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Obscure Religious Cults as Background of Bengali Literature c14: Chapter VII: The Bāuls of Bengal

Obscure Religious Cults as Background of Bengali Literature c14

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English

Contents

Chapter VII: The Bāuls of Bengal

(i) General Nature of the Bāul Sect

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Far from the empty noise and busy bustle of urban life, flourished in the villages of Bengal an order of singers, still extant,—an institution of immense literary and religious interest; for, the songs of these bards are as much noted for their naiveté and spontaneity of expression as for the spiritual intensity of their content. The ‘unpremeditated art’ of their ‘first fine careless raptures’ lifts us to a level of experience where the aesthetic and the religious work together for a unique spiritual transport. Indeed we can say about these songs what Keats says about the songs of the Nightingales of heaven,—

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... ... divine melodious truth
Philosophic numbers smooth.

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These unlettered village-singers, belonging to the lower ranks of the Muslim and the Hindu communities of Bengal and composed partly of householders and mainly of mendicants, are known as the Bāuls. The Bāuls belonging to the Hindu community are generally Vaiṣṇavite in their faith and those belonging to the Muslim community are generally Sūfi-istic and in both the schools the emphasis is on the mystic conception of divine love. The word bāul¹ with its Hindi variant *bāur* may be variously derived; it may be derived from the Sanskrit word *vātula* (affected by wind-disease, *i.e.*, mad, crazy), or from *vyākula* (impatiently eager);¹ both these derivations are consistent with the modern sense of the word, which denotes inspired people with an ecstatic eagerness for a spiritual life where one can realise one's union with the eternal Beloved—the 'Man of the heart'. The name Bāul as also its cognate form Āul can very well be associated also with the Arabic word *awliyá* (plural of *walī*, a word originally meaning "near," which is used for 'friend,' or 'devotee'), that refers to a class of perfect men.² With the Bengali word *bāul* we may also compare the Sūfī word *Diwānā* which means mad, *i.e.*, free from all social responsibilities.

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¹ We find the use of the word bāul in the Caitanya-bhāgavata of Vṛndavana-dās as also in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta of Kṛṣṇa-dās Kavirāj. Cf. the well-known enigmatic message that was sent by Advaitācarya to Caitanya (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-lilā, Ch. xix).

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¹ These indifferent mendicants are also sometimes known by the name *Āul* which may be derived from the Skt. word *ākula*.

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² *Vide Studies in Islamic Mysticism*, by R. A. Nicholson.

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Religious people with different modes of Sādhanā are included within the Bāul sect; inspite of the differences in modes of Sādhanā, their general religious feature is characterised by a common spirit of extreme unconventionalism. In a general way the Sādhakas of the Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyā order, and orders akin to it, with their secret practices involving the 'four moons,'³ are well-known as Bāuls. The religious doctrines of these orders and the rationale behind them have already been studied in a general way in previous chapters. In this chapter, therefore, we shall accept the word Bāul in its wider denotation so as to include also the esoteric yogic Sādhakas within its

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³ The 'four moons' imply semen, blood, stool and urine.

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*Cf. also:*— *bāuliyā biśvāsere nā dive āsite* ||
*prabhu kahe bāuliyā aiche kene kara* | etc.
*Caitanya-caritāmṛta*, Ādi-līlā, Ch. XII.

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An earlier reference of the word is found in the *Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-vijaya* of Mālādhar Basu (second half of the sixteenth century). See fn. of p. 529 of the C. U. edition.

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province; for preciseness and facility of study we shall restrict the application of the word Bāul to the school of mendicants, Hindu or Muslim, who in their songs celebrate the ‘Man of the heart’ and sing the mystic love they cherish for him.

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The Bāuls are somewhat strange people, peculiar in their manners and customs, habits and practices. They refuse to be guided by any canon or convention, social, or religious. Freedom of spirit is their watch-word and they take to an unsophisticated way of life in which the more natural inclinations of the mind are not restrained by social institutions. They proceed in a direction opposite to that followed by the general run of people. They avoid all religion in which the natural piety of the soul is overshadowed by the useless paraphernalia of ritualism and ceremony on the one hand and pedantry and hypocrisy on the other. It is for this reason that the Bāuls would call their path *ulṭā* (i.e., the reverse) path and would call the process of their spiritual advance as the process of proceeding against the current.¹ It is said in a beautiful song,—

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¹ *naphcher ulṭā não bāio, re manurā* | etc. Vicitrā, B. S. 1335, Caitra. *anurāgī rasik yārā bācche tārā ujān bāmke* | *yakhan nadir “humā” ḍāke jāgāy tarir phāmke phāmke* || Hārāmaṇi, collected and edited by Mr. M. Mansur Uddin, M.A.. Song No. 46. *ujān jale pāḍi dharā re guru āmār ghoṭla nā* | *bhaver naukā khāni uvu-ḍuvu guru pāḍi pelem nā* |

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"Reverse are the modes and manners of the man who is a real appreciator of the true emotional life and who is a lover of true love; none is sure about the how and the when of his behaviour.

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"Such a man is affected neither by the weal nor by the woe of the world, and constantly realises the delight of love; it appears that his eyes are floating on the water of delight;

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sometimes he laughs alone in his own mood, sometimes he cries alone.

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"He lights the lamp of love and sits on and on with his mind immersed in the fathomless depth of the sea of emotion; he has in his hand the key for happiness, but he never seeks it.

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"Awkwardly wild are all his manners and customs,—and the other extremely wonderful fact is that the glory of the full-moon closes round him for all time; and further, this moon ceases not to shine day and night—there is no setting of the moon of his heart."

