Rupa Bhawani (ca. 1621 – 1721 CE) was a deeply mystical poet of Kashmir. Her father was a very devout Hindu Pandit, and it is said that after many years of faithful worship, the Divine Mother appeared to him and asked him what he desired. He prayed She would take incarnation as a daughter to him, and he was blessed with the birth of Rupa. Rupa led a very spiritual life and until today is widely respected throughout Kashmir. In the poem below, both the seed and the circle of births refer to the constant succession of attachment and death in which, according to Hindu belief, the unenlightened are bound.
I did not come on this earth as a seed,
To fall in the circle of births.
I am not the elements
Earth, water, fire, air and ether.
I am beyond the primordial universal self and the individual self,
I am the Supreme Consciousness.
Translation Jankinath Kaul Kamal
Dear Nawab, thank you for sharing this beautiful poem.
I am wondering who is the Divine Mother in the Hindu tradition? In the Catholic tradition I think of Mother Mary. Is that comparable? Thank you in advance for your reply, love Sharifa from Amsterdam
Dear Sharifa, the Hindu tradition is vast, and there are many examples of the Divine Feminine – the three main goddesses are Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati, each with their own specialities and with numerous local elaborations. In the case of Rupa Bhawani’s father, who was Pandit Madho Joo Dhar, the legend only says that he was a Devi-bhakt, or a devotee of ‘the Divine Mother.’ There is a very large and popular temple in Kashmir dedicated to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, and it is possible that he was devoted to Her worship. So, you could look online for more details of that stream. Needless to say, the culture is quite different from what is known in the west, but motherhood and divinity are universal.
Sending loving greetings, Nawab