McGill
University,1984>. A fev interesting studies ha~ also been
undertaken on the ginln literature. See our Bibliography.
IW. Ivanov, "The Sect of Imam Shah in Gujarat," Journal
of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XII
<1936>,20.

'H.H. The Agakhan, The Memoirs of Aga Khan,

Simon and Schuster, 1954>;-I78-79.
--

<London:

'o. Maclean, "Religion and Society, 316.

'G. Khakee, "The Da~vatara of Pir Shams as Linguistic
and Literary Evidence of the Barly Oevelopment of Ismailism
in Sind," Sind Quarterly vol.VIII, No.2 <1980>, 44.
'S.M. Stern,
"The Early Ismi<il!
Missionaries in
North-West Persia and in Khurasan and Transoxiana," Bulletin
of the School of Oriental and African Studies,. Vol. XXiII

:rr96O>, 85-87. -

l'S.M. Stern, "IsmiCil! Propaganda and Fiti~id Rule in

Sind," tslamic Culture, Vol. XXIII <1949>, 298.
11G.

Khakee, The

Da~Avatara

of Pir Shams as Linguistic,

44.
IIW. Ivanov, "Satpanth," Collectanea,Vol. 1 <1948>, 6-8.
l'Jo N. Hollister, ~ Shia of India, <London: Luzac and
Company, Ltd., 1953>, 346.

uMallllidah is a collecti,ve term denoting sectarians,

probably shi' t,8, but more particularly extremists like the
Car. . tians. The alleged association of the Cermatian vith the

'

14

IsmiCtlisCJs weIl known.

See J.H.

Holliste;, The Shia, 348.

11J.
N. Hollister maintains, that in the thirteenth
century, one comes across activities of the A1amOt Assassins
'in the Indian Sub-contin~nt, when the GhOrid ru1er, Al
al-Dtn MU9ammad Shah Khwarazm is alleged to have been
assassinated by the AlamQt emissaries. Yet, another episode
ia believed to have taken place j,n 1236 in Delhi during the
reign of Queen Radiyya. This incident claiming to show a
continuity of Carmatian activity with that of the Nizris,
reports a group of Carmations under the leadership of one Nr
Turk who gathered at Delhi. They, it is alleged, attacked the
masiid and a riot ensued . It is su9gested by some scholars
tht the NOr Turk referred to in this account is the same as
NOr Satgur, who according to the Nizrt sectarian ~ccoun~s is
considered the first Nizr missionary to have come to the
Sub-continent. However, nothing authentic can be established
regarding this connection. For details on the. contr'oversy
see, The Shia, 3'8-350.

!!!

16For details. see, "Our Religious Rites and Rituals,"

Imami Ismailia Association !2! India, ~ VII, 1975.

l'The text used for this

Llljt Devraj, Brahm Praksh,
Bombay, 1921.

thesis ls published by Mukh

Ginan BI Pir Shams al-Dtn,

llWe tried to obtain the manuscript copy of the text

which we vere
informed is available at
the Ismailia
Association Library in India. But, due to certain po1icies
of the India' Association, we have been unable to obtain the
same.
,

c-

ltWe vere informed that Mr. Llj Dev-r!j who was in

charge of
the Recreation Club, an
Ism4<11 religious
organisation based in India, took upon himself the, task of
compiling the Iinins
found in the KhOjkt
script and
transliterated a 1 the available manuscripts of the ginns
for the firat time into Guja'rati acri~t. Since then, the
copies of the gin,n texs used by the community are those
made availab1e
y Lilj Devr'j. For certain' reasons, Llji
Devrij, is belieqed
to have destroyed ,aIl
the Khjki
manuscripts in his possession.
Consequently, the Ismailia
Association, which replaced the Recreation Club, has taken up
the task of verifying the Gujarati texts from. manuscripts
found elsewhere. ~resently a catalogue of Kho~kt manuscripts
which is availahle et the Institute of Ismaili Studies,
London is being prepared by Mrs. Zavahir Muir.

. ..

15

Chapter!
Brie! Background g! the Rizar!

in

l!!!.(li! d (!! t

Indien Sub-continent and the Nature eg

Structure 2! the glnln Literature

'To

study

an

aspect

of

the

1iterary

tradition

movements, such
Sub-continent;

as

the

it

Nizir

is fundamental

features of the movement' and

1

in its

Ehought and

only.in this

Ism 1 tls
that

of

the,

the

the place this literature holds

history,'be

understood ",clearly.

It is

wy one can hope to appreciate the assumptions

this chapter

development

Indian

ch~racte5istic

reflected in Any particular aspect of 'the movement.

resson

of

of

concerns

itse1f

Niz&ri Ism Ct1i

the

with the
da(wa

in

For this

spread' and
the

lndian

<

Sub-continent by way of presenting a brief sketch of the ptrs

~

and dicis whose dacwa activities are

a1!ege~

to have resulted

in the creation of the Nizri Ismicl literary heFitage, the

ginlns.

The sectarian

sources of

the Nizri

Ism e lis
of
v

the

Indian Sub-continent viev their history as beginning with'the

split bet-.en

.as

to

the Niziris and

sep"rate

'dr.... tlcally.

the

In the

the Ftimids, an ;event which

course.
~3th

of

century,

the

Ism(tl~

the Nizir

movement
I~(tl~s,

0'

.,..

..

.'

---,-----------

.
,

.~

1)

16

a!ter the

sch~sm

und~rgoin9

were

';

al~Mu~taryir

over the issue of succession to

change of fortune.

The

split between the

.rl 094 led to the

'estabiishment of three"major spheres of Ism(li ~ctivities'
supporters of

Nizf

and

Musta' l

in

during the medieval era.

which con~~~nued at
by
~

al-Din" in 1171. The

Yemen, which

Cairo unti1 it was finally put

~alQ

of

And

with

the" third

"

which established

sec.ond was the

associated itself

Ism< li~tn.

riyyib
?

The first was th Fimid aliphate

to an end

~ulayQ.id

the

dynasty

adherents

was Nizr

of

Ism(ilism
.

its stronghold at

AlamOt and

which under

entered in the

,words of B.

n'

leadership of

th~

Lewis na period

of intensive development in

ation and

poli~ical

'ft'

~a~an-i-~abb~

for a

dram~t ic

role in the affa i rs of 1 slam. n 1

which

was

Nizrs.

played

an important

and

[t wast at AlamOt

whil~

doctrine and in

that a

dramatica1~y
"~his

event

te

significant event

separate

was the

the Fimids

proclamation

of the

Nizrs. 2

The evertt

shift in certain key roles ~f

and

of the

<ressurection> in 1164. by liasan (al dhikriht

23rd Imm

took place

Qiymah

al-~1m, the

of Qiymah

mar-ked , a , ""

the doctrine of Immah.

IjasaI\.

Cala

dhikrih al-Salm

established

once

the

and for,

al~

the

er"Ority of the Imm and 'the institution of the Immah. ~

.

According to
under

tbe classical

the Fimids,

the Ism( ili

based on a cosmic "scheme.

doctrine, as

,;

i t was . bUilt-'-("'

religious phi<losophy

was

The origins of aIl "existence () wre .

17

seen 'in

the form of a
who

Godhead

is

unpred icable. "J

hierarchy emanating from

"unknowab1e,

Throu9h

hi 5 amr

inacce,isible,

ineffable,

<command> and

through the

process of ibd' <origination> God

,

the Supreme

brings into existence the

-",..'

world of l ntell igences, the f

al-A~wal.

Whfch

~o

rst

of which i s ca11ed a1- (AgI

Below these there came

a series of Intelligences,

together consti tuted

what

was

termed as

the

('lam

al-Ibd' <the Universe of Intelligences>.'

/

At another level the hierarchy

to correspond to the (A1am
ln

order

to

wi thin

beings.

provide

represented by
lower among
principles.

the

th,e

l;iudd al-Din

The higher

( lt

respectively.

system,

W~

Imms

representa t ives 1 the

after

ma?har s of

him

was

worshippers>, the
lesser cosmic

the fi r st

These came to
the

'F~imids,

human

scheme

turn to the

and

among

thi s

<hierarcy of

above.

Thus, for th~

the

hierarchy

on es con sti t uted

his

prophet,

and

religious

"1 sm

Intelligences mentioned
wi th

al-Din <the Uni verse of Religion>

whom corresponded in
"1

of Intelligence was made

three

be identified

succeeding

Imms

the prophet Mul)ammad,

were

the three

the

epiphanic

l ntell i gences on

the earth.

A fundamental

principle underlying

this cosmic

scheme

\)

was

~hat

the full

ch~ i

n of hi erarchi es ex i sted as a part of a

f'

sing!le indi visible

process.

These

.only in

as much as

they formed

"

existed, and

an integra1

had meaning

aspect

of the

var~

The

whole system.

18
components

the preceeding phase in terms of

phase coming

before.

For

50

on.

example, the

would have to

second Intelligence

the first Intelligence, but

time was superior to the

For man,

third l'ntelligence and

the- re-ligious hierarchy

traverse in order to ascend

Intelligence, which

formed for

relation to

being less perfect than the

was considered less "perfect than

at the same

stood in

him his

was the

path he

towards the first

goal i.e.

attaining

unit y with God.

As

conjunct

hierarchy,

to

the Ism<l

view of history

theosophy

Each

cycle

heen

six

began with
cycles

already

Revelation,

and

al-Qiymah <the
the

advent of

the

Each of the

the

seventh"would

Q' im wi th
ne~

proclamation

the

religion.

of

It was represented
of Prophecy.
There had

his W$.

Mu~ammad

Prophet

had

cycles was closed by a

one Revelation

Grand Ressurection>.

Shar'a and herald a

The

and

vertical

typological

scheme of Cycles

the passage from

the

of

developed a

a Prophet and

inaugurated the seventh.

Qiymah marking

scheme

on the horizontol scale.

hor~zonta) scale by a

on the

cosmic

this

end

to another

wi th

This would
power

to'

Qiyma t
also mark

~brogate

the

1o

Qiymah by

Hasan

(al

dhikrih

al-Salm marked the end of the primacy of the Shar' a and the
beginning of the

new era in which the spiritual

soul

in

was placed

prominence.

The religion

life of the
of

Qiymah

19

established the

priority of

Imm who was seen as the

scheme,

now

the Imm

second Intelligence

corresponded

to the

first

epiphany of the creative word <kun>

the

authority

to make

Consequently,

the

and his

lav

goal

of

be1iever,

equal to

knowing

God.

The

F~imid

the

guard

it.

traversing

the

For to know the Imm

religious

Nizr Ism<ls, thus, focussed on

The

The Imm had

.11

than simply

spiritual path, was to 'know' the Imm.

was

in the

Intelligence,

itself

rather

office.

out100k of

the

absolute devotion to the

lmm, taking on a more personalised forme

The doctrine
the priority of

the Orthodox
stream

of Qiymah in

its strongest

the Immah set the Nizr1s

but a1so

of Sh<

Islam.

distinguished them
Along

12

assertion of

not only against

from the

with this,

general

the defeat

of

their political base at AlamOt by the Mongols in 1256 decided

the fate of

the Nizr Ism<1ts.

devastation of the

Mongols.

taken and reduced to rubble.

but

went

underground

victims to the

Their stronghold at

AlamOt was

The Nizr Ism<lts

for several

Ism< li Imms went into the

They tell

centuries.

survived

The

Nizr

phase of !!ll. or .ene.dnulnt

"

,
l

The remnants,of the sect appeared

~Of1s

in order

to avoid

further

we

now come

to

background,

Sub-continent wher..
initial

penetration

an

henceforth in the guise of

persecution. l ' with
area, namely,

the

the lsm<ilt movement, altho,ugh

of

the Ism <11s,

historically and doctrinally to the

traces

its

this
Indian

not the
origiJl

Nizr branch of Persia.

'1

20

It constitutes

a distinct

phase from

the earlier

Ism(ili

movement in the Indian Sub-continent.

It is from
supposed

to

AlamQt and Persia that the

sent

have

,ptrs

and

Sub-continent for da(wa purposes.

and development of the da<wa
is

full of

W.lvanow,
persecution

Nizri

and to

is hardly

to

the

Indian

The history of the origins

complications.

Ism(ili

pirs,

avoid making

overtly apparent, appeared in

d< ts

activities in the Sub-continent

controversies and
the

Nizri Imms are

their

order

aims and

guise.

~Ofi

any mention of these

in

According

The

ambitions

activities in

only means available

to obtain

information pertaining

to their

sectarian

Ismcili

But

accounts. 15

avoid

As a result there

pirs or their

non-Ism<li historical sources. 14

to

to

since

history are
the

the

sectarian

accounts were written basically for religious purposes and to

provide moral and ethical teachings
they

are voven ,together vith

extent.

to the convertedmasses,

myth

and legend

to a

large

Hovever, since these sectarian accounts are the only

source of information, reliance on them becomes incumbent.

The spread
da(wa

in the

phases:
two

The

and the development

Indian Sub-continent

establishment of the

figures, NOr

sourc~s

Satgur and

of the
can be

al~~tn.

credit these two personalities

da(wa in Sind,

Multan and Gujarat.

_~

____________L __

seen into

dacwa is

Shams

Nizri Ism<ili
three

associated vith
The

sectarian

wi th havi\ng begun the

This

phase was followed

21
by the

consolidation of

the Nizrt

conversion and

organisation of the

l5th century.

The third and the

schism of the Nizri Ism(ilis

da<wa with

its massive

Nizri community
final phase was

by the

marked by

into two branches: The Khjs

and the Imm Shhis; this phase led to the termination of the
;-

institution of pirtan <office of pir>.

Khj

sectarian

accounts

mention

missionary coming to India, in the

took the name of NOr Satgur,

the

first

person of Nur al-Din, who

the name meaning teacher of the

true light. 16 A layer of confusion sur rounds

this foremost personality
figure in
Indian

the history

who a1most appears

of the Nizr!

Sub-continent.1'l

Nizri

the arrivaI of
a legendary

a~

lsm<!l da(wa

It' is difficult

in the

to ascertain

the

time of NOr Satgur's arrival or' the period of his activities,

which makes

it difficult, to

the establishment

determine the actual

of the Nizri

period of

Ism(ili da(wa in

the Sub-

continent.

The

sectarian sources

regarding NOr
they are
was

furnish

Satgur, but it

dubious.

sent either

preach on behalf

It is
by

shrine

l '

alleged

hardly need be

al-Mustan,ir,

of his son ~izr in

27th Imm
to be

with certain

the

tbat

ef

F~imid

~asan

Nizr~.s.l

NOr

NOr Satgur
Caliph,

the Sub-continent 1

later date by
of the

dates

mentioned that

variously alleged that

-that he was sent at a much

, -' al-Salm, the

us

to
'

(aIl dhikrih

Furthermore,

Satgur at

or

Navsari

a
in

22

Gujarat, mentions
the year of his death as 1094. 20
-,
coincides with

the date

of the

death of

al-Mustan,ir, the

w.

last Caliph before the Niz&rl-Musta'lian split.

110

of the opinion that this was probabl

branches of pir&n&

This date

Ivanow is

concocted by one of the

Sayyids establish d at

after the

Navsa~i

split in the community during the 15 h/16th centuries. 21

/

If information regarding the pe sona1ity who is oredited

1

vith

having estab1ished

Sub-continent

is

the Nizri

Ism(!l

shrouded, details

da(wa in

regarding

the

second

personality in the da<wa remains a1l the more obscure.

al-Din, the second
~ave

figure in the da<wa line,

This is

community
converts
Sabzav&ri.

in
at

evidenced

Upper
the

Sind

hands

of

presently they

spiritual leader. 23

in Sind and

by,--the

presence

call

themselves

who
the

Nizr

of a

large

'Shamsis',

Shams

the Agh Rhn

~ec09nise

Since it is to

Pir

Shams

is supposed to

carried on . Nizr da<wa activity basically

Multan. 22

the

al-Dtn
as their

him that the ginn Brahm

Prakish, the object of our study is attributed,

we will deal

vith him in detail.

,
1

Traditions

aCQuired

for

'~urroundin~
h~m

many

identities.

identities, there has been a

Shams

al-Din ' Sabzavri

Among

the

has

various

confusion ,of ,two other d1stinct

II

.. -

_ .,60

23

Person~lities,

Shams al-Dtn

MUQammad, the

Nizlri Imam

and

Shams-i-TabrIzi, the mentor of Jall-ud-Otn RGmI.

In attempting
id~ntities,

a ginn

the earliest sectarian source

SatveQiji Vel. z4

MUQammad Shh,
Nizri

the

Sabzavri.

Imm

ginn

of the

available to us ls

confuses Shams

Nizris

with
in

with Shams

The ginn

says that

India for da<wa

attributed to

Shh, who seceded

al-Din

This particular

purpose~.

Nar MUQammad Shh,

claiming the

was fundamental
lineage in

for

the son

order

to

direct descent

~laiming

Immah for

himself.

hereditar1~

to establish

authenticate his

from

of Imm

Nizri da'wa in

Nar MUQammad .Shh

making Ptr Shams al-Dln the same

and

Vel

Mu~ammad,

Imm Shams

from the main line of the

15th/16th centuries,

direct

Shams

SatveQiji

Since the institution of Immah .in Ism<Ilism i5

it

al-Din

Pir

al-Dtn

claims.

"
1

By

person as Imm Shams al-Dtn

Shams, he

~tr

could then

assert his own right to the Immah. 2s

As

abdicated the lmmah in favour of his son Qsim Shh

ginn is

'.

to Nar

later phase' of the

state,ment

al-Dtn Sabzavri

and travelled to

the

'This

confusion of

is attributed

figure in the

astonishing

Nizri Imm.

M~mmad

28th

The

equates Shams

This ginn

an active

IsmCilt da(wa.

Mu~ammad,

the

to trace the' cause of this

for

the

identification

Shams-i-TabrizI, it has

Imam Shams

al-Otn.