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"He is as much satisfied with mud as with sandal-paste; no hankering has he after name and fame, equal are to him all that are far and near; he builds his house in the sky, even if the fourteen worlds are burnt to ashes."'¹

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¹ *bhāver bhāvuk premer premik hay re ye jan |* *o tār biparit riti paddhati; ke jāne kakhan se thāke kyāmān |* (bhāver mānuṣ) *tār nāi ānanda nirānanda, labhi nitya premānanda,* *ānanda-salile yyāna tār bhāsche du'nayan ;* *o se kabhu āpan mane hāse, āvār kakhan vā kare rodan |* (bhāver mānuṣ) *se jvālāiye premer bāti, bose thāke divā rāti,* *bhāv-sāgare ākul pāthāre ḍuvāiyā man ;* *o tār hasta-gata sukher cāvi, tavu kare nā sukh anveṣaṇ |* (bhāver mānuṣ) *cāl calan sakal beādā, ār eyāk kāṇḍa sṛṣṭi-chāḍā,* *pūrṇimār cāmd hṛday byāḍā tār āche sarva-kṣaṇ ;* *se śaśir niśi diśi samān uday, se cāmder nāire asta gaman |* (tār hṛday-cāmder) *tār candane hay yyāman prīti, pāmḳ dileo hay temni tṛpti,* *cāynā se sukhyāti, tār tulya par āpan ;* *se āsmāne bānāy ghar bāḍī, dagdha holeo e codda-bhuvan ||* Bāul-saṅgit, collected in the anthology *Vividha-Dharma-Saṅgit*, edited by Mr. Prasannakumār Sen (published in B.S. 1314). Song No. 461.

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It may be observed in this connection that this *uḷṭa* path, with all its theological as well as yogic implications, was the path spoken of and adopted by all the mediæval saints of India, and a detailed study of it will be found in a succeeding chapter where we shall deal with the cult of the Nātha-yogins. It may be further noted that the Sūfis, whose influence on the Bāuls was immense, were also Sādhakas in the ‘reverse path’ exactly in the same sense as explained above. Thus, as R. A. Nicholson puts it,—‘Unification (tawhid) is defined as ‘the absoluteness of the Divine nature realised in the passing-away of the human nature,’ so that ‘the man’s last state reverts to his first state and he becomes even as he was before he existed’.’ ¹

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¹ *The Idea of Personality in Sufism*, p. 13. Cf. also—‘Hence the upward movement of the Absolute from manifestation back to the unmanifested Essence takes place in the unitive experience of the soul ;’ vide *Studies in Islamic Mysticism*, p. 84.

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(ii) The Bāuls and the Sahajiyās.

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The Bāul poets are Sahajiyās in a general sense of the term. We have said before that a general consideration of the tenets of the Sahajiyās will lead to the conclusion that the different Sahajiyā sects would style them as Sahajiyās for two reasons. In the first place, they are Sahajiyās inasmuch as the ultimate reality, in whatever form it may be, was always conceived by them as the Sahaja, *i.e.*, that which is inborn or the quintessence which all the animate and the inanimate possess by virtue of their very existence, and the realisation of this Sahaja was regarded by the Sahajiyās as the highest attainment of spiritual yearning. Secondly, the Sahajiyās are Sahajiyās inasmuch as they condemned in the strongest language they could command all kinds of insincerity and artificiality in life and religion and at the same time recommended the most natural path for the attainment of truth. We shall see later on ² that in this general sense a host of the Santa poets (including the Sikh poets)

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² Vide Appendix A.

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Indian Sūfī poets) of upper, central and northern India were all Sahajiyās. In the Bāuls of Bengal, therefore, we find the continuity of the Sahajiyā movement, the first systematised form of which is found in the school of the Buddhist Sahajiyās. When we shall analyse the tenets of the Bāuls, as embodied in their songs that are available to us, we shall find that the doctrines of the earlier Sahajiyās form the real background of their religion,—although Sūfī-ism of Islam have introduced a new spirit in it. A study of the Bāul songs will, therefore, naturally lead us, first to a study of their Sahajiyā background and then to the line and colour that have been given to it by Sūfī-ism.

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In speaking of the earlier Sahajiyā background of the Bāuls we mean mainly the schools of Buddhist Sahajiyā and of Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyā. Though there are no positive data to enable us to ascertain the exact time when the Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyā movement first began and when it reached its fullest development, yet it seems that the Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyās were earlier than the Bāuls.¹ There are however some instances of striking similarity between the creeds of the earlier Sahajiyās and these the Bāuls which definitely points to a genealogical connection between them. The songs and the padas of the earlier Sahajiyās are characterised by a spirit of heterodoxy and criticism, which is likewise a feature of the songs of the Bāuls. Secondly, the earlier Sahajiyās lay a very strong emphasis on Guru-vāda, and so do the Bāuls as it will appear from their ‘Murshid’ songs. Thirdly, we have seen that according to the earlier Sahajiyās the human body is the microcosm, or rather the epitome of the universe and that everything resides within and is to be realised within;—this is exactly the belief shared by the Bāuls. Finally, the earlier Sahajiyās conceived of the ultimate reality as the Sahaja and this conception of the Sahaja is also found in the songs of the Bāuls; and like the earlier Sahajiyās the Bāuls also advocate the most natural path for the realisation of this Sahaja-nature.

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¹ The term Bāul is used in the present discourse always in its restricted deno-

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But the earlier Sahajiyā cult underwent a notable transformation in the hands of the Bāuls; for, the Bāuls, by deviation and innovation, effected a great change both in the ideology and practice of the Sahajiyās. The difference in ideology is palpable in the conception of Sahaja. The Buddhist Sahajiyās conceived Sahaja as Mahā-sukha which is the unity of the duality represented by man and woman as Upāya and Prajñā. The method for the realisation of this Sahaja consisted, therefore, essentially in a sexo-yogic practice. To this, however, the Vaiṣṇavas supplied the element of love. But here, in the Vaiṣṇava school also, Sahaja was conceived as supreme love which can be realised by the union of Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā who reside in the corporeal form of man and woman. The process of Sādhanā is also, therefore, a process of the Divinisation of the human love. But we have seen that this love is not the love of the nature of the most intense yearning of human soul towards God, it is the yearning of man for woman, or of woman for man. In all their theories of love and speculations on the lover and the beloved, the Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyās never speak of any love beyond the purest and the most perfect form of human love and of any lover and beloved other than man and woman, who are themselves incarnations of the eternal Lover and the Beloved. But the Bāuls conceived Sahaja as the innermost eternal Beloved who is the ‘Man of the heart’ (maner mānuṣ). The Bāuls also speak of love and union, but this love means the love between the human personality and the Divine Beloved within and in this love man realises

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Difference with the earlier Sahajiyās.

