Bauls and Fakirs, frequently referred to as the wandering minstrels and mystics of Bengal (previously undivided Bengal and now, West Bengal and Bangladesh), are known through their enchanting, often enigmatic songs. The districts of Nadia (and Kushtia in Bangladesh which was a part of the Nadia district in pre-partition Bengal), Bankura, Bardhaman, Birbhum, Dinajpur and Murshidabad in West Bengal are traditionally the principal centres of Baul-Fakir culture.
Though a distinction is often made between the terms Bauls and Fakirs, in that the Bauls have an exclusively Hindu identity while Fakirs, an Islamic one, theirs is a syncretic faith, a fusion of both Hindu and Islamic practices, and their common belief is that the body is the sole organ of all experience and means to knowledge. The songs they sing are an expression of their esoteric philosophy and mystical devotion. Because of the nature of their practices, and because of their refusal to conform to conventions of society, these minstrels who are neither Hindu nor Muslim have always been seen as threats to organised religion, by both Hindus and Muslims and relegated to the fringes of society.
The advent of Bauls and Fakirs were an outcome of the challenges Hindu society faced from within and without, with the coming of Islam to state power in thirteenth century Bengal. This was the time when a major form of Hinduism,
Vaishnavism (devotion to god Vishnu and his incarnations including Krishna and Rama) had begun to face a challenge from within. While orthodoxy remained obsessed with rituals and manuals, a tradition of love and devotion in literature and songs became increasingly popular among all classes. The great body of Vaishnav
bhakti (devotional) lyrics, highly erotic in content, glorify the illicit love between Krishna and the cowherd maidens (
gopinis) of Vrindavan, of whom Radha was the key figure.
Along with the democratisation of the Krishna myth, Vaishanavism came into increasing contact with Buddhist Tantric (
Sahajiya) traditions. Some of the rituals of Tantric practice placed a powerful emphasis on the practice of sexual rites between a man and a woman not married to each other. Such esoteric rituals came to be loosely affiliated to (Sahajiya) Vaishnavism. They were interpreted as key to simulating the divine love between Radha and Krishna and thus achieving the highest spiritual realisation.These new developments thus offered a threat to the doctrines and manuals of traditional Brahminical orthodoxy.
The arrival of
Sri Chaitanya in late fifteenth century Nadia in Bengal further democratised this process. Chaitanya, making no discrimination between caste, creed and religion, transformed Bhakti which once had a cultural form into a vibrant social movement. Bhakti promised direct union with god unmediated by priests and thus threw a powerful challenge to Brahminical hegemony.
However, after Chaitanya left Nadia renouncing the world, the bhakti movement and Chaitanya’s brand of Vaishnavism (
Gaudiya) began to decline in Nadia. With orthodoxy gradually appropriating it, the lower orders of Hindu society who comprised a significant section of Chaitanya’s followers were made to feel unwelcome and began to drift away from the mainstream religion. Drawn towards Tantric Buddhism, Sahajiya Vaishnavism and mystic
Sufism, they gradually formed themselves into small religious sects, each with its own faith and practice. Some of these were Naera, Darbesh, Radhashyami, Ruidashi, Kartabhaja, Sahebdhani and Balarami (also known as Balahari). The common thread across all these sects was that they all subscribed to Sahajiya practices and were considered deviant by Hindu orthodoxy. They are often known by the generic nomenclature, Baul.
Meanwhile, post the Islamic invasion of Bengal in early thirteenth century a process of Islamization had begun which proceeded so gradually as to be nearly imperceptible. Islamization in Bengal was but one aspect of a general set of transformation associated with an expanding economic frontier and building of new communities. Muslims were the principal pioneers responsible for clearing the forest, reclaiming and cultivating the lands, which were at that time waste and covered with forest. Islam was thus introduced as a civilization-building ideology associated both with settling and populating the land. Peasantization and Islamization proceeded hand in hand among the people. This process of transforming forested lands to rice fields was associated with charismatic Muslim holy men (pir).
