Obscure Religious Cults as Background of Bengali Literature c4: Preface
Obscure Religious Cults as Background of Bengali Literature c4
- Language
- English
Preface
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The book represents the thesis of the author which was submitted by him in 1940 for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Calcutta. The book was written in 1939 and submitted to the Calcutta University Press for publication in 1941. A considerable portion of it was printed by the year 1942 and then the work of printing was indefinitely postponed for scarcity of paper caused by the Second World War. This will explain the long interval between the submission of the book to the press and the actual publication of it.
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The aim of the present work is an expository study of the obscure religious cults that inspired Bengali literature in the old and the mediaeval times. Religion has always been one of the main motives of literature. It has been so in all countries and particularly in India which is pre-eminently a land of religion. As a matter of fact, the history of the modern Indian literatures is so intimately related with the history of some of the most important religious movements flourishing in this country that an intimate acquaintance with those religious movements seems indispensable for a thorough study of the vernacular literature.
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But it is no use treading the beaten track. Some of the religious schools have already been discussed by scholars; some again are very simple so far as their theological standpoint is concerned. The mere introduction of a Pantheon in literature cannot be the subject of serious study unless the Pantheon in question admits of fruitful theological speculation. Instead of gleaning in the already harvested field or discussing the obvious, the writer has limited his scope by selecting the more obscure cults, which are noteworthy by nature and have inspired a considerable amount of literature, but the true nature of which has not yet thoroughly discussed and clearly determined.
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The Buddhist Sahajiyā cult has been the main source of inspiration of Bengali literature in the earliest period. By the discovery and publication of the songs and Dohās of the Buddhist Sahajiyās, MM. H. P. Śāstri had, no doubt, done a memorable service not only to Bengali literature but to modern Indo-Aryan vernacular literatures as a whole; but the task of making a thorough study of the songs and Dohās in the light of the cults inspiring them has been left out by him. Dr. M. Shahidullah's *Les Chants Mystiques de Kānha et de Saraha* and Dr. N. C. Chaudhuri's *Ḍākārṇava* dwell more upon the linguistic than the literary and philosophical aspects of the Dohās. Dr. P. C. Bagchi, M.A., Dr. ès Lettres (Paris), in his occasional papers and articles, no doubt emphasises the doctrinal aspect of the Sahajiyās; but no comprehensive and critical study of the cult offering a consistent and connected interpretation of the songs and Dohās has yet been undertaken.
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Similar is the case with the Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyā movement of Bengal. Mr. M. M. Bose, in his work *Post-Caitanya Sahajiyā Cult*, has, indeed, supplied us with valuable information regarding the literature of the Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyās and some of the doctrines and practices preached therein; but the raison d'être of the whole school and the process of evolution of this love religion from the ideology and methodology of the earlier Tāntric and Yogic sects remain unexplained.
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The songs and Dohās of the Buddhist Sahajiyās have important bearing in spirit as well as in form and language on the songs and Dohās of many of the mediaeval saints, who flourished abundantly in many parts of India, and who, for reasons to be discussed later on, were mostly Sahajiyās in a wider sense. In a chapter on the Bāul-songs of Bengal the writer has dealt with the question of the relation between the earlier and the mediaeval Sahajiyās. He has also tried to show how on the spirit of a section of the Bāuls, who have stressed the conception of the ‘Man of the heart,’ Sūfi-istic Islam acted conjointly with the Upaniṣadic spirit ingrained in the different Sahajiyā movements as also with the Vaiṣṇavite spirit of love. In an appendix he has dealt at some length with the religious tenets of the non-Bengalee mediaeval saints of India in relation to those of the earlier Sahajiyās.
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The nature and history of the Nāth cult, which has inspired a considerable amount of literature in Bengal as also in many other parts of India, is still shrouded in the mist of myths and legends. The stray articles found on the subject seem to be inadequate. Dr. Mohan Singh’s work, *Gorakhnath and Mediaeval Hindu Mysticism*, is hardly a sufficient exposition of the mystic religion of the sect. The recent work of Mr. Briggs, *Gorakhnāth and the Kānphaṭ Yogīs*, is a commendable accumulation of facts and traditions. But the distinctive feature of Nāthism remains hitherto unexplained. Hence there is ample scope for serious study in the practically unexplored field of Nāthism.