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his union with the Divine, or in other words he merges his personal existence in the Beloved that resides within this temple of the body. Great has been the influence of Sūfī-ism on the Bāuls in the evolution of this new conception of Sahaja and in the difference in their religious approach. But a little penetration into the nature of Sahaja, variously described in the songs and Dohās of the Buddhist Sahajiyās, will show that the germ of such evolution was already there in the ideas of the Buddhist Sahajiyās. We have already made it clear that inspite of the conventional way of describing the Sahaja under a Buddhistic garb, the Sahaja of the Buddhist Sahajiyās often implies a supreme Being residing within. It has been said in a Dohā of Saraha-pāda that Some One Formless is residing within this form of ours,—he who knows Him becomes liberated.¹ Again it is said,—" He is within your house (of body), and you are looking for him outside! You are beholding your husband (within), and asking for his whereabouts to your neighbours!"² These and such other verses will supply us with a clue to the tendency of the Buddhist Sahajiyās of conceiving the Sahaja as a Being, who became gradually transformed into a Personal God with whom it may be possible to have personal relations. This tendency of the earlier Sahajiyās paved the way for the evolution of the conception of the 'Man of the heart' under the strong sway of Sūfī-ism.

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¹ Vide p. 105.

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² Vide p. 105.

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It may be observed that the literature of the Santa poets of upper, central and northern India also represent, as will be demonstrated later,³ the spirit of Sūfī-ism against the background of the earlier Sahajiyās. In this respect the Bāul songs of Bengal have the closest affinity with the songs of the mediaeval saints of the other parts of India. As

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³ Vide Appendix A.

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The line of transformation of the conception of Sahaja to that of the 'Man of the heart.'

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Sūfī-ism is so important a factor in the religious tenets of the mediaeval saints of India, we propose to deal with the nature and extent of the influence of Sūfī-ism on the Bāuls in some detail. Our present study will also help us in the future study of the cognate literature of the mediaeval saints of other parts of India.¹

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¹ Vide Appendix A.

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(iii) The Bāuls and the Sūfīs

(A) A Brief History of Sūfī-ism in India and particularly in Bengal

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In all probability Sūfī-ism began to make its way in India in the eleventh century A.D. and apostles like Shah Sultan Rumi (who came to Bengal in 1053 A.D.), Sayad Nathar Shah (who carried Sūfī-ism to the Deccan for the first time and died there in 1039 A.D.), Makhdum Sayad 'Ali 'Uluvvi 'al Huzurri (who settled in Lahore) are the preachers of this first period.² But Sūfī-ism as a religious school began to influence the mind of the Indian people on a large scale from the end of the twelfth century and the two orders of Sūfī-ism that gained sufficient ground on the soil of India by this time are the Chishti and the Suhrawardi orders. The renowned apostle Khwajah Mu'inu-d-din Chishti, who settled in Delhi in 1193 was the founder of the Chishti Order in India. The Suhrawardi Order was also almost synchronously founded by Shyak Baha'u-d-din Dhakriya Sultani (born in Multan in 1169 and died in 1266). These two Sūfī-istic orders soon succeeded in attracting a considerable number of Indian people to accept their tenets. Another Sūfī-istic Order, *viz.*, the Quadiri Order was introduced and popularised in India during the fifteenth century A.D. by Sayad Muhammad Ghauth Gilani, who came to India in 1482. Another Sūfī-istic Order was introduced in India by the end of the fifteenth century by Khwajah Muhammad Bakvi Billah, it is the Naqshbandi Order. Badi’u-d-din Shah-i-Madar founded another important Sūfī-istic Order in the fourteenth century A.D., which is known as the Madari Order.

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² Vide *Vaṅge Sūfi-prabhāva* by Dr. M. Anamul Haq, M.A., Ph.D., Ch. III.

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The Pantheistic or rather the Panentheistic mysticism of the Upaniṣads, the devotional mysticism mainly in the Vaiṣṇavite line and the Sahajiyā movements offered Sūfī-ism a ready field and this will account for the speedy growth and spread of Sūfī-istic faith in India. Moreover, from the twelfth century A.D. the history of India represents a history of contact, conflict and compromise—political, cultural and religious. In this period of contact Sūfī-ism, as transformed in India, could very well serve as a medium of compromise and it is this additional possibility that may be held responsible for the wide-spread popularity of the Sūfī-istic thoughts.

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Sūfī-ism entered Bengal rather as an overflow from Northern India. There are as many as seven Sūfī-istic orders in Bengal, of which the Suhrawardi Order, introduced by Makhdum Shaykh Jalalu’-d-din Tabriyi (death 1125 A.D.), seems to be the earliest. The Chishti Order was introduced probably by the North Indian saint Shaykh Faridu’-d-din Shakraganj (death 1269 A.D.). Shah Safiu’-d-din Shahi (1290? 1295?) of Pāṇḍuā (in Hughli) was in all probability the first apostle of the Qadadari Order. The Madari Order was perhaps introduced in Bengal by Shah Madar himself as an itinerant mendicant. Another popular Sūfī-istic Order of Bengal is the Adhami Order, more popularly known as the Khidwari branch. The Naqshbandi Order was perhaps introduced first by Shaykh Hamid Danishmand in the seventeenth century. The other Order of Sūfī-ism in Bengal is the Qadiri Order, which was introduced probably by Abdul Kadir Gilani in the sixteenth century.¹ We need not enter here into the detailed history of how the Sūfī-movement spread with all its branches and sub-branches in Bengal; it will be sufficient for us to know that different orders of Sūfī-ism did penetrate into Bengal, and did very easily and promptly recruit large number of converts. The Sūfī-istic ideas that were thus introduced were soon assimilated with the prevalent Sahajiyā ideas and the result of this amalgam has been the Bāuls of Bengal.

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¹ Ibid., Ch. III.

(B) Influence of Sūfī-ism on the General Nature of Bāul Sect

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(a) The Influence of Samá

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In gauging the nature and extent of the influence of Sūfī-ism on the Bāuls we may observe in the first place that the out-pouring of the heart through songs was an important religious mode with the Bāuls; in this we may find on the one hand the influence of Bengal Vaiṣṇavism, which attached much importance to music as a medium of holy communion, and on the other hand the influence of the Sūfī-stic custom of ‘Samá’ (i.e., song and dance).² The effec of music, the Sūfīs hold, helps one much in passing into he fáná, i.e., in passing away of consciousness in mystic urn with God.

