About the author Hugh van Skyhawk’s From April 2007 to retrospective collection April 2013 Hugh van of articles is a reminder Skyhawk was profes- of the rich heritage of sor of comparative religion at the Taxila Hindu-Muslim, folk-lit- Institute of Asian Civ- erate, syncretism that ilizations, Quaid-i- still persists in the Sub- Azam University, continent, but is threat- Islamabad, and since July 2001, associate ened by religious professor of Indology (Privatdozent) at the Institute of Indology, Johannes Guten- hard-liners on both berg University, Mainz. sides and by monolithic H. van Skyhawk and shepherd at the top of Lohagad (fort), trends of modernisa- Dt. Pune, May 1990. In 2008 van Skyhawk was awarded the tion. Peace Prize of the Belgian-Pakistani NGO Institute of Peace and Development (IN- In a set of articles filled with extraordinarily rich ethnographic detail, van Sky- SPAD), in February 2012 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Rotary Club Inter- hawk has laid out the indisputable facts of a close and intimate relationship be- national for „Service to Humanity”, in De- tween Muslims and Hindus and, as well, between Sūfīs and yogis, revealing a cember 2012 the gold medal of the close and mutually fertilizing interchange between the followers of the two tra- National Defense University (NDU), Islam- ditions. This is a relationship dating well before the time of the famous six- abad, and again in December 2012 the teenth-century Marathi poet-saint Eknāth, whose spiritual affiliation to both “Special Recognition Award” of the Ro- Sūfī and Hindu traditions has been made more widely known by contemporary tary Club Islamabad, Metropolitan for contributions to the prosperity and stabil- Maharashtrian scholars. ity of Pakistan. In 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 he lectured in the parliament of Two figures from an earlier period than Eknāth’s, Siddhaliṅga-svāmī and the Federal Republic of Germany (Bun- Ajñānasiddha, are introduced early in the collection, who in their verses reveal destag) on the situation in Pakistan. Van a close relationship between Sūfī and yogic traditions, which van Skyhawk traces Skyhawk’s most recent major publication is Masters of Understanding: German meticulously. Furthermore, he has performed a great service is giving extensive Scholars in the Hindu Kush and Karako- translations of their verses. In these verses, and those from the eighteenth-cen- ram, 1955-2005, Islamabad [Quaid-i- tury biographer, Mahīpati, van Skyhawk discerns two themes underlying the Azam University], 2009. His most recent saint-poets’ depictions of the social harmony of the mediæval Deccan, namely, article is “A Garden amidst the Flames: “the perception of community as not being limited to one’s own religious com- The Categorical Imperative of Sufi Wis- munity ... [and] the belief that true spiritual experience transcends the empirical dom”, in: Bennett, Clinton, and Ramsey, Charles (eds.), South Asian Sufis. Devo- categories of 'Hindu' and 'Muslim'”, to which might be added, the categories tion, Deviation, Destiny, London [Contin- 'Liṅgāyat', 'yogī' etc. uum Books], 2012: 233-246.

Well Articulated Better Paths

Sufi Saints As Links between Religious Communities

Hugh van Skyhawk 1985–2008 The author acknowledges the generous support of the Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit for providing financial assistance for the publication and distribution of this volume.

Technical assistance in the initial phases of preparing the manuscript: Imran Sadiq and Badar Muneer.

Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit P.O.Box 1733, Islamabad 44000 – Pakistan Tel: +92 51 2 27 88 96, 2 82 08 96 Fax: +92 51 2 27 99 15 [email protected] www.southasia.fnst.org

ISBN Numbers print 978-969-629-046-9 pdf 978-969-629-047-6 epub 978-969-629-048-3 Kindle 978-969-629-049-0 Audio 978-969-629-050-6

No of copies: 1,500 First Edition: 2014

Title Picture by Hugh van Skyhawk Backpage Picture by Cornelia Hinze Dustcover Picture by Imran Sadiq

Printing: Pictorial Printers, Islamabad Layout: dzignet, Islamabad

Disclaimer Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the contents of this publica- tion. Neither the author nor the Friedrich Naumann Foundation accept responsibil- ity for omissions as such oversights would be wholly unintentional. Nevertheless, we appreciate any corrections or additional information to improve our work. The views expressed in this book do not necessarily represent the views of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. CONTENTS

DEDICATION...... ix

FOREWORD...... xi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...... xxiii

Introduction...... xxv Ian Duncan...... xxv References...... xxix

A Note on Death and the Holy Man in South Asia...... 1

Hindu-Muslim Religious Syncretism in the Folk Literature of the Deccan...... 13 The Garland of the Disciples of the Vārkarī-Saṃpradāya...... 16 The Garland of Disciples of the Liṅgāyat-Panth...... 16 The Garland of Bhaktas of Khvājā Śekh Nasīruddīn Alias Nāgnāth...... 16 Paiṭhaṇāṃcā Nijāmuddīn (‘Paiṭhaṇ’s Nijāmuddīn’)...... 22 Acknowledgement...... 28

PĪR-WORSHIP AND ŚIVA-BHAKTI IN THE NĀGEŚ Saṃpradāya...... 29 Anahāta-nagārā...... 33 Acknowledgements...... 41

Ethical Implications Of The MAhāvākyas In The Literature Of The Cānd Bodhale Circle (Marāṭhvāḍā, 1550–1650)...... 43

Vaiṣṇava Perceptions Of Muslims In 18th Century Maharashtra...... 53

v Well Articulated Better Paths

Muharram Processions And The Ethicization Of Hero Cults In The Pre-Modern Deccan...... 65 Acknowledgement...... 76

LokasaṂgraha In The Cult Of A Hindu/Muslim Saint And Folk Deity Of The dEccan...... 77

Processions Between Holy Places As Networks Of Reflexivity...... 91

The Heart Of Religion: A Sufi’s Thoughts On The Relations Between Religious Communities...... 107 Appendix...... 117

Islamic Tradition And Universal Brotherhood In The Writings Of Two Deccani SUFIS...... 119

Songs Of Women At Sufi Shrines In The Deccan...... 131 Text 1...... 134 Text 2...... 135 Text 3...... 138 Text 4...... 139 Text 5...... 140 Text 6...... 141 Text 7...... 142

Transcriptions...... 142 Text 1...... 142 Text 2...... 143 Text 3...... 143 Text 4...... 144 Text 5...... 144 Text 6...... 145 Text 7...... 145

vi Content

Bibliography...... 147

Index of Proper Names...... 163

INDEX OF PLACE NAMES...... 173

Plates...... 177 A Note on Death and the Holy Man in South Asia...... 177 Hindu-Muslim Syncretism in the Folk Literature of the Deccan...... 179 Pīr-Worship and Śiva-Bhakti in the Nāgeś Saṃpradāya...... 180 Ethical Implications of the Mahāvākyas in the Literature of the Cānd Bodhale Circle (Marāṭhvāḍā, 1550―1650)...... 181 Vaiṣṇava Perceptions of Muslims in 18th Century Maharashtra...... 183 Muharram Processions and Heroes in the Pre-Modern Deccan...... 184 Holding together the World: Lokasaṃgraha in the Cult of a Hindu/ Muslim Saint and Folk Deity of the Deccan...... 186 Cleansing and Renewing the Field for Another Year: Processions between Holy Places as Networks of Reflexivity...... 187 The Heart of Religion: A Sufi’s Thoughts on the Relations between Religious Communities...... 190 Songs of Women at Sufi Shrines in the Deccan...... 193

vii viii dedication

To Muhammad, the Holy Prophet

(May Peace and Prayers be upon Him!)

in the certainty that it was never His wish

that any God-fearing human being

be slaughtered in the name of Islam.

