Bauls concentrate much of their mystic energies on the four body fluids, on the nine-doors (openings of the body), on prakṛti as "nature" or "primal motive force", and on breath sādhana. Some of their rituals are kept hidden from outsiders, as they might be thought to be repulsive or hedonistic. Their religion is based on an expression of the body ( deho sādhana), and an expression of the mind ( mana sādhana). Some tasbis, and so people sayīut do you bear the sign of your religion when you come or when you go?” With such a liberal interpretation of love, it is only natural that Baul devotional music transcends religion and some of the most famous baul composers, such as Lalon, criticised the superficiality of religious divisions:Įveryone asks: "Lalan, what's your religion in this world?"
Lalon, the most celebrated Baul saint in history, by Jyotirindranath Tagore, 1889īaul music celebrates celestial love, but does this in very earthy terms, as in declarations of love by the Baul for his bosh-tomi or lifemate. In order to become Bauls, they recite some mystic verses and observe certain rituals. Unlike ascetic Bauls, their rituals are less strict. They do not mix freely with other members of the community. Those who choose family life, live with their spouse, children and relations in a secluded part of a village.
In 1982-83 the number rose to 905 in 2000, they numbered about 5000. Until 1976 the district of Kushtia had 252 ascetic Bauls. A male Baul can have one sevadasi, who is associated with him in the act of devotion. Women dedicated to the service of ascetics, are known as sevadasis "service slaves". They carry jholas, shoulder bags for alms. Men wear white lungis and long, white tunics women wear white saris. They have no fixed dwelling place, but move from one akhda to another. Ascetic Bauls renounce family life and society and survive on alms. There are two classes of Bauls: ascetic Bauls who reject family life and Bauls who live with their families. Jeanne Openshaw writes that the music of the Bauls appears to have been passed down entirely in oral form until the end of the 19th century, when it was first transcribed by outside observers. The Bauls themselves attribute their lack of historical records to their reluctance to leave traces behind. Some scholars find traces of these thoughts in the ancient practices of yoga as well as the Charyapada, a collection of Buddhist hymns that are the first known example of written Bengali. They are thought to have been influenced by the Hindu tantric sect of the Kartabhajas, as well as Tantric Vaishnava schools like the Vaishnava-Sahajiya. Whatever their origin, Baul thought has mixed elements of Tantra, Sufi Islam, Vaishnavism and Buddhism. But they agree that no founders have been acknowledged either by Bauls themselves or others. Many attempts have been made to ascertain the origin of Bauls but there is wide disagreement among scholars. Bauls are a part of the culture of rural Bengal. Some scholars maintain that it is not clear when the word took its sectarian significance, as opposed to being a synonym for the word madcap, agitated. The word is found in the Chaitanya Bhagavata of Vrindavana Dasa Thakura as well as in the Chaitanya Charitamrita of Krishnadasa Kaviraja. The origin of Bauls is not known exactly, but the word "Baul" has appeared in Bengali texts as old as the 15th century. Some modern scholars, like Shashibhusan Dasgupta have suggested that it may be derived either from Sanskrit word vātula, which means "enlightened, lashed by the wind to the point of losing one's sanity, god's madcap, detached from the world, and seeker of truth", or from vyākula, which means "restless, agitated" and both of these derivations are consistent with the modern sense of the word, which denotes the inspired people with an ecstatic eagerness for a spiritual life, where a person can realise his union with the eternal beloved – the Moner Manush (the person of the heart). A Baul saint at Sainthia, Birbhum in 2021
0 kommentar(er)