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² Dr. Anamul Huq postulates the influence of Sūfī-istic Samá even in the Vaiṣṇava religious function of Kīrtana (i.e., singing in congregation); but the custom of such singing and dancing is found among the Southern Vaiṣṇavite saints, the Ālvars, from sometime the sixth or seventh century A. C.; the postulation of Sūfī influence on this point, therefore, does not seem warrantable. Prediction to such religious practice of Kīrtana is also found in the Bhāgavata-purāṇa, e.g.,—kṛṣṇa-varṇam tviṣā-kṛṣṇam sāṅgo-pāṅgā-stra-pārṣadam/ yajñaiḥ saṃkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ/ (11.5.32, Vaṅgavāsī edition).

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(b) Importance of the Murshid

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Secondly, we may consider the importance that is laid by the Sūfīs on Guru-vāda. We have seen how Guru-vāda is ingrained in the religious thoughts of India in general, and how in the spiritual life God has sometimes been replaced by the Guru. The Sūfis laid the same stress on the Murshid or the Shaykh, *i.e.*, the preceptor or spiritual guide. The view of Sūfi-ism on this point will be best illustrated if we quote here the view contained in the *Awarifu-l-Ma'arif*. It is said,—"When he (*i.e.*, the Murid or the disciple) is possessed of manners, he taketh in love a place in the Shaikh's heart; and is agreeable to God's sight. Because, with mercy, favour and care, God ever looketh at the hearts of His own friends (the darvishes).

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"Thus, by dwelling in the Shaikh's heart, the constant blessings of God's mercy and of his endless bounty, comprehend his existence; and the Shaik's acceptance becometh his mark of the acceptance of God, Muhammad, and of all Shaikhs."¹

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¹ *Awarifu-l-Ma'arif*, translated by H. Wilberforce Clarke, p. 18.

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In the 'Murshidā-songs' of the Bāuls we find a mixture of the Indian spirit with the spirit of Sūfi-ism. The excellence of the 'Murshidā-songs' of the Bāuls consists in their pathos, in their expression of the groaning and the beating heart of the restless aspirers; additional charm has been imparted to the songs by the unconditional self-deduation of the Murid or the disciple, who has accepted the Murshid as a sure mast in the boundless heaving sea of existence,—like a lamp in the abyss of darkness. "To and fro is tossing my boat with a jingling sound in the rough wind," proceeds the cry from a heart,—"O my Murshid, yet let me live in my hope in thee. Clouds have thickened in the west and the roarings are now on,—torn is the rope of my helm,—and the boat is moving in the whirl; yet, O my Murshid, let me live in my hope in thee! The waves sweep from helm to prow,—and all my merchandise, more precious than gem and diamond, is being swept away by the current; yet O my Murshid, let me live in my hope in thee."'¹ Songs of this type may be found abundantly in the Bāul literature of Bengal.

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(c) Heterodoxy of the Bāuls

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The next point to be noted is the heterodox spirit of the Bāuls. In this, as we have said, the background of Sahajiyā thought cannot be overlooked; but the influence of Sūfī-ism is also not less noteworthy. As essentially a cult of love-mysticism Sūfī-ism, inspite of the rites and customs that gradually developed around it, breathes a spirit of heterodoxy in general. It is rightly said,—"Transacting as it were directly with the Divine Being, the Sūfīs throw off the shackles of the positive religion; pious rebels, they neither fast nor make pilgrimages to the temple of Mecca,² nay, they

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1 ūnur jhūnūr bāje não āmār
nihāilyā bātāse re murṣid,
railām tor āśe |
paścime sājila myāgh re dyāoyāy dila re ḍāk |
āmār chiḍila hāler pānas naukāy khāila pāk ||
murṣid, railām tor āśe ||
āgā baiyā oṭhe dheu re pāchā bāyyā re yāy |
āmār hirālāl māṇikkar bārā sote lāiyā yāy ||
murṣid, railām tor āśe ||
See Bhārati, B.S., 13^ .ādra.
Cf. also—tomār caraṇ pāva boile re,
guru, baḍa āśā chila |
* * * *
cātak r aila myāgher āśe, myāgh paḍile anya dyāśe,
cātak bāmcave kise ||
āmār āśā-nadīr kūle baiyā re,
guru, kāndte janam gela |
baḍa āśā chila || (Own collection).

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2 Cf. the Bāul song :—

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(mor) yāite to cāy nā re man makkā madinā |
(ei ye) bandhu āmār āche, āmi raire tāri kāche,
(āmi) pāgal haitām dūre raitām
tāre cintām re yadi nā |

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forget their prayers; for with God there is no other language than the soundless language of the heart. From excess of religion they have no religion at all. Thus is confirmed the trite saying that "extreme meet." "The perfection of a man's state," says Jami, "and the utmost degree to which saints may attain, is to be without an attribute, and without a mark." The most fervent zeal sinks into the coldest indifference about religion."¹

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¹ The Dabistan, or School of Manners, translated by David Shea and Anthony Troyer; preliminary discourse, pp. clxiv-clxv.

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The mystics in all countries are as much opposed to the paraphernalia of practices, rites and customs as to scriptures and speculative literature. The Mystics do not believe in the powers of our discursive reason, which, it is held, is limited by its very nature. It is, therefore, that all attempts to comprehend the ultimate truth through intellectual pursuits are bound by nature to be sadly baffled.² But though truth cannot be known, it can be intuited or realised within,—it can be realised in the Sahaja (natural) path through the secret communion of love. In love we become one with the reality and it is in this union of love that the mystery of the whole universe is revealed to us. The mystery of the universe can never be understood unless it is revealed in love.³ It is for this reason that the mystics discard all ceremony and

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² Cf. duniyār bhojer bāji, mollā kāji,

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³ ki ha’te ki hay dekhi sāmi daradir mane |

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(āmar) nāi mandir ki masjed,
nāi pūjā ki bakred,
tile tile mor makkā kāśī
pale pale sudinā ||

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Vide ‘Bāṅlār prācīn-bastu’ by Kṣitimohan Sen. Pravāsī, B.S. 1337, Caitra.

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bhāvle pāgal paṇḍit jñānī | etc
Bāul-saṅgit, collected in Vividha-dharma-saṅgit, p. 213.