ImAm

of

also,been d~e to
Shams al-Otn

Ptr

Shams

vith

the confuston vi~

ia supposed

",

to have

-_ _._--,----..

24

cau~e

lived in Tabr!z for a period of time which could be the

for confusing
-

Shams

vith

the tvo.
Imam

amal9ama~ion

Purther," the identifieliltion

Shaml,

in

due

course

resulted

The

Sub-continent, there

first

in

the

of these three distinct personalities. 2 '

activ~

with regard to the period of Ptr Shams' da' va

in the

of Ptr

is a

are apparently

Shajra '<genealogical

three versions.

tree>.found

in

the

, ,

custody of the mutawallt of the

Nu1tan.

shrine of Pir Shams in Uehh,

The Shajra says that Shams al-Otn was born in Ghazni

on the 17th Rajab 560/1165 i.e.

the

f~ll

of

AlamOt.

The Shajra makes him come

"

"

,598/1201 and permits

to

have come

about a hundred years before

to Multan in

him to live till 675/1276.

,Ofi eelebrity Bah'

~.
al-Otn ZakariyyA, who is supposed to have died in 1276. 17

The

into

second

attributed

to

contact with

He is said

version
Shams

is

the

obtained

al-Dtn himself.

from

They

the
refer

ginns
to

his

activities during the early part of the 12th eentury. SurbhQ

" longer ginns attributed to Shams al-Oln,

!!l, one of the
mentions his arrival in
of

his gin&ns,

given

a~

Samvat

ChandrabhQ y!! ,

Samvat 1200/1143. 2 '

1175/1118.:lI Tet, in anotbe.r

his arrival

However,

in Chenab

when we

is

come across

the name of the Imam on whose behalf Shams al-Oin is supposed

to have

earried on

Shah is

mentioned.'

AlamOt periode

da<wa activity,' the

Imam

Oisim ShAh

AlamOt, as i8

name of

ImAm Qisim

belongs to

well-knovn, vas' razed

the post
by the

25

Mongols in

lZ56, and,after that

and their

ImAms enters a new

the history of

the NizAris
r
The child of the last

stage.

Imam of

AlamOt, ROkn al-Dtn KhOr

al-Dtn.

In the IsmA<tlI gene8logy QAsim

the Imm who

the ImAm

ShAh, is said to

succeeded Imm Shams.

of the

time, then

would extend into the l4th

shh is the name of

Thus, if

the period

be Shams

Qsim Shah was

of Shams'

activity

century.~l

It is proposed that this

confusion can be attributed to

a li;tle known schism which took place upon the death of ImAm
Shams.
them

(.

Two
giving

branches of
allegiance

the IsmA<tlts
to Qsim

associate ptr Shams with this

were tormed,

Shh.

The

one of

attempt

to

Imm was perhaps the assertion

of a group in India of its support for Qsim Shh. 33

Yet, another layer of confusion

sources

linking

Kashmir.
by one

Ptr

Shams

to

The NOrbakhshtya Order

Shams al-Din, the

Qsim.~3

Kashmir

Since

travelled

in

1502.
through

Tibet

the

NQrbakhshtya

sect

in

was,introduced into Kashmir

son of Sayyid

who represented ShAh

,

was added in the modern

Shams

MUQammad NOrbakhsh,

al-Dtn began his work in

Ptr Shams
and Kashmir,

is

supposed
it

appears

to

have

that

confusion occurred equating the two distinct personalities.

The confusion

is further clouded

mutawallts of the shrine of Ptr

by the tact

that the

Shams claim themselves to be

lthnl (ABharts, followers o( NOs' Ki,im. They also claim that

'1
1
i

26

Ptr Shams came

to the Indian Sub-continent in

order to make

Ithn' CAshar! da(va. a

Despite all

the clarifications offered,

personality of this p!r remains obscure.

the historieal

The personality who

is credited

vith having set

motion and

to vhom is alao

the Nizari Ismi<ili

attributed a large

da<wa into
ginn corpus

remains an enigma. Thus, the initial phase represented by NOr

Satgur and Shams al-Din remains shrouded in doubt.

The figure in
is attributed is
there is

the da<wa development to vhom

ptr

~adr al-Ot~.

non-Ism'il!

sources,

contributions towards the

Muslims

in

the

sources

credit
1 sd <il t

eommunity.

He 15

al-Din with

da<wa
said

Khwja."

Nizlri Isma'il!

i
1

,t

al-Dtn vas

is a

made

and
to

The

having

with

Khj

as a

valuable
and the
sectarian
the

organized

the

having

eongregational
!

community and called converts

The term Khj in current

corruption of

succeeded by

~adr

consolidated

have established

the word,

bis son

Nothing is recorded of his activities.

who

interaction of the Hindus

houses <jam!<it khAna> for the

by the title,

one

l4/15th centuries."
~adr

establish

He is considered

a historical personality.

,Oft . in

~adr

this period onwards

sufficient information available to

al-otn as

NizAri

From

a key role

~asan

use for a

kbw!ja.
Kabir

Pir

al-Dtn.

In the SatveQiji, the

f.,

27

date of his death is given as 1449."

The consolidation phase of the NizArt Ismaetlt dacva was

followed by a major schism

in the 15th/16th centuries.

This

split occurred because of the claims by Imm Shh, the son of

Kabir

al-Oin

sectar~an

over

pirtan.

According

to

the

Nizri

accounts, Kabtr al-Otn was succeeded by his brother

Tj al-Oin as a

pire

It is alleged that Tj

al-Otn was not

accepted as a pir by a section of the community and his death

at an

early~age

on the one hand, <perhaps, due

to the shock

arising from the allegation of the community that he had kept

for himself the

najrAnA or offerings to be

ImAm of the time> and the claims

submitted to the

of lmm ShAh for pirtan on

the other hand, plunged the community into crisis.'

The
endowed

NizAr sources
with

mention that

pirtan

the

by

established

himself at

activities.

Hawever, it was his

perhaps

taking

~ommunity

at

independent
Gujarat.

the
1ine

The Imam

death
and

of

carried

son, Mar
the

of

'Ptr

Shh was

out his

Mu~mmad

turbulence
Tj

never

Nevertheless,

Imam.

Gujarat and

advantage

Imim

a1-0tn,

dacw.

ShAh, who

within
set

organised

the

Imam

Shaht

a1-Mustan,ir

II,

in response

he

the

up

an

sect

in

to

this

schiam dispatched a book, the 'PandiyAt-i Jawinmardt' <Maxims

of 'ortitude>

community to

condemning the Imam

accept the

book
as a
(-

ShAhts and
ptr. l

'

To

exhorting the
avoid further

crisis in future, the structure of the da cwa va'. changed with

#

1-

.,

t
the

t ~

28

,.
Imams

appainting

community.

With

Vaktls

the crisis

<agents>

to

administer

and the split,

the age

the,

of the

ptrs and of massive conversion came to an end.

.t

The split

separated the Nizr! IsmA<!li

community into
"li>

tvo branches.

The

name Satpanthis, from that

iS'used specifically
the

followers

to in'dicate the Imm

of the

Nizri

Imms

time onwards,

Shh! line, while

are known

as

Khjs.

Although the Imm Shhis possess the sa me ginn literature as

the

Kh6js, they

do

not consider

themselves

to have

any

connection with the latter. 1

With regard to the nature of

Indian

Sub-continent,

pr~blem.

appealing

the

the da<wa teachings in the

Nizri

pirs

They had to present Islam

to the

states, that

nev

converts

"the pirs separated

faced

critical

in a form which would be

w.

from Hinduism.
the meaning and

Islam from its hard Arabie shell."2

Ivanow

spirit of

He further states:

They explained the high ideals of Islam

in the familiar terms of the ancestral
religion and culture of the nev converts
Hinduism, striving to make of them good
mu'minf, sincere adepta of the spirit of
Islam, rather than muslims, i.e. those
who formally profess Islam, often without
~ying attention to its spirit and
implieations. 3
The attempts
crovning

phase

of the
of

the

pirs was to
whole

project Islam

development

of

as the

Hinduism.

f
29
t~

According

them, the Qur'in was the las; and the final Ved,

completing,

abrogating,

revelations.
prepar~tory

In

this

phase,

and

superseding

theory,

Hinduism

(1

just as

the
was

earlier
~erely

Christiani ty, J,udaism,

etc.,', in

the revelation of the only true religion, Satpanth.'.

By

following

this

'bridge' between Ism<lism and

ideas' to

enter

that

pi~s

strategy, the

constituted a

Hinduism which permitted new

entirely

different

world

of

Hindu

mentality.

One of the " critical ways in which the idea

the

culmination

of

utilization of the
the Hindus

Hinduism

was ,projected

of Islam as
came

Dasa Avatra <Ten Incarnation>

as upheld' by the

VaishQavas.

The

through
theory of'

Lord VishQu,

according tothe VaishQavas is incarnated in various forms in

different ages
VaishQavas

have been

Naklanki or

In this Kali

<~>.

awaiting

Kalki <stainless> to

apparently, Pir Shams who first

da'wa

purposes <which .can

ginins attributed

'

.-

well>.

He preached

indeed

(AIt,

Mullammad.

the

" <present'" age> the

last Avatra

manifest himself.

as

It was

utiliz~d thi's theory for the

be seen,

to Shams al-Oin,

apart

from the

in the Brahm

other

Praksh as

that the last incarnation' of VishQu was-

manifest~d

'By 'so doing,

during the
h~

time

superimposed

of

the

Prophet

the Shi (i

fOrDlOf

Islam upon a Hindu VaishQava sub-structure.'

..

known

l
l

j
1
1

..
f:f .~'..

,-

~,

t
"

30

,'.

,-

)'

Apart from incorporating the

basic Dasa Avatra theory,

the pirs also made use of ' Hindu mythologic;:al

--

re1ating

them to - Islamic figures,

con'tinui ty of

Hindu tradition

~igures,

attempted
Islami~

into

to project ft
tradition.

figure of Brahma

instance, the

and by,

For

was id~-Kt'i fied'

the creator,

with that of the Prophet Mu~ammad, the figure of Saraswat as

Bra~
Ji!JJ--:r:,

the daughter of
the Prophet

The

w.

as

Ivanow

the foundation to

of further

great progress

ane potentialities."4'
was the creation

innovative synthesis in

the form of'a

for

Hinduism

from

conv~rts

<Satpanth>...

pirs

a new cultural group which . in i tself bore

the major resulting elements

new

that the

stat~s,

cultures into one, and 1aying

succeeded win welding the two

One of

the maughter 'of

Mu~ammad."

resuJt was,

the seeds

~f F~imah,

with tnat

These

various

new literature geared

projecting the

long

of"'n

and

short

true

p~th

c,ompositions

consisting of devotional hymns, baslcally didactic in nature,

came to be termed as ginns.
"

The wor~ ginn 15 a

jnna,

i~

which

popu1~rization f the sonskrit wor~

,commonly

definee

as

wcontemplativ'e" o~
.".,.,

Meditative knowledge.""
the

word

ginn

In the

refers to

Nizr Ismcl

those

authorship is attributed to their

came

to

,conversion.

theThe

Indian

Ismcl

wri&ings

whose

various ~" s and pr,s who

Sub~continent'

ginSn literature

tradition,

for

preach~ng

constitutes

almost

and
the

-t
r

.1

entire

corpus

community.

31
of

indigenous literature

Consequently, it forms

for the study of any aspect

Ism( H community in the
day Ism( ilis
the

ceremonies

in

the

the most important source

Indian Sub-continent.
as

still recited

conducted

by

of the development of the Nizr

regard ginns

ginns are

preserved

sacred literature.
as

a part

their jam(t

provides a fairly detailed Iist

800 9 inns of va rying 1ength,

The present

of the

Most of
religious

w.

khan.

of the ginns."

Ivanow

He records

be 1 i eved to have been composed

by the Ism( ili d( 15 and prs at least from the 13th century
until the

early part

of this

century when

the composition
,.

process ceased and the ginn corpus was f rozen.

50

It is maintained by the Nizri Ism( lis that the ginns

began

as oral

tradition.

It

is,

therefore, difficult

ascertain when

writing of

the ginns

actual1y began.

to
The

manuscripts in which the ginns are recorded are vailable at

the Ismailia Association for
dated is mentioned

Pakistan. The oldest manuscript

to have been copied in

manuscript, like several others, is

copied

f rom older

ones, i t

is

1736.

Since this

mentioned as having been

believed tha t

the task

of

recording ginns could have been undertaken at least from the

l6th century. S l

The manuscripts of the ginn literature hav"e survived in

the khjki or
earl i est

the

.0

khwja Sindhi script.

form

of

Sindhi

This

writing

script represents
in

proto-Nagari

32

characters.

The

khjk script appears

Nizr Ismc ls

in the

history of

This script, it is believed, was

p!rs

in order

to

preserve

to the

Indo-Muslim literature.

used by the Nizr Ism<l

Ismcl doctrines

community and 'also, perhaps, to

within

foster a sense

identity.52 Presently the ginns, at

religious ceremonies, have been
script, as most of the present

to be unique

the

of communal

least those recited for

transliterated into Gujarati

day Ism<ls do not read the

Khjk script.

At least

six Indian languages

Multani, punjabi,

are used in

the ginns:

Sindhi, Gujarati, Hindi, and

Kacchi.

The

languages used in the ginns reflect the areas from which the
manuscripta of the ginn may have originated.
of ginns,

they are

devotional

type

composed in

of

the style

literature

usually
either

written in
in

the

form

popular
of

MOSt

medieval era in the

The ginns

are of

pada <verse>

forme

of

of the

characteristic

religious literature emerging during the

Indian Sub-continent. 53

As to the form

varying lengths,
Each stanza

chaupi

<quatrains>

more verses

do exist

or

of

is
doh

<couplets>.

Stanzas containing
literature, but
The longer ginns
f
1

t
f
i,

on the whole

Y!l

they reflect these

called granths are usually

Severa1 long compositions

contain a form of

whi1e a few a1so exist in

in the

a minor <nindo,

ginn

two forms.

given a title.
appendix called
~>

or major

33

<!!!212, vadho> version, a possible indication that one of them

was a later composition modelled on
main characteristic feature of the
ends

with

composer

the
of

bhait

the

or

ginn.

the other.54

ginns is that each ginn

signature,

This feature

identifying

is

common

developing qevotional literature in north India.

Ginns are meant to be

'~o

One of the

sung and recited.

the

to

the

55

Rga <music>,

therefore, is one

of the ,main features of

the ginns.

Rga

"\

is a name given to a

elass of melodies which constitutes the

highest expression of Indian classical music."

believed to create

the mind

of a

This is the
is meant

a special emotional effect

listener

~nd

puts him

to be

sung on

whieh colours

into a

reason why eaeh ginn has a

Each rga is

certain mood.

particular rga and

specifie occasions

for a

specifie

ri tuaI or as an 'aid to medi tat i on on the spi ri tuaI pa th .

The ginn Iiterature is

its composers

50

generally arranged accocding to

that ginns attributed to

are compiled together.

a particular pir

A complete subject or doctrinal-wise

classification, which would prove

useful for categorizing or

indexing the ginns has not yet been attempted.

partIy

because each

ginn has

a number

This is true

of themes

running

through it, which accordingly precludes classification of the

9 inins.

.,1
l

(
Hovever,

a preliminary

classification

attempted in

34

survey

work may

be offered

in

the absence

investigation of the ginn literature.

8S

follows:

i>

detailed

The classification is

57

Ginns that can be termed as conversion ginns.

ginns belonging
of

of a

Hindu

to this category reflect

themes

and

concepts

to

the Avatra theory

believe in the

of the VaishQava Hindus.

the Lord VishQu have

The VaishQavas
to the earth.

manifested themselves

were awaiting the manifestation

Satpanth Ism<lism to

Vaishfiava belief, by

Satpanth

bas ic concept used was

Avatra of Lord VishQu to redeem them.

prs showed

the

descent of VishQu in ten forms

Nine Avatras of
and the people

the incorporation

explain

rel igion, i. e. Ni zrt l sm Ct l i sm. The

The

5 '

of the tenth

The Nizr Ism<l

be a completion

portraying <Ali, the first

of this

Imm of the

IsmCilis, as the tenth awaited Avatra.

The aecounts

of traditional figures of

Hindu mythology
~

ean

included

be

Harisehandra,

this

Draupad

eonsidered as models
Hindus.

in

the

and

These mythologieal

incorporated in the ginns.

and

~he

brothers

as
are

conduct for the

seen lifted

and

For example, in one of the small

of Draupad, is carried over

Hindu tradition, where she

righteousness, into

such

idealized in the Hindu

figures are

ginns of Pir Shams, the figure

from the

Pndava

of proper behavior and

These figures are eonstantly

tradition.

Figures

category.

Ism(il

is a model

of chastity

tradition, where

she

35

becomes the model of an ideal believer who sacrificrs herself

for the sake of religion.

i i>
deal

The

second category of

with cosmological

again we
Islam.

l '

and

the ginAns are

those that

eschatological theories.

find a variety of

theories both from

Here

Hinduism and

For instance, in the ginn "Ad und k vAu", a Hindu

cosmologieal theory is ineorporated within the IsmCtl frame

work.'o

In

yet

another

Srjanhr", an Islamie

ginAn

the~ry

"Dhan

has

dhan

Rjo

been utilized.

!Y

Both these

are attributed to the authorship of Pir Shams al-Dn.'l

iii>

The third category would

moral and ethical

include ginns which are

in nature, aimed at

instructing

from Hinduism to lead a moral and religious life.