Iblīs said: ‘In the manner in which You led me to error, I will make things on earth seem attractive to them and lead all of them to Error, except those of Your servants You have singled out for Yourself’… (Allah said:) ‘Surely, Hell is the promised place for all of them…

As for the God‐fearing, they shall be amid gardens and springs. They will be told: “Enter it in peace and security.” And we shall purge their breasts of all traces of rancor; and they shall be seated on couches facing one another as brothers.’

̶ al Qur’ān, sūrah 15, āyāts 40‐45

ix x FOREWORD1

O people! Behold! We have created you from a male and a female and have made you into nations and tribes so that you might come to know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of Allah (s.w.t.) is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold! Allah (s.w.t.) is all-knowing, all-aware. [al-Qur’ān, 49:13]

Personal devotion to the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Prayers be Upon Him!), char- acterizes the practice of Islam in South Asia more than any other doctrine or institution. Nowhere in the Muslim world is the birthday of the Prophet (Peace and Prayers be Upon Him!) more fervently celebrated than in South Asia where it is considered the third eid, the Eid-e-Milād-un-Nabī. Wherever the 12th of Rabi ul Awwāl falls in a given year that day is a national holiday for the celebration of the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Prayers be upon Him!).

Intimately linked with emotional devotion to the Prophet (Peace be Upon Him!) is the belief that Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him!) is the Perfect Man, al-Insān al-Kāmil, the emulation of whose conduct is the duty of every pious Muslim. The doctrine of the Perfect Man became a core teaching of the mystical orders that formed soon after the death of the Prophet (PBUH) to strive to obtain the inner or concealed meaning of the Holy Qur’ān and to become a Perfect Man. In the course of time, the members of these mystical orders came to be known as “Sufis”. Though the most important quest of the Sufi is an inward struggle, the jihād al-Akbar, nonetheless, as religious mendicants Sufis roamed far and wide in the medieval world encountering and living among diverse people and societies, and as the Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon Him!) was known to have treated members of other religious communities kindly and generously, they too, in emulation of their Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) conduct, treated others kindly and generously. Thus, it came to pass that profoundly moving testimonies of good will to one’s fellow man were attributed to famous Sufis, faithfully or, occasionally, spuriously.

In 1165/560, one of the most enlightened religious thinkers of all time was born in Mur- cia in the Muslim Almohad Empire of southern Spain and North Africa. As a young man ‘Abū ‘Abdullāh Muḥammad ibn ‘Alī ibn Muḥammad ibn al-‘Arabī al-Hāṭimī al-Ṭā’ī, who was later to be accorded the honorific titles “Reviver of Religion” and “al-Shaykh al-Akbar”, was deeply conscious of the immanence of Allah (s.w.t.) in all things and, above all,

1 The content of this foreword was presented as the Oxford-Cambridge Society lecture for the month of June 2012 in Islamabad. In its present form it is an updated and expanded sequel to: “A Garden amidst the Flames: The Categorical Imperative of Sufi Wisdom”, in: Bennett, Clinton, and Ramsey, Charles (edd.), South Asian Sufis. Devotion, Deviation, Destiny, London [Continuum Books], 2012, pp. 233-246.

xi Well Articulated Better Paths of Allah (s.w.t.) as the Source of the three religions of Ibrahim: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. According to pious tradition, as a young man he would keep vigil at night in a cemetery listening for messages from the hereafter. One night the young ibn al-‘Arabī was blessed with visions of Moses, Jesus Christ, and Muhammad (Peace and Prayers be upon Them!). Later in life in the Futūḥāt al-Makkiyyah ibn al-‘Arabī would write:

There is no knowledge except that taken from God, for He alone is the Knower... The prophets, in spite of their great number and the long periods of time which separate them, had no disagreement in knowledge of God, since they took it from God.2

Though ibn ‘Arabī left al-Andalus in 1200/595 at the age of thirty-five never to return, his thought and teachings would always reveal their roots in that Golden Age of Muslim Spain in which mystics and thinkers of the three religions that acknowledge Ibrahim (A.S.) as the prophet of God interacted freely and shared their visions of the One God and His Creation. Long before there was a terminology to describe what we today know as ‘Inter-Faith Dia- logue’ ibn ‘Arabī’s mystical vision “Everything is He” (hama ūst) found expression in a perception of a world filled with dialogue with and appreciation of the faiths of others:

O marvel! A garden amidst the flames! My heart is capable of every form, A cloister of the monk, a temple for idols, A pasture for gazelles, the votary’s Kaba, The tables of the Torah, the Koran. Love is the creed I hold: wherever turn His camels, love is still my creed and faith.

Tarjumān al-Ašwāq (“The Interpretation of Divine Love”)3

Even for the casual observer it is obvious that for ibn ‘Arabī Allah (s.w.t.) is understood to be free of confinement in human constructions such as “church”, “monastery”, “temple”, “Ka’ba” or of confinement to any one of His Holy Revelations. Both theTorah and the Holy Qur’ān are the Word of God in ibn ‘Arabī’s view. Moreover, he engaged in inter-faith dia- logue as a learner and not a converter, celebrating as fully as possible the different paths to God. In both attitudes ibn ‘Arabī, were he to be alive today, would easily find himself at home in present-day inter-faith dialogue.

While the ontological monism implied in ibn ‘Arabī’s vision of the divine as “Everything is He” was (and is) rejected by the majority of the orthodox Sunni ulema, his influence on medieval Sufism is beyond estimation. If only to explain, modify or correct the ap- parent pantheism in the great šayḫ’s vision by the first half of the fourteenth century every Sufi from al-Andalus to Hindustan had at least heard of, if not seriously studied,

2 Futūḥāt al-Makkiyyah, II. 290; translated by William Chittick in:The Sufi Path of Knowledge, New York/Albany [State University of New York Press], 1989, p. 170. 3 Tarjumān al-Ašwāq, Madras [Theosophical Publishing House] 1911, poem XI.

xii Foreword ibn ‘Arabī’s Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam (‘Bezels of Wisdom’) and Futūḥāt al-Makkiyyah (‘The Meccan Revelations’). Though the first explicit references to ibn ‘Arabī’s doctrines of the Oneness of Being (waḥdat al-wujūd) appear suddenly en masse in the writings of the Sufis of the subcontinent in the latter half of the fourteenth century,4 there is evidence that even as early as Ḥaẓrat Mu‘īn ud-Dīn Čištī of Ajmer (d. 1236/633), who was a contemporary of ibn ‘Arabī, a doctrine similar to ibn ‘Arabī’s Unity of Being was the centerpiece of Čištī teach- ings in the Indian subcontinent. As the late Khaliq Ahmad Nizami (1925-1997) noted:

The firm faith in the unity of being (waḥdat al-wujūd) provided the necessary ideological support to Mu’īn ud-Dīn’s mystical mission to bring about the emo- tional integration of the people amongst whom he lived.5

Beginning with the 108 sayings of Ḥaẓrat Mu‘īn ud-Dīn Čištī in the thirteenth century one can place corresponding teachings from the Hindu bhakti tradition next to the words of the great šayḫ:

