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Mystic Baul Poet
Lalon Shain :
An Icon of Folklore in the Social Context of Bangladesh
This paper seeks to
study the mystic Baul poet Lalon Shain (1774-1890) as an icon of folklore in
the social context of Bangladesh. Lalon appears to be the best transport to
carry folklore as the voice of folks in general and represents the genres
such as traditional art, literature, culture, and practice disseminated
largely through oral communication and behavioral example. His view on
religion, society, human-beings, race and culture are found in his songs and
show, at the same time, how Lalon acts as an icon of folklore in the social
context of Bangladesh. To understand Lalon’s position, this study focuses on
how the nineteenth century Bengali mystic saint and song-maker Lalon goes
beyond the so-called social, political, religious, caste, creed, race and
class distinction in the SAARC region and in the Globe as well. Despite the
division of three independent countries India, Pakistan and Bangladesh of
the then undivided Indian Subcontinent, significant cultural unity has not
stopped existing among them. Such cultural unity among these countries
invites special attention to the practice of folklore, mysticism, Sufism and
spiritualism. In all ages, a few individuals came out of tradition and
created new philosophy to serve the humanity, to look for the Creator and
His creation. Of such individuals, Lalon Shain who propagated peace, equity
and harmony for all the people from diverse religions seems to be the
greatest. Lalon shattered religious barriers, so-called customs and social
restraints to achieve love for mankind. He is a true inheritor of the great
mystics such as Kabir, Dadu, Ramananda, Tulshidas, Paltu, Rajjav, Shah Abdul
Latif Bhit and Buleh Shah. Actually Baul Fakir Lalon Shain’s philosophy
seems very much relevant not only for the unity in the SAARC countries but
also in all the countries of the Globe. As a Baul, Lalon wrote numerous
songs that testify folkloric elements in relation to humanity and
brotherhood, spirituality and religion, peace and tranquility and such
aspects of folklore, which virtually focus on all the folk-elements ancient
and modern in SAARC region. Thus Lalon Shain has tremendously contributed to
the understanding of folklore, especially because of his social awareness
that is evident in his exploration of all aspects of human life not only in
the social context of Bangladesh but also in the world context. Regarded as
the best voice of Baulism that has clearly been exposed in his songs, Lalon
dedicated himself to the cause of universal brotherhood of mankind. However,
his body-based philosophy, practice of a sect among Bengali Sufis and
Vaishnavs known as Bauls, his personal practice of such philosophy but
speaking of it publicly through his songs, his music performance and
practice embodying a highly syncretic philosophy drawn from diverse
religious sources, his confrontation of orthodox fundamentalisms and
preaching of radically different search for divinity may be relevant sources
to analyze the mystic poet Lalon Shain as an icon of folklore in the social
context of Bangladesh.
2. The countries
in the Indian Subcontinent foster historical commonality and significant
cultural unity. In this subcontinent there has always been a group of people
who have ventured beyond established scriptural tradition to find a way to
the freedom of man and to perceive God. These people, rising above caste,
creed and communal division, attempted to define religion in the light of
the simple truth emanated from the human heart. Discouraging conflict and
division while encouraging hybridity and syncreticity, these people
scrutinized the insipid, rigid and lifeless scriptural tradition with humane
logic, common sense and social reality. In this process emerged the Vakti
cult of the North and the South India, the Mahapurushia sect of
Assam, the Sufism of Punjab and Sindh, the Vaishnavi Baulism of
Bengal and many other major and minor mystic folk-cults. These mystic cults
paved the way for the practice of humanism and communal harmony in the
Indian Subcontinent mostly dominated by scriptural prejudices. Taking queue
from the idea of love and devotion, the mystics embarked on an all-out
struggle against discriminations based on caste, class or creed. Having
their loyalty solely to the idea of human emancipation, they denounced
hollow religious orthodoxy in favor of popular and liberal religious
practices. The practices and philosophy of the Bauls and of Fakir Lalon
Shain, in their origin and nature, relate to these mystic communities. In
his perception, ideals and beliefs, Lalon, as we find, is an apt descendant
of the great mystic poets of India such as Kabir, Dadu, Ramananda, Tulsidas,
Nanak, Paltu, Rajjav, Shah Abdul Latif Bhit, Buleh Shah and so on.