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āmi ār miche bhāvi kyāne |
* * * *
brahma-jñānī pa’ḍe tantra, bheve ma’lo e paryanta,
pele nā tār ādi anta, maner bhrānti gela nā;
yata yogī ṛṣi yoga-tapasvī, ār yata tīrtha-vāsī,
ka’re brata ekādaśī, śānti pela nā mane || Ibid, p. 247.

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ritualism on the one hand and scholasticism and discursive erudition on the other and proceeds straight in the path of love. It is said in a song,—"O my lord, I hear thy call, but I cannot come,—for, the sham Guru and Murshid block my way. If that, which ought to cool the body when immersed, begins to burn all around, then, tell me, Master, where on earth I shall find a foothold!—my spiritual endeavour for 'unity' dies away in differences of plurality. Many are the locks in thy gate, *viz.*, the scriptures, the Qur'an and rosaries ;—showiness mars the endeavour and is the greatest impediment,—Madan cries in remorse."' It is said in another song, "As grass by no means grows on the beaten foot-tract void, so, would they find the living 'Sahaja' (i.e., the Man of the heart) who leave not custom-beaten way? The heart-flow comes out when custom is shed away. Cast away thy fears, to Biśā Bālā sayeth,—the path shines out clear, when ties are all loosened."' 2 Religion, it is held, cannot be confined to ritualistic observances,—it is a functioning of the whole being extending over the entire gamut of human experiences. If we try to confine religion to any code of rituals and practices we shall be strangely fettered by the very means of liberation. If a necklace of wish-yielding gem loses its wish-yielding capacity, the necklace itself will be nothing but a chain.³ We have said that as a Sahajiyā sect the Bauls would always advocate the Sahaja (i.e., the most natural) path for the spiritual life. It is said, "If thou wouldst visualise that Man, thou must be natural in Sādhanā and must go to the land of Sahaja."¹

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¹ tomār path ḍhāikāche mandire masjede | (tomār) ḍāk śune sāmi calte nā pāi ruikha dāṃḍāy gurute murśede || etc. Baṅglār Prāṇa-vastu by Kṣitimohan Sen, Pravāsī, B.S. 1337, Caitra .

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³ gatā-gater bāmjhā pathe | ājāya nā ghās kona mate || rite pathei calen yārā | jyānta sahaja pā(ye)n ki tārā ? niyam rit chāḍāyyā gele | maram raser daraś mele || kay 'balā' bhay chāḍre 'biśā' | khasle bāmdhan milve diśā || Ibid, p. 855.

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² āmār centa-maṇi hār, yadi hārāy centa tār tave emān bāndhan bāndhte pāre (y e) chāḍāy sādhya kār ? Ibid, p. 855.

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¹ *yadi bhetvi se mānuse* *tave, sādhane sahaj havi,* *tor yāite have sahaj deśe* | Ibid, p. 850.

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(d) Body as the Microcosm of the Universe

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We have seen that the Sahajiyās recognised the human body as the microcosm of the universe and that, according to them, Sahaja as the ultimate reality resides within this human form as our true self or the ultimate nature. This is exactly the view that has been contended by the Sūfī mystics. The Bauls also cherished the same doctrine. The human body has always been described as the temple of the Dear One.² In vain, they say, are people mad after going on pilgrimage,—in vain they are searching the Beloved in temples and mosques and in other places. Thus it is said, "The Man of the house is dwelling in the house,—in vain have you become mad by searching Him outside. It is for your own fault that you are roaming about for ever. You have been to Gayā, Benares (Kāśī), and Vṛndāvana,—and have travelled through many rivers and forests and other places of pilgrimage; but say,—have you seen in all these anything of Him of Whom you have heard? Through false illusion you have lost all your power of understanding,—with jewel tied in your own skirt, you have been swimming in search of it. With care you might have easily got the gem,—but you are losing everything carelessly,—the jewel shines so near to your eyes, but alas! you are keeping your eyes shut—and you do not see.'" ¹ Again it is said, "Search, O brother, for the Lord, who is the kind sympathiser of the poor (*dīna-daradī sāmi*), in the company of enlightenment as thy preceptor. The heart deceiving, blurs the eye and a single hair hides the mountain truth! The Lord in His lone seat looks. What humour enjoys my Lord at the folly and laughs! Carefully proceed in your spiritual effort; may be, you will find wealth very near; says Lālan, search your own house, truth is not very far!'" ²

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² Cf. "The mosque that is built in the hearts of the saints Is the place of worship for all, for God dwells there." *Masnavi* of Jalalu'ddin, quoted in *The Idea of Personality* by Nicholson, p. 57.

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¹ Phakir-cānder Bāul Saṅgit (collected in the Vividha-dharma-saṅgit), p. 220. See also—

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(e) The Man of the Heart

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In the songs of the Bāuls we hear much of the 'Man of the Heart,' Whose abode is the human body and Whose seat is the human heart. Poetically this 'Man of the Heart' has variously been depicted as the Supreme Beloved, the poet himself being the passionate lover. The songs embody throughout the pangs of separation for the 'Man of the Heart' and a maddening desire to be united with Him. This Bāul doctrine of divine love naturally brings in the question of its similarity or dissimilarity with the Vaiṣṇava conception of love with which we are familiar in Bengal. In a general way it

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pañca bhūte ka're jhagḍā, dile chāre khāre sonār ākhḍā,
mānav deher māṇik mākḍā, tā'ke cinlām nā |
Ibid, p. 249.

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kothā āche re dīn-daradī sāmi,
cetan gurur saṅge laye khavar kara bhāi |
cakṣu āndhār deler dhokāy, keśer āḍe pāhāḍ lukāy,
ki raṅga sāmi dekhche sadāi, base nigam ṭhāmi |
* * * * * *
sumje bhave sādhan kara, nikaṭe dhana pete pāra,
lālan kay nij mokām ḍhora, bahu dūre nāi |
Hārāmaṇi, edited by M. Mansur Uddin, Song No. 3.

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Cf. also—

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āmār e ghar-khānāy ke birāj kare |
tāre janam bhare ekvār dekhlem nāre || etc.