'So Kriyl' a
tvo advices

iv>

converts
The ginns

hundred obligatory acts, 'Bwan Bodh'

or fifty

can be included in this category.'2

The fourth

category' includes those ginAns

be sung on specifie occasions,

meant to

such as Navrz, the ascension

of an Imm, Mild al-Nabt or for certain religious ceremonies

such as ghat-pAt."

v>

The fifth

'lnd

the

last category

ginAnl which are mystical in nature.

this

category

deal

developed betveen the

vith

mystical

includes

The gin'ns

belon~ing

relation-ships

Lord and a murtd.

those,

to

to
be

This is exemplified

rt
r
t{

36

in the gin!ns

as a spiritual relation-ship

mOrid, who

1
f

and a

fundamental spiritual relation-shp with a murtd.

post-AlamOt

- 1
,

as ve

have seen

between the lmm

developed

concept~

above, according
of

lmmah,

to the

stands

in

In this category,

one comes across theories

those found in both ,Oft

fundamental

emphasis

mentioned above,

similar te

and Hindu mystical traditions.

of

is on the

these

mystical

The

compositions,

establishment of a

personal and

interior relation-ship between the Imm and a murid, in

orde~

that the latter might attain the divine vision <daran>.

to attain the

divine vision of the Lord is

attainment of

mokta <liberation>

The ginns of

this category, therefore, describe

~rom

as

For

equated with the

human life

on earth.
the path a

murid would have to traverse in order to attain the vision of

the Lord
this

and contain

category

instructions of-how

belong

the

Bujh

Niranjan

to attain
and

it. Tc

the

Brahm

Praksh.'

And it
attention".
th~

is to the
Chapter

Brahm Prak&sh

Brahm Praksh,

II offers a
into English.

that ve now

translation of the
Chapter

text of

III focusses

analrais of the Brahm PrakAsh.

turn our

--

on

37
1

Hot ~ ChaPter !
lB. Lewis, The
Nicolson, 1967>, 36:--

Assassins,

<London.:

Weidenfeld

and

2For details on the signifieanee of the QiyAmab event

both from the doctrinal as well a$ historieal pOInt of view
see M.G.M. Hodgson, The Order of the As&assin&>, <The Hague:
Mouton and Co., 1955>;-148-159.----'H. Corbin, "Divine Epiphany and Spiritual Birth in
Ismailian 'Gnosis," in Papere from Eranos Yearbooks, Vol.V,
Bollingen Series, XXX, <New Yor~antheon Books>, 1~7-l28.
4

Ibid.

, l b id., '95.

'A.Nnji, The Nizri, 107.

'H. Corbin, "Divine Epiphany, 74.
'1'- ,

IIbid.

'w. Ivanow, Brief Survey of the Evolution of IsmA<Ilism,

<Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1952>, 47:---ltA. Nnjt, The NizAri, 108.
'ch

llH. Corbin, "Divine Epiphany, 129.

13The Niz~l da<wa came to be'characterized as the da<wa
al-jadid <new da~wa> in contra~t to the da<wa al-gadlm <oid
-ait wa> of the FAtimids which confined in Cairo after tbe
schism.
,

l'For details see, M.G.M. Hodgson, "The Isml<tlt State,"

in The Cambridge M.istory of. ~,vol. 5, edited bl' ". A.
BoyI,'" <Cambridge: At the UnlverSlty Press, 1965>,L 465-466.
HW.

Ivanow, "The Sect, 22.

l'The sectarian accounts of the Indian IsmA<tlts vould

broadly comprise two, sources: a> the orally transmitted
tradition vhich'the IsmA(tlts themselves maintain concerning
the history of their own pJrs. During the last fev deeades a
nev literature in Gujaratl has sprung up-by the Isml<11ts
themse1ves attempting to explain ,the hiltory of the Nizar!
tl. . (t1t8.
Such for instance are the Kh&jl Komno Itlhis
<1908>, a History of the Kb&jAs, bl' Jaffer Ra imtoola Kadru;
Mo.ln Komno ItthAs <Bombay, 1936>, a Hiatory of Imam Shlhts,
bl' Miyanji Noormahomed Roohkash; -Ismaili" <a Bombay veekly>,

ri
1

38
}

by Ali Mahomed .Janmahomed Chunara and Noorun

1936> br the same author.
The significance of these vorks lie in
hitherto unrecorded oral tradition.

Mubin <Bombay,

the incorporation of

b> a large bodf of religious li'terature, the ginlns of which

Me have ealt ln details further below in this chapter.
l'J. N. Hollister, 'l'he Shia, 351.'
l1A. Nanjt, The NizArt, 60-61.
liA.

Chunara,
Noorun Mubin, Revise
by Jaffarali
Sufi, 'l'hird edition, <Bombay: Ismailia Association
for India, 1951>, 215-216.

Muha~

uJ.

N.

Hollister, The Shia, 351.

21W. Ivanov, "Satl>anth, 6-8.

21Ibid.,11.
22J. N. Hollister, 'l'he Shia, 333.
uAziz Ahmad, An 'Intellectual Histori of Islam in India,
<Bdinburgh: Edinburgb university Press, 1 64>, 24-25:2"Satve9ijt .Vel," in Imam Shah n! 9inlnno, Published by
Mukh! Laljt DevrAJ, n.d., verse no.72.
2'A. Nanjt, The NizArt, 62-63.
l'Ibid., 64.-=2'W. Ivanov, "Shams " Tabrez of Nultan," in Professor
Nuhamaad Shafi Presentation Volume, edited br S.M. Abdullah,
<Lahore 1 Majlis-e-ArmugbBn-e-Ilml, 1955>, 116.
,

2Surbhl9, in Ptr Sham. na Grantho, Published by Mukh

Lllj! DevrAj, n.d., vrie no.5.2fChandrabhlQ," in ptrShams na Grantho,
Mukht Laljt Devraj, n.d., ruse no.6:-

'tA. Nanjt, 'l'he NizArt, 63.

2lIbid.
'2Ibid., 65.
"Ibid.,

6'.

_~

__________

.~_L

_ _ _ _ __

Publishe by

...

39

36G. Khakee, "The Dasa Avatara as Linguistic, 44.

31M. Hidayetullah, Kablr: The Apostle of Hindu-Muslim

Onity, <Delhi: Janendra Press, J17>, 45.
-36the term "Khwja W means Wthe honorable or vorshipped
converts w For details on the term and its usage, see K. B.
Fazalullah, GazetteeT 2! !h! Bombay Presidency, Vol. IX, part
2, <1899>, 36-49~

1
j

it
!

,l

"J. N. Hollister, The Shia, 357.

"A.

,
,

Nnjt, The Nizrt, 85.

"J. N. Hollister, The Shia, 362.

6'Ali Asani,
"The Isma< tU qinn
Literature: Its
Structure and Love-Symbolism," <Honours Essay submitted to
Harvard University, 1977>, 15.
61W. Ivanov, "The Sect, 43.
62W. Ivanow, "Satpanth, 20.
6'Ibid., 18.

6Ibid., 24.
.IG. Khakee,
Linguistic, 46.

WThe

Da sa

Avatara

of

.'
Plr

Shams

as

t6A. Schimmel, "Reflections on Popular Mus1im Poetry,"

Contributions 12 Asian Studies, Vol. 17<1984>, 18.
~w.

Ivanow, "Satpanth, 27

'See B. Walker, wKnowledge" in The Hindu Wor1d:

Encyclopeedic Sur~ey of Hinduism, <NeV--York: Frederik
praeger, 1968>,vol.I, 555.

... t'w.

Iv~nov,

An

A:

Guide, 174-181.

.elt is maintained -by the Nizlrt community that g.inln-s

vere composed till the turn of this ceptury.
Tb.~ tast
composer ia said to be Sayyidna Imam BegOm, who lived in
Karachi. After her death in early 1940's the compo$ition
proceBs ceased and the ginln corpus vaB frozen
1Ali Asani, "The IsmA'tl! gin'n, l l .

-Ibid.

,sA. HAnj!, The Hiz.rl, 20.

1
J

r
j

40

62.

c.

Vaudeville, Rabtr, <Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974>,

'B. Walker, Hindu World, Vol. II, 266.

'~for this section ve have
drawn freely upon Ali Asani,
"The IsmA(tl! ginan, particularly, 13-18.
1

'Ibid., 14.

lmami Ismailia
Association
for India,
A
'Shia
Collection of Ginans ~ the Great Saint. Ptr Shams, Bombay;

1952.

,. Ibid.
'lIbido
'2for

listing of

these gin'ns see,

W. Ivanow

Guide,

174-81.

'2the term is a compound of two Sanskrit words ~ and

At present time in the Niz8rt Ismi<tl! ritual, gEitp~,
riIers to a ceremony where 8 vessel containing holy water lS
placed on a ~ or a lov table. After prayrs the Ism8(tlts
pertake of tliIi holy wat~r
~.

....

Numerous references to this ceremony of 9hatptt, a1so

knovn as paval signifying that which purifies, are ound in
the ginanl. The persian term Ab-i-Safa <vater of purity> is
also used by the Nizlrt IsmA(!lfs.

'The text of the Bujh Niranjan is published by the Shia

Ismailia Association for India, in Pavitra Ginlnno Sanghra,"
Bombay, 1962.
For an interesting thesis on Buj~ Niranjan
worked upon recently see Ali Asani, "Bujh Nlranjan: A
Critical Edition of a Mystical poem in Hindustani with its
Khojki and Gujarati Recensions," <Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard
University, 1984>

.)

41

CHAPTIR

li

A Translation of the gi ,n Brahm prat'sb

<HvIiielllUli nation> ~

The sat abda <True Word> is our guru <master>,

the world does not recognise it.

Reflect on the sat abda,

utter p!rshh frequently.

Meditate through the tongue first,

recite prshh prshh day and night.

For three months it stays upon the tongue,

then gets absorbed in what is named Brahm.

On uttering the Name, love sets ablaze,

Thence emerges self-conviction.

Say! 0 brother, what kind of love is this,

l shall reveal the hidden secret for you.

Overwhelmed, the ripple of love arises, .

In that state the sweetness of the mouth escapes.

It oozes out et the intimation of ensuing love,

In the midst of that state, the mind gets .absorbed.

As the current of love moves along its <the mind's> banks,

captivated by love, he gets intoxicated.
J
Astonishingly he babbles and his ,peech becomes dauntless,
this ls the sign of having reached farther.
10

In what manner, can l extol the 'divine bliss',

Its majesty is greater than which can ever be expressed. Il

42

He who relates from books and leaflets,

will not have access to that bliss.

12

A matted hair mendicant impressing himself as a

bhagvin <divine>,
that bliss remains hidden from him.

13

A mendicant- applying ashes and possessing no material

assets,
he did not even brush the surface of the secret to
that bliss.

14

Being an aseetic, yet not immersed in aseeticism,

that bliss remains concealed from him.

15

Worshipping to the
and keeping devout
bliss.

~angam

<Hindu deity> day and night

aith in it, will never attain that

16

Attaining bodily immorta1ity, yet not comprehending its

value,
,
Say, how will he have aeeess to that bliss?

17

Perfoming sixty-eight pilgrimages and bathing the

body for purification,
he will not have heard of that bliss.

tl8

The pious one performing the six important sacrificial

rites, ,
<Yet> that bliss remai.ns distinct from him.

19

Nurtured by mi1k alone, a Saivite hermit,

without that b1iss, his physical body is desolate.

20

Worship~ing

stones, ringing bells,

those w1ll not <even> dream of that bliss.

21

Singing and playing loud on instrum.nts,

those did ,not realize the value of tbat,bliss.

22

\.,

43

Carrying volumes of books for many people to notice ,

without that bliss, they remained worthless.

, ,23

AlI the literates become vain for their accomplishments,

<they> became oblivious of th~ path itself to that bliss.24

1
(

Attaining bodily i~rtality through medicinal herbs,

those will never attain that bliss.

25

Many prepare Medicinal water,

those did not discriminate the
that bliss.

26

~usterity

towara

Many play fair and fouI dtamas,

i~ the name of that bliss, merely satiated their
material desires.

27

Spreading witch-craft and sorcery successfully,

that bliss remains distinct from him.

28

Pounding assemblies, makin9 himself the excellent one,

he did not attain the assets of that bliss.

29

Performing ten million horse-sacrifices,

he wi,ll not discover the dwellin~. abode. of that bliss.

. 30

He who buries his body alive into the earth,

he forgot the passage itslf to that bliss.

31

He who forsake taste and consumed roots,

he did not obtain the taste of that bliss.

32

Oi99in9 a cave and burying himself into the earth,

he --also did not atta in thi s 'b,li ss.

33

Balancing into the air and burying into t~e earth,

both the means prove useless, if that bliss is not
achieved.
,,~

34

>

44

One who goes to Kashi and tortures himself,

he will not have obtained the least knowledge
of that bliss.
Going to the Himalayas to bury his limbs,
he could not bury himself into that 'bliss.

35

36

One who scorches his own self,

'the subject of that bliss remains unique to him.
v

37

One who becomes roaming derwish and explores

portions of the earth,
thAt bliss remains farther remote to him.

38

He who is fortunate in'life and He who has matrial plenty,

withou~ reciting One Name, that bliss remains
distinct from him.
39

l showed to you, the asceticism of those who did

not attain,
now, l shall, explain to you of those who have attained.

40

Siva, Sankdik iltained that bliss,

and liberated themselves from'the cycle of coming
and 90)ng.

41

}SOkhadev, Vysa merged into the bliss,

they will neVer fall into the cycle of returning.

42

Dhruva, pralhd merged into that bliss, and relieved

themselves from the bondage of eiqhty-four cycles of
rebirth.

43

Kabr, the slJve and Rmnanda the master,

attained that bliss and rejoiced -in it.

44

"

Nmdev after attaininq that bliss,

fulfilled his mission absolutely.

..

45

45

Pipa, bhann and Rohids,

attaining that bliss made it their abode.

46

And Nnak Shh attained,

he attained it by concentrating on the One Name alone.

47

vi san, Sur i jan and Mdhavd s,

aIl made' their dwelling into that

48

blis~.

Dd, Rajab, Parsa and Gyn,

attained that bliss only through firm me'ditation.

49

Ranka, vai'ika, Kalu and Kunbh,

they also drowned themselves in that bliss.

50

Khet, Ga~te, Sajn and Sena also,

immersed themselves into that bliss.

51

Agar, Klijan and Tuls attained,

they a1so found themselves in harmony with that bliss.

52

Morards and Maluk jang1,

they were also in harmony with that bliss.

53

Harids and the humble Bajind,

they also merged in the current of"that b1iss.

That same bliss Esar Tunbar attained,

uttering the name, absorbed himself into it.

55

The philosophers and the ascetics,

by attaining that bliss became fortunate.

56

That bliss Gorakh attained undoubtedly,

understanding asceticism earned the reward
of hjs austerities.

57

4)

46

The ascetics, Gopchand and Bharthar,

they were also fortunate to attain that bliss.

58

AIl who attained were revealed to you,

Yet, there is no end to those who attain.

59

In innumerable eras those who contemplated on the Name

found themselves in harmony with that bliss.

60

Now for six months the meditation is centered

in the 'heart',
every breath repeatedly contemplating just One Name.

61

One day greets with astonishme~t,

'eas i ly' the medi tat ion reaches the 'navel'.

62

For nine months the Name is held,

in the same state of meditation and in the same abode of
happiness.
63
From the 'west', it begins to rise upwards toward the
'sky' ,
reaching there witnesses an incomprehensible show.

64

wi thout ra in where the slty thunders,

wi thout a vi sible place where one dwells.

65

without clouds where it rains,

where dwells a 'pe-rson' without a human forme

66

Say, in what manner does the slty thunder?

Say, how does one dwell without a dwelling?

67

Say, in what manner does it rain?

Say, in what way does a 'person' dwell without a
human form?

68

47

In an awful <anhata> unconstrained manner, the sky

thunders,
the mind sits at the trio place <trikuti>.

69

In the sukhman the rain trickles,

where dwells the 'faultless' without a human form.

70

There is no trumpet, yet there is a melody!

there is no sun, yet it is bright!

71

There is no source for a river, yet there flows

the Ganges!
there is no inmate, yet there is a friend!

72

Say! what would you calI a melody?

Say! what is this brightness?

73

Say! what would you calI the Ganges?

Say! whom would you calI a friend?

74

Where the trumpet strikes anhata nda,

where the sun rays radiate sharply.

75

The creation is in the sukhman ganga,

where the surati abda unite together.

76

"

And 1 can talk of the world easily,

<but> the significance of that place cannot be expressed.77
Indivisible abda cannot be impaired,
day and night remains in its pristine forme
-- Immortal abda never ceases 1
becoming surati, is absorbed in the abda. '

78

79

48

Incomprehensible abda held through meditation,

'easily' the burden of salvation is resolved.

80

Immortal abda l say, never perishes,

uniting with Brahm assumes immortality.

81

Timeless abda is where there is no bondage of time,

day and night, surati is absorbed in it.

82

Indivisible abda visualised in meditation,

he terminates the process of coming and going.

83

Unwritten sabda expressed throught asceticism,

due to surati, <he> attains the fruits of salvation.

84

Unshaken abda, nothing can tilt it,

the sabda is immeasurable, who can then weigh it?

85

The unfathomable sabda, who can find its limit?

the sabda is boundless, who can estimate its depth?

86

Where the surati sabda dwells,

there is neither the earth nor the skYe

87

When the surati abda overpowers, <unmani> mind,

then the fear of life and death vanishes.

88

Where the ingal, pingal and the sukhman

arteries run,
there the abda uni tes wi th them.

8'9

One who perce ives the sabda within the limits of the
human form,
did not understand the meaning of surati sabda.

90

The surati abda unites in a knot

just as water merges into water.

91

49

Even if in a moment death occurs,

the knot of the surati abda will never break.

92

The word perceived as 'faultless' byanyone,

will not then perceive it in the limits of
physical vision.

93

The !iabda cannot be perceived through physi.cal vlslon,

those who try to visualize, do not have the eyes
for the !iabda.

94

The Creator and the Ooer of Ours,

Who is seen as the a1l-Pervading One.

95

The Lord <saheb> distinct from everyone,

meets on1y those fewer ascetics through their asceticism.96

Whoever visualizes the 'fau1tless' in such a manner,

frees himself from the bonds of perpetuaI returns to
the earth.

97

Where the nectar trickles forth,

in the happy abode of the sukhman, he plays
in the bliss.

