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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