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may be said that the intensity of divine love, which we find in the songs of the Bāuls was influenced, no doubt, to a considerable extent by the general *prema* (love) movement of Bengal. But when we analyse the conception of love, as enunciated in the school of Bengal Vaiṣṇavism, it appears that this theory of love is based on a principle of duality, theological, if not metaphysical. Theologically the Vaiṣṇavas have conceived some kind of duality between God and the individual (*jīva*) and this principle of duality brings in the question of devotion, which gradually culminates in the conception of passionate love. Metaphysically, however, the relation between God and the individual has often been spoken of as incomprehensible (*acintya*); it is a relation of non-dualism, and yet of dualism and this principle of dualism in non-dualism is something that transcends intellectual comprehension. In their theology, however, the conception of dualism prevails, and all poetical and metaphorical descriptions of love seem to be based on this theological speculation. But the Bāul conception of love is ultimately based on a pantheistic or rather a panentheistic belief, and the dualism is either illusory or metaphorical.

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Love of the Vaiṣṇavas and that of the Bāuls compared.

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The difference between the Bāul conception of love and the Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyā conception of love is however palpable. The love of the Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyās exists between individual beings as Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, but not between the individual and the Absolute; it is the love between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa that ultimately leads to the realisation of the Absolute. The love of the Bāuls is, on the contrary, the love directly between the Sahaja as the ultimate reality on the one hand and the individual on the other. To conform to the emotional approach of the Bāuls the Sahaja has gradually transformed itself into a Personal God, or the Supreme Being with whom it may be possible to have personal relations. The mode of transformation of the conception of Sahaja into a Personal God has already been indicated at the very outset. This Sahaja as the Personal God is the ‘Man of the Heart.’ From this point of view the love-union of the Bāuls with the ‘Man of the Heart’ really means the realisation of the Sahaja or the ultimate nature of Self. The love, of which we hear so much in the songs of the Bāuls, is the love between our human personality and the Divine Personality residing in the human as the true self. The Beloved as the Divine Personality residing in us is our Sahaja-nature, and the lover is the human personality, falsely viewed as separate from this Divine Personality. Love here really implies self-love, the gradual passing away of the human into the Divine.

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The creed of the Bāuls is thus fundamentally based on the question of self-realisation. From the days of Upaniṣadic mysticism this question of self-realisation has been the pivot round which the religious thoughts of India have mainly revolved. The minor religious sects like the different branches of the Sahajiyās are saturated through and through with this Upaniṣadic spirit of self-realisation. In this spirit, however, Sūfi-ism is intimately related to Upaniṣadic mysticism, although the element of love which is conspicuous in Sūfi-ism is not stressed in the Upaniṣads. It is because of this striking similarity in spirit that scholars have often postulated influence of Indian thought on the evolution of Sūfi-ism itself. Without entering into the controversy involved in such postulations it may be said, that the religious contents of Sūfi-ism were in no way foreign to the mass-mind of India; it is for this reason that Sūfi-ism was very easily acceptable to the masses. But whenever we should discuss the influence of Sūfi-ism on the evolution of the minor religious sects like the Bāuls of Bengal and the Santa poets of Upper and Northern India we should never lose sight of the Indian background prepared by Upaniṣadic mysticism and the devotional movements mainly in the Vaiṣṇavite line. The fact seems to be that the popular composite religious consciousness which was formed by an unconscious admixture of Upaniṣadic mysticism and the devotional fervour of the Vaiṣṇavas was further modified by the kindred thoughts of Sūfi-ism where the spirit of the Upaniṣads and that of later Vaiṣṇavism are found combined together.

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Let us now turn our attention to the Sūfi-istic conception of the divinity and the ideal of love as conceived by the Sūfis. The whole ideology of the Sūfi mystics is also shaped and coloured on a Pantheistic or rather a Panentheistic canvas. The creation proceeds from God, the Absolute, as His self-manifested attribute, mode or modification. The sum-total of the manifested attributes of God is the universe. Hallaj, the well-known Sūfi poet, who was done to death because of his novel belief of Anal'haqq (i.e., I am the truth), says that "the essence of God's essence is love. Before the creation God loved Himself in absolute unity and through love revealed Himself to Himself alone. Then, desiring to behold that love-in-aloneness, that love without otherness and duality, as an external object. He brought forth from non-existence an image of Himself, endowed with all His attributes and names. This Divine image is Adam, in and by whom God is made manifest—divinity objectified in humanity."' We find a very beautiful echo of this Sūfi-istic principle in the Jñāna-sāgar of Ālirājā.² There it is said that the Absolute was alone in the beginning; but it could not realise the infinite potency of love that was in it without a dual; in love therefore it created a dual out of its ownself,—and the dual was Muhammad. This first pair represent the original lover and the beloved. Because of this fact that God in His absolute aloneness could not realise His love and a second was required as the beloved, love cannot be realised in the world without there being a pair.¹ The whole universe thus proceeds from the Love of God. Love is the underlying principle of the cosmic process as a whole. The fact has very nicely been put in the *Jñāna-sāgar*, mentioned above. It is said there that the universe has its origin in love, and the chaos is systematised into the cosmos through the bond of love. There is love between fire and air, between earth and water; without this love neither heaven, nor earth, nor the nether world would have originated at all. There is love between heaven and the skies, between heaven and earth, between hell and the nether world in which it lies, and thus are the three worlds supported in love. There is love between the sun, the moon, the planets and the stars and in love are they all fixed into the sky above. There is love between the sea and its water, between the moon and the night and the sun and the day;—the tree is fixed to the earth by its root, the black-bee is attached to the lotus, fish is

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¹ Studies in Islamic Mysticism by Nicholson, p. 80.

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² Sāhitya-Pariṣat Series, No. 59. It is an Islamic Yogic text in Bengali which has infused Sūfi-istic ideas with the ideology of the Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyās and the Nāthists.

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¹ *Jñāna-sāgar*, pp. 24-25. Cf. *Brhadāraṇyako-paniṣat*, see infra ch. xiv,

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*prathame āchila prabhu ek nirañjan* |
*prema-rase duvi kaila yugal srjan* ||
*prem-rase bhuli prabhu jāhāke srjila* |
*mohāmmad buli nām gaurave rākhila* ||
* * * * *
*pratham bhāvuk prabhu bhāvini janmila* |
*mohāmmad kari nām trijagate haila* ||
*bhāvak bulie prabhu ār se bhāvini* |
*ei se yugal nām dharila āpani* ||
* * * * *
*bhāvak bhāvini nām buliye yugal* |
*yug haite siddhi karma hay je sakal* ||
*yugal nā haile keha nā pāre calite* |
*yug bine prem ras nā pare bhugite* ||
*ek eki prem nā hay kadācan* |
*yugal haile yogya piriti bhajan* ||

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bound to the water, man is bound to the woman—and all in love. The body is in love with the mind and the mind with the vital wind. In love does the mother conceive the child, in love does the earth hold fast the root of the tree, in love does the tree hold fast the branches and the flowers and fruits,—in love does the fruit accumulate juice in its kernel,—thus is the whole creative process supported in love.¹

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¹ *Jñāna-sāgar*, p. 26, pp. 33-35. *Cf.* the poem *Philosophy of Love* by Shelley.