98

In the sukhman bliss, the surati gets absorbed,

and he speaks without fear.

99

Everybody comprehends the external experience,

none comprehend the parac <divine experience>.

100

Why is there apprehension for the divine experience?

without himself being revealed of it~ who can
grasp the divine secret?

101

Where the tide of happiness is at its height,

there amidst the Brahm he gets absorbed.

102

50

One's mind gets absorbed in his ovn inner MOSt self,

then, the pain to be cast again in the womb does
not arise.

103

In his inner Most self, he sees his own self,

he, then, attains immortality existing.

104

What can 1 talk Pout the excellent one's inner self!

Anything 1 utter'Puts my mind to shame.

105

...

The alert eyes wi Il di scover 'the jewe1,

the ignorant will not bring faith.

106

If the diamond is tied in a knot,

what does it matter, if the ignorant believes or not?

107

Without having heard, 1 related what

experienced,
1 simplified and exp1ained to you.

108

personally

The way 1 attained, so 1 explained,

before reaching, 1 did not believe in its reality.

109

Whoever wenders through the three worlds,

without reciting One Name will never attain salvation.

110

The name of the Lord is enchanting and affectionate,

it is the boat to cross the great ocean.

III

Whoever practices the vay 1 explained,

will recite 'thou' 'thou' in one flov.

112

Day and night if one recites 'thou alone',

viII inevitably traverse the great ocean.

113

51

Whoever recites the Name of the Lord,

that slave will attain the Lord himself.

114

Life is squandered in vain, without reciting the Name,

Contemplation makes his life worthwhile.

115

He who eliminates pride whilst meditating on the Name,

eliminates for himself accounting for his actions of the
three ages.
116
AlI those who have contemplated, and are contemplating,
even if they be of low-caste will be amongst
the elevated.
117

In the !! IYS!, Tret ~,

Dvip!ra ~,
And ln tne-Iourth the Kali ~, 1 say, my brothers.

118

The ascetics who are 1iberated or will be liberated,

will have done by e11minating pride and praying to
the Reality.

119

The Lord has innumerable Names,

whoever forsakes slander and recollects, is a
rea1 saint.

120

The Ayam - ~i9am <sacred Vedas>, the Purina <Hindu

mytho ogica texts>, the QUi'!n,
and Nnak also exto1s the 9 ory of the Lord.

121

The Lord alone knows his ovn essence,

the wisdom of Reality is perceived by none.

122

In a fraction of a second, He creates the universe,

and in a fraction absorbs the universe 8gain.

123

The wisdom of the Reality can never be written,

listen, 0 believers, 01 my brothers.

124


52
Eliminate aIl other doubts trom the self,
and engrave just One Name within.

125

While meditating do not drift in other thoughts,

restraining deviation, meditate on the Name firmly.

126

Meditating on the Name, <he> attains the Named,

annihilating the self replaces the self.

127

In yourself, you will hold the all-Pervading One,

the body, the universe will be overwhelmed.

128

The 'attributeless' has many attributes,

if you comprehend and see, one supercedes the other.

129

The formless Reality t~es a form and descends,

This is liked, by the loyers of the Lord.

130

Innumerable
eras and days passed,
In these 4 souls vere liberated, who overcame ignorance.

131

Extolling his g1ory,

One can never exhaust it.

132

In the ~ ~, he manifested into four forms,

four saInts reached ~he heights.

133

Listen, 0 my brothers, Pralhd the redeemer of

five crores,
vas of this era who attained liberation.

134

In the Tret, he manifested into three forms,

Harischandra vas the true one to attain the heights.

135

53

136

In the Kali ~ he has taken the form of a Naklanki,

of all ~soUIS, he is the sole ruler.

137

One day he will play a trick,

and will put an end to all deceit and fraud in the
world.

138

When ImAm Mahdt extends his protection,

twelve crores and innumerable souls will then attain
liberation.

139

The attributes of the attribute1ess are too heavy,

He is the sole enacter of his ovn drame.

140

Shams Dariy, searches the river,

and preaches in the form of a derwish.

141

The manner various people comprehend,

he explains to them in a manner comprehensible to them. 142

v
(

In the Dvpara, he manifested into two forms,

the redeemer of nine crQres Pndava recognised him.

Shams, the master, discloses the secret,

only the true believers attain the Lord.

143

Whatever has happened, is happening and will

continue to happen,
the world worship the 'gurnar' alone.

144

This is why l related about Him,

for whoever remains with the Lord.

145

They will all witness the Omnipresence of Ali,

whoever searches the Brahm Gyan <divine light>.

146

54

He will develop firm conviction,

he who engrosses in attaining the knowledge of
the Divine.

147

Whoever studies, understands and meditates on the Name,

that believer attains paradise.
148
This is the essence of the true path,
Shams Dariya has related and explained.

149

May the Lord fulfill everyone's desire,

prays the person who related to the people
the 'knowledge of the divine'.

150

55

Chapter !!!
Brahm Prakash, An Analysis
section

<!>

Background to the Tantric Tradition

The two ginns, the

Brahm Praksh <Divine Illumination>

and the Bujh Niranjan <Knowledge

of the Attributeless Oeity>

that we mentioned in the previous chapter deal with a similar

theme which is highly mystical

KhOjs view
spiritual
include

both these
progress

on

description of

and spiritual in nature.

ginns as

directives for

the spiritual

path.

mystical 'stages'

contain instructions on how to attain

The

a murid's

These

ginns

and 'states'

and

the~.

But, while the Bujh Niranjan is composed in a ,Oft vein,

dealing with mystical stages and

experience similar to those

contained in ,Oft manuals, the Brahm PrakSh, appears to find

its basis in

an indigenous Indian religious

Tantric tradition.
mystical stages
dealt with in

.would

be

approaches

p~enomenon,

The technical terms which

in the

Brahm Praksh

interesting

the Brahm

to draw

Praksh

parallels

and

describe the

are similar

the Tantric esoteric teachings.

to those

Although, it

betveen

the Bujh

the

the

Niranjan

two

56

chiefly because of their representing a single tradition, our

"

study focusses on the Brahm praksh itself, one of the reason

being,

a recent

study on

the Bujh

Niranjan questions

Ismi<tlt origins of the ginn itse!f.

the Brahm

Praksh vould be

available

in

the corpus

contemplation has been

consistent

If this is true, then

the,only other
in

which

long composition

the mystical

important,

the

ginns in

several other

the corpus.

of

and in a

key Tantric

basis of the Brahm Praksh are

vhich form the

theme

dealt with in an elaborated

manner. More

the

terms

found used in

study of

the Brahm

Praksh will, therefore, not only aid in obtaining an overall

understanding of what the Tantric
but will

also determine

expression in

the Nizr

to what

terms imp!y in the ginns,

extent Tantrism

has found

system of thought

Ism~l

in the

Indian Sub-continent.

Our aim

in this chapter

examine the

is, therefore, to

nature of the relation-ship between the Tantric tradition and

the ginn

tradition of the

intention is not
will

be

to dea! in

limi ted

to

detai~

examining

,)

those

appear to

find similar

It is

essential

to

Tantric

background,

Praksh to exp~ess

as the

of them, but

aspects

take into
key

However, our

vith elther

tradition which
gin'ns.

Nizrt 1 sm ( !! t s.

terms

of

Tantric

expressions in

the

consideration

the

used in

the

mystical stages and experience

Brahm

appear to

be a part of the elaborated Yoga discipline, namely the

Yoga

of

the

Tantric tradition.

Hence,

ve

will

Ha~ha

discuss

57

primarily the
basis,

we

e~perience

Yoga framework.

Ha~ha

shall
is

attempt

to

expressed in the

Brahm Praksh.

First,

Then on

explain

the

how

Ha~ha

the

mystical

ginns, specifically

however, a short note

Yoga

in the

on the Tantric

tradition is appropriate.

Tantrism - a pan Indian phenomenon of' extreme complexity

i5 essentially
appears

a Yoga

that this

northern India at
its Buddhistic

discipline <sdhan-sastra>.

Yoga tradition

had

least from the lOth

form and

later in

its

been popularized

form

Nth Yogis

of

Ha~ha

Buddhism.'
~aivite

It

were propagators

Yoga

which

was apparent1y

counter-parts

tradition

and some

northern and

had

of

of

its

~aivite

and exponents
origins

Siddhas,

its esoteric

the central parts

of the

form by

the

Both the Siddhas

through the

the

in

century, initially in

Sahajiy Siddhas and the Nth-panthI YogIs.

and the

It

in

Nt~

that

jargon

of sorne
Mahyna

Yogis,
the

Tantric

spread in

Indian

the

the

Sub~continent

during the medieval era.

~

These Nth

Yogis are a1so

known as Gorakh

after the name of their foremost

Guru Gorakhnth and also as

knphata YogIs on account of their split ears.'

dates

of Gorakhnth

cannot be

that he may have lived between

northern punjab.'
that the

NthvYo~s,

Although the

ascertained, scholars
the 9th and

l~th

agree

centuries in

It is alleged that 'it was from this period

Nth Yogis achieved

popularity.

The

influence of

58

these

Nt~

Yogis

the Medieval
among

appears to have been

era on

the emerging mystical' traditions both

~~,.
~
Hindus and the
'_.' ims. Among the Hindus two
,

the

quite prof6und during

.'

:.o<p

mystical traditions namely, the Bhakti and the Sant tradition

are alleged to have been

affected by the Gorakhnth panths.

_:1'

mai~tains

C. Vaudeville
whose

chief exponent

that

the so-called

was Kabr,

appears to

indebted to the Nath-panth form of

some of the Sants such as
be understood

nirguQ Bhakti,
be

heavily

50

Yoga that the sayings of

Guru Nnak, Nmdev etc. can hardly

w,i thout referring to the

Nath-panth esoter ic

vocabulary.

Similarly, the ;;Ofs, especially

Chistiyya

and

the

compatability of
This is

Shattr

seem

to

have

of Nth-panths.

marked influence of Nth-panth

Likewise, examining the ginns,

found

the writings of some of the ;;Ofs of the

Medieval period which show a

thought in them.'

Orders,

doctrines vith those

~Ofi

eviden'ce~bY

those belonging to the ..

we find a

large

of

portion

Nth-panth esot
in

titl,s

of

ic
to

the ginns
Nth

indicate that

jargon.

s.

structure

There are
as

i2g!,' abadhu

The liberal

express

to

reflect

numerous references

use

of

Tantri m has~fficiently found

The ginn Brahm

to

mystical

terms such

the ginn literature

terms

their

<avadhOta>,
their

terms

expression in

the Nizr Ism<ilis.

Prak sh, besides using the

the

my tical

experience,

key Tantric
which

itself

.)

59
suggests a connection between the

two traditions, also maltes

references to several persona 1 i t i es.

as those

having rece i ved the

fol10wing

the

Praksh.~O

.. Personalities

spi rit ual

The ginn ment ions them

myst ical exper i ence

pa th

as

such

in

outl ined
as

by hav i ng

Kabir,

the

Brahm

Guru

Nnak,

Bhartari, Gopi, Nmdev etc., mentioned in the ginn are those

belonging to the
been

Sant tradi t ion who are alleged

either disciples

contact

with

of Gorakhnth

Gorakhnth. 11

The

or to
Brahm

to have had

have come
Pra kash

into

ment ions

Gorakhnth as one who has liberated himself:

Tha t bl i 55 Gorakh at ta i ned undoubtedly,

Understanding asceticism earned the
reward of his austerities. 1l
Besides the Brahm Praksh,
~

also found in a f ew other places in agi nn a t tributed to the

sa me pir.

1l

There is no possibility, however,

ft

whether Shams
the
/~

references to Gorakhnth are

al-Din,

ginn Brahm

Gorakhnth

Praksh,

himself.

works certa inly

which seems
,ti Il recen t 1y

the Nizri

But

had
the

indica te a l ink

to have begun with

5i

nce

of ascertaining

pir to whom

is attributed

anyairect

connection

simil~rities

found in

between the

their

two t radi t ions

Shams al-Oin and

the 9 inns composed by

with

carried on

the las t author,

Sayyidn Imm Begum, strongly reflect Tantric jargon.

Hence,

we shall' proceed to examine the Ha ~ha Yoga of the Nath-pan thi

cult.

10

60
Hatha Yoga 2.! kuoc;)alint-6akti !2.9!

As

Ha~ha

ment ioned above,

Yoga

is believed

to

have

J.

d,veloped from the 7th century onwards as a kind of of f-shoot

of

Mahyna Buddhism

which has

schools of popular devotion,

The

Ha~ha

word

formed

The

of body

basic

identical in

however,

<a l though not

concept ion

a11 the

behind

Tantric schools.

transcendent state.

The

to be

Yoga
The

a microQsm, wherein a11

the sahaja

wi th

pract ices

a Yogi,

sahaja -a Supreme,

sahaja state, a Yogi

To realize

Yoga' sinee

aim of

within the body itself, since

'realized'.

sun

difficult postures

the

~aivite is to attain

is coneeived as

means the

always> assoc iated

whether Buddhist or

to be .attained

ha

'difficult

bodily exercises and

are usual1y

The

wo~ds,

14

<chandrama>; their union is called

word signifies,

extremely strenuous

most

bothVedntic and Buddhistic.

of two

<sOrya> and tha, the moon

Yoga.

gradually impregnated

maintains, is
the human body

spiritual truth is
state, therefore,

primar i ly requi res an understanding of the human, body and i t s

esoteric aspects.
1

Secondlya sdhan <practise> as an aid in

the' realization' of
the sdhan,

sahaja within the human

body.

Through

a Yogi is said to attain the sahaja state, which

is equated vith the attainment of bodily immortality.l'

As the

Nth-panth Yogis

are Saivites,-

their form

,J~
Ir'

of

61
Ha~ha

Yoga

~akti,

characteri zed

the female

by the

fe{Jlale pr inc i pIe, whereas the

~iva,

is vieW'ed

aimed at
'sahaja'

is W'orshipped as

for t(em.

The

union of

Nth-panth sdhan

Siva and

Basing themselves

frame-work, the Nth

the active

male pr inciple, represen ted by

as inactive.

realizing the

to

Divinity ~iva.l' In

energy of the Supreme

of Ha~ha Yoga, Sakti

this form

prominence attached

Sakti, which

is
is

on the general Tantric

Yogis maintain that the union

is to be

realized within the body itself.

In order

the kUQQalin i

emphasi 5 on
~akti.
Ha~ha

lt

to realize this

i s pointed

Yoga in

whole body

con5ciou~nes5,

which the
actua lly

and truly

Yoga.

'spell'

for its success. 1

mantra

play a

vi ta l

form the basis of

meru-daQQa

is

un i ted W' i th

that part
~akti of

the Lord

The essential feature

'

che1p of

However,

role in
of the

Ha~ha

Accordingly,

considered

identified with

creative sustaining

requires the

peculiar 'geography'

kUQQalini

Yoga lays

of
the
of

i.e.~iva.l. For this reason Hatha Yoga is also

that it

spinal cord

Ha~ha

<serpent> power,

out that

called kUQQalin-sakti
Yoga i5

merging, the

are

the

'word' or

as the kUQ9alini and the

the

human

body and

body i tsel f ,

i ts esoter ic

the

aspects

Yoga both in theory and practice. H

the main

axis of

ca~led ~-daQ9a

as

a mantra,

of this

pivot

of

super- imposed

the human

<by analogy
the

body is

the

vith Mount-Meru,

universe>.
ser les

Along
of

the

chakras

62

<nerve-plexuses> in the shape of

popularly considered to
as centres

of vital

lot uses.

be six in aIl.

forces.

Hence

These chakras are

They are regarded

21

they become

objects of

concentration in themselves, and in them are to be discovered

the

mysteries

of

Each

c reat i on.

chakra

is

in

i tself

con(ei'Y.ed as a state of 'bliss' or of ecstatic experience.

Thus, the

fi rst chak ra

mOldhra-chakra,
meru-daQQ.a,

si tuated

vhich i5

whilst the sixth

and the

lowest of

at

extreme

between

the
the

end

anus and

called the jn-chakra i5

a11 i s

the

the

of

the

ger'li taIs;

situated between

the eyebrows; above it stands a cavity within the skull.

top of the skull i5 occupied
petalled

chakra,

gagana-maQQala

also

i5 also

The

by the sahasrra - the thousand

known

as

gagana-maQQala.

called

the 'moon',

This

22

since

it is

receptacle of ambrosia <amrta>, which oozes from its pericap.

It is

place of Param-~iva

conceived as the dwelling

Supreme Being.
Yogt, as

To reach the gagana-maQ9ala

the attainment

of thi 5 stage

is the goal of a

is equated

at tainment of sahaja and bodilY immortali ty.

or the

wi th the

2 3

\.

Furthermore, the human body is

of n'clts <arteries>
breaths.

2 '

i~rtant

Out
role

said to contain thousands

which are essent ially channels

of these, three
in the

Ha~ha

n9ts in particular

Yoga.

The iQ

pingal are si tuated

on the left and the right

meru-daQQa.

pUigalA,

19' and

through

of vi tal
play an

or ingal

and

sides of the

which the 'two

main

63

breaths are moving, are identified

the

'lIIoon' <cbandrama> and as the Gang and the Yamun ri vers

respectively.25

Susumn

or Sukhman,

deemed the most important.

,':'-ord

as the 'sun' <sOrya> and

prop~~rly as

or more

channel

situated within

extend from the

ident i f ied

the i'rlner
the

mOldhra,

meru-daQQa to the
the skull.