He indeed is a true devotee, blessed with the love of Allah (s.w.t.), who is gifted with the following three attributes: (1) River-like charity, i.e. his sense of charity has no limits and is equally beneficial to all the creatures of Allah (s.w.t.) who ap- proach him, (2) Sun-like affection, i.e. his affection may be extended indiscrimi- nately to all like sunlight and (3) Earth-like hospitality, i.e. his loving embrace may be open to all like that of the earth.6

For Šayḫ Mu ‘īn ud-Dīn Čištī the highest form of devotion (tā ‘at) was

…to redress the misery of those in distress, to fufill the needs of the helpless and to feed the hungry.7

But divine love must be practiced in the imperfect marketplace of life taught Šayḫ Quṭb ud-Dīn Bakhtiyar-i-Kākī’s disciple and successor, Šayḫ Farīd ud-Dīn Ganğ-i-Šakar (‘the Sug- ar Treasury’; 1173-1265 a.D., 568-663 a.H.), with the characteristic aphoristic succinctness of the great words of the Sufi masters:

Don’t give me scissors! Give me a needle! I sew together! I don’t cut apart!8

The meaning of the master’s words for our times was glossed recently by a Sikh follower of Bābā Farīd in an internet website:

4 Hussaini, Syed Shah Khusro, Sayyid Muhammad al-Ḥusaynī-i-Gīsūdirāz: On Sufism, Delhi [Idarah-i-Adabiyat-i-Delli], 1983, p. 10. 5 Nizami, Khaliq Ahmad, “Chishtiyya”, in: The Encyclopedia of Islam, Leiden [E.J. Brill], 1965, pp. 50-56. 6 Begg, Mirza Wahiduddin, The Holy Biography of Khwaja Muinuddin Chisti, Tucson [The Chis- ti Sufi Mission of America] and The Hague [East-West Publications Fonds], 1977, p. 139f. 7 Hussaini, op. cit., p. 7. 8 Anonymous Sikh devotee of Bābā Farīd; retrieved from nirankari.com website on 29.9.2008.

xiii Well Articulated Better Paths

A healthy social order, free from dissension, discrimination, hate, and envy, was what Bābā Farīd wanted. In love, faith, tolerance, and compassion he found the highest talisman of happiness for humanity.9

And reading the transmitted stories of Farīd ud-Dīn’s life I can well believe that he would have wanted such a utopian social order. For, whenever the crowd in his xānqāh would become too large and too loud to hear the problems of each individual in peace Bābā Farīd would shout:

Come to me one after the other so that I may deal with your problems in peace!

Already in the early fourteenth century we hear Šayḫ Nizām ud-Dīn Auliya voice the ma- ture statement of Čištī mystical doctrines with regard to non-Muslims:

Sansār har pūje kul ko jagāt sarāhe May the whole world worship (Allah (s.w.t.))! May all praise (Him)!

Makke meṅ koī ḍhūnḍhe Kāśī ko koī chāhe One seeks Him in Mecca, another desires Him in Kāśī.

Duniyā meṅ apne pī ke pay yāri paṛūṅ na kāhe I have found my Beloved in the world. Should I not bow down before Him?

Har qaum rāst rāhe dīne wa qiblagāhe. Every nation has its faith and the direction of its qibla. Man qiblā rāst kardam bar simt-e-kajkulāhe. But I keep my eye on the tilted cap of the Beloved. Kajkulā ‘ajabe! O wondrous Wearer of the Tilted Cap!10

By emphasizing that Allah (s.w.t.) abides only in the heart of man, abides equally in the hearts of all men, and is equally absent in the various houses that men build for Him, such as the masjid, church, or the temple, the Sufis at once made a powerful statement of the

9 ibid. 10 Cf. Qureshi, Regula Burckhardt, Sufi Music of India and Pakistan: Sound, Context and Mean- ing in qawwali, Cambridge Studies in Ethnomusicology, Cambridge [Cambridge University Press], 1986, p. 42 and van Skyhawk, Hugh, “Der muslimische Beitrag zur religioesen Dich- tung Marāṭhī-sprechender Hindus”, in: Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlaendischen Ge- sellschaft (ZDMG), Band 153, Heft 1 (2003), pp. 98f. I remain grateful to the late Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Annemarie Schimmel (1922-2003) for informing me that these famous verses attributed to Šayḫ Nizām ud-Dīn Auliya (first stanza) and Amīr Khusro (second stanza) were actually completed spontaneously in the second stanza by Šayḫ Nizām ud-Dīn Auliya’s friend Ḥasan Sijzī Dihlawī (d. 1328 a.D.) and that the reference to the “tilted cap” refers to the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Prayers be upon Him!), who, according to a ḥadith, had on his mirāj seen Allah (s.w.t.) as a beautiful youth wearing a tilted cap (personal communica- tion, 2001).

xiv Foreword equality of all true believers in God and, conversely, that all forms of exoteric religion and the places in which they are practiced are equally ineffectual in bringing one nearer to God. This central tenet of Sufism remains a major source of contention between orthodox ulema and followers of the Sufi Way of the Heart up to this day.

In the oldest surviving lines of poetry in Dakhni Urdu the great Čištī-šayḫ Ḥaẓrat Ban- da Nawāz Gīsūdirāz, despite his criticism of ibn al-‘Arabī’s doctrine of the Unity of Being (waḥdat al-wujūd), leaves no doubt that he, too, shares this core value of Čištī mystical doctrine:

´Allāha ko dekhyā so maiṅca ´Allāha nahiṅ milaya kahīṅca lokāna batāe kahī ke kakīṅca unhe milayā yahīṅ ke yahīṅca.

When I looked for Allāh I could not find Him anywhere. When the people said ‘He’s out there somewhere´, I found Him here and here only.11

The Sufis, those who have devoted their lives to emulating the conduct of the Prophet (Peace and Prayers be Upon Him!), have often been the mentors of emperors and sultans who sought their advice on Islam and good governance. In 1637, at the request of Šāh Jehān (ruled 1627-1656) Šayḫ Muḥibullāh (1587-1643) of Allāhābād issued an ijtihad (le- gal opinion) on the status of non-Muslims as subjects of the Šāhinšāh:

It is impertinent of me to give counsel, but justice requires that the welfare of the people should be the concern of the administrative officers, whether the people be believers or unbelievers, for they have been created by God, and the person who took the lead in being merciful to the righteous and the evil-doers, the be- lievers and the unbelievers, was the Prophet of God [PBUH]. This is recorded in the history of his victories and is stated in the Holy Qur’ān12

The great majority of South Asian Muslims were converted to Islam by šayḫs such as Šayḫ Muḥibullāh; it is they who established Islam in the Indian subcontinent, in the largest

11 That is, in the heart. Gesū Darāz´s perception of God being ‘here and now’ can also be found in sūrah 2, āyāt 109 of the Holy Qur´ān: ‘Whithersoever ye turn there is the Face of God’, while the impossibility of seeing Allāh is declared in sūrah 6, āyāt 103. ‘Sights do not reach Him.’ Similar mystical expressions of the immanence and immediacy of God can be found in Mīr Dard (1721-1785): ‘The veil on our Friend’s Face that’s we ourselves: We opened our eyes, and no veil was left’. And in Shāh ‘Abdu’l Latīf of Bhiṭ (1689-1752): ‘One castle and a hundred doors, and windows numberless: Wherever you may look, o friend, there you will see His Face.’ Translations from Schimmel, Annemarie, Pain and Grace. A Study of Two Mystical Writers of Eighteenth-Century Muslim India; published in the series: Studies in the History of Religions/Supplements to Numen, vol. XXXVI, Leiden [E.J. Brill], 1976, p. V. 12 Quoted by Mujeeb, Muhammad, The Indian Muslims, London [George Allen and Unwin] 1967; reprinted in Delhi 1995, p. 309.