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This Love of God as the *raison d'être* of the whole universal process brings in the question of self-revelation for self-realisation. The whole universe thus serves as a mirror where the love and beauty of the Absolute are reflected.² This manifestation of the love and beauty of the Absolute has reached perfection in the personality of man and it is for this reason that "Man is the microcosm in which all attributes (of the Absolute) are united, and in him alone does the Absolute become conscious of itself in all its diverse aspects. To put it in another way, the Absolute, having completely realised itself in human nature, returns into itself through the medium of human nature; or more intimately God and man become one in the Perfect Man—the enraptured prophet or saint—whose religious function as a mediator between man and God corresponds to his metaphysical function as a unifying principle by means of which the opposed terms of reality and appearance are harmonised."³ It has been said in the *Ibnu'l-Arabi* that "When God willed in respect of His beautiful names (attributes), which are beyond enumeration, that their essence (*a'yan*) or if you wish, you may say "His essence (*aynuhu* )'—should be seen, He caused them to be seen in a microcosmic being (*kawn jami'*) which, inasmuch as it is endowed with existence, contains the whole object of vision, and through which the inmost consciousness (sivī) of God becomes manifested to Him."'¹ Man thus represents in him a synthesis of the create and the increate,—of the finite and the infinite.

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² *Dabistan*, Vol. III, p. 227.

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³ Nicholson, *loc. cit*

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¹ Quoted by Nicholson, loc. cit. ² Muṇḍakopaniṣat (3.1.1); Śvetā° (4.6). Cf. the poem Two Birds by Tagore in Sonār Tari. ³ Bṛhadāraṇyaka (1.4.8). ⁴ Ibid (1.4.8). ⁵ Kena° (1.2). ⁶ Śvetā° (4.17).

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As the best manifestation of the life-principle man serves as the connecting link between the noumenon and the phenomenal creation. Man thus synthesises within his nature two aspects of existence, which are called in Sūfī-ism the nasut, which is his human personality and the lahut, which is his Divine personality. The pangs of separation from which humanity suffers follow from the false notion of dualism between this human personality and the Divine in man.

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The dual nature of man as the finite and the infinite—as human and divine.

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This conception of the Divine and the human combined in man may well be affiliated with the Upaniṣadic conception of the Paramātman and the Jivātman. They are like two birds living in friendly terms on the same tree,—one of them (i.e., Jivātman) tastes the sweet fruit of world-experience, but the other never touches it, but gazes on and on.² This Divine in us is dearer to us than our son, than wealth—than everything else.³ Immortal becomes the beloved of the man who adores this inner self as the dearest one.⁴ That Divine personality is the ear of our ears, eye of our eyes, word of our words, mind of our minds and life of our lives.⁵ He resides in the heart of man and is to be known in the heart of man.⁶

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But while the Upaniṣads speak of the love between the Divine personality and the human personality more or less metaphorically, the whole emphasis of the Sūfīs and the Bauls is on love.

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Through ecstasy of the purest love the mystic passes in the *fáná*, which is the passing-away of the human in the Divine. The fire of love burns into ashes the bundle of complexes from which emerges the false notion of the ‘I-ness’, and through pangs of heart the ice of ‘I-ness’ melts into flow of tears and the ‘I’ in man and the ‘He’ in man become one and the same. This is the truth which was perceived by Hallaj in his mystic trance, and which inspired him to exclaim to the world abroad *Ana’l haqq*—‘I and the truth are one’! In such a moment did he declare:—

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I am He whom I love, and He whom I love is I.
We are two spirits dwelling in one body,
If thou seest me, thou seest Him;
And if thou seest Him, thou seest us both.

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So long as there is even an iota of dualism, the door of the divine temple remains banged against us and our Eternal Beloved dwelling within refuses to respond to our call. It is only after the melting away of the human personality that the door is opened and the screen before our eyes is removed leaving the lover and the beloved unified in bond of infinite love.¹

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¹ This truth has been very poetically and nicely illustrated by the Sūfī poet Jalálu’ddīn Rumī through the following story in his *Masnavi*:— “A man knocked at the door of his friend. The latter asked: ‘Who art thou, my dear?’—‘It is I’.—‘In this case, be off; I cannot at present receive thee; there is no place at my board for one who is still raw; such a man cannot be sufficiently dressed (that is matured) and cured of hypocrisy, but by the fire of separation and refusal.’ The unfortunate man departed. He employed a whole year in travelling, consuming himself in the flames of desire and affliction, caused by the absence of his friend. Matured and perfected by his long trial he again approached the door of his friend and knocked modestly, fearful that an uncivil word might again fall from his own lips.—‘Who is there?’ was asked from the interior of the house.—‘Dear friend, it is thyself who art at the door’.—‘Because it is myself, enter to-day; this house can contain no other than I’.” *Vide*, *Dabistán*, Vol. III, p. 292, F.N. 1.

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The Divine Personality, Who is the eternal Beloved of the human personality and with whom man becomes one in his ecstasy of love, is the indwelling principle not only of the self, but also of the not-self. It is for this reason that the sights and sounds of the external world always bear love-message of the Beloved to the responsive heart of the mystic lover. In love are we all separated from the Beloved with whom we were once one,—and in love again shall we proceed in the regressive way and realise our true original self being one with the Beloved.