It i s

vacumm below the hole of

triveot.

who bathes at

It

is said

to

po int of the

the sahasrra in

sukhman are sa id to have

and to meet finally in the

The confluence of these

is known as

most extremely , narrow

that i s, the lowest

their source in the lowest chakra

sahasrra.

channel is

vi th the spinal

spinal cord. /

1 i, pi ngal and the

the third

three nois in the skull

rt is claimed by the

Yogis that "he

that sacred confluence reaches

to the highest

place and attains

27

mok~a

<salvation>."Za

In this peculiar geography of the Hatha Yoga,

the cosmic

energy, considered the vital energy, is conceived as a female

one;

snake, the kUQ9alini, the coiled

is said to

ca Il ed beca use she

remain coiled in the lowest chakra,

in a

dormant state. z,

the

techn ique

of

kUQ9alint-akti and

The

various exercises

Hatha Yoga

a im

at forcing her

daQia through the central channel

this highest

at

where she is
pertaining to

waking

up

upwards along

point, the

to reach the

the

the meru

known as sukhman.

progress upwards, the kUQ9al in! a ims

Reaching to

50

In her

sa~asrra.

kUQ9alint unites

with

64
Param-Siva 1 in the gagana-maQ9ala.
Yogt are rewarded
and he

Here,

the' efforts of the

: he is able to drink

attains mahlsOkha

the ambrosia juice,

or 'supreme

bliss' which

is the

supreme sahaja state.'

Hovever, the

act i vat i on of

the k uQ9ali ni,

requi res the nov of UlgalA and

that

they unite

vith

pi "gal in one di rect ion,

the sulehman

regulation of the breath,

according

a mantra for its sidhan.

According to C.

part icular energy.

each

II

of

to the Nth Yogis needs

'spell" or a 'word'.

mantras reproduce

express.

The repetition

or spells are

'germ-syllables' or alesara,
which

is

endoved

When repeated outwardly

the bija

50

This

the trivei.

Vaudeville, the Yogic mantras

syllables',

j'pa as merely

in

mantra is a

composed of phonemes called bija,

'potent

essent ia lly

the mysterious

of this mantra is

a repetition <uccara> is

vith

and inwardly,

state that

they

called j,lli. But

not fruitful except

as a beginner' s exerc i se.

The "jApa becomes maningful

smaraoa or

The NAths pay

hail-sa 1 which

j'pa 32. The

intention

behind

Hence

Nlth Yogis.

to

them i s

ajpajpa

is

the
to

per f ect
curb

the

concentration .on the mantra

the mantra itself is

Once the jpa

called ajpajpa

special respect: to the sacred

according

vandering mind and achieve total

itself.

i t is inter iorized as

sumiran, memorization, vhich is

or silent jpa.
syllable

when

the chief focus

of the

becomes ajpajlpa, the activation

65

of the kUQQalin begins.

The kUQQalin

is lifted through

Smaral)8 of

the mantra

from the place where she lies coiled up in the .mQlidhra, the
lowest base.

The aim

sahasrra.

But to

reach

chakras are involved.

super - imposed on
path of the

make the

the

kUQ4alin reach

hi ghest state,

the

meru-daQ9a.

the meru-daQ"a. Thus,

the sukhman

var i ous

they all lie

, the

experience or

eestasy, and

fixation on

secures reactions which

are interpreted in terms

of

attained.

progress

At

33

individual soul drinks the nectar

of the

of real i ty,

type
the

in the

on her way

central channel

symbol i z i es a

Each chakra

s'piritual

the

These chakras, as mentioned above, are

kUQ9alin as she passes through them

upwards through

specifie

is to

each

each

of degrees
ehakra,

the

of the crescent moon which

oozes from the pericap of the sahasrra.

Ha~ha

Yoga or kUQ4alini-sakti Yoga

is eharacterized by a persistent

effort directed both tovard

The whole process of

, inwardness'

and' upwardness' I f

Theref9re 1

in

Ha~ha

Yoga

emphasis is laid both on strenuous bodily exercises <known as

mudr,

sana,

bandha -appropriate

control methods>

which aim

vithin

and

the body

at

at holding

control and ultimately

The!!!!!!. is

conceived

postures

a11 the

breathing techniques.

maintain that the reversaI of

gestures,

and

vi tal vinds
The

Yogis

the breathing process leads to

to the paralysing of
as the controller of

- The

the mind <man>.

the senses.

66

!!E, therefore, is considered to

be the greatest obstacle in

the Yogi' s, progress toward attaining liberation.

control of

the mind,

min?"- unmani, the

The unmana

which the Yogts

final victory

stage, which

over his

attainment of the sahaja

by

call "killing

Yogi is said to reach

or unmani

proper breathing

enemy, the
state.~

of the

the highest state.

results from

the Yogi's

man co-incides

with the

-.s--

And this is ta be attained

techniques.

mantra plays a significant role

Through the

Hence

repetition of

the

Ha~ha

Yoga

in the suceess of

pract ices.

Having outlined the basic

an important
exper ience
exper ience.

aspect remains
actualized

and

frame-work of the
to be
what

considered.
is

This ve shall examine below

the

Ha~ha

How

nature

Yoga,
is the

of

the

in the light of the

ginn vorks, chiefly focussing on the Brahm Praksh.

67

Notes to Chapter III

Section <!>
lThe Tantric tradition is followed by certain so-called
left-hand Hindus and Buddhists. This tradition is believed
to have spread during the medieval era in the Indian
Sub-continent. For details see below.
lAli Asani, "Bujh

~iranjan.

:lThe following is a short list of ginns found to have

been composed wi thin the Tantric f rame-vork: AvadhOta, <O!
jogi make ascetic i sm your begging bowl>; Tame japajo din raat
ke, <meditate on the it2! day and night>; Sakht ~ahpad keri
VIt,
<0 friend!
few comprehend the signlhcance of that
stage>; Si Barfi, <thirty golden words>; Ajampiya tano hardam
dhariye Chy n, <Through ajrjpa hold every brea~ Haraam
karo abhiyas, <Study thysel
constantly>; Ajam~iya .j.!I2! ~fna
9haf mahe, <Whosoever holds the ajpajra wlthln hlS se >;
l..2.9..!. so jfi9 ~ i2s1, <He is a true Yog who has been a Yogi
through t e ages>.
Besides these, there are numerous allusions to Tantric
terms in the ginn corpus.
These ginns are attributed to
the authorship of various d<s and p!rs beginning with
compos i t ions att ri buted to Shams a l-Dn
unt i l
the use of
Tantric vocabulary is found in the works attributed to the
last of composers,
Sayyidn8 Imm Begum after whom the ~in8n
corpus became frozen. For translations of the above-mentloned
ginns see,
Gulam Ali Allana, Ginans of the Ismaili Pirs,
<Karachi: l smailia Assoc iat ion for Karachi, 1984>; and "Some
Specimen of Satpanth Literature-The Garbi Songs, " translated
by Vali Mohamad N. Huda in Collectaneil l <1948>, 55-85.
5. A. Rizvi, Alakhbni or Rushd Nm,of Shaykh Abd ulQuddus Gan90hi, in Hindi, <Aligarh: Adarsn-Press, 1971~117.
SC. Vaudeville, Kahl r, 121.

One of the characteristic features of the Gorakh Nth

Yogis is the practise of having the cartilege of their ears
split. At the time of initiation,
as it is alleged' to be
still
jn practise, the ear of a novice is split for the
insertion of huge ear-rings.
It is
maintained by the Nth
Yogts that the ears contain a net-work of niQts <arteries>
connecting them vith the inner organs of perception.
The
splitting of the ear is believed to open a mystical channel
in order to sssist in the development of Yogc powers. See,
S.A. Rizvi, The History of Sufism i!l India, <New Delhi:
Munshiram Manoharlal Press, 1978>, 332.

68
'C. Vaudeville, Rabir, 86-87.
Ibid., 120.
'Aziz Ahmad, Studies in Islamic Culture in the Indian
Environment, <Oxford: Clarencon Press, 1964>. 137-3~
lSee our translation of the Brahm praksh abbve,
particularly verses 41-58. Henceforth the translation will
be referred to as BP.
11 See art icles on "Gorakhnth", "Rabi r" ,
in B. Walker, Hindu World, 2 vols.

"Nnak" etc.,

1ZBP., verse No.57.

llTwo other references are found in the gi~n "Hans
Hansal i ni varta,
in Pi r Shams ~ Grantho, pub lshed by
Mukh Llj Devrj, n.d.ft

14C. Vaudeville, Kabir, 122.

15G.W.Briggs,
Gorakhnth and
the Rnphata
<Calcutta: Motilal Banarasidass Press, 1973>, 274.

Yogis,

1 'Co Vaudeville, "Kabir and

Interior Religion," History
of Religions, Vol.3 II <1964>, 194.

l'S . .\. Rizvi, History of Sufism, 334.

1

aG. W. Briggs, Gorakhn th, 274.

l'Ibid.
20e. Vaudeville, Rabr, 130.
21The six centres or chakr~s are: mOldhra <at the base
of the spinal column>; svadhist ana <at the "root of the male
organ>; mankpOraka <in the region of the navel>; anhata
<the heart lotus>; viuddha <in the throat> and j~ <between
the eyebrows, within the skull>.
The chakras or otuses are
chief characteristic element of ~a~ha Yoga. A few of these
are referred to in the ginns as welle
For further details
see M. Basu, Tantras, ~ General St udy, <Calcut ta:
l ndia,
1976>, 125-127.
Z2C. Vaudeville,

Kab~r,

130.

Z3Ibid.
ZG.WBri9gs, GorakhnAth, 308.
ZIC. Vaudeville, Kabtr, 131.

69

H1bid.
2 '1 bide
21

Ibid.

2'Ibid., 131-32.
UIbid., 129.
llIbid.
32C. Vaudeville explains "The migratory bird ham-sa, in
Vedic tradition, symbolizes the Supreme Being. In the Tant~ic
Saiva tradition, it represents Siva. But it also, designates
the indi v idual soul <~i va> espec i811y in i ta pur i f ied st-ate,
when it merges into t e Universa1 soul, paramham-sa.".Kablr,
129. For details also see, G.W. Briggs, Gorakhnith, 307.
33G.W. Brig9s, GorakhnAth, 322.
~

3C. Vaudeville, Kabtr, 132.

lS1bid.

j
Cl

70

Section
Tantric Il...nt
apecificallx

<~

!n

the ginlns,

the Braha Prat.sh

In the last section ve surveyed the chief characteristic

fea tures of Ha ~ha
maintained

Yoga of the Tantric t radi t ion,

that the

key technical

esoteric

tradition appear

similar to

Praksh.

also maintained that these

vas

It

terms of

found in the

tho~~

for i t was f
this

ginn Brahm

key terms occur

prominently in the entire ginn corpus, which goes to suggst

that Tantrism,- seems to have

found expression in

Ism<ilt system of thought to

therefore,

opens

vith

a large extent.

look

at

the

the Nizr

This section,

basic

concept;on\

outlined in the mystical category of the ginns, of which the\

/'

Brahm

Praksh

is seen

proceeds to examine

Brahm Praksh
upon the

ginns
broadly

major composition.

these conceptions vithin the

seems to

Ha~ha

ln our

As we proceed, our

Yoga.

Ha~ha

as

1t

context of

study will reveal

super-impose a

Shi< t form

then

that the
,

of Islam

Yoga frame-vork of fhe Tantric tradition.

discussion on

in chapter

the nature

one above,

falling under

and the "structure of

we classified

five categories.

the ginns

It vas

as

maintained

71

that amongst these, the esoteric aspect of Satpanth or Nizri

Ism<ilism largely falls
the

mysticQ1

category

under the fifth category

of ginns.

The

underlying this category of ginns,

interior and

personalized form

t~

individual murid and

vision i.e. union with
bringing oneself

G~d.l

essential

is the

feature

pevelopme~t

of relation-ship

Lord in order to

termed as

of an

betveen an

attain the divine

<Mok,a or salvation consists of

within this pattern

of harmony

vith God>.

This is exemplified in the Ism1li system by the emphasis on

between the spiritual

and the spiritual

reality of the Imm, who, as

above, stands
1

the relation-ship

murid.

reality of

ve have seen
an Ism c tH

in fundamental relation-ship with

The culmination

a murid

of this relation-ship is

se en as a

1.

spiritual union betveen the inner reality

of a murd and the

inner reality of the Imm i.e. union vith God.

The
expressions

mystical
a't

ginns

are,

var i ous levels of a

between a murd and the Imm.

therefore,
,

This category of ginns may be

guides leading towards the

path and containing instructions on

which are expressions

primarily

spi ri t ual relat ion-ship

further classified into three sub-groups:

are seen as

those ginns which

mystical or esoteric

how to attain it; ginans

of mystical experience arising

out of

72

the establishment
those ginns

a spiritual relation-ship; and, finqlly,

~f

which in popular

devotional literature

of the

Indien Sub-continent are termed as 'lamentations'

r>

and ,'pleas' <venti> of an individual murd for the a

of the vision of the Lord.(

We

ar,e \ere

speciUcally

concerned

sub-group of ginns which basically

of mystical

experience.

'stages' and 'states'

spiritual journey.

They

the

which a murid would

various

into the

a short ginn from

type of

therefore, act

as guides

'"
,
The followlng

the corpus offer us

relation-ship to

rny~tical\\

experience on the

leading a murid to tread on the esoteric path.

verses of

'\t

.
\
realizatio~

focus on the

desc~e

These ginns,

the

with

a glimpse

be cultivated

between a

murid and the Lord:

Pir Sadr al-Dn says,

Know that the Lord is ever-present;
the eternal status can be achieved,
if you encounter the nOr <liqht> within .
the daran <vision> can be attained through
when you search for the 'Attributed One'.'

,the~vigil,

'.

This type of references to the path are found in various

-places in the ginn corpus.'
a major

composition of this

esoteric patn
contains

However, the Brahm

category not only

implied throughout the

detailed

instructions

about

Pra~sh,

outlines the

ginn corpus
how

to

as

but also

follow

it.

Hence, we shall focus mainly on , the Brahm Praksh.' It is in

the discussion

of the esote r le

Praksh

va rious

the

path described in

mys t ical

stages and

the Brahm

the

resul t i ng

ecstatic experience due

to the establishment of

relation-ship between a

murd and the Lord

a spiritual

- that reference

te the Tantrie

tradition becomes inevitable.

such as Uigal,

et~.

pingal, sukhman

key terms

The

used in

the text to

...

>

ex pe rie n ce,

desc r ibe

the mystical

oceupy a

significant place in the

,."..

Tantrie
primarily
Praksh

Our'-- purpose

tradition.
to

outline

have seen

above,

Hat ha Yoga theory

of the

in

the

the underlying

pages

theme

of

below
the

is

Brahm

The latter portion i5 devoted to demonst rating the

mystical path outlined in the

have

we

a~

these soteric

Brahm Praksh to determine how

terrns employed

in the

ginn and

what

meaning have they been eventually given in the text.

As the

title of the

ginn suggests, the

deals wi th a myst ical aspec t

know1edge
vision

of the

by an

di vine

cefllt:ral idea

The attainment

attempts

of

Praksh seems to

to explain

acquired by an individual and thereby

how

divine

mok~.

order to attain

on which the Brahm

The text

based.

concerned wi th the III umina t ive

Lord.

individua} in

Brahm Praksh

is

the

have been

this vision

is

seek..s to guide a murid

",

from

stage

absorption
self-heod

to

stage of

in the

<True Word> as

experience

unfathomable depths

te experience

Brahat Poraksh

mystical
c _

the divine.

is on the mystical

of

to

eventual

one's own

The

emphas i s of

prac'tise of" the

a means to attaining the vision

inner
the

sat abda

of the Lord.

'1.

...,

74

The ginn deals

sat

The

~abda.

the divine

at length

is

sat

properties of the

presented

as

being

It Fs transcendent in

transcendent and i
that it stretches beyon

both

the sense

time and space and is thu5 formless,

not perceived by the power of human intellect.

As it states:

T imeless sabda i s where there i 5 no bondage of t ime,

day and night, surati is absorbed\ in it.
The unfathomable ~abda, who can flnd its limit?
The sabda is boundless, who can estimate its depth?
... BP 82,86.

At

the same

every level of

time, the

sat

is all-Pervading

~abda

existence; in particular all

at

the ontological

stages of the self are viewed as being overwhelmed by the sat

sabda.

Hence,in

order

transcendence and the

maintains that
through

for

murid

to

immanence of the sat

the self must be

contemplation.

experience
~abda,

the ginn
sat sabda

submerged in the

Consequently

it

the

res'ults

i~

the

attainment 'of salvation.

l ncomprehens ible ~abda held through medi ta t i on,

'easily' the burden of salvation is resolved.
BP 80.

In other words,
,focus, the centre

the sat sabda itself

forms the ultimate

around which a murd's

inner energies are

this reason,'the sumiran

<contemplation> of

,,#

organised.
the sat

For

~abda fprms

a significant

pr~tiQ~" whih

seems to

75

underlie the Brahm Praksh.

~Ofs

dhikr of ism <zam by the

praksh through
his

btini self

whic~

Sumiran of

is a means shown in the Brahm

a murd

in order

is initiated

to experience

one's own self-hood.

Focussing on

discusses

how thl

at length

develops a
stage of

murid's inner

depths

experience the divine.

shown

as leading

relation-ship

between

the divine

one's

sumiran

him from

stage to

eventual absorption
own

inner

self

Hence, it is the sat

murid towards
himself

within

practise of

self and leads

of

into developing

this fundamental idea, it

mystical

mystical experience to

unfathomable

the sat sabda or the

the

and

the

in the
hood

~abda

to

which i5

establishment of
Lord

and

which

culminates in the realization of the expef+ence of union with

the Lord.

As mentioned above, in Satpanth or Nizr Ism<lism the

relation-ship between a murd and

the Lord i5

an

relation-ship between

establishment of

inner reality of
We

shall,

a spiritual

a murd and the inner reality

therefore,

see

characterizes this aspect.

below

how

the

exe~plified

as
the

of the Imm.
Brahm

praksh

A verse in the ginn 5ays:

Reflect on the sat sabda,

utter prshh frequentlr
BP 2.

