The Lord Will Marry The Virgin Earth:
Songs Of The Time To Come




A previous article entitled "The Coming of Nikalank Avatar. A Messianic Theme in Some Sectarian Traditions of North-western India" (D.S. Khan, 1997b) examined a few prophetic songs (Agam Vanis) found in the literary heritage of some sectarian movements of North India, such as the Nizar, Bisnoi and Jasnathi Panths. These songs describe the various cataclysms and disasters which are expected at the end of the fourth cosmic Era or Kali yuga and the advent of a saviour named Nikalank Avatar. The issue of their origin has been raised and the songs have been compared to similar Hindu texts, such as the Kalki Purana. Further, a rapprochement has been made with prophetic ginans (devotional hymns) of the Nizari Ismaili tradition of the Subcontinent. A comparative study has now led us to the conclusion that the Rajasthani and Gujarati messianic bhajans have been inspired by the Ismaili hymns. A study of the organisation and rituals of these sects, as wel as of their oral literature has also shown that the songs could be regarded as belonging to forgotten branches of the Nizari tradition. As a sequel to the previous article (D.S. Khan, 1997b) we will present here and briefly comment on some of these prophetic songs, which will be compared with similar fragments of Ismaili ginans.


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