In all there are three files. First two are the vakhs (almost 1 hour in playtime, around 60 Vakhs) and last one is a Kashmiri Bhajan. The whole setup (starting with Shuklambaradharam and ending with stutis and a Bhajan) gives a feel that there must have been a time when just like Gita Path, a night just for listening to Lal Vakh too must have been organized by Pandit families. Besides more popular vakhs of Lal Ded, I heard some for the first time. Like:
Gita Paraan Paraan kuna mudukh
Gita Paraan Paraan kun gai suur
Gita Paraan Paraan Zind kith ruzukh
Gita Paraan Paraan dodh Mansoor
Why didn’t you die listening to Gita
How many turned to ashes listening to Gita
How did you live listening to Gita
Listening to Gita, Mansoor went ablaze
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Update:
Among Kashmiri Muslims the above mentioned lines are attributed to Nooruddin Rishi and in their rendition ‘Gita’ is replaced with ‘Koran’. The reference to Mansoor here is to Persian Sufi Mansur Al-Hallaj (c. 858 – March 26, 922), who was publicly executed, his body cut and then burnt for claiming, ‘Ana al Haq. I am the truth’. The burning of Mansoor’s body is a common motif in old Kashmiri Sufi poetry.