76

The

ptrshh appears

~abda,

entire ginn

corpus.

as a

dhikr word

Numerous references

ginns where the ptrs give the

are found

the

in the

jpa <word> of pirshh to the

new convert,.1

Pirshh literally stands

shh

Therefore,

<!lill.>.

in almost

for

prshh would ,be

<guru> and

equivalent

to

gqr..nar. '

In Nizri
epithet

Ism(lism, the
( Al ,

referring to

Ism(ils. lD

Since

< Al

t*

institution of

lmmah in

then

aIl the

refer to

context

the

allusion

necessarily refer
the Imm.

word pirshh

the first

is

Imm

considered

essence, the

prshh

to the relation-ship

as an

of the

Nizr

represent

to

word pirshh,

Nizr Ism<l
to

is seen

Imms.

in

the

11

would

Taken

ginns

between a

the

in
must

murid and

Hence when the ginn states:

Reflect on the sat sabda

utter pirshh frequently .

BP 2

It implies that as a murid

is the Name of

'

meditates on the given word which

the Lord, he, ,at the height

of his spiritual

maturity, attains the Named, as it states:

Meditating on the Name, <he> attains the Named .

BP 127.

77

Since it is established that the sabda prshh refers to

the Imm, it

follows from references to prshh

that at the height of his

the Named

with

spiritual progress a murd attains

i.e. attains the inner

attainment in

reality of the

the Ism<l system signifies

God. However,

it

praksh establishes
mystical path

in the text

remains to

the identity

be

attaining union

seen

of the

which it elaborates and

Imm. This

how the

Brahm

sabda through

how it leads

the

a murid

toward its realization.

In order to

actualize this experience of

(

one's own self-hood , the

the Lord within

down

the

mystical

practise
states

and

exp1anation of the

practise

contains
stages

in

descriptions
the

of
of

various
providing

in the

ginn.

of

the sabda

off

into

esoteric path.

mystical path is structured

The first
and

the

10

describing

speak of
due

the
to

Then the ginn suddenly

the

It continues then to name

verses

The

in a curious

resulting ecstasy

uselessness

so-called ascetic practises which are

sabda.

form

murd treading on the

intense concentration on the sabda.

breaks

Brahm Praksh 1ays

#1

instructions to a

manner

and

the vision of

of

various

not centred on the sat

adepts who during the ages

have attained the divine bliss due to their focus on the oame
t

of the Lord in contemplation.

path begins again

The discussion of the mystical

abruptly from verse no.

61 and. culminates

-,
j'

-1

78

in discussing

the resulting ecstasy

experience of

the divine within

Excluding the

intermediate verses i.e.

gets a fair

and realization

one's own

of the

inner self-hood.

verse Il to

out1ine of the mystical path

60, one

illustrated in the

Brahme Praksh.

Our concern here i5 to focus

on the mystical path as it

has been il1ustrated in the Brahm Praksh.

As we proceed, we

shall see severai technical esoteric terms which describe the

mystical

path

similar

and

the experience.

esoteric terms

corpus, its meaning

to obtain a
various

Yoga

clear idea of what is the

i5

theory

terms

of

incorporates

terms of

path will,

ginns

esoteric vocabulary of

the

Ha~ha

tradition,

It appears that

vocabulary to

the

demo~strate

Ha~ha

key

technical terms

to

the

the ginn

explain its

mystical

those of

the

Ha~ha

The following illustration of

Yoga
,

these

reference

principes similar to

conform to

It is important

significance of these

mystical

inevitable.

therefore,

the

this

Yoga of the Tantric tradition.

the

ginns in

to

As

the Tantric

a similar

reference

path.

in the

part of the

Tantric Yoga becomes

Path in

in severa1

is, however not clear.

technical

voc~bulary

is found

Aithough

have

to

th~ory

what extent
and what

the

meaning

li

been

given in

the

Brahm

~Praksh.ll'

Demonstratin~

the

~rahm

,-'

the mysticai path,rthe beginning verses of

Praksh state:

79

The sat sabda <True Word> i5 our guru <master>,

The world does not recognize it.
Reflect on the sat sabda,
Utter prshh frequently.
Meditate through the tongue firSt,
recite prshh prshh day and night.
'1

For three months it stays upon the tongue,

then gets absorbed in what is named as Brahm .
BP 1,2,3,4.

The

tone

exhortation.
<master>,

of

these

It

says

first

that

for anything

which

the

few
sat

verses
sabda

communicates

is

that

is

our

a vision

glimpse of reality is considered the task of a guru.

guru is the only
path towards

guide who can lead a murd

the.relization, the

of
guru

or

Since a

on the mystical

focus should be

the guru

i.e. the sat sabda itself. This path, it maintains, should be

initiated through
the sabda.

dhyn <meditation> focussed

Therefore, sumiran

signifiSfnt practise

of the

of the

absolutely on

sabda forms

mystical path.

the most

Indicating the

method by which the sabda should be practised, the ginn says

that

the practise

repetition

through

of

the sabda

the

is

tongue. The

primarily a
verbal

conscious

repetition

is

interpreted as a breath upon breath technique.

Such an

allusion to

the practise

of sabda

stated in a ginn from the corpus which says:

Through every breath

meditate on the ~ of pirshh,
meditate constan~ 13

is clearly

,.,

80

After

the

abda

is

repeated

constantly

it

becomes

interna1ized, i.e. it i5 no longer a con5cious repetition but

a sub-conscious
abda.

The

proces5, when every breath

internalization of the

ajlpajlpa or

silent repetition.

contemplates the

abda is referred
One of

the verses

to as
in the

corpus states:

OThee! Hold every breath of meditation

through ajpaj~,
Ho1d every brea~ in meditation
Othee! Control the mind through meditation,
focussing on the Satgur . 1f
The

objective behind

through every
control

the

i~ernalized,

the

constant

breath i5 to focus
mind

from

practise of

on the sabda,

deviating.

Once

the

the

sabda

which would
dhyn

is

it goe5 down to the heart, as the Brahm praksh

states:

...

Now for six month5, meditation is centred in the 'heart',

every breath repeatedly contemplating just One,Name.
One day greets with astonishment,
'ea5i1y' the meditation ~eaches the 'nave1'.
For nine months the Name is held,
~
in the same state of meditation and in the same abode
of happiness.
\

From the 'wst' it begins to rise upwards towards

the 'sky', -,
reaching there witnesses an incomQrehensiale show ..
BP 61,62,
63,64.
The following

verS~5

of the Brahftt ,Praksh say that after

the sabda i5 meditated upon

verbally, which would take three

81

months of practise,

it leads a murid to the

,the dhyn is internalized and

abda, is
months.

second stage as

reaches the heart. l l

held through ajpajpa,

Here the

i.e. silent jpa

for six

And from the heart it goes down to the nbhi <navel>

where the

dhyn stays for

a period

of nine months.

It is

from nbhi that the dhyn rises from the 'west' ta go towards
the

'sky'.

In other

words,

Praksh suggests is that of

the

method which

the

Brahm

'inwardness' and 'upwardness' of

the dhyn.

The

mystical

appear similar

stages

described in

to the chakras,

the

which as

Brahm

Praksh

intimated earlier,

play a significant role in esoteric" aspect of th human body

according to

the Haha

peculiar,geography

Yoga theory.

of the body, the

body is the spinal column known

To reiterate,
main axis of

in the

the human

as meru-daQa upon which are

super-imposed a series of chakras, the lowest and the highest

chakra being located

on the extreme ends

Thus, the heart, the navel

in the ginn

or anhata, nbhi etc.,'mentioned

are various centres in the human

Yoga practise,
point of the

the aim

of a

with attainment

Yogi is

R~aching

meru-daQa.

Yogi is said to achieve the

which

of the meru-daQa.

cosidered stags of
progress achieved.

l '

to reach

to this

In the

the highest

highest stage, a

sahaja- astate which is equated

of bodily immortality.

are super-imposed

body.

on the

The

various chaKras

merU-daQg8 are,

progress or indicators of

therefore,
the level of~

,.,
\ \

82

In

the Tantric

Yoga system

the 8im

of a

Yogi is

to

attain sahaja. The vital urge of a Yogt to realize the sShaja

is personified in
lies

coiled

the symbol of a

up at

the

base

kUQQalint ia viewed as the

within the human
is actualized.

of

kUQ9alin!, 'serpent' that

the spinal

The

personification of energy <Sakti>

body through which the

The

column.

mystical experience

aim of a Yogi in the

Tantric system is,

therefore to raise the kUQQalin from the place where it lies

in a

dormant state.

begins to

Once it

is aroused from its

climb the ladder of

the chakras finally

the highest chakra and attain

~he

Yoga

Ha~ha

is

to

persistent effort both

to

at~ain

It

of a

the

Yogt is

experience

o~

the

characterized by

'inwardness' and 'upwardness'

towar~s

sahaja. 11

appears

functioning of
the basis of
,1

to reach

sahaja. 17 The whole process of

actualize

The practise

"kuQQalint.

sleep, it

that

the

under-lying

principle

the kUQQalint-sakti of, the

Ha~ha

the mystical path illusrated in

the

Yoga forms
~inn.

the allusion to the dhyn of

stage to stage until it

the

For
f

a murd passing, interna11y from

r~aches

the

n~hi

appars to refer to

a process similar as the one advocated in the Tantric system.

The inwardness

of the

dhyn is

to wake

the

kU~9a~in

and

force it from where it lies in a dormant state. Similarly the

Brahm Praksh, leading a murd on
tqe sabda is internalized ..

the path, explains that as

83

One day greets with ashtonishment,

'easily' the meditation reaches the 'navel' ...
For nine months the Name is held,
in the same state of meditation
and in the same abode of happiness ...
. .. B? 62,63.

The

stage

nbhi

importance where the

per iod of

t ime.

or

navel

ie,

dhyn reaches and remains

The

of

therefore,

vi tal

for a longer

importance of

this mystical stage is

expressed in the following manner in one of the ginns:

OThee! Keep the mOl-lotus steady,

and awaken the nbhi-lotus,
Meditate constantly .. l '
This

~erse

mDldhra, the

says

that the

lowest centre

mDl-lotus,

should be

attempt should be to awaken. the nbhi.

nbhi i s regarded' as the centre
main nQis

<arteries> ingal

channels of

also

known

kept firm,

and pingal
with the

the central nQi in the nbhi.

and" the

In the Hatha Yoga the

of the human body.

vital breath meet

as

la

The two

considered ta

su~umn

be

or sukhman

It. is main,tained by the Yogis

that the meeting of these three nas in the nbhi forces the
kUQQalin 'upwards' to
to eventually

experience the

highest point

of the rneru-daQga.

itself

the

concentration

pierce through the ladder

dhyn

divine in

remains

on the

sabda

21

unt i l
is

of chakras

the sahasrra,

Therefore, in
such

t ime

absolute. Such

the

the nbhi
that
an

the

intense

cc{'ncentra t ion on the sabda resul ts in un it i ng the three nQi s

namely ingal, pingal

and

~he

sukhman in

the nbhi.

This

84

merging,

as mentioned

above, forces

through the ladder of chakra.

As

the kuQalin

upwatas

the f?llowing verse of the

ginn maintains:

From the 'west' it begins to rise upwards towards

the 'sky',
reaching there witnesses an incomprehensible show ...
.. . BP 64.
No specifie reference can be found
the

what

Praksh.

pasehim

or

paecham <west>

only allusion

~e

in the ginns which shows

means

ln

is found: in a

the

Brahm

verse from

the

corpus:

When it rises from the nbhi,

it takes the route of the spinal column,
the object is to reach the trive,
which is the'opening in the tenth door
This

ve~e

through the
spinal

may mean

that the

dhyn rising

west to

reach the

sky takes

column.

Thus, it

is

the

22

from the
the route

spinal column

nQhi
of the

which

i5

considered the west path of the inward journey.

Seeing this reference within the

'west' refers to
daQga.
ascend

23

the

su~um~,

Ha~ha

Yoga theory, the

the central route

of the meru

According to the Hatha Yoga theory the kUQgalin can

through any

of

the

three principle

ingal, pingal or the sukhman. It

con~idered

Higal and

the path -of the inward

pingal are

said to

nQs,

namely

is the sukhman which is

journ~y.

This is becau5e

pa5S round

the meru - daQQa

85
while the sukhman pierces through it and reaches the highest
point.

It is

the kUQ9alini

this route in the spinal

is supposed

column through which

to travel in

order to

destination which is in the gagana-maQ9a1a.

to the west

route in th.,. Brahm Praksh

the route of the

route it

--kUQ9alini in

reaches the

'incomprehen~ible

show'.

,.

verses of ,...<
the

Br~hm

like-wise alludes to

the sky,

What the akaa

show the person experiences

Hence, reference

the sukhman.

akasa, or

reach its

Ta king the west

and witnesses

an

is and what type of

need elaboration.

The following

Praksh state:

From the 'west' it begins to ris~ upwards

towards the 'sky', reaching there w i tnesses van i ncompr.ehensible show
With9ut rain.where the skythundr~,
~ithout a visible place where one dwells.
Without'clouds where it rains,
where dwells"a 'person' without a human forme

In an awful <anhata> unconstrained manner,

the sky thunders,
the mind sit~ at the trio place <trikut>.
i

There is no trumpet, yet 'there' is a melody!

there is no sun, yet it is bright!
There is no source ~or a river, yet there flows
the Ganges!
there is no inmate, yet there is a friend!
BP 64,65,66
69,71,72.
,'
As the dhyn of a murid rises from the nbhi, it reaches
the

(,

akasa

<sky>.

Here

he

is

said

to

experience
1

inexpressibl~

show.

The

above verses of th

various types of experiences ~hich

an
..;

ginn refer to

are manifested to a mut!d

.,

86

as he

progresses through

For instance,

his

and reaches

d~yn

various types of

the akasa.

sounds are heard," He hears:

the sound of a distant river; then a thunderidg; the sound of

a

water-fall; then

a flute

etc. Accompanying

experience of seeing a l'ight and

person.

before

But

the

the presence of a purukh or

considering

experiences signify, it

this is

what

these

is essential to know

religious

primarily what

the akasa is where the experience lS said to oceur?

In the Tantric
\.

beglns
1

'"

its inward

"'

kU99alin
akasa. z ,
'where

Yoga, once the kUQQalin

journey up

the

successively pierees
Akaa or

vacuum, is

according to

sukhman. The

the chakra
the space

ascending

and reachs
abOve the

sy~tem/'

the Taftric

i5 arou5ed, it

the

throat,

limitation of

the

f'

sense i5

When a Yogi

removed.

kUQQalini reach the

in a

~acuum

as akssa,

has succeeded in

~ighest point, he i5

surraunding the'brain and the

th,

said toYxperien~e
spinal cotd known

25

Associated

with

var ious experiences

di f ferent

awakeni~g

the

which are

the

kUQQalini

Yogi in

the

Ha~ha

are

others, .L~y

ot awareReS9 as- each chakra irs

stages

for a

of

man i fe5ted,' among

Among the va.rious reactions whioo

success

ma~ing

pierc~,

are tak\n as iniicators of

t~eory

Yoga

are

qertain

"

sounds and colors.

2'

..-

Sound'.call~d

in the

body and is supposed

sounds

are

heard

in

the

n!9.!

is sa id to ,be latent

'O be hea~rd
various

wi thi~. "Di,f't'erent

cent~,s,

o;,~~~as
,
,

F,' ... .,..;~

-\';.! .. ~,.~

87
1
,
..,
,

super-imposed upon
through them in
vibration

the meru-daQ9a,

as the

order to reaeh the highest

v~

in, its highest

and

'

the

speak of

experienced by a
The

saduna.

Yogi as he
verses

practitioner hears the

Then, in an
intense.

Nda, is

form

becomes

Referring to the verses of

similar effects

progresses

above

point.

purest

an'hata nada or unstruck sound. J

gin'n quoted above, they

kUQ9aIini passes

as

upwards through his

maintain

that

sound of a flute

initial~y

the

which is melodious.

unconstrained manner the sound' becomes loud and

By and by the sound

less and Iess

becomes subtIe and it

intense until it becomes vhat is

becomes

known in the

Ha;ha Yoga as anhata nAda. zl

Together with nida, which is regarded as an indicator of

the level of progress achieved, there

is

reaction secured during contemplation.

~et

another type of

During contemplati6n,

in the Yoga terminology:

one sees not vith his eyes, as he does the objects

of the vorld but various colors... Sometimes stars
are seen glittering and lightning flashes in the
skYe But these visions are maintained to be
fleeting in their nature.
At first these colors
are seen in greatIy agitated vaves vhich project
the unsteady condition of the mind; and as . the
praetise intensifies, the mind becomes calm, and
these color-waves beeome steady and motionless and
appea'r aS"one deep ocean of light 2'
The Srahm
reaction.

Praksh is

not explicit

It does point to the

of brightness.

about this

type of

experience of a certain type

There is, however, a

verse in a

ginan from

88

the corpus vhich says:

In the trivepi there is an eternal light,

there sparkles the light;
as if' it ra ins pearls Je
This verse suggests

that as a person progresses

he teels as

if there is light. The brightness initially appears as a pool

of light

which then seems to

After the mind

looses its waywardness and has

the practitioner is
Various

said to have reached

are

~xperience~

highest state. In

deep ocean of

li~ht.

the eyes.

become calm,

the highest state

manifested to him as

the Yoga theory these

constitute anihata nida

sparkle in front of

he reaches the

experiences chiefly

and a bright light

appearing as one

Similarly the Brahm Prakish says:

Where the trumpet strikes anhata nid;

where the sun rays radiate brightly::7
BP 75.