3. The Baul
practice has its root in Charyagitika, the practice songs of the
Buddhist Sahajiya sect flourishing almost a thousand of years ago. Baulism
flourished in the 17th century
by adopting the popular cult centering on music, Guru-cult and
body-based devotion (Bhattacharya: 1378, 289 and Sharif: 1968, 404). Baul
religion was basically a hybrid of Buddhist Sahajiya cult, Islamic Sufism,
Vaisnavit-Sahajiya cult and local Tantric Yoga-cult. However, the
unique characteristic of Baulism lies in the fact that it was simultaneously
a spiritual and a social quest—the search for the spiritual or
transcendental knowledge, as well as the bitter experience of exploitation,
injustice and discriminations, accounted for the origin of Baulism. Not
surprisingly, the lower-caste people devoid of their social and religious
right would search for a religious practice unorthodox and liberal in its
beliefs and operation.
4. Lalon Fakir
sang the victory of humanity. In the Baul practice, there is a special
significance for the doctrine of ‘Man’. The same being, who is the
‘neighbour of Arshinagar’ is Lalon’s ‘man of adoration’. That very
being is ‘Alekh Shain’ or ‘the Shain immaculate’. The Baul’s strive
is directed towards searching for this ‘Man’ and this search constitutes the
core of his devotion. Like Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), who says, “It is
a sin to lose faith on man”, Lalon says, “Manush obisshashe hoi nare
manush nidhinone (disbelief in man does not help to reach the heart of
man).” An unusual revelation of the greatness of man and the devotion to man
can be detected in Lalon’s songs. The following song is a reflection of the
supremacy of this living world and of human life:
Shall I ever be born,
I know not, in human again
Do in quickness O my
mind! Whatever is worth doing.
Infinite forms—created
the Lord Divine
Nothing is superior to
man among them
Thus goes the saying,
I hear.
The deities even pray
and worship
to be born in
human.
How kindly being
favoured by the fate
I know not O
mind!
have you got this
human body—
a boat to pass over
the worldliness.
Steer fast to get
across in the right stream
that the boat does not
get sunk in the
mid-way. (Debdas
Trans., 135)
Even for the sake of
devotion, the primary focus is on human body instead of supernatural being
or scriptures. The human Guru of this everyday world, instead of any
godly voice, has been invoked for the direction of the path of devotion.
Thus Lalon’s songs celebrate the victory of man-centered perception and
values. Lalon manifested the same awareness regarding religion as was found
in the mystics of the Middle Age. The mystic poet Kabir speaks against the
sectarian division in the following words:
Ek Niranjan Alho
mera, Hindu Turuk dohu nohi mera.
(Choudhury: 2008, 52)
Lalon, belonging to a
different period and language, delivers the same message in the following
lines:
A man can assume the
same form he wants to be
The same soul, Ram-Rahim-Karim-Kala
pervades the universe.
Lalon rejects all
institutionalized religions, searching for the path of freedom outside
orthodoxy. Although he often adopts the theoretical or philosophical aspects
of religion, he shows no interest in its practical aspect. He did not abide
by any religious book such as the Quran, the Puran, the Vedas or the Bible.
He fought against orthodox religious practices of his time. By breaking the
narrow wall of communal and religious segregation, he found a liberal space
for unity. The struggle of Lalon, and of the Bauls in general, is against
communal segregation. They never fostered the narrowness of communalism.
They used to introduce themselves as ‘vagrant’ and ‘without formula or
mantra’. Lalon’s experience revealed to him the fact that, besides the
social conflict between the Hindus and the Muslims, disagreement and
conflict existed in their religious practices too. The systems of their
devotional practices were different and the results conflicting. Therefore
annoyed Lalon rejected the both creeds and said directly:
Oh my crazy mind how
and in what way
Will you achieve
saintliness
You have two common
ways
One is in Muslim way
and another is in Hindu way
All Muslims and Hindus
wish to get ecstasy of Heaven
But all those are fake
and false condolence
Who stupid will be
soothed with such a fallacy?