xv Well Articulated Better Paths multi-religious and multi-cultural society in the world, not by the Sword of Oppression but by the Sword of Love and Obligation, as the first great Mughal, Bābur (ruled 1526-1530), confirms in his last will and testament:

O my son: People of diverse religions inhabit India; and it is a matter of thanksgiv- ing to Allah (s.w.t.) that the King of kings has entrusted the government of this country to you. It therefore behooves you that: 1. You should not allow religious prejudices to influence your mind, and admin- ister impartial justice, having due regard to the religious susceptibilities and reli- gious customs of all sections of the people. 2. In particular, refrain from the slaughter of cows, which will help you to obtain a hold on the hearts of the people of India. Thus you will bind the people of the land to yourself by ties of gratitude. 3. You should never destroy the places of worship of any community and always be justice-loving, so that the relations between the king and his subjects may remain cordial and there be peace and contentment in the land. 4. The propagation of Islam will be better carried on by the sword of love and obligation than with the sword of oppression. 5. Always ignore the mutual dissensions of the Shī’ahs and Sunnis, otherwise they will lead to the weakness of Islam. 6. Treat the different peculiarities of your subjects as the different seasons of the year, so that the body politic may remain free from disease.13

But it is in the poetry of Bulhe Shah (d. 1754) that the presence of Allah (s.w.t.) in every man is underlined in metaphors taken from everyday life in the rural Punjab of the eigh- teenth century:

The Muslims are afraid of cremating the dead body And the Hindus are afraid of burying it. But they quarrel about small points And miss the One who lives within.14 Or In this dark and slippery world Mens’ eyes are turned outward So that they cannot see the One within. Here one is called “Ram Das” And another is called “Fateh Muhammad”. But when you see Who is within both You see neither “Ram Das” nor “Fateh Muhammad” But only the One without a second.

13 Translation of Syed Mahmud: “Babur’s Will and Testament”, in: The Indian Review (August 1923), p. 499; quoted by Murray Thurston Titus: Indian Islam. A Religious History of Islam in India, Oxford 1930 (The Religious Quest of India 4); reprinted in Delhi [Oriental Reprint] 1979, p. 157. 14 Quoted by Grewal, J. S., “The Sufi Beliefs and Attitudes in India”, in: Engineer, Asgar Ali (ed.), Sufism and Communal Harmony, Jaipur [Printwell], 1991, pp. 30f.

xvi Foreword

Or Men tire themselves reading the Vedas and the Qur’ān, Their foreheads are worn thin by rubbing on stones. But they will never see Allah (s.w.t.) in Mecca or in any other place because Allah (s.w.t.) is within man. He sits concealed in my own heart.15 But …in his innumerable forms Allah (s.w.t.) is a Sunni here and a Shia there. He has matted locks here And is clean-shaven there. He reveals Himself here And conceals Himself there. He Himself is the mullah and the qazi, He Himself is the talīb. Here He is Rumi, there He is Shami, Here the maula (Master), there the banda (Slave). Here He is among the distinguished There among the commoners. Here He is in the masjid, there He is in the mandir.16

In time the poetry of the Sufi pīrs, both of the great and famous and of the humble and only locally known, expressed in images and metaphors of everyday life, especially rural life, became familiar idioms of devotional hymns, qawwalī, which spoke and still speak to spiritually minded millions in the subcontinent regardless of birth in different religious communities, castes, regional languages, or political boundaries. Knowing how to spin thread on the spinning wheel is a beloved metaphor throughout the subcontinent for treading the path of divine love properly. Especially in the final years of human life the spiritual friend guides the seeker on to the union with the Beloved, lest the thread break on the spinning wheel and the devotion to the Beloved be broken when it is needed most. As the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1948-1997) once sang (and thrilled us to the marrow):

…Bulhe Shah pleased the Friend with bells on his ankles; Ranjha got jog by getting his ears split to put on earrings; Everyone has to find a way to meet the Friend, whatever the cost. (...) I will not go to any other door, nor will I return empty-handed. O Beloved! Put a new thread on my spinning wheel...17

15 ibid. 16 ibid. 17 Engineer, op. cit., p. 33. On the development of Sufi folk poetry in the Indian subcontinent out of Arabic and Persian sources of Islamic tradition see Asani, Ali S., “Sufi Poetry in the Folk Tradition of Indo-Pakistan”, in: Religion and Literature, vol. 20 (Spring 1988), pp. 81-94.

xvii Well Articulated Better Paths

In the hymns of the most beloved devotional singers orqawwals, such as the late Ghulam Farid Sabri (1930-1994) and Maqbul Ahmad Sabri (1941- ), Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and Aziz Miyan (1942-2000) the sublime invitations to spiritual dialogue sung in the 12th century in the poetry of ibn al-‘Arabī and Šayḫ Mu‘īn ud-Dīn Čištī, re-echoed in the thirteenth century by Šayḫ Farīd ud-Dīn Ganğ-i-Šakar (d. 1235) and in the fourteenth century by Šayḫ Nizām ud-Dīn Auliya, re-affirmed in the early th15 century by Ḥaẓrat Banda Nawāz Gīsūdirāz, and then woven into deeply moving threads of everyday life in the rural Punjab of the eighteenth century by Bulhe Shah (d. 1754) and Shah Abdul Latīf of Bhiṭ (d. 1752), these sublime words still call the seeker of whatever religion he may be to seek God in his own heart and see God in the heart of his neighbour, be guided by a benevolent master, the Friend, and be ever conscious of Him, on Whom all creation depends equally from second to second and from eternity to eternity.

In this year the 1016th ‘urs of Hazrat Tabl-i-Ālam Bādšāh Nathar Walī (d. 1079 a.D.?) will be celebrated in Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, India. For more than one millennium the shrine of Nathar Walī has been a place of inter-religious dialogue between Hindus, Mus- lims, and Christians. While a thousand years of Sufi traditions in the subcontinent may have not resulted in the production of significant contributions to the metaphysics tasof - sawuf, Sufis of the subcontinent have, without doubt, helped to shape the largest multi- religious culture in the world. Not by hashish smoking or ecstatic dancing but by the fu- sion of Divine Love to words and feelings that can be understood by all have the Sufis of the subcontinent become the teachers of all, whether man or woman, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Parsi, or tribals. The indomitable strength of Sufism lies in its readiness for dia- logue with and unconditional esteem for the other.

Considering the deeper cultural layers of Pakistan set against the terrible events, the ap- palling bloodshed, the senseless loss of life and the wasting of human resources that have scourged Pakistan again and again in recent years, I still believe that the nine centuries of compassion for one’s fellow man or woman that are immediately associated with the names of Mu‘īn ud-Dīn Čištī (d. 1236/633), Farīd ud-Dīn Ganğ-i-Šakar (d. 1265), Nizām ud Dīn Awliya (d. 1325/725), Naṣīr ud-Dīn Čirāġ-i-Dihlī (1276-1356/757), Ḥaẓrat Banda Nawāz Gīsūdirāz (1321/721-1422/825), Shah Abdul Latīf of Bhiṭ (d. 1754), Bulhe Shah (d. 1752), and countless other noble men who reached out to their fellow man, regardless of religion, caste, or ethnic origin, this common bedrock of universal ethics in the culture of Pakistan cannot be destroyed by the bombs and bullets of the misguided faithful, nor by the cynicism of target killers, nor by drone bomber imperialism, nor by the shameless machinations of corrupt political leaders. Centuries before the idea of an independent Supreme Court was known anywhere on this earth the Sufis of the Indian subcontinent often served as the court of last resort for the innocent and pleaders for mercy for many of the guilty.

