The Impact Of Soo Ham Soo And Wahdat-Ul-Wajood On Kashmiri Mystic Poetry

Abstract

The doctrine of Soo Ham Soo has been one of the important reflections of the philosophical tradition of Kashmir. Soo Ham Soo is a Hindu doctrine based on the philosophy of ‘I am He/ You are what I am” i.e. the blend of creator and creation. Soo Ham Soo is a Vedic Philosophy. Kashmir, during 14^th century A.D has witnessed a mass conversion into Islam. People enmass converted to this religion, however, certain important philosophical and cultural traditions of previous religion remained alive, because of the fact that Islam came to Kashmir through Central Asia. The Central Asian Spiritual and Mystic taste was enrooted into a Soo Ham Soo like philosophical doctrine commonly known as Wahdat-ul- Wajood (Oneness of Being). The present paper focuses on the impact of these doctrines on Kashmiri Mystic poetry. The 14^th century Kashmir had a strong poetic taste. The poets of that age like Lal Ded and Sheikh ul Alam have played a pivotal role in assimilating both the doctrines through their verses, this tradition has remained a continuous process even up to this time. The great contemporary mystic poets of Kashmir like Shams Faqir, Souch Kral, Ahad Zargar and the like have all through been influenced by these doctrines, their whole poetry bears testimony to this fact.