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In the conception of the ‘Man of the heart’ of the Bāuls we find a happy mixture of the conception of the *Paramātman* of the Upaniṣads, the Sahaja of the Sahajiyās and the Sūfi-istic conception of the Beloved. The mystic attitude of the Bāuls is best expressed in the wonder how that Infinite has objectified itself in the finite,—how through the whole being of the finite that Infinite is expressing itself in infinite ways and thereby realising itself in infinite varieties. It is not through any intellectual speculation,—but through the ecstasy of love that the truth has revealed itself to the lover, that there is ‘some one unknown’ living within his corporeal form. Thus the Bāul says,—“‘Methinks, by this time I have become mad; otherwise, why should I feel so troubled inside every now and then? When I remain quiet with the undisturbed mind, I see that Some One speaks loudly from within,—‘I am here, here I am’! In the dimness of the sky of my heart, methinks, I see Some One come to my side; He moves, He speaks, He plays,—He smiles,—He indulges in hundred other sports ! . . . If I try to leave Him off and live alone, I cannot; it seems, He has settled His dwelling in the core of my heart.’”¹ It is like an ‘unknown bird' that comes within the cage of this corporeal form,—and it is the greatest wonder with the Bāul, how the 'unknown bird' is playing its eternal play of coming and going,—the play of self-manifestation and of returning once more to itself.¹ Though the bird lives in the cage of the human body, it floats in the boundless sky high above.² The life-long search of the Bāul is for this 'unknown bird', which is felt to be very near, singing within and enchanting us by its beauty and sweetness of song,—but which we are not being able to find out. It is always playing the game of hide and seek, as it were. In the pang of his heart the Bāul says,—"Where has the 'Bird of Beauty' hidden itself by deceiving me? I roam about in search,—but cannot find it out,—it has flown far away.

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¹ Bāul song, collected in *Vividha-dharma-saṅgit*, pp. 228-29. Cf. also:— mānuṣ hāoyāy cale hāoyāy phire, mānuṣ hāoyār sane ray deher mājhe āche re sonār mānuṣ ḍākle kathā kay ! tomār maner madhye ār ek man āche go—

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¹ khāmcār bhitar acin pākhī

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² maner manurāy pākhī gahinete caḍere

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". . . Very affectionate is that bird, and it comes of itself and invites me to talk, if even I forget it; but if I attempt to catch hold of it, it escapes my grasp,—and alas! it has made me mad!

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tumi man miśāo sei maner sāthe |
deher mājhe āche re mānuṣ ḍākle kathā kay ||
—Hārāmaṇi, p. 2.

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kemne āse yāy | —Hārāmaṇi, p. 4.

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nadīr jal śukhāye gelere
pākhī śūnye uḍān chāḍere
māṭir deha layre | —Ibid, pp. 4-5.

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Cf. "The bird of (the soul of) my heart is a holy bird;

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the ninth heaven, its dwelling;
Of the cage of the body, vexed; of the world, stated.
From the head of this dust-heap (the world), the bird of the
soul how flieth?
At the door of that threshold, its nest, the (mighty)
falcon (worldly) attachments maketh.
When the bird of the heart fleeth, its abode is the lofty
Sidrah tree;
The resting-place of our falcon (soul), know (to be) the
pinnacle of the ninth heaven (God's throne), etc.
—Dīwān-i-Ḥāfiz, translated by Clarke, Part II, p. 772.

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"O my brethren, if any of you have seen that 'Bird of Beauty,' catch it once for me; if I once can get hold of it, I shall keep it tamed with care for ever in the cage of my heart."¹ It is after this 'some one unknown' that the Bāul has run mad.² The vision of the unknown, the call of the Infinite, the secret touch of the Beloved have made the Bāul peculiarly indifferent to the social life on earth,—and have made him come outside the limitations of earthly considerations. It is the beauty of the Formless residing within all forms that has entrapped the heart of the Bāul—and he weeps and weeps. This incessant weeping in secret gives him a peep into the beauty that pervades the whole universe by its matchless glow and grandeur. In such a state when he looks at the sky, the divine beauty appears before him floating with the clouds; the splendour of that beauty moves from star to star and the heart is illumined by its flash.³ Through the whole cosmic process the one Lord-Beloved is playing the play of self-expression and self-realisation, endless is His sport—incomprehensible is its mystery.⁴

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¹ āmāy diye phāmki, rūper pākhi, kothāy lukā'lo | ami ghure byādāi dyākhā nā pāi, uḍiye ye pālālo | etc. Song of Kāṅgāl Harināth, collected in *Vividha-dharma-Sangit*, pp. 179-80.

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² āmāre pāgal ka're ye jan pālay, kothā gele pāva tāy | etc. —Song of Kāṅgāl Harināth, Ibid, p. 215.

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³ Song of Kāṅgāl Harināth, Ibid, p. 216.

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⁴ sāimjir līlā bujhvi kṣyāpā keman kare | lilāte nāire sīmā kon samay kon rūp dhare | Song of Lālan Phakir, *Hārāmaṇi*, Song No, 28.

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But though the Beloved is pervading the whole universe, the best way of finding Him out is to search within and to realise Him through the realisation of the self. Like the full moon He is in the sky of our heart,—but heaps of clouds have gathered over the moon; spiritual endeavour consists in driving the clouds away with the instructions of the true preceptor and to let the moon shine unobstructed in its own lustre.¹ In the mystery of the self lies the mystery of the Lord and to know the former is to know the latter.² It has been said by Kāṅāl Harināth,—"O the mad, thy 'Bird of Beauty' is sitting in its nest in the bower of thy heart, find it out there; offer it fruits of devotion and water of love, and it will be tamed for ever."³ Phakir-cānd says in a song,—"O my mind, let me tell thee,—the 'Man of the heart' is in the heart and search for Him there; why art thou roaming from country to country?—never have I seen a greater fool than thee."⁴ "In man resides the Lord, why hast thou not known Him with thy common sense? . . . In eternal union does that Beloved dally in the heart,—He dallies in the heart with all the gates shut—and from the side of man, he (man) shuts up all the doors of the chamber of his heart with the strength of love and therein gazes at the beauty of the Beloved.'¹ It is the screen of illusion,—the shade over the eyes that prevents us from beholding the beauty of the ‘Man of the heart’; it is this illusion that lengthens the distance between man and the ‘Unknown One.’ Man often feels that it is not he, but that ‘Unknown One’ that is moving and working through him,—but yet alas,—because of the shade over the eyes,—he cannot catch at the ‘Unknown One.’² ‘In man,’ says Lālan, ‘resides that Jewel of Man,’—but ah me, that Jewel I could not recognise!’³

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