Reaching to the realm of

,

to have

akasa, a practitioner is'said

succeeded in focussing both

his breath and

mind on

>

the Sabda itself. For a verse in the Brahm Prakish states:

In an awful <anihata> unconstrained manner,

the sky thunders,
.
the mind sits at the trio place <trikutt>.
BP 69
,

It maintains that

the

mind

where the sky thunders

sits calmly

at

the

trikuti.

trikutt, vould in accordance vith the

Ha~ha

in
The

anihata manner
refe~ence

to

Yoga refer
to the

"

89

triveol

or

the

confluence

i~gall,

of

na"la, as 'shown

sukhlUni. These

which meet in the nabhi to

above,

the

ar~

and

the
n,,,ts

th~ee

finally meet at the higJ:1est point

This point is the hole

of the sukhmaml.

pi~gala

above the sahasri"ra

in , the

skul1. It

is

also

referred to as the centre of

knovn

as the

creation.

gaga na

maQqala,

As the Brahm Prakish

indicates:

The creation is in the,sukhmani ganga,

where the surati iabda unite together
.BP 76.

Although th_
tht! gin4ns"

word surati occurs

i ts meaning is

in numerous

places in

A verse in

not clear.

a iloko

attributed to Shams, al-Dtn states:

The True ~urusaYSI

he whose eart ia pierced by the a~ow of love,
how can he visualize anything else;
his body roams the lover earth,
,
and his surati goes up towards the sky Jl'The meaning
manuals.

of srati is

C.

not elear

Vaudeville, attempting

even in the
to explain

Ha~ha

Yoga

the various

technical terms of the

Ha~ha

Yoga theory, says that surati is

perhaps a synonym for ruti or audition; since in

hearing of

sound r

nAda is a

,Yoga

Ha~ha

characteristic fea,ture

of a
c~me

Yog!'s practise. The'meaning of surati would, therefora,

closer to abda or
used
1.

in

the

equivalence to

n!9!.

The

fact that surati-abda Yoga is

Nath-panthl writings

w~uld

sug~est'

such

an

abda-Y09a.~a

-.

f
~

.'"'

1
j
1

.'
"

90

A somewhat
Rhv!.,

e~planation

clear

who JSays ". ~lthe

tradition was

anc:ient

abda-surati
Yoga,
:s

has ' been offered

name of

the

and it is

by S,A.

N'th-panth!

such a

path in

which the nada <sound> is a .'dhani."ss This nada ls heard in

the vlQdhA and ajnA
develop nimself

chakras. Hence the aim of a

to hear

the n.da,

;hich as

highest state of

a Yogt:s

t~

was maintained

above, in its purest forM becomes an'bata nada.

i5 heard' in the

Yogt is

Anlhata nlda

progresse

This

state, it i5 maintained by the N'th Yogts, is pervaded by the

'Attributeless

One'.s, He

in'fact., is that
practise

attain sahaja

surati-tebda,

tabda which introduces consciousnes.

of the

concentrated

further maintains,

ebda,

on the

50

Aabda

that

,both mind

alone, in

and thereby attain

end breeth

are

that the

Yogt

order

mOk,a.

in the

In a

like manner,

t#

the Brahm Prakish saysl

-'

WheR the surati-tabda overpowers ~un. .ni> mind,

then the fear of iife and ~eath vani.hes~
BP 88.
These verses suggest that where the surati and the tabda
merge,

i. e'.

absolutely on

the

the tabda

mind and

the

itself, the

breath

are

murld has

higbest state. To

have reached this state

having eliminated

for himself

the fear

of life

liberation

from the

bonds

The

when

ettainment of

deeth, in the Yoga terminology is

lahaja'.

eq~l

focus.ed

reeched the

i5 interpreted as
and deeth.
of life

and

to the attainment of

".

','

"

')

, i
"

"

This stte,

91

h~ever,

accQrding to tl)e Bra,hm Praksh i s

pervaded by the 'llabd. i tself. . Thus i

~

states:

and l can talk of the wo'rld easily,

<but> the signific~ce of that place cannot
be esprssed
Indivisible AaOde ca~nQt be impaired,
day and nig~~ remains in its pristine form
BP 77,78.
According to the Brahm PrakAsh, a murtd,at the height of
his

spiritual progress attains

And
the 6.bda itaelf.
.
"
~t.ining the labda, he i aid to have crossed
the ocean of

"

, life, eliminated fear of life and death etc.

Hitherto, it
in rd journey

ha~

been seen that the mystical path or the

elaborated in the

the Hatha Yoga

fra.e-vork

of

Brahm Ptakash is
the

accordance vith the

urfd on

h~s

in.ard

T.n~c traditio~.

path underlined in th.

jou~ney

based on
In

Brehm PrekAsh,

conducted through

~he

practise of

the lIabda pas s'through stages and states similar to those a

Yogt \ vould pa.s
sa.ja.

He

through in

hi.

initiatas the path

vhich in

the Yoga

control'

technique.

eventually results

theory is

tllrou,gh ~e

in ,the tuning

attaining

iabda practise,

closely connected

Thil ~ontrol"

bre.th absolutaly on the i.bda.

sldhana to.ards

it

is

of the mind

vith breeth
,mainteined,

and focussing

Such a proca.s results in a

certain kind ofecsta.y.or religiou8 eaprience. eapr ed in

a like

"nner in

both the

Ha~ha

Yoga

and the

gin'n Brahat

"

92,

!xperlencing the highest sort 9f ecstasy, ~ Y09~ is

Praksh.

said to attain.sahaja.

However,

the Brahm

referr~ng

prakash,

to

a path

and

'

, ,

results

similar

to

a Yogt's

sakaja,

maintains

that 'the

,)

., highest state

is pervaded

therefore, brings us

by the

to a reconsideration 'of
\

signifies.
t~e

path

murtd

sabda i tself.

The sabda,

what the Aabda

'

according to the Brahm Prakash initiate,

through sabda,

progresses thrQugh

sabda, and

the

experience ~ulminates i~a state pervaded by 'abda itself. '

-As

intimated earlier,

th~

abda

suairan "ord is p!rshlh. The ginln

on the

..editates
,

uturity he

given

a~tains

to be seen

It remaina

super-lmpos.s' Sht( t

the

and

at th!s

given as a

maintai,ns that

vord, at

the Named,

which is

~s

height . of
-.

spiritual

that ~s mOk,a

point how the

form of Isl. . by

a murld

f-&

him.

Brahm Prakl.h
,

pervading tbe haja

state of the Yogis with that of the 'abda, i.e. the Named.
1

The Brahm Praklsh .stablisbe. the

~

'/:'

by

uslng the

Da . . Avatlra

theorJ of, tbe VaishQav.s.

ginln say. that the Lord <. .heb>

queat has

1be

whos. Na.e i. the object of

unifested hlmself for

the sate 'of

his cr.atur

through seyeral Jugas.

cosmologieal

ientity of the Na..d

As seen above

theories holds

one of the major Hindu

that the

vorld

is created \ in

everal Jugas and kalpa's.

2. 'rhare

to the Valshoava theory the

are four yugas.

L~rd Vi.~u

_infests

..

~g
~imselC/iD

------

/
(-

..
./

_ r

"

..
"

~ 1)

n,JI

.'

':!I(, .
,
-

"

0'
'.

'1

l'
~

93,

t~n

1
1

yugas. ,Ccmform'ing) to this

incarn
ti'o'ns' during the four
'1

theory the BrahPrakash says that in the Sat-yuga, the saheb

manifested' hi,lIself in
,

'-

the

:Dv.-..:a:.c:.:~a, he

~espective

.
.'

t~t th~ t

forms

and t"o

& ~

the present

V.lah9avas .'re expecting

in thru

the TretS and

age kno"n

the 'tenth

as Kali-fuga

vatAra kno"n

, 'NaklaJ}ki', to "nif.st hi.self." The Brahm Prakls'h

. ').

~nifested him .elf

y.JI In

four forms. Likewise in

nth'Avat~ra h~nifested

as

the
the

~l~ains

himself into Islam, and

pen.ilnone but the first Imlm of tbe Sht(ah.

!!!!-ISi!
,

.
.,'

to

Corre

'expected

he ha. taken the fora of

the

idea

of

Maklanki .

... IP 137.

Naklanki

who ,is

the

e', the Brahm Prakash says:

,\

Wh.n .am Mahd! estends hi. protection,

tv.1v cror and'innumerable soula
. vll1 hen attaln liber.tion'
According

to the

Sh!lah,

con.id.r.d to. he the

li~r~t.s

as i .

eipectea

"

well~known,

Ima.,

and whe,n

IP '139.

.
the Mahdt

is'

he ,manifests

The ~once,t of

the soul

all the" ImIIla

Imlmah in

equal in "~nt::e., Hence the

(Ali the l ' " in .sance.'~

NaheU i.

.)1

, ln

PraUab :be

6abda

~~il
1

is given aa a

1l'an

,rd ia' plrah&h.

'l'efer. to

In

fi~st .1'"

of

_lzlrl 1"'(11i . .
1

tbe 1"'( 1~1

tbe

Si,nce, ~ Al! is

l '

word

". . . .'_. . ___~ ,.._... _', ~_ .. .1,:,.., ,- ,. -,_.'- '.:'

"

>

&

"

/"

,. .

"
'1

,\

"'~
... - p

.)

.'

.U~~S.d to

g,

rpresent the inst~~uion

of i~mah

the vord ptrshlh then refers to all the

in

general.

Therefore,

if

in essenc,

Niz~r! 18"<111 1.... ~

the sUllira'n

vord

is given

as

"

ptrshlh, and if the epithet of

ptrshlh refera to (Alt or the

Imams of the Nizlr! lsml' llts

,then referen~el to plrsWb in

l'

the,ginln must necessarily r~fer to a sPirittal relation-ship

hftveen a murtd

and

lledi tates on the

given vord, 'vhieh i. t,he Na...

the Imam.'

he, at the.height ef his

Ir.hm

pr,~kash

Consequent.ly,

as'a

.urld

of th. Lord,

.piritual maturity vitn a. the

-1

conclude.,

They vill all vitn th. oanipr nc. of <Alt, /

whoever search into the. Braha GrAn <divine light>
BP 1'6

"--Il

a,

.f

r
,~

''.

'

. ~:-y_ '~::__ '--=-~ ~~ _~~_j~r~-~_~'~.

'

95 '

lAli Asani, "The Isma(llt ginAn,

1~-16.

lA. Nanjt, The Nizlrl, 121.

l'Ali Asani, "The l,na( 1.11 ginln, 16,
'por the ginAns bel~n9ing to the first category see Note
2 in section <a> above.
1

'1'0 tbe second category ~longl Satgur miliyA !Yn!

!i Anand ~
<1 have met 'the Satgur today~; Satgyr bliitiya !!ID
lifilye, <Hov vould you knov when you have met the Lord>;
~,

The third category of ginAns seem to appear predominantly in

th. corpus. They arel Hure piyas.i I,h tori,< 1 am craving for
thy,vision>, darlan diyo mora nlth, -dasi teri, <grant me thy
vision, for 1 am a s ave-or- thee>; Tum tu sadhare, <It has
been a long time sinee you have par~ea-rrom me>.
Thea. are but a fev examples of the' various types of "inlns
lound in th yetial category. Por translations of aev of
the above-.entioned ginAns see, Gu1am Ali Allana, Ginana.
IThese tvo veraes, 1 was informed, are still recited
traditionally in the jaml(-It khanl of the Kh&jls, associated
vith the practise of bndgi <meditation>~ -The firet verse
quot.d i. found in the Shla Imami Is.-1lia Association for
India, Plr.Sadardinna ginanno, Bombay 1971, 32.
As for the
other virie, ve hve been unahle to locate it in the glnlns
availabl. to us.
'S our
bibliography.

list~n9s

of, the texts

of" the

ginlns in

the

'A translation of, the text of the Brahm Prakash bas been
olfered in Chaptet l~e.
'G. Khat.e, "Th. Das. Avatara of the Satpanth Ismailia
and the Imam Sbahis of Indo-Pat, <Ph.D. diesertatron,
Harvard University, 1972>.

,
,

;"

'Ibid.,.

-,

l'Ibid. According
been replaced not too
However, the lai.ShAh!
Tbe7 even calI the j!R!
..ntra or ..glc
nterpre st;a mantra as

rt;.

)
.. 1

11~.

to G. Khatee, the vord

trsbAh has
long ago by Ya (AIt Ya Mu mmad.
braneh still use t e wor
rs

of ptrehAh, lite the Tantrlkas, aa

aead.
16ese Burhanpur Satpantbts
the dual mantra; the 'p!! represents

___
..._..' _ ._ _ _

'!"':.
",.....-

~V.IQ."\l'9_._t.H_'

........_ _
_,_
...!(:....
f....,._~

,,

l'

'.

the gur? who i8 Imam

incarm,tlon, of (Alt.

Shah

and._ shah

96

i.

used

for

the

l1W. Ivanow, Brief .Survey, 57-58.

"'
liDescription of the variou8 preeesses
of the Ha~ha Yoga
is limited to the- more important details,' 8ufficlent 'to
elucidate the mystical path ,outlined in the Brahm PrakAsh.
1-

"

'

l 'Sayyid
ImAm
ShAh tatha bAja . sallidona gin'nno,
<Boalbay: Ismailia Association for In la, 197 >, 136

III

ulbid., 140.

~IIt is
interesting ta note that even the time priod
8pecified for meditation in the ginAn is in accordance:with
the initial period of the rogtc p~actises.
,

'Por a 'aetailed explanation see section <a> above.

l'R.D. Sheriff, '''Beliefs and Practices of

Gn08is <Irfan>," !!!, Vol.IV 2<Dec.,1978>, ,.

the t smic tlt

lC. Vaudeville, Kabtr, 120.

Ir

l'Sayyid Imam Shlh, 136.

aG.W. Brt998. GorakhnAth, 307.
21Ibid.
aaSayyid Imam Shlh, 123
a sJodh Singh,~ "Rej Yoga", in Guru Nanak and Indian
ReliqioU8 ~hoU;ht, edite~ by Tarao Siogh, <Patal!i punjaSI
University, 19.0>, 21.
-

:"B~

Walker, Hindu world, .Vol. Il, 574-575.

'IG.W. Bri998, GorakhnAth, 321.

~'.ee

"C.

l,

G.W. Brigg8, Gorakbn'th, 341-47.

Vaudeville, Kabtr, 129.

q

zaB. Walter, Hindu World, Vol. II, 574-575.

J'G.W. Bri9g8, GorakhnAth, 342.

"Ibid., 3"2.
J'Shia I._i
r_ili, ,Asaqi,tion
-SadarcUnn. 9inann6, so.baf, 1971, 28.,' "

for

India,' Plr

,
.

..

-'~ -.....-- _,-----------'-~

")

97

Mukh!
\

!li

'l,"SlokO Moto,"

in

'JC.

Kabtr, 135.

Lal~t.

Devr4j, n.d.

V.udevil~e,

Shams

"S.A. Rizvi, AlakhbAn!, 126.

'Ibid., 127.

"Por exp1anation of these terms see, JOhn Dovson, A

Classical Dictionary
2f. Hindu Mythology . ~ Religion;
Gogra~hy, History and Llterature. lOth edltron, <London.:
Routle ge and Regan bul, 1.961>, 381-383

"BP, 135-137.

"

Por details

on

the Dasa

Avatira

~1nans see, G. Rhakee, "The Dasa ,Avatlra.,

(

'W. Ivanov, Brief Survey, 56-59;

~ li "

,,,)

'1"
)

.., ,

,!
.' "t
)

'1
,1

i
i

,1

theory into

the

no~

'important sinee
predominant1y

only does the concepi

in the

concept constitutes a

entire

corpus,

sig~ificant

of

~umiran

but a1so

praetise

appear

sinee

- hart

thi.

!!~khyil

vithin the present day NizArt Ismi<tlt religious system.

This , study
,

has led

indige~ous Indian
II>

(J

to revealing

the incorporation

religious thought into the

"

of

Brahm Prakish.
0

The striking feature

vhich comes to the surface

in the text
o

i5 the siml1arity of Tantric terms,to those use in the Brahm

PrakAsh.' The analysis
vocabulry vhich
"

above bas revealed that

escribes the ~ystieal

the esoterie

path -

the various

states and stages- ~in. the Brahm Prakash appears

to find its

~is

in the

,J..

Ha~ha

!oga of the Tantrie sehoo1 of

thou~ht~

On

..../

its face the

religious

.. J,

Brahm Prakish strongly projects

doctrine,

vhich

implies

that

a purely
the

Hfnd~

fundamental
If

practise of bart !1-khyil, vithin the religious system of the

Indian Isma( tlls seemingly finds its
of

.'

tho~ht.

basis in a Hindu school

i
\

co

esoteric vocabulary of
l

the Tantrikas a

'

Sh~(!

form o'f Islam.

The use of ~ s~cifie'llsPect of the Hatha Yoga ct the Tantrlc

'traditi~n, namely, t~e technical'vocabulary wh~ch illustrate~
,

the Pi!th for a Yog!,. brings to light a Fundamental difference

"

between the

g~nn

..

and tne Tantric tradition

popularity in tn medlieval

above, Tantrism sprad and gained

era
.r

through the

Their "form of

Math

Yogis

Yog~ focu~sed

who were

on the establishment of the union "

'of giva, the Supreme G~d-head,

of the

Lord iva.

which

sahaj~

is

~quated

with ~akti, the~le ener,gy

Yog! through his sdh~n

A MAth

union of ~iva and

-attaining the

for

~~ivites

basically

him.

akti within his

R transcendent state

aims at
own body,

which' is

with the attainment of bod\ly immort~lit~

o

On the '"other

hand, it is important t6

note that l while

the gin4n, Brabm Praksh, reflects the use of Tan'tric jaq:Jon,

appe~rs

it

instead of

to do
the

Nath Yogts is

&Qy,

50

~~ivite

vaiShQav~S~b~str~cture

base onQ "which

. found.' A murid,

path ~initiates

mystical

uSi:n~

,i t was

the path

t~e Ha~~a

Yoga

of the

shown, travers"ing' .the

through

the practise

of

iabda,

progresses

culminates in

through

the

abda

p~rvade9 'by

a state

and

the

the sabda

experience

it!\eif:

This

iabda tpe ginAn maintained is th~' name of the Lord. T~us, at

'0:.