In folio 304B of the Turkī text of the Bābur-nāmā18 we read that in 1526 Šayḫ Abu’l Mu’yyad Muḥammad, better known today by hislaqab or title, Šayḫ Muḥammad Ġaus of

18 Zahiru’d-Dīn Muḥammad Bābur Pādšāh Ġāzī, Tuzuk-i-Bāburī, Leiden/London 1905; trans- lated from the Turkī by Annette Susannah Beveridge: Bābur-nāmā, Vol. II, London 1921; reprinted in Delhi 1989, pp. 539ff.

xviii Foreword

Gwalior, if only because of his famous disciple, Tānsen, the father of north Indian music, this same Muḥammad Ġaus negotiated the surrender of the fortress of Gwalior to Bābur without bloodshed. In the final folio of the Bābur-nāmā, folio 382A, it is written that on the 7th of September 1529 Šayḫ Muḥammad again appeared before Bābur to plead for mercy for Bābur’s former ally, Raḥīm Dād, who had led an unsuccessful rebellion against Bābur in Gwalior. It is written that for the sake of Šayḫ Muḥammad it pleased the Šāhinšāh to choose mercy over punishment. Šayḫ Abu’l Mu’yyad Muḥammad returned to Agra for the last time as an old man shortly before his death in 1562 to plead for mercy for the rebel Fatah Xān Masnad ‘Alī, whom he had convinced to give up the fortress of Chunar and go as a supplicant to Akbar at Agra to beg for mercy. And it came to pass that this time as well it pleased the Šāhinšāh to choose mercy over punishment.19 Akbar’s bitter critic, Abdu’l Qādir ibn-i-Mulūk Šāh, better known as al-Badāonī, saw Šayḫ Muḥammad one day in the year 1558 as he rode slowly through the bazaar at Agra. Badāonī’s remarks confirm the great esteem the aged šayḫ enjoyed among the common people:

I saw him from afar off, riding along in the market place at Āgrā, a throng of the common people surrounding and preceding him, so that no one could pass through the crowd. In his courteous humility his head was never for one moment still, as he returned the salutations of the people on either side of him, bowing continually down to his saddle-bow. […] Whomsoever he saw, were he a beggar even, he treated with great honour, standing before him. […] He was generous to a degree, and it is said that the word “I” never passed his lips and that he always referred to himself as “This humble one”. So particular he was in that matter that even when giving away corn in charity he would say: “Mīm and Nūn give this much corn to such a one”, in order to avoid saying “I”. May Allah (s.w.t.) shower his mercy plenteously upon him!20

Nearly four centuries later, in February 1948, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, born as the child of a once persecuted minority Muslim community of the Indian subcontinent, spoke of the importance of the idealism, human equality, and fair play of Islam in his radio address to the American people:

Islam and its idealism have taught us democracy. It has taught the equality of man, justice and fair play to everybody. We are the inheritors of these glorious traditions and are fully alive to our responsibilities and obligations as framers of the future constitution of Pakistan. In any case, Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic state to be ruled by priests with a divine mission. We have many non-Muslims---Hindus, Christians, and Parsis---but they are all Pakistanis. They will enjoy the same rights and privileges as any other citizens and will play their rightful part in the affairs of Pakistan.21

19 Abu’l-Fazl ‘Allāmī: Akbar-nāmā, Calcutta 1873-1887. Translated from the Persian by Henry Beveridge: Vol. II, Calcutta 1897-1921; reprinted in Delhi [Atlantic Publishers and Distribu- tors] 1989, pp. 231f. 20 ‘Abdu’l-Qādir Badāonī: Muntakhabu ‘t-Tawārīkh, Calcutta 1864-1869; translated from the Persian by Wolseley Haig: Vol. III, Calcutta 1899-1925; reprinted in Delhi [Renaissance Pub- lishing House] 1986, p. 34. 21 Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Radio broadcast to the American people, February 1948.

xix Well Articulated Better Paths

This social contract of Pakistan tempered by the large heartedness of Sufism has been un- derwritten again and again in the blood of such blessed martyrs of humanity as Mufti Dr. Sarfraz Naeemi (1948-2009), the courageous Principal of the Jamia Naeemia in Lahore, Dr. Muhammad Farooq (1956-2010), the brave Vice Chancellor of the Islamic Swat University, Salmaan Taseer (1944-2011), the courageous governor of the Punjab, and Shahbaz Bhatti (1968-2011), Federal Minister for Minorities and Martyr of Christianity (O Lord, Thy Will be Done!).

On 13 February 2009 one of the most beloved pīrs of Pakistan, Pīr Nasīr ud-Dīn Nasīr, died at Golra Sharif near Islamabad. Less than two hours later the roads leading to Golra Sharif had to be closed because of the cars of thousands of his followers who were trying to reach Golra in time to be present at Nasīr ud-Dīn Nasīr’s namāz-i-jināza. Nonetheless, only twelve days later, it was possible for the BBC correspondent Barbara Plett to market her report for the folks back home “Can Sufism Counter the Taliban?” in which Sufis and their cults are presented in terms of Western stereotypes of hashish-smoking and dancing dervishes with little or no political significance rather than as beloved and holy teachers of ethics and morals.22 But, in stark contrast, on 8th April 2012, the President of Pakistan, Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, together with his son, Bilalal Zardari, offered prayers and a silkencādar for the grave of pīr Mu‘īn ud-Dīn Čištī at Ajmer and donated $1,000,000 to the humanitarian causes supported by the dargah organisation. Zardari had last visited Ajmer in April 2005 with his wife, the late Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007), who had visited the dargah on 11th December 2003 and prayed to the Ġarīb Nawāz (‘the Helper of the Poor’) for the release of her husband from prison. Once Zardari had been released, the couple visited the shrine together in gratitude.

There are good reasons for trusting the mystical foundations of the deeper ethical values of Pakistani society, for they are the same collective values that underlie the one institu- tion in Pakistan that survives all crises and functions when all else fails: the family. Who- ever has experienced the joy and merriment of a wedding in Punjab or Sindh with music and dance or the ‘urs of a great pīr, which itself is seen as a wedding to the Almighty, and is also celebrated with music and dance, will know that the great majority of the people of Pakistan would never accept the Taliban idea of an Islamic society of rigid laws forbidding the joys of life and all-encompassing systems of intimidation and brutal punishments to enforce those laws.23

al Qur’ān: Remember Our Servant Ayub… (We said to him): ‘Take in your hand a bundle of (100) palm leaves and strike (your wife) with it. Do not break your oath (but take care not to cause her pain). Indeed we found Ayub steadfast. What an excellent servant he was. ---al Qur’ān, sūrah 38, āyāts 41 and 44

22 http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7896943.stm. Published: 2009/02/24 05:55:03 GMT. 23 van Skyhawk, Hugh, “The Wine Cup of Love and the Message of Peace: Sufi Poetry and Civil Courage”, in: Journal of Asian Civilizations (Islamabad), Vol. XXXII, No. 1 (July 2009), pp. 184f.