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The Dharma cult of Bengal also invites attention. The cult is not theologically complex,—but it is queerly composite. Different conceptions of godhead have been confusedly amalgamated in the evolution of the Supreme Lord of this Dharma cult. The present writer has in this thesis passed over the simple practices, which are mainly aboriginal, but has centred his attention on analysing its composite nature.
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The theory of cosmogony and cosmology, which is substantially the same in the description of all the vernaculars notwithstanding small deviations of details, also demands serious attention. The tentative suggestions made by different scholars here and there about the nature and significance of this theory seem to be inadequate. The present writer has given a short exposition of the different versions of the theory as found in different types of vernacular literature, analysed ideas composing the main theory, and tried to trace their sources, Vedic, Purāṇic, Tāntric or otherwise.
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The above, it is hoped, will give the reader an idea about the exact scope of the present work. To put it more briefly, the aim of the present work is a thorough study of the Buddhist Sahajiyā cult, the Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyā cult, the Bāul sect of Bengal and other mediaeval sects of India who may be called Sahajiyā in a general sense, the Nāth cult, the Dharma cult, and the cosmogonical and cosmological theories to be found in the Bengali literature of different periods. The author has thought it convenient not to distract the interest in the main contention by the occasional introduction of a mass of details, texts and stories; but as these informations cannot be altogether neglected without making the work defective, they have been included in the appendices.
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Though dealing essentially with some religious systems the motive behind the present study is more literary than religious. If obscure religious fields are entered into, it is done with a view to understanding and explaining the literary productions which have cropped up in them. It is, therefore, evident that whatever has been said, has been said mainly in relation to Bengali literature. But it will be observed that the religious cults that have inspired Bengali literature in the old and mediaeval period, have also inspired cognate literature in other vernaculars of India; the present study, therefore, may throw light not only on the comparatively dark period of Bengali literature, but also on the obscure literary spheres of old and mediaeval vernacular literatures of India as a whole.
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But in the following pages attempt has been made to make the sudy as thorough as possible also from the religious and cultural points of view. This, it is hoped, may add to the importance of the work in so far as it will bring to the notice of the reading public the obscure side-issues of Indian theological thought and esoteric religious practices. Whether congenial to our modern taste or not, the fact remains that these religious sects enjoyed, and some of them have still been enjoying, widespread popularity among the masses of India; it is for this reason that a critical study of these minor religious sects cannot be neglected in the history of Indian religious thought. It may easily be seen that the religious sects, with whom the present writer is dealing, represent mainly the religious views and practices of the masses of the country as opposed to the intelligentsia belonging to the higher classes. But to understand fully the civilisation and culture of a country as a whole we cannot do without a proper study of the mass-mind.
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It may be added in this connection that in conducting the study the writer has tried throughout to be guided by the scientific spirit of a truth-seeker, neither defending the theories and practices of the schools, nor passing any personal judgment on them in respect of their merits. His main aim has been the correct exposition of the schools on textual basis, and the criticisms that are added are applied only to review the position from different angles of vision. The question of abuses and aberrations, which are to be found in a greater or lesser degree in the history of almost all the religious systems of the world, has been deliberately neglected by the author; for it is the rationale of a cult or system and not its abuses and aberrations that have academic value.
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The materials for the work are gathered from both published and unpublished sources. A good number of manuscripts of texts and commentaries has been utilised in the study of the Buddhist Sahajiyā cult; some of these texts are preserved in the University Library of Cambridge, some in the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris, and some in the Central Library of Baroda,—and all these manuscripts were available to the writer in rotograph through the courtesy of Professor S. N. Dasgupta, M.A., Ph.D. (Cal.), Ph.D. (Cantab.), D.Lit. (Rome), the Indian Philosopher of international fame. The indebtedness of the writer to Professor Dasgupta knows no bounds. The indebtedness is not only for the manuscripts which Professor Dasgupta was kind enough to procure for the writer but also for his ungrudging help and guidance which may be regarded as a rare boon to all students of Indian philosophy and literature. The rest of the manuscripts of Buddhistic texts are preserved in the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal and the authorities of the institution deserve cordial thanks of the writer for giving him every facility to utilise them. As for the Bengali manuscripts, the author has consulted them in the Manuscript Library of the University of Calcutta and in the Vaṅgiya Sāhitya Pariṣat, Calcutta. The texts preserved in both the institutions being generally common, the manuscripts of the University Library have been referred to. The author records his deep sense of gratitude also to the authorities of these two institutions. The sources, whether published or unpublished, from which materials have been gathered, have been indicated everywhere in the form of foot-notes. To make his position clear and convincing, the author has sometimes quoted copiously in foot-notes, particularly when the sources are unpublished.