~he

heiglit

of 'his- spiri tual

'

maturi ty, by medl tating on the

.\

.'
\
-- - - _
..._-...., . . "'-...

'

!~......,.,.....~.,..,;;:,~;\i,~.-..----~--.,...._-_~-

.,..J.,.

,r

,.1 '.

100
1

name., a murid attains the Named.

Brti~

Praksh

ut i 1 i zing the
A

We have seen above that the

establ ishes'" the ident i ty

Dasa Avatra

VishQu, according

theory of

to this theory

of

the

Named

the VaishQavas.

by
Lord

incarnates himself

in ten

Ava tras. Of these, ni ne are bel i eved to have been mani fested
in

past

yuga s,

manifestation of
ginn

that

manifested himself
of

the

the

VaishQavas

the tenth Avatra

maintalns

Imm

and

thi s

tenth

and that he is

Ism< lis.

are

awaiting

the

known as

Naklanki.

The

Avatra

has

none but <Ali,

TaHng

into

a1ready
the first

consideration

this
"-

sign if ican t

di f ference between

the

g inn

and the

Tan tric

tradi t ion, it appears that the Brahm Praksh restructures the

Tantric element by super-imposing upon the Tantric frame-work

a Sh<i form of Islam.

~econd,

the

BraM Prksh i s

a ginn from

the corpus,

therefore i t i s essen t ial to see i t wi thin the context of the

- 'ginns general11.

The Tantric

technica1 vocabulary which is

found to be the basis of the Brahm Praksh accurs promlnently

in the

entire ginn 'corpus. Had

use the Tantric vocabulary, it

only text to
eaaier

to

the Brahm Praksh

reach

clear conclusions.

prominent appearance of these terms

'of

ginns, it

seems that

But,

been the

" have been

would

because

of

the

in the mystical category

Tantr ism, like

the Dasa

Avatra

theory in the ginSns, has played. an important role in shaping

the

doctrines

of

the

Nizri

Ismi< lBs

in

the

1 ndian

Sub-Q'Ontinent. This is evidenctd from the ginns found in the

101
corpus.
with

Tantric vocabulary i5 found

compositions attrjbuted

in the ginns beginning

to Shams

al-Oin, the

author of the

ginn Brahm Praksh, until the

vocabulary is

found in

last of

the compositions

composers, Sayyidn' Imm

early 19.0' s

the composition

use

alleged

5f

Tantric

attributed to
l

Begum. After her

process ceased

the

'

death in

...

and the

ginn

corpus was frozen.

An attempt

to understand why

found expression in
the

technical

princ iple

ginns,
T~is

the ginns calls for

vocabulary

itself.

of the 'funct ion ing

which is found to

Tantrism appears

i.o

the

underlying

the kUQQal int-sak t i

'-

t~e

Yoga

Ha~ha

Yoga and the

speci fic esoteric

terminology.

be similar in both

is expressed

a consideration of

Since

of

to have

peculiar esoteric vocabulary of the Tantric tradition is

tnown

aS sandhabhaa,

explained as

n!re appropriately

as "a symbolic

something different

than what is

'twilight language'
language used

expressed by

or

to sign i fy
the words."l

Various attempts have been made

to interpret the key Tantric

terms

but

and concepts

li terally,

many uncertaint
ies
,

and

discrepancies originate from the. texts themselves which make

it difficult to

render an accurate version of

any aspect of

the Ha~ha Yoga theory of the Tantric tradition.

To

cite

one

common

example 1

i"8.,

pi figal

and

the

sukhmana are the three princ iple ndis in the esoter ic aspect

of the human body in the

H8~ha

Yoga theory. These n4ts as we

102

have seen

above, are said to

play an

i~por;;nt

role

in the

realization of the mystical experience within the human body.

However,

commentar ies on

Tantras offer
For instance

the

technical

vocabulary of

several other interpretations of

in the

Tantric system, man

them that
us."

"whatever exists in

These

interpretation. The
subt'.e body,

the pii\gal as the

the Saraswat1.
,GangA

is

Thus, accordin9

within

unnecessary.

the

body

From thi5

reli9ious practises are

him, a

useless.

symbolic

as the Gan9

to them

of the

sultbman as

for example

clearly
that

exists in

Yamun and the

then

follows

mn/~ould~develoP

forces within him.

assume

i9 i5 referred to

as a

It i5 maintained by

the outer universe

therefore,

nQis,

these n9ts.

is conceived

microcosm refiectin9 the 9reatr cosmos.

the

if the

pilgrimages

aIl forms

of

Since the Gang

himself to control

Yet, at another place, the

are

formaI

is within

these natural
term i9 has

been interpreted as symbolizin9 the sun <surya> etc. 3

In

the

Brahm

connect ion vi th

could

have in

these key

th'eir importance in

the body, in order to

difficult to

Praksh

re~lize

know what

are

the esoteric

used

But

meanin9 these

the cryptic

in

aspect of

the mystica1 experience.

other symbolic

the ginns.

terms

nature of

It is
terms
the

Tantric language. itself suggests why Tantrism appears to have

found

extent.

expression in

the

l sptA ( tl t ginins

Cbapter one above on the

to

such a

large

spread of .the Nizart da { wa

into the Indian Sub-continent attempted to show hoy the da(wa

103

sought to penetrate

into Indian society.

that after the fall of AlamQt,

the Indian
problem.
be

soil, the
They had

appealing

to

the diCts

to present Islam in a
society

i nto

penetrate. 6 The attempts of the ptrs

a

crovning

phase

of the

was

maintain~d

when the Nizrts entered upon

ptrs and

the

It

whole

faced a

critical

manner which would

which

it

sought

to

was to project Islam as

development

of

Hinduism.

Consequently,

the

efforts

critical integration

of

the

ptrs

of Hindu-Mu-slim

resulted

thought which

in

in turn

led to a creation of a nev litet'ature called the ginns.

ginAns as

discussed Aboye

Iad c tlism to

converts from Hinduism

easily finds parallelism

vith

vere basically

those found

geared to

to Islam.

and

,~ft

works

The

convey

Hence, one

of thought reflected in

in 8hakti

the

the ginns

of the

Indian

Sub-cont inent. 1

, Taking Tantrism into account, which ts the basis of the

/

~hou9ht

reflecte

that '1'antri sm had

in the

there is

been popularizedo by the Math

Indian Sub-contfnent
during the medieval

Brahm PrakAsh,

during the medieval

evidence

Yogt s in the

era. Since

era that the Nizirt ptrs

it was

are alleged t-.o

have begun their dacwa activities, the pepularity of the Nth

Yogts and also their cryptic vocabu1ary perhaps, proved to be
l'et another tradi tion through which

the ptrs and d&<ts could

convey Satpanth Iad c tlism.

Moreover,

there are

evidences

that

the society

into

'

.
104

which Nizri 1 sm! <ilism sought to penetrate was already under

the influence
have

been

of mystical trends.

largely

under

tradition. References

of

influence

in the text

that it is

the

These mystics

of Brahm

perhaps composed in line, vith

thought

prevalent

during

of

the

appear te

the

Tantric

Praksh suggest

the mystical trend

medieval

era.

Nearly

one-third bf the ginn focusses on showing the uselessneSs of

various

ascetic

practises

contemplation of the

which

are

not

name of the Lord. Then

mention several personalities

centred

on

i t continues to

who seem to have

attained the

mystical experience by following the mystical path elaborated

in

the Brahm

NAnak,

Praksh.

Nmdev,

evidence

Personalities

Tantric influence

attempted to

etc.

Gorakhn~h,

penet~ate

are

in them.'

such a

such

as Kab1r,

those
Hence,

Guru

whose

works

if the

pirs

society i t was inevi table tha t

they use the mode of expression which was popular.

Yet,

Tantrism may
which the

factor

another

not have

which

perhaps

been entirely

NizArt pirs super-imposed

indicates

an alien

that

thought upon

a Sht< t form

of Islam.

Reference of

an earlier Ism< tlt

,

marked similarity of

work, Umm al-kitib

thought vith the Tantric

show a

Yoga system.

'7

Re'ference to a '-interior 'ascent of the spirit' similar to the

Tantric Yoga system lS alleged to
Umm al-ki tab.

the

have been advocated in the

Our study being limi t'ed in i ts scope to study

Brahm Pratlsh

vi thin the

Inde-Musli.

society bas

not

, ' extended to makt a comparison of the thought reflected in the

--

~--_.

-- ----,'------_.

1
~'Il

!,

105
Umm

al-kitab and

the ginans. Yet at another

be of interest to examine the nature of

the thought

fo~warded

in the Umm

level, it would

rel~tion-ship

al-kitb and the

between

Ha~ha

Yoga

of the Tantric tradition.

However,
Indo-Musli~

examining
context,

also the presence

ginn

the use of

Brahm ,Praksh

the Tantric

of these terms in the

strongly indicate that

school of thought.

the

in

vocabulary and

entire ginn corpus

the ginn finds its basis

The study further reveals

in a Hindu

that the Brahm

Praksh restructures the Tantric element in its frame-work

as to

make it

which is

an integral aspect

still reflected

in a

of Ism<tlism.

50

An aspect

fundamental practise

Indian Ism<tlts, namely the hayt !!-khyl.

the

of the

106

(.

Hot

1
P.C Bagchi~ Studies in the Tantras,
Calcutta University Press, 1975>:-27=21.

<Calcutta:

aB. Walker, Hindu World, V01.II, 68-69.

'P.C. Bagchi, Studies,'62-73.

'A, Nnj, The Nizr, 133.
Ibid.,132

'see C. Vaudeville, Kabir, 86-119.

'Omm al-kitb, the mother <or Archetype> of the Book is
an ancient work 'dating probably Xth -Xlth centuries A.D. It
is alleged to be an Isml<t1t piece of work of the Central
Asiatic origins. For details see, W. Ivanow, "Umm'1-kitb,"
Q!!.! 1slam, 1936<23>, 1-132.

Central
1 slamic
1 ranian

'Pio Fi llappan i -Ronconi, - "The

Cosmology of
Asiatic Ism( lism, " in Ism( ilt Contribution. to
Culture, edited by S.H. Nasr, <Tehran: Imperia!
Academy of Philosophy, 19.77>, 101-119.

-~

.....

,-,,,"-~,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

-~

_.~

. . '" .. _...........,.,_._ .. oE_n_. . .

___ _..
_

'JI.6-.~_,i'<1

7'_,___

....

107

Bibliogr.ph!

l'

. -~, A~iz. An Intellectual History of Islam in India.

, EdinDrgh : Edinburgh univerSTty PresS; 1964.

"

Studies in Islamic Culture in the Indian

--------+-E'nvironment~ Oxford: ciarendOn-press, 1964.

Allana,

ulam Ali. Ginans of the Ismaili Pirs. Karachi:

Ismailia AssociatIOn-ror Karachi;-9S4.

~I

Asaoi, Ali. "The IsmA<il! gin!n' Literature: Its

Structure and ~ove-Symbolism." Honours
Essay submitted to Harvard ,University,

..

1977

"A Critical Edition of a Mystical Poem- in

Hindustani with its Khojki and Gujarati
Recensions." Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard,
University, 1984.
prabodh Chandra'. Studies in the Tantras. Part: I.
Calcutta : Calcutta Universi ty Press, 1975. /
Basu,

Tantras, A General Study.

1976.

Calcutta: India,

Bref PrakAsh: A GinAn ~ Ptr Shams al-Dtn. First

Eqit.ion. Pubhshaby Nuth! Llljt DevrAj.
BOmbay, 1921.

,
-4,

Cl

BrJggS, G.W. GorakhnAth and the Klnphata Yogts.

'CaJ.cutta: Mot~larBiiarsidass Press, 1973.
"ChandrabhA9jW in Ptr Shams na Grantho.
.
bl' '\MukhtLlljf oevrIj, n.d
.'

Publishd

')

, 1

,.

\i
\~ ,'''''1'," "~ __ """",,,,,,_,,,,,,-N_-",'r.. .... ". ~_'<'''''_i'~_--,,,''''-.~-...v,,..,r1'A..,.. .. ~ ... ,~ ... ~ ......... , .... , ~ _ _

..........

....., ... ...................

--.,"_

... ..1 ......

... ~

~"'

108

(
. Chunara, A.J. Noorum Mubin. Revised by Jaffer.li Mohamed
Sufi. Third Edition. Bo~bay: Ismailia
Association for India~ 1951.
Corbin, H. "Divin Epiphany and Spiritual Birth in
\.
Ismailian Gnosis." in Papers from Eranos Yearbooks.
Vol: 5, Bollingen Series, xxx:-Nw YQrk: PantheOn
Books, 1964.
Dowson, John. A Classieal Dictionary of Hindu
MfthoIo9Y and Religion, GeOgrBahy, History and
Llterature. 16th edition. Lon on: Routledg~nd
Kegan paul, 1961.
Faza+ullah, K.B. Gazetter 2! the Bombay PresidencY~
Vol. IX, Part 2, General Editor, Sir John Campbell.
Bombay: Government Central Press, 1899.

Fillappani-Ronconi, pio. "The Cosmology of Central

Asiatie lsd< tlism." in Ismi l tlt
.
Contribution to lslamic Itur7 Edited by
S.N. Nasr <Tehran: Imperial Iranian Aeademy
of Philosophy, 1977>, 101-119.
Hidayetullah, M.
Unit y

Kabtr: The Apostle of Hindu-Muslim

Delhi: Jainendra Press, 1977.

Hodgson, M.G.M. "The IsmiCtlt State." in The Cambridge

Histerl 21-!!!n, Vol.,S, E~ited-SY J.A. Boyle.
caibri ge : At the Unlverslty Press, 1968,
pp. '22-482.
'"
The Order of the Assassins. The
-----------Hige : MoutOn and Co., 19S5.

J _____ -"--"'"- _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ' _ _ _ _ _ _ __

"
109

!h!.!hi!.2! India London: Luzac, 1953.

Holl-ister t J.H.

'

Ivanov, W. "Satpanth," Collectanea ,Vol. 1 <1948>, 1-54.

"The Sect of Imam.ShAh in Gujarat." Journal of
the Bombay'Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society:-

i,<1936>, 19-70.-----

__________ "Shams Tabrez of Nultan." in Professor Muhammad

Shafi Presentation Volume. Edited b1 S.M.
Abdullah. Lahore: Majlis-e-Armughan-e-Ilmi, 1955,
109-118.

IsmA!l! Literature, ! Bibliographieal Survey.

Second Edition. Tehran: The lsmA fii Society,
1963.
.
Briel Survey of the Evolution of Ismailism.
Leiden: 'E.J. BrTlr,-1952.
"Ummu'1-Kitb."
1936<23>: 1-132.

Der Islam.
:

Khakee, Gulshan. "The Dasa Avatara of Pir Shams as

Linguistic and Literary Evidence of the Early
Develo~ent of Ismailism in Sind."
~ Quarter1y, VIII 2<1980>, 43-47.
The Dasa Avatara of the Satpanthi Ismailis and
Imam Shabis of Indo-Pakistan." Ph.D.
dissertation, Harvard University, ,1972.
Lewis, Bernard. The Origins of Ism<tlism.
Cambridge: W. Heffer-ana-ions, Ltd. 1940.
(

110

The Assassins.
Nicolson, 1967.

London a Weidenfeld and

MacLean, Derryl. "Religion and Soc1etr in Arab Sind."

dissertation, MeGill University, 198&.
HAnjl, A.

Ph.D.

The NizArt Ismletlt Tradition in the

Inao-Pakistan-iUb=Ontinent. o.-rma-r7 Caravan
Books, 1978.

Rahimtoola, Jaffer. ~~o~A Komno ItthAs.

Bombay: Pub IS ed 6y the author, 1905.
Rizvi, S.A. AlakhbAnt or Rusbdn8ma of Shaykh Abd-ul-guddus
Gangohi. In Hindi. Aligarh;-Adrsh
Press, 1971.

History of Sufism in India.

"
---------New Delhi:-Munshiram:Manoharlal Press, 1978.

,(

Schimmel, Annemarie. '''Reflections on Popular Mus1im poetry."

Contributions to Asian Studies ,vol. 17

<1984>, 17-26.--

Shariff, R.D. "Beliefs and Practices of the Ismailian Grrolis

<Irfan>." !!! ,Vol.IV 2<Dec.,t978>, 1-7.
Shia Imami Ismailia Association for India.
ginAn Bhag pahelo ,1979.

Pacchas

A Collection of Ginans ~ the Gr!at lsmaili

-----Siint ptr Shami: Bomby, lm.
1

_ _--"'__ Sanid lmm Shah tatha bja Savyidona

ginanno.--aomEaY; 1973.

('
,


111

91n4nno.
--------- --- Sadardinna
,
~r

Bombay, 1971.

_____ Pavitra qinanno Sanghra,

BOmbay, 1966.

________~ AamEi Dharmik Kriya-PrathA.

Bo
y 1975.

Book. 7.

Some Specimen of Satpanth Li terature - The Garbi S08gS,."

Translated by Vali Mahomed N. Hooda in Collectanea
1 <1948>, 55-85.

S~oko

Moto." in ptr Shams na Grantho. Published by Mukht

.. Laljt Devraj. n.d:-

Stern, S.M. ~e Ba~ly IsmA'!l! Missionari~in North-West

Perlia and Khurlain and Transoxania." Bulletin of
the School of Oriental and African Studies, XlII~
<TI6 > , 56-''l)
"lama'!l! Prop8ganda and F8timid Rule in
Sind." IslamiG Culture, XXIII

<19'9>, 298-307.

in'

"SurbbAv."

Pir Shams na Grantho.

Muknr-Liljf DiVrlj, n.d.

Vaudeville,

c.

1974.

Kabtr.
e

Published by

Vol 1. Oxford: Clarendon Press,

,

,-

WKabtr and .Interior Religion." History of

Religions ,Vol. 3 No.2 <1964>, 191-201. -Walker"

Benjamin. The- Hindu World. 2 Vols.

Nev york:-1rderiek A. praeger, 1968.

",

1'

..

..