In the above speech,
Lalon hints at the possibility of human unity sans discrimination and
segregation. A comparative analysis of this song and Kabir’s Doha,
reveals the literal and inner similarities between the songs of the two
mystics. Kabir said :
Hindu mukhe Ram
kohi Musalman Khudai,
Kohoi Kabir so
jibta soi kode na jai.
The gist is that ‘the
Hindus die uttering the name of Ram while the Muslims the name of Khuda but
he who does not fall into this division gets redemption. In one of his
songs, Lalon said :
Bed-Purane koreche
jari
Jaboner Shain
Hindur Hari
Ami ta bujhte nari
Dui rup shristi
korlen ki tar proman.
In Vade and Puran,
Hari is for the Hindus and Shain for the Muslims but this is very
strange to think of such division. This song hints at the oneness and
indivisibility of the human race.
5. Lalon did not
merely engage himself in the spiritual quest but focused his attention to
the social condition of his time. Therefore he was a socially conscious
mystic poet. And of course the society was riddled with prejudices and
hollow customs, which placed rigid scriptures above human welfare and which
were based on the discriminations of caste, class and untouchability. Lalon
did not avert his gaze from the social injustice and inequity, religious
fundamentalism, class exploitation, economic disparity, gender
discrimination and so on. Rather he reacted and protested vehemently against
social discriminations, the oppression of the rich and the upper caste
people and the rigid imposition of the scriptures. He dreamed of a society
free of caste, colour and class discriminations. His social sensitivity made
him a representative of the poor and the oppressed. Although Lalon’s songs
were the vehicle for the hidden practices of the Baul community, they
simultaneously reveal his social awareness. Thus, even in the interval of
his soul searching, he passes his scattered but frank and serious comments
on socio-economic issues.
It is to be mentioned
that innumerable social and religious prejudice had been a bitter reality
for the Indian Subcontinent since the time immemorial. The mystics and
religious reformers of the Middle Age used to rally against these
malpractices. Tulshidas said about caste-discrimination:
People take pride of
caste by differentiating between the higher and the lower caste. But without
worshipping the Supreme Being, all four castes turn into the degraded
things.” (Choudhury: 2008, 53)
The same message was
voiced by the mystic Paltu:
Paltu, uchi jatoka,
mat koi karo ohomkar
Shaheb ka dorbar
me, kebol bhakti pear.
(Choudhury: 2008, 53)
Thus Paltu discouraged
the vanity of the upper class people.
In his perception and
belief, Lalon was a torchbearer of his predecessors. Lalon unconditionally
declares:
God is tamed to the
devotee
Irrespectably not
seeking his identity
In respect of caste,
clan and descend identity.
(Hossain: 2009, 59)
Lalon was vehemently
critical about acute social and humanitarian problems created by
untouchability and caste discrimination in a society dominated by religion,
class and color considerations. Therefore, his voice gives vent to
displeasure in the following lines:
If you once visit
Jagannath
You will see
How the vulnerable
caste is dissolved!
There the Brahmin
gaily takes food
From the Chandal
ignoring his caste.
While speaking about
the caste discrimination, Lalon refers to the teachings of Sree Chaytanya
who attempted to establish social equity by eradicating the darkness of the
caste-ridden society. Alluding to the law of Chaytanya, Lalon says:
Dhormadhormo bolite
Kichu matro nai
tate
Premer gun gai.
Jeter bol rakhle na
se to
Korle ekakarmoi.
In his songs, Lalon
repeatedly speaks of the meaninglessness of untouchability and caste
discrimination. Revealing his rebellious attitude towards it, Lalon
categorically
declares:
If one does not put
off his caste identity
He cannot meet with
God
But what a vague boast
of caste!
Lalon says, If I could
catch the caste within my hand
I unhesitatedly gave
it in the fire to be burnt out.