Some of these men, in popular memory, swelled into vivid mythico-historical figures, saints whose lives served as metaphors for the expansion of both religion and agriculture. In collective folk memory, their careers captured and telescoped a complex historical socio-religious process whereby a land originally forested and non-Muslim became arable and predominantly Muslim. The gradual cultural shift from a Bengali Hindu world to a Bengali Muslim world was often accomplished by presenting the new in the guise of the familiar. In popular literature, Allah was often identified with Gosai or Niranjan or Jagat-Iswar and the Prophet’s daughter Fatima, with Jagat-Janani. Bengali Muslim poets consciously presented Islamic imagery and ideas in terms readily familiar to a rural population saturated with folk Bengali and Hindu religious ideas. In fact, the gap between ‘Islam’ and ‘non-Islam’ was not the same as it is today.
The idea of Islam as a closed system with definite and rigid boundaries is itself largely a product of nineteenth and twentieth century, whereas for rural Bengalis of pre-modern period, the line separating ‘non-Islam’ from ‘Islam’ appears rather to have been porous, tenuous, and shifting. Indeed, such boundaries seem hardly to have been present at all.
In pre-modern Bengali religious culture Hindus and Muslims were not two separate and self-contained social groups. They were neither products of Hindu or of Muslim culture, but of a single Bengali folk culture. Hindu gods and goddesses were worshipped along with Islamic rites. Bauls and Fakirs were products of this syncretic folk cultural tradition of Bengal where Sufi mysticism was assimilated with Tantric, Buddhist and Vaishnava Sahajyia traditions.
The most important figure of Baul-Fakir philosophy is Lalon (1774-1890) of Kushtia district in present day Bangladesh. Epitomizing the traditional Baul, he tore down barriers between caste and creed, and was vilified by reformist Islamic elements for his efforts. Yet, he never called himself Baul. In his songs, he usually calls himself Fakir Lalan, and refers to his guru Siraj as Sái or Darbesh. His disciple Duddu Shah however, referred to himself as Baul .
Like the Sufi mystics, Bauls and Fakirs reject orthodoxy and follow no scriptures, opting for a direct, experiential, and hence personal communion with God instead. To the Baul, the human body is the highest temple of the Sain. In this temple lives their ‘moner manush’ (the ‘eternal beloved’). Like Bauls, Fakirs also believe that the human body is the ideal site for spiritual quest and salvation. The body is the
masjid where, through self restraint and
dhikr (chanting of God’s name), inner peace and tranquility can be achieved. Lalon says,
The original Mecca is the human body
Try to understand
Why are you tiring yourself roaming around the world?
God has created the human Mecca
With the celestial light.
Bauls and Fakirs are
bartaman panthis (those who depend on the ‘existent’ or ‘here and now’), a category that is defined in opposition to another,
anuman (hearsay or conjecture) which connotes orthodoxy where ideas and practices are legitimised by reference to authorised scriptures. The classical model of the Hindu social system as natural and inevitable is challenged by them. The enduringly popular song by Lalon Fakir begins:
Everyone asks what jat (‘birth-group’) has Lalon in this world.
Fakir Lalon says, what form has jat? I have never seen it with my eyes...
In another song Lalon says:
With death everything vanishes
Know that as soon as you can
There is heaven after death
Does not convince me
For an unknown future
Who discards the present world?
Fakirs too in their spiritual quest for salvation need no external prop or symbolism. Following the Sufi tradition, Fakirs seek to transcend the orthodox
Shariyat which is conjectural. This can be achieved through the deeply personal and highly secretive
Mariphati practice which only a
Murshid (guide) can teach. Instead of Sharyati instructions they follow their Murshid who guides the
murid (disciple) through the true path (
tariqa) to a higher level of consciousness (
haqiqah). When one reaches the final and the mystical Mariphati state of ultimate truth, one achieves
fana, a complete denial of self and union with God.