xx Foreword

Just as videos of the public whipping of a seventeen year-old girl in Swat in April 2009 unleashed anger and outrage throughout Pakistan, silencing the otherwise self-confident voices of Taliban press spokesmen for weeks afterward,24 recent media images of the hei- nous slayings of Mir Bakhtiar Domki’s wife and daughter in Karachi on 31 January, vile deeds which no words can condemn strongly enough, have again united Pakistanis in their rejection of and revulsion to abominable, inhuman acts that violate those limits that no man should ever cross who fears God’s Awful Justice on the Day of Judgment. The unani- mous walk-out of the members of the Senate of Pakistan on 8th February 2012 in protest against the killings was only the institutional expression of the nation-wide demand for justice and the re-affirmation of shared human values felt by silent and not so silent mil- lions from Baluchistan to the Khunjerab Pass.25

The longing of the people of Pakistan for the rule of law without corruption and equal justice tempered with mercy for every man and woman was the real power that brought back the dismissed Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikar Muhammad Chaudhary, for a second time in March 2009 after that same longing for impartial justice had given rise to a nation- al movement that brought down the government of General Pervez Musharraf in August 2008, who, at the time, had been widely perceived as having attempted to place himself above the law. A similar belief in justice tempered with mercy was at the heart of the nation-wide protest that erupted when images emerged in early June 2011 showing Paki- stan Rangers in Karachi killing an unarmed teenage boy who begged for mercy.26

The foregoing thoughts are the temporary harvest of my ongoing search for this all-im- portant heart-of-hearts of Pakistan. At this place, on this day, almost five years since the bloody siege of the Lal Masjid, four and a half years since the assassination of the for- mer Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shahid Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007), four years since the bomb blast at Melody Market, four years since the bomb blast at the Embassy of Denmark, three and a half years since the inferno of the Marriott Hotel, three years since the murder of Mufti Dr. Sarfraz Naeemi, two and a half years since the murder of Dr. Mu- hammad Farooq, one and a half years since the murder of Salmaan Taseer, one year and three months since the murder of Shahbaz Bhatti, one year since the killing of Osama bin Laden (1957-2011), and not yet a year since the horrors of the Butcher of Oetoya, Anders Behring Breivik, in the midst of terrifying signals of a complete breakdown of human rela- tions, with fear and trembling before the Wrath of God, I understand my mission not as a sign of confrontation in a satanical “War of Cultures”, but as an appeal for tolerance and respect for the religious beliefs and religious sensibilities of my fellow man, in Pakistan, at home in Germany, in Norway, and throughout the world. I make this statement where I feel it is needed most: here and now.

24 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/02/taliban-pakistan-justice-women-flogging. 25 http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=139429. 26 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/12/pakistan-ranger-death-penalty-killing.

xxi Well Articulated Better Paths

Millions---Muslims, Hindus, Parsis, Christians, and Jews---literate and illiterate---carry in their hearts these words of good will universally attributed to Jalāl ud-Dīn Rūmī:

Come! Come! Whatever you are, it doesn’t matter. Come, whether you are a Kafir, an idolator, or a fire-worshipper Come! Our caravan is not a place of despair! Come! Even if you have broken your vows a thousand times Come yet again! Come!27

27 These lines, perhaps spuriously attributed to Jalāl ud-Dīn Rūmī, are rendered variously throughout the world.

xxii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Work on this retrospective volume of articles on the social and ethical teachings of medi- eval and modern Hindu-Muslim Sufi saints really began on an afternoon in the summer of 2005 when Prof. Fateh M. Malik, one of Pakistan’s foremost scholars on Sufism in South Asia, invited me to lunch in Heidelberg, most appropriately, to lunch at a hotel near the famed “Iqbal Ufer” (‘Iqbal’s Riverbank’) where the spiritual father of Pakistan once walked in contemplation during his student years in Heidelberg (1906-1907).

For the greater part of our meeting we enjoyed the convivial table talk of old academic colleagues, polite enquiries about family and friends, reminiscences of lectures and sem- inars, and anecdotes and reflections on conferences we had attended together. Then, toward the end of our meeting, unexpectedly, Fateh Muhammad put down his teacup, looked me straight in the eye, and asked: “Will you come and help us save Pakistan?” Af- ter recovering a little from the shock waves of that once-in-a-lifetime question, I replied: “But how can I help to save Pakistan?” “Help to teach our students to be good human be- ings”, Fateh Muhammad answered with unshakeable commitment. By the time we parted on that day I had agreed to do what I could do to help improve university education in Pakistan, and Fateh Muhammad had agreed to do what he could do to persuade the concerned officials in the government agencies of General Pervez Musharraf’s Pakistan to grant me permission to begin teaching in Islamabad as soon as possible.

As soon as possible turned out to be the 2nd April 2007, in the midst of the tragic run up to the bloody confrontation between the government and the Islamist leaders of the Lal Masjid (‘Red Mosque’) and the Jamia Hafsa (‘Hafsa’s Seminary’ [for Islamic Women]).

With the joint financial and moral support of the German and Pakistan governments I began work on creating a curriculum of study for comparative religions at the Taxila Insti- tute of Asian Civilizations of the Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. At the same time, drawing upon my research on the social and ethical teachings of the Hindu-Muslim Sufis of South Asia, I began teaching my students about those roots of their religious and cul- tural traditions which lie in the interaction of Hinduism and Islam in pre-Partition India. One might say that for the next six years we engaged each other in an ongoing study of the notions of “India oriented and Mecca oriented Islam” in situ (see below, p. 131). The eleven articles contained in this volume were read, studied, reported on and, for the most part, appreciated, by male and female Pakistani students of the most divergent religious convictions, regional and linguistic identities, and social classes.

Of course, our modest efforts toward interreligious dialog and reconciliation on the ground in Islamabad were only a very small part of a global tug of war between believers---both Hindu and Muslim---who saw in the teachings of their sacred traditions imperatives for reconciliation with one’s fellow man and those misguided faithful in both religious com- munities who believed that sacred tradition required from them the ultimate sacrifice of their lives to defend their faiths against dangerous infidel aggressors. Even now as I write

xxiii Well Articulated Better Paths somewhere in South Asia this diabolical conflict continues with horrendous loss of life and new extremes of dehumanization of one’s fellow man.

There has never been a time when the ‘well articulated better paths’ of the folksants and pīrs were needed more than they are today. May the wisdom and love of the sants and pīrs always be beacons in times of crisis, showing the way to the true fellowship of man!

I am highly grateful to Mr. Olaf Kellerhoff, Country Director of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, Islamabad, for the sensitivity, courage, and determination he has shown in accepting and promoting this volume for publication in Pakistan. I am equally grateful to Mr. Muhammad Anwar, Mr. Amjad Amir, and Mr. Naeem Umer of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for maintaining the same high quality of support after Mr. Kellerhoff’s departure from Pakistan. Without their competent and untiring help this book would never have seen the light of day. Finally, I awkwardly seek for words adequate to express my gratitude to my esteemed colleague Ian Richard Duncan, who, with consider- able self-sacrifice, laboured relentlessly as co-lector in the proofreading of the articles in this volume. Certainly, the beauty of this volume is largely owing to his labours. Equally certain, any mistakes which mar that beauty are my own.

Hugh van Skyhawk Heidelberg, in December 2013

xxiv Introduction

Ian Duncan28 Sometime in the nineteen-sixties, social anthropologist David Pocock (1928―2007), late of Oxford and Sussex universities, at a seminar on Indian society and culture, observed that the “idea” of religion was at last being born in the country that had always been deemed to be religious. As a Roman Catholic, he knew a thing or two about what religion is.