Lalon’s personal
experience and perception provided him with ample knowledge about the
hollowness of caste and religion (Capwell: 1986, 10). Thus, being questioned
about his own caste and religion, Lalon gave the answer in one of his songs,
in which he declared the meaninglessness of sectarian religion :
“What is the caste of
Lalon?” ask all
“I haven’t seen its
shape and form in my eyes”, Says Lalon.
(Haroonuzzaman,
Trans.: 2009, 83)
Therefore, Lalon’s
decision is as follows:
They speak of religion
the world over
And bask in its false
glory.
Says Lalon:
I’ve sold off the
decree of religion
In mankind’s
baazar.
(Dasgupta, Trans.:
2000, 71)
It is only by
transcending caste and religion that Lalon enlisted himself as a devotee.
Lalon, unwilling to let people trace his birth or his origin, remained
absolutely silent about his past, fearing that he would be cast into class,
caste or communal identities by a fragmented and hierarchical society. In
spite of his silence about his origins, communal appropriation of this great
philosophical figure has created a controversy regarding whether he is a
Muslim or a Hindu or Sufi etc. He is none, as he always strove to go beyond
all politics of identities. Lalon sang, People ask if Lalon is a Hindu or a
Muslim. Lalon says he himself doesn’t know who he is. Thus Lalon places
humanity above all that chaos and conflict in the world and invites all of
us create a peaceful world. Lalon dreamed of an enlightened society
without class and exploitation in which, he hoped, the injustice and
humiliation meted out to man by his fellow man would permanently cease to
exist. He earnestly desired to see a society without religion, caste, class
and sect. He was distressed to see the suffering and down-trodden human
beings. At the same time, Lalon talked about the gender discrimination in
the so-called male-dominated Bengali society. He could not accept the
difference of dignity between men and women. As a result of it, he
positioned women in such a dignified place that finds an expression in the
lines below:
Maera vojile hoi se
baper thikana
Nigom bichare satya
gelo tai jana.
Thus in this age of
post-modernity, Lalon appears as one of the best feminists not only in Asia
but also in the world.
All these have made
Lalon an extraordinary mystic personality. That an illiterate village
devotee could strike so strongly against the prejudice and oppression is
undoubtedly an exceptional and amazing fact in the history of Bengal.
Lalon’s liberal views and humanitarian awareness have been transmitted to
his followers too; especially they are evident in the songs of one of his
disciples, Duddu Shain. Because of his liberal and progressive mentality
Lalon was denounced, criticized and oppressed by the contemporary society.
Fundamentalists from both the Hindu and Muslim sects opposed Lalon. To the
Muslims Lalon was a blasphemous ‘Narar Fakir’ and, again, to the
Hindus he was an outcaste. Both the religious gurus (masters) and the rulers
rejected Lalon’s message and teaching. However, Lalon, determined and
unshaken by hundreds of problems, continued to work towards his goal by
using his philosophy as a means of social and moral teaching.
6. Lalon was born
in a critical time seventeen years after the battle of Plassey (1757). The
long life of Lalon saw the significant moments of the British rule in India.
The Bengali life was moved by various activities of the nineteenth century.
The pioneer of this Bengali Renaissance was Raja Rammohan Roy (1772-1833).
Of course, this Bengali rebirth was Calcutta-centered and its effect was
basically confined within the city. It took long time for the impact of this
rebirth to spread across the rest of the Bengal. Lalon, an illiterate man of
a rural area, did not have the education or opportunity to be moved by the
activities of the literate Bengali people. Nevertheless, the social movement
that Lalon created in the rural area by dint of his devotion and perception
was quite astonishing and unprecedented. Many have tended to compare his
contribution to that of Raja Rammohan Roy (Roy: 1385, 24-25 & Dey: 1974,
4-5).