Central to the concept of Baul-Fakir philosophy and practice is
Deha Tattva – the doctrine of truth within the body. To the Bauls, the human body is the microcosm of the natural world and is as mysterious. Many of their songs celebrate the mysteries of the human body drawing parallels with the natural world. The female body, for them, is the site for spiritual quest and salvation. Bauls believe that it is through his sexo-yogic practices that the practitioner is reunited with his God and experiences supreme spiritual bliss. Thus they need a female partner (
sadhan shongini) who is specially selected. Through breathing exercises, which only a guru can teach, they learn to control their libido and withhold ejaculation at the climactic moment. A Baul may have more than one female partner. Baul women, who play a significant role in the life of a Baul, as spiritual and sexual partners are always treated with love and respect.
The ‘four moon practice’ (
char chandra bhed or
char piyala) of the Bauls has always repelled the middle class. Despite attempts by some to spiritualise it, the four moons coded as ras, mati, rup and rati, are all substances which are secreted or excreted from the body, and the practices of the moon involve re-assimilating these substances. However, not all Bauls seek salvation through the female body, and not all Bauls practise the four moons. This is because Bauls have three stages of initiation,
Dikhsha,
Shiksha and
Bhek, with a different guru imparting his or her teaching at each stage. It is only at the second stage of the Baul’s initiation that practices of sexual yoga are taught. Not all Bauls complete all these stages.
The cultural tradition of the Bauls and Fakirs was primarily oral, handed down to generations, from guru to disciple and from singer to singer. Only towards the end of the nineteenth century attempts were made to write down their songs. Baul-fakir songs are short compositions consisting of a refrain and three or four verses ending in a signature line (
bhanita) in which the name of the poet and often that of his guru, are given. Though mainly unlettered, the poetry of the Bauls is lauded for its literary quality. The songs, expressing their knowledge, practices and experiences, are often argumentative, ambiguous, presented in the form of a riddle and as is common to Sahajiya traditions, expressed in coded or “twilight” language (
Sandhya Bhasha), using imagery from nature or activities from everyday life. Thus a non-initiate, while admiring the song, may comprehend only the conventional surface meaning. The purpose was also to avoid persecution from fundamentalists, both religious and social. However, songs lampooning caste, sect, gurus and gender discrimination are totally transparent. These provide an indicator of the fascinating frontier between bartaman panthis and the world of the householders from whom they largely recruit, and to whom they offer a constant critique of their universe.
To quote from another well known Baul song:
You won’t understand the words of a mad person,
(Only) the mad can understand everything the mad say.
They run on the reverse path,
They eat whatever they get,
They don’t abide by Veda, scripture, conventional prescriptions or whatever they say.
Yet what ordinary mortals cannot do, all mad people can do.
The songs usually composed in local dialect are set to tunes that are also local in character. Thus a Baul song may have elements of
Bhatiali or
Bhawaiya or
Kirtan or
Jhumur, depending on where the composer lived or lives. Fakirs, in their mystical songs, unlike the Arabic or Urdu elements in the Mariphati songs of Sufi mystics in Bengal, use native rural dialects, idioms, and images drawn from indigenous life. However not all songs are sung to a fixed tune. The songs, sung by both Bauls and Fakirs are classified according to the subject . Thus there are songs for Deha tattva, Sadhana Sangeet, Murshidi (Sufi songs in praise of and asking guidance of the murshid or guru), Mariphati etc. Sometimes they are classified according to the poet – so there is Lalon geeti or Hashon Rajar gaan etc. Bauls often sing as competing teams or individuals – one team responding to the other’s riddles. This is known as palla gaan.
Bauls and fakirs generally live in
akharas or community houses in or near villages.There are Bauls who adopt asceticism, while some lead a family life. It is the practice of mendicant Bauls to beg for their sustenance – accepting only what they needed - no more. This is known as
maadhukari. Their only worldly possessions are their clothes and their musical instruments. However, many also earn their living from other occupations while in recent decades, still more earn by singing professionally. Traditionally dressed, though not always uniformly, in long, loose, white or saffron-colored upper garments, and patchwork coats made of rags, with their long hair twisted into a topknot, their appearance is very distinctive. The patchwork dress known as
Guduri signifies no caste, no creed and draws attention to the Baul`s multicultural lineage. Baul women too wear saffron or white. And then again, there are many who resemble Bauls outwardly, but are merely singers of Baul songs.
