New publications of Bengali syncretistic religions.

• Author: Das, Rahul Peter

In a recent article(1) have given copious bibliographic references to material (including newer literature) on the Bauls (Bengali baul), with stray references to other syncretistic Bengali religious groups exhibiting Vaisnava influence. Some newer literature is introduced here.

Lalan continues to be the most popular Baul, and it would be no exaggeration to say that a whole new cult dedicated to assimilating him intellectually into the "main-stream" has sprung up.(2) Though many Bengali intellectuals have at last come to accept Baul thought and rites as they are, the notion of Bauls being merely some sort of transcendent mystic bards in search of a fuzzy Supreme Being (and of course having nothing to do with sexual rituals), so successfully propagated by Rabindranath Tagore, still lingers on, and also continues to color the perception of Lalan. This is of course not to deny the mystic elements undoubtedly present in Baul songs, but reducing Baul thought to these is a grave distortion, to say the least.

A translation of selections from the songs of Lalan(3) by Brother James will serve to reinforce such notions. The author is aware of the sexual aspects of the Baul creed, expressly remarking on them (pp. xiv f.); however, one gains the impression that he has only a superficial knowledge of the matter.(4) In any case, the songs chosen, as well as their translation and the corresponding notes, seem to aim at blanking out completely this fundamental core of the Baul creed. But even so, some references pertaining to this core have escaped being filtered out, probably because they were not recognized. Thus the song "My whole day went by while I thought" (no. 79, on p. 81),(5) although it looks at first like a lament on the termination by death of a futile life bereft of transcendental meaning due to lack of a proper guide, seems on the level of code language to be a lament on unintended ejaculation (on "death," see Das, op. cit.,[section]40) due to improper guidance in the art of coitus reservatus in conjunction with breath control; cf., e.g., the skilfully ambiguous haoya bandha ha'le sab yabe biphale "when the wind stops all will become fruitless," sar bastu dhan ebar ha'lam re hara "the essential substance, the wealth(6) I have this time, oh, lost," etc.(7) These lines are, incidentally, translated here as, "When I die all will have become fruitless" and "(1 figured) I had lost substantial, real, valuable things this time." As these examples show, the translation, though on the whole not bad, is sometimes not exact enough; nevertheless, the gist of the songs (103 in number) is conveyed quite well, and the astute reader can, the nature of the song permitting, readily read between the lines (as one so often has to do in the case of Baul songs) even without knowing Bengali.(8) Moreover, one of the aims of this selection of translations seems to be to draw attention to that stream of Bengali religiosity which strives to transcend narrow boundaries of sect and creed, and in this it undoubtedly succeeds.

Another English translation of twenty-five of Lalan's songs(9) focuses, in its selection, not only on their transcendental religious, but also social aspect. The translator's English is however peculiar, and is sometimes so incomprehensible as to be nearly mystical (maybe because he himself is a poet too), both as regards the translations and the introduction to them, though some expressions do have a quaint charm of their own: e.g., "The string of beads rosaried some, garlanded others" (p. 4; obviously keu mala keu tas'bi gale).(10) It may be noted that sexual aspects of the Baul faith are not even hinted at.

The commercialization of Baul songs has resulted in a mighty industry, centered to a large extent in Calcutta, which spins out fake Baul songs written and set to tunes by professional artistes or their hacks; often genuine songs, too, are given a tune more in keeping with the taste of modern urban "folk-music lovers." Many songs of Lalan have suffered such a fate, and, though the original, or at any rate more traditional, tunes are still known to many Bauls, particularly in eastern Bengal, efforts to preserve them before they are forced into oblivion are obviously very much called for. The result of one such endeavor is a collection of twenty-five songs with their tunes in traditional notation.(11) The tunes were taken from the recollection of Khoda Bak-s, a Fakir in the tradition of Lalan and an acknowledged authority on his songs. It should be interesting to compare them with the tunes given in other sources, if any, especially with regard to the more popular songs, such as Khacar bhitar acin pakhi (pp. 81-84) (cf. Das, op. cit., n. 201). Attention may also be drawn to the spiritual genealogy (Arabic sagara or silsila) of Lalan (according to a manuscript in the...