song of the baul part V
Via: "Averee Chaurey"
The Song of the Baul: Part V
Friends, as I sit down to write the script of my play, I realise that I am
going deeper and deeper into the lives of these wandering minstrels.
For a Baul/Baulani, Nishkam Sadhana, or removal of passion is very
essential. To regulate ones own inner intents, self-discipline and will
power is a must to be exercised. According to them, Where lust dwells,
love is not attained. This reminds me of a poem by Rabindranath Tagore, who
spun the same thought round many of his poems.
Not for me is the love that knows no restraint, but like the foaming wine
that having burst its vessel in a moment would run to waste.
Send me the love, which is cool and pure like your rain that blesses the
thirsty earth and fills the homely earthen jars.
Send me the love that would soak down into the centre of being,
And from there would spread like the unseen sap through the branching tree
of life, giving birth to fruits and flowers.
Send me the love, that keeps the heart still with the fullness of peace
(Geetanjali)
The Bauls often differentiate between Kam (desire) and Prem (love). Love
(Prem) for a Baul implies retention of semenand therefore no procreation.
For an ordinary human being desire (Kam) is associated with continuity (of
the lineage). Accordingly, While the love which is Kam (desire) leads to
separation, the love which is Prem binds. (Kamer priti hay chirachiri,
premer priti hay jorajori).
Desire for the Baul means separating one from oneself, splitting off and
creating children. There is also the notion of a lack of unity and intimacy
with ones partner. Love (Prem) does not disrupt the self (Atma), it unites
the male and female who separate.
Having children for a staunch Baul is a mistake. According to Sanatan Baul,
due to a fundamental mistake I had children and spend time other than in
joy (anand).
The chapter on Women or Nari by Satis ( a handwritten text) contains a
host of rebuttals: woman is the creator of all. Without her and if used
her, nothing would exist. Because of mans lust she suffers the pain and
dangers of childbirth. Sometimes he even abandons her when she is pregnant.
She takes enormous trouble to rear her child, feeding and cleaning him. That
very son whom she tended with such loving care grows up and proclaims-woman
is the gateway to hell. Men wrote the scriptures opportunistically which is
why men have all the freedom and women all the bondage. They dominate women
and make them subordinate. If women had written the scriptures, they would
similarly have framed the rules for their own convenience. (Translated by
Jean Openshaw in her book, Seeking the Bauls of Bengal).
Women are not tigresses but giver of joy. These lines and other references
show that women have been held in high esteem in Baul philosophy are found
in The History of Bengali Literature by Asit Kumar Bandyopadhyay. Large
number of old manuscripts, especially in the signature of the songs, both
Baul and Baulani existed, which definitely shows that men and women worked
at par. Raj-Rajeshwari, Yadu-Bindu (composer Yadav and his partner Bindu) to
name a few.
The present generation of Bauls does not use the name of the Baulani along
with theirs. But of course woman is shakti power for them. They worship
women in the form of Madhurya Bhav (as a lover), unlike Ramkrishna
Paramhansa who worshipped in the state of Vatsalya (reversion to
childhood). Here we should not misunderstand a Baul. His worship does not
express lust (Kam) but love (Prem).
A Baulani does not have a caste. I am a woman. And woman has no jat. Only
men have jat.
It is interesting to note in most of the Bhakti poetry, which includes Baul
songs, somewhere Sufi poetry too merges. The longing of the devotee for a
total identity with god. This mysticism of identity gave rise to an image of
total union between the lover and the beloved.
Where lust dwells love is not attained. This philosophy bears a universal
appeal. This is when one ponders why there is so much of hatred and
bloodshed all around. Cant a Baul or a Sufi saint spread this message
around through their music? I always feel music reaches the heart quicker
than any other form of message.
But when Sanatan Baul says that he made a mistake by having children this
makes me think. Children are a source of love and if the Baul philosophy is
love then why not have children. Cant they attain their goal then? Is the
Baul not interested to further their community? I do not have an answer.
Are children only born out of lust? Isnt love a part of it?
A woman is held in high esteem in the Baul community, yet the woman yearns
within herself to hear the word mother from her child. Are women only
companions to see that the Baul reaches his ultimate goal and therefore has
to give up her own wishes? I get a strange feeling that the Baul philosophy
is male centred. But when I talk to them I do not sense that. There may be
something deeper, which I cannot fathom.