Years later, commenting on the changes in religious attitudes with the growth ofthe right-wing Sangh Parivār in India, introducing an ideologically restrictive history syllabus, Romila Thapar commented, “Interestingly, this reformulation of Hinduism, also borrows from certain aspects of Islam and Christianity, aspects that were previously not regarded as essential to Hinduism, such as, emphasizing historicity (preferably of a founder), locat- ing a sacred topography, adopting a sacred book, and simulating an ecclesiastical author- ity. I have elsewhere referred to this as Syndicated Hinduism.” (Thapar 2004). This is what Pocock was referring to by the “idea” of religion.

In the closing sections of his classic book on the Indian caste system, originally published in 1966, Pocock’s colleague, Louis Dumont (1911―1998) discerns the same development in Indian religion through an examination of the attempts by traditionalists in Madras State (as it was then) to prevent Untouchables from entering temples. With the passing of the Temple Entry Act (in 1947 by Madras State) granting Untouchables this right, the Ma- dras State Assembly, however, turned its attention to passing laws banning the sacrifice of animals near the large temples of that region and eventually banning animal sacrifice altogether, and thereby imposing vegetarianism on everyone. Dumont’s comment makes the same point as Pocock’s:

28 Ian Richard Duncan was born in New Zealand. He studied English Literature at the Univer- sity of Canterbury, Christchurch, NZ, and Social Anthropology at Cambridge University, UK. Duncan did social-anthropological field work in central India in the mid-1960s, leading to a PhD from Poona University. He taught social anthropology at Massey University, Palmerston North, NZ. In the mid-1990s he took early retirement to live in Rome. Duncan subsequently worked for the British Open University. He now lives in the Balearic Islands (Ibiza, Spain).

xxv Well Articulated Better Paths

Événement considérable: la tolérance hiérarchissante traditionelle cède le pas ici à une mentalité moderne, et c’est une mentalité totalitaire; la structure hiérar- chique est remplacée par une substance unique et rigide. Le fait est extrême- ment significatif: l’égalitarisme, sortant de la zone limitée où il est bien toléré, provoque une modification profonde et une menace de totalitarisme religieux.29 (Dumont 1966, p. 294).

The point these writers, among others, have been making is that a significant change has been going on in Indian society, a movement towards centralization of ideology, of high- caste orthopraxy, in which, in Dumont’s terms, “substance” is replacing hierarchy, in which local traditions are being eliminated by pan-Indian ones (aided by ubiquitous television). And there is a further dimension, as hinted at in the quotation from Thapar above, that of the hardening of the division between Hindu and Muslim. Old folk practices, bringing together Hindus and Muslims, are in fact being attacked by ideologues from both religious traditions.

This is a development that is lamented by a number of writers, of whom I would men- tion just three. Yoginder Sikand’s Sacred Spaces (Sikand, 2003) is a survey of a number of religious and pilgrimage centres throughout India which in times gone by had seen a rich and varied interaction between Hindu and Muslim traditions (and also Hindu-Christian in one case study). However, in more contemporary times, the divisions between Hindu and Muslim have hardened, and the once thriving syncretistic religious practices found in such centres are being lost. The people involved, the devotees, are fully aware of the sadness of the situation. For example, a follower of the Prān Nāth tradition in Panna, Madhya Pradesh, having a typical Muslim name, said sorrowfully: “But all this is dying out now. The Hindu-Muslim divide is getting worse by the day.” (op. cit., p. 154).

The journalist M.J. Akbar’s autobiography, Blood Brothers (2006), is a beautifully written evocation of his early years in Bengal when Hindus and Muslims quite simply shared a common culture.

The third example is a novel, M.J. Vassanji’s The Assassin’s Song (2007). The main char- acters are drawn from the Khoja Ismaili community of Gujarat, a people with very syn- cretistic religious practice and a strong adherence to openness, broadmindedness, and tolerance. It is the story of a young western-educated man’s discovery of the gentle faith of his forefathers. Its “climax” is the events of Godhra and thereafter. And a slightly more contemporary account of the re-discovery this time, of his father’s gentle Bengali Sufi faith may be found in Ed Husain’s The Islamist (2007).

29 “This is a considerable event: the traditional hierarchical tolerance gives way to a modern mentality, and this is a totalitarian mentality: hierarchical structure is replaced by a single rigid substance. The fact is extremely significant: egalitarianism, leaving the limited zone in which it is well tolerated, causes a profound modification and brings the threat of reli- gious totalitarianism.” (Homo Hierarchicus. The Caste System and its Implications.translated by Mark Sainsbury, Louis Dumont, and Basia Gulati, Chicago [University of Chicago Press], 1980; Complete Revised English Edition, p. 231.).

xxvi Introduction

These are just three examples from a nation-wide testimony to a time when the lived practice of religion in India, particularly, but not only, at the folk level, was an amalgam of varying religious traditions, and still is, despite its being attacked by hardliners from both sides.

Hugh van Skyhawk’s collection is a significant contribution to this field, focusing on Ma- harashtra. In a set of articles filled with extraordinarily rich ethnographic detail, he has laid out the indisputable facts of a close and intimate relationship between Muslims and Hindus and, as well, between Sūfīs and yogis, revealing a close and mutually fertilizing interchange between the followers of the two traditions. This is a relationship dating well before the time of the famous sixteenth-century Marathi poet-saint Eknāth, whose spiri- tual affiliation to both Sūfī and Hindu traditions has been made more widely known by contemporary Maharashtrian scholars.

Two figures from an earlier period than Eknāth’s, Siddhaliṅga-svāmī and Ajñānasiddha, are introduced early in the collection, who in their verses reveal a close relationship between Sūfī and yogic traditions, which van Skyhawk traces meticulously. Furthermore, he has performed a great service in giving extensive translations of their verses. In these verses, and those from the eighteenth-century biographer, Mahīpati, van Skyhawk discerns two themes underlying the Maharashtrian saint-poets depiction of the social harmony of the mediæval Deccan, namely, “the perception of community as not being limited to one’s own religious community ... [and] the belief that true spiritual experience transcends the empirical categories of ‘Hindu’ and ‘Muslim’”, to which might be added, the categories ‘Liṅgāyat’, ‘yogī’ etc.

The theme of a community of believers is found in the life and work of two twentieth- century Sūfīs, Husain Bābā Kādrī and Šayḫ Abdurrazzāq Shāh Biyābānī. In his later years, Šayḫ Abdurrazzāq had gathered a number of followers, as van Skyhawk describes, includ- ing Hindus whom he would initiate into a spiritual practice. Significantly, he would give his Hindu disciples a mantra of Dattātreya as part of their practice – as a Muslim and committed to faith in one God, he saw the three figures composing Dattātreya as being three aspects of one deity (personal communication). Dattātreya appears in a number of accounts involving both Hindus and Muslims. Sikand (2003, pp. 53―68) describes the un- edifying tussle over the Baba Budhan dargāh near Chikmagalur in Karnataka led by an off- shoot of the right-wing Vishva Hindu Parishad to have it recognised as a temple of “Guru Dattātreya”. Van Skyhawk cites Maharashtrian scholars who demonstrate that the guru- paramparā of Sant Eknāth can be traced back to the Qādirī order of Sūfīs – Cānd Bodhale, his guru’s guru, has been re-interpreted as Dattātreya appearing in the garb of a Sūfī.