Although there have
been few studies on the spiritual or philosophical values of Lalon’s songs,
Lalon’s artistic awareness and the comparative discussions of Lalon’s songs
with those by other mystic poets, there has been little study on the social
or historical values of Lalon’s songs or Lalon’s secular outlook, humanism
and opposition to fundamentalism. Rabindranath was attracted by the positive
significance of Lalon’s songs. Almost eight decades ago Tagore, in one of
his writings, hinted at the role and significance of the Baul songs in
establishing communal harmony :
In our country, those
who claim themselves educated, are searching out of necessity various
strategies for forging Hindu-Muslim unity. They are educated in the
historical school of the alien country. However, the history of our country
have been shouldering till date devotion towards unity, not out of necessity
but out of the deep truth posited in the human heart. We see that devotion
of the Bauls in the Baul literature–that thing belongs to both the Hindu and
Muslim; they have been made to get together and they have not hit each
other. This unity has not bred meetings and associations but it has bred
songs …... The voices of the Hindus and the Muslims have merged in the
tongue and tune of these songs, no quarrel was generated between the Quran
and the Puran. This very unity reveals the true nature of the Indian
civilization while quarrel and conflict reveals savagery. This Baul song
reveals how the desire for a high civilization, having a common space for
the Hindu and the Muslim, has been operative in itself in the deep recess
of the rural life behind the purview of schools and colleges. (Mansooruddin:
1337, Ashirvad)
This explanation and
evaluation is particularly applicable to the songs of Lalon and perhaps to
the character of Lalon himself.
7. Lalon has
portrayed a genuine picture of the folk-society in the canvas of folklore.
His deep involvement in the life of the folks made him experienced and aware
of the social problems. In turn, he made people conscious of the social
ills, injustices and inconsistencies. Even he stood bravely against the
exploitation of the Zemindar (Biswas : 1385, 67-68). Folklore has been
termed as the “pulse of the people” (Islam : 1985, 383). Thus modern
folklorists tend to judge folklore in the light of the continuous social
transformation (Khan: 2006, Introduction). Considered in line of the above
statement, the role and contribution of the socially committed
folk-personalities get a new resonance. In Lalon’s songs, the desire for
social analysis and social change is expressed often overtly and at other
times covertly. Naturally there is a similarity between Lalon and other
mystic devotees and singers with regards to their perception and
preoccupation. However, there are dissimilarities too due to the social
reality of the time and region and the way they saw life and society. Lalon
always related his devotion and thoughts to his time and society, always
kindling the light of protest and rebellion in his heart. And here lies his
uniqueness and originality which have made him an icon of folklore from
generation to generation.
8. Lalon is the
greatest spokesman of Baulism, and he spoke about it in his songs. Through
his practice and song, he managed to develop Baulism to its apex. Lalon’s
contribution has been vital in installing Baul songs into the heart of the
Bengali people and spreading them in the Bengali-speaking areas as well as
attracting the attention of the people abroad. On 25th November 2005 UNESCO
recognized the Baul songs of Bangladesh as “a masterpiece of the oral and
intangible heritage of humanity” (Choudhury : 2008, 108). Lalon’s songs lie
at the heart of this global recognition of Baul songs. For about two
centuries Lalon’s songs have been catering to the spiritual hungers of the
mystic-minded Bengalis, satisfying at the same time their thirst for
pleasure. Lalon has added a new dimension to the Baul songs by dint of his
unprecedented musical gift, his knowledge about Baul doctrine and his social
awareness. Lalon’s songs are the clear and vehement manifestation of his
social awareness. His songs reflect his urge for the assimilation of
religions, his protests against the hollow religious customs, and his
perception about the supremacy of human beings, his hatred towards caste
discrimination and untouchability and his rejection of the orthodoxy.
Actually, his rebellion was directed against religion-based exploitation and
prejudices and social discrimination and injustices.
Lalon Shain’s liberal
and secular outlook, his attempt to foster brotherhood among the people and
to rise above the narrowness of religion, caste and sect and finally his
humanism have made him an icon of human love that is quite analogous to
folklore. For the same reason, his philosophy and teaching have transcended
from local to the global. There is an astonishing similarity between what
Lalon means to achieve and the objectives of SAARC – that unity, brotherhood
and mutual understanding are the key to welfare, happiness and wealth and
peace. Remembering Lalon, we sing the victory of human unity – Lalon’s
teaching encourages us today and tomorrow.
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Lalon: Selected Lalon Songs. Dhaka: Adorn Publication, 2009.
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