It needs to be mentioned that though Bauls and Fakirs are often seen as one, with a common or mixed lineage, in districts like Birbhum they have separate identities. Bauls here, seen as Hindu or Vaishnav, have in fact incorporated more conventional Hindu religiosity as part of their repertoire.
The Bauls and Fakirs were treated as social outcastes by the middle class for their deviant practices. Yet, towards the end of the nineteenth century, a new
bhadralok (literally ‘gentlefolk’) attitude to Baul song as an indigenous folk form as well as the emergence of the idealised Baul began to develop. This development happened at a time when national and more especially regional consciousness began to grow in Bengal, along with a revaluation of Bengali language and culture vis-á-vis Sanskrit and classical Hindu culture. One manifestation of this was the search of Calcutta based bhadralok for historical and geographical roots in the idyllic rural life of Bengal. Bauls were seen as the epitome of this idealised rural life and the same period witnessed an upsurge in the popularity of the Baul song as an indigenous Bengali folk form.
Rabindranath Tagore, in whose estate of Shelaidaha, Lalon had lived, was immensely impressed by the spiritual depth of Lalon’s songs and was one of the earliest to give Bauls social respectability and introduce his works to the urban elite of Bengal. This idealization took place at the expense of the Bauls` esoteric aspect, and as a result, Baul sadhana (religious practice) was totally ignored and their songs misunderstood.
Again, after 1947, when the eastern section of Bengal became a part of Pakistan, the struggle against West Pakistani domination found expression in the language issue; and Bengalis of the eastern wing doggedly resisted the imposition of Urdu rather than Bengali as their national language and the suppression of Bengali culture in the name of Islam. The resulting ‘Bangladesh Renaissance’ embraced the entire literary and cultural tradition of Bengal, especially ‘folk’ elements such as Bauls and Baul songs. Thus in both pre-independence India and Bangladesh post resurgence, the idealised Baul became a part of the nationalist agenda and a symbol of conventional spirituality. Lalon became a popular cultural icon. Muslim orthodoxy however, continues to abhor the Muslim Bauls or Fakirs because of their un-Islamic practices.
In a related development Baul
gayaks (singers) soon marginalised Baul
sadhaks (those engaged in esoteric and spiritual practices). Even among Lalon’s contemporaries there were such amateur Bauls. An amateur Baul is one who composes and sings Baul songs but does not engage in esoteric practices. This middle class image of the amateur Baul, largely a Tagorean construct, redefined the Baul for the finer sensibilities of the bhadralok and made them more acceptable and attractive to middle class values. Kangal Harinath, also known as Fikirchand, was a very popular amateur Baul during Lalon’s time and was also personally known to him. Both inhabited that area of central Bengal in which the Tagore family had large country estates. He and his group were in demand all over Bengal, and a host of similar groups sprang up in surrounding towns and villages. This tradition continues. Many prominent members of the tradition have attracted international public attention, more as folk singers in the world music and fusion genres, than as practitioners of a specific religious school. Sadly, the tradition of Baul music is largely dying out now. Many are fake representatives of their sect, only looking out for professional musical programmes. The songs today are not always authentic, have been gradually influenced by urbanization and the music seems to predominate the religion.
Iconic Bauls from the past were Duddu Sái and Panju Sái and later, the legendary Nabanidas. Some of the popular Bauls today are Purnadas, Sanatandas, Debdas, Kanaidas and Pabandas. Gaur Khyapa, the legendary Baul singer, who performed with Bob Dylan, Bob Marley and Janis Joplin, recently passed away on January 26, 2013. Some well known Fakirs today are Mansur, Aarman, Golam, Nur Alam and Akash. Sufia Bibi in Mushidabad is one of the very few female singers, a Fakirani, in this tradition.