One of van Skyhawk’s articles in particular brings out many relevant themes, though these are all implied in the others. “Cleansing and renewing the field for another year” is at one level an ethnographic discussion of the nocturnal and diurnal processions around the town of Paiṭhaṇ during the birth and death anniversaries of Sant Eknāth and of their role in building communitas (to use Victor Turner’s term), which “link individuals and groups into a community rather than divide them into conflicting communal fronts” (infra, pp. 115f.). Van Skyhawk skilfully interweaves into the account of the bhakti tradition focused

xxvii Well Articulated Better Paths on Eknāth a range of practices that have commonly been characterized as folk- or little- traditional. In the actual lived ceremonies both elements are present and are interrelated. Günther-Dietz Sontheimer’s analysis of the dichotomous pair of settlement/wilderness is invoked here – he speaks of the “fluctuating continuity” between these two dimensions, culminating in the creation of the sacred space of the settlement. A parallel is discerned in the famous Vārkarī pilgrimages associated with Sant Jñāneśvar and the route from Āḷandī to Paṇḍharpūr, in which bhakti accommodates folk practices.

The ethnographic discussion then moves to the temple complex around a tomb in the small village of Maḍhī, which is the scene of a number of intertwining elements. The most notable of these is the combining of Muslim and Hindu traditions in the “person” of Śāh Ramzān/Kāniph Nāth/Kānhobā. From the detailed description of the observances at this temple-dargāh may be discerned the dramatic interplay of Hindu and Muslim rituals of devotion and possession, the continuity between folk practices and those associated with bhakti, and also, and most significantly, a clear example of the appropriation of religious symbols for political gain.

When I visited this site in 1970, it still had the clear characteristics of a Muslimdargāh – a green cloth covering the tomb, ostrich eggs suspended above it, a peacock feather fan for brushing the devotees. All that has been changed and it now has been transformed into a Hindu samādhi tomb. As van Skyhawk relates, this is primarily the work of the Shiv Sena, the Maharashtrian version of that centralizing, totalitarian trend, discerned some decades ago by Dumont and Pocock.

Hugh van Skyhawk’s collection is a reminder of the rich heritage of the Hindu-Muslim, folk-literate, syncretism that still persists in Maharashtra, as indeed it does in other parts of India, but is threatened by the monolithic trends of modernizing India.

xxviii Introduction

References Akbar, M.J., 2006 Blood Brothers: a family saga. New Delhi [Roli Books, The Lotus Collection].

Dumont, Louis, 1966 Homo hierarchicus: essai sur le système des castes. Paris [Éditions Gallimard].

Husain, Ed, 2007 The Islamist: why I joined radical Islam in Britain, what I saw inside and why I left. London [Penguin Books].

Sikand, Yoginder, 2003 Sacred spaces: exploring traditions of shared faith in India. New Delhi [Penguin Books India].

Thapar, Romila, 2004 “The future of the Indian past”, Seventh D. T. Lakdawala Memorial Lecture, FICCI Audito- rium, New Delhi, 21 February 2004, organised by the Institute of Social Sciences.

Vassanji, M.G., 2007 The Assassin’s Song. New York [Random House, Alfred A. Knopf].

xxix

A NOTE ON DEATH AND THE HOLY MAN IN SOUTH ASIA30

he reversal of the norms applicable to ordinary human beings often characterizes the life of a holy man, especially in South Asia. One of the most succinct expressions Tof the fundamental polarity between the human being in his inherent condition and the saint is found in the Bhagavad Gītā, 2.69:

yā niśā sarvabhūtānāṃ tasyāṃ jāgarti samyamī yasyāṃ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśā paśyato muneḥ31

30 First published in: Schömbucher, Elisabeth, and Zoller, Claus Peter (eds.), Ways of Dying. Death and its Meaning in South Asia, South Asian Studies XXXIII, New Delhi [Manohar], 1999, pp. 190―204. The following guidelines of transliteration have been used in this vol- ume: 1) Marāṭhī words have been rendered according to Indological conventions of trans- literation of Devanāgarī; 2) both the first occurrence of a bibliographical reference to a pub- lication in an Indic or other Oriental language and its entry in the “Bibliography” at the end of the book have been given in full transliteration, that is, with the inherent “a” between syllables and at the end of the word; thereafter, the author’s name has been given followed by the year of publication and page numbers of the reference; 3) words of Urdu, Persian, Arabic, or Hindustani origin written in Devanāgarī have been transliterated according to Indological conventions for transliterating Devanāgarī; 4) other words of Urdu, Persian, Arabic origin have been given with occasional context sensitive modifications according to the conventions of transliteration found in Schimmel, Annemarie (et al., ed.), Der Islam III. Islamische Kultur-Zeitgenössische Strömungen-Volksfrömmigkeit, in: Schröder, Christel Matthias (et al.) (series editors), Die Religionen der Menschheit 25.3, Stuttgart [Verlag W. Kohlhammer], 1990. 31 ‘During that which is night for all creatures the ascetic is awake. That in which the creatures are awake is night for the seeing seer’. (My translation).

1 Well Articulated Better Paths

Similarly, the mystics of Islam, the Sufīs, teach that there are two lives and two deaths for the holy man: the life in this world and the life “in reality”, the physical death and death “in reality”. The death “in reality” is related to the life in this world. The life “in reality” is proclaimed to be achieved only after the physical death. It is described as being alive “in reality” and “eternally”32

As in the case of the Hindu In practice, the saint’s rejection of the ‘life in this world’ holy man the abstention meant the abstention from the attachment to sensual from sensual experiences experiences and the concentration on the eternal, un- ātman prevented the accumula- changing authentic being of man ( ), or, in the case tion of transcendental dirt of Sūfīs, on the experience of the Divine Unity of Allāh s.w.t. at tawhīd in the form of particles of ( ) ( ). As in the case of the Hindu holy man subtle matter known as kar- the abstention from sensual experiences prevented the man in his subtle body [s. accumulation of transcendental dirt in the form of par- as karman sūksma-śarīra, u. latīf-jisma], ticles of subtle matter known in his subtle sūksma-śarīra, u. latīf-jisma his gross material or physical body [s. ], his gross material body was also believed to be or physical body was also believed to be pure and free of walī pure and free of decay. decay. Similarly, the physical body of the , the Mus- lim ‘Friend of God’, was perceived to be pure and free of decay by virtue of the fact that every walī has access to the throne and purifying presence of Allāh (s.w.t.).

There are innumerable folk-tales that confirm the popular belief in the immunity of the saint’s corpse to decay, such as in the well-known tale of the upper Punjab’ Essera and Canessera’:

The party which now approached was a gang of notorious robbers, seven in number, one of whom was blind of an eye. Catching sight of the body in the old tomb, they examined it with great care, and exclaimed: ‘See, this must be some famous saint! He has come out of his grave, and his body is perfectly fresh. Let us pray to him for favour and good luck!’ So they one and all fell down on their knees and besought his assistance…33

In life, the divine power inherent in the asceticism of the saint was perceived to be of the nature of subtle matter and thus transferable in part to ordinary human beings by a mate- rial object that had been in contact with the saint―most often by food that he had eaten or, at least, touched. Such a transfer and the material object that effected it came to be known as prasād [s. ‘brightness, purity, favour, blessing’] or, in the case of a Muslim Holy man, tabarrukan [a. ‘for blessings’]. Thus, the reversal of individual norms that the saint had practiced with regard to his thoughts, words, and deeds resulted in the reversal of

32 Hussaini, S. S. Khusro, “Die Bedeutung des ‘urs Festes in Sufītum”, in: Asien (Hamburg) 17(3) (