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Some books and articles have been published in the recent years containing informations and suggestions about the topics with which the present writer has dealt; but the writer could not utilise them. The reason is twofold: firstly, as indicated before, a considerable portion of the book was printed by the year 1942; secondly, informations cannot be incorporated here and there in the body of the book at will without disturbing the general scheme of the book and the topics therein.
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A few words must be added in connection with the method of transcription. In transcribing Sanskrit the commonly accepted device of diacritical marks has been adopted. The language of the Dohās being unanimously accepted to be Western Apabhraṃśa, the propriety of the use of ‘j’ to the exclusion of ‘y’. and the use of ‘s’ to the exclusion of ‘ś’ or ‘ṣ’ cannot be questioned. But difficulty arises in the choice between ‘b’ and ‘v’. With the advice of Dr. S. K. Chatterji, M.A., D.Lit., the writer has used ‘v’ all along in the transcription of the Dohās and ‘b’ initially and ‘v’ medially and finally in the transcription of Bengali songs. Another point to be noticed is that the phonology of modern Bengali, as also of many other modern Indo-Aryan vernaculars, seldom allows the retention of final vowels, and the medial vowel also drops when the word is composed of more than two syllables; but the dropping is never indicated in orthography. The writer has dropped the medial and final vowels in orthography, where they are dropped in actual pronunciation. The principle of transcription has often been adopted in transcribing the proper names, but rigorous consistency could not be maintained in this matter, as many of the Indian names have already been naturalised in English. Corruptions and mistakes in the spelling of old and middle Bengali texts have never been interfered with. For typographical difficulties nasalisation of vowels had to be indicated by the addition of ‘m’ with the vowels. The writer begs to draw the attention of the reader to another important point. He has found many mistakes and corruptions in the reading of the manuscripts, both Sanskrit and Bengali. These also have not been freely handled unless the mistake or the corruption has been apparent.
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In fine, the writer acknowledges his debt to Professor Rai K. N. Mitra, M.A., Bahadur, late Ramtanu Lahiri Professor of Bengali, Calcutta University, under whom he had the privilege of working as the Ramtanu Lahiri Research Assistant of the Calcutta University for about four years, and under whose affectionate care the present work was prepared. The writer records his deep sense of gratitude towards his examiners, particularly to Mahāmahopādhyaya Gopināth Kavirāj, M.A., of Benares, in whom the author has discovered a prodigy of Oriental Learning. His valuable suggestions on various topics have substantially helped the writer in revising some of the chapters of his book. In Dr. Syamaprasad Mookerjee, M.A., D.Litt., Barrister-at-Law, President, Post-Graduate Council of Teaching in Arts, University of Calcutta, the writer found a never-failing source of inspiration. In spite of the multifarious duties he has to attend to in the wider sphere of his life, he remains a true patron of learning, and the author deems it a privilege to have the name of the great man associated with his book. The writer is grateful to Dr. B. M. Barua, M.A., D.Lit., for his suggestions and encouragement. The writer thanks Dr. Satindra Kumar Mukherjee, M.A., Ph.D., Prof. Sudhir Kumar Dasgupta, M.A., Dr. Sudhansu Kumar Sengupta, M.A., Ph.D., Prof. Rabindra Kumar Dasgupta, M.A., and Mr. Naresh Chandra Sen, M.A., B.L., for rendering various help. He thanks also Mr. Pierre Fallon for reading some portions of the proofs and for helping in preparing the index. Thanks are also due to Mr. J. C. Chakravorti, M.A., Registrar, Calcutta University, for the personal interest he took in the publication of the book. The writer cordially thanks the Superintendent of the Calcutta University Press and his staff, but for whose sincere co-operation the book might have taken a longer time to come to light.
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S. B. DASGUPTA