Averee Chaurey
The Song of the Baul: Part V
Friends, as I sit down to write the script of my play, I realise that I am
going deeper and deeper into the lives of these wandering minstrels.
For a Baul/Baulani, Nishkam Sadhana, or removal of passion is very
essential. To regulate ones own inner intents, self-discipline and will
power is a must to be exercised. According to them, Where lust dwells,
love is not attained. This reminds me of a poem by Rabindranath Tagore, who
spun the same thought round many of his poems.
Not for me is the love that knows no restraint, but like the foaming wine
that having burst its vessel in a moment would run to waste.
Send me the love, which is cool and pure like your rain that blesses the
thirsty earth and fills the homely earthen jars.
Send me the love that would soak down into the centre of being,
And from there would spread like the unseen sap through the branching tree
of life, giving birth to fruits and flowers.
Send me the love, that keeps the heart still with the fullness of peace
(Geetanjali)
The Bauls often differentiate between Kam (desire) and Prem (love). Love
(Prem) for a Baul implies retention of semenand therefore no procreation.
For an ordinary human being desire (Kam) is associated with continuity (of
the lineage). Accordingly, While the love which is Kam (desire) leads to
separation, the love which is Prem binds. (Kamer priti hay chirachiri,
premer priti hay jorajori).
Desire for the Baul means separating one from oneself, splitting off and
creating children. There is also the notion of a lack of unity and intimacy
with ones partner. Love (Prem) does not disrupt the self (Atma), it unites
the male and female who separate.
Having children for a staunch Baul is a mistake. According to Sanatan Baul,
due to a fundamental mistake I had children and spend time other than in
joy (anand).
The chapter on Women or Nari by Satis ( a handwritten text) contains a
host of rebuttals: woman is the creator of all. Without her and if used
her, nothing would exist. Because of mans lust she suffers the pain and
dangers of childbirth. Sometimes he even abandons her when she is pregnant.
She takes enormous trouble to rear her child, feeding and cleaning him. That
very son whom she tended with such loving care grows up and proclaims-woman
is the gateway to hell. Men wrote the scriptures opportunistically which is
why men have all the freedom and women all the bondage. They dominate women
and make them subordinate. If women had written the scriptures, they would
similarly have framed the rules for their own convenience. (Translated by
Jean Openshaw in her book, Seeking the Bauls of Bengal).
Women are not tigresses but giver of joy. These lines and other references
show that women have been held in high esteem in Baul philosophy are found
in The History of Bengali Literature by Asit Kumar Bandyopadhyay. Large
number of old manuscripts, especially in the signature of the songs, both
Baul and Baulani existed, which definitely shows that men and women worked
at par. Raj-Rajeshwari, Yadu-Bindu (composer Yadav and his partner Bindu) to
name a few.
The present generation of Bauls does not use the name of the Baulani along
with theirs. But of course woman is shakti power for them. They worship
women in the form of Madhurya Bhav (as a lover), unlike Ramkrishna
Paramhansa who worshipped in the state of Vatsalya (reversion to
childhood). Here we should not misunderstand a Baul. His worship does not
express lust (Kam) but love (Prem).
A Baulani does not have a caste. I am a woman. And woman has no jat. Only
men have jat.
It is interesting to note in most of the Bhakti poetry, which includes Baul
songs, somewhere Sufi poetry too merges. The longing of the devotee for a
total identity with god. This mysticism of identity gave rise to an image of
total union between the lover and the beloved.
Where lust dwells love is not attained. This philosophy bears a universal
appeal. This is when one ponders why there is so much of hatred and
bloodshed all around. Cant a Baul or a Sufi saint spread this message
around through their music? I always feel music reaches the heart quicker
than any other form of message.
But when Sanatan Baul says that he made a mistake by having children this
makes me think. Children are a source of love and if the Baul philosophy is
love then why not have children. Cant they attain their goal then? Is the
Baul not interested to further their community? I do not have an answer.
Are children only born out of lust? Isnt love a part of it?
A woman is held in high esteem in the Baul community, yet the woman yearns
within herself to hear the word mother from her child. Are women only
companions to see that the Baul reaches his ultimate goal and therefore has
to give up her own wishes? I get a strange feeling that the Baul philosophy
is male centred. But when I talk to them I do not sense that. There may be
something deeper, which I cannot fathom.
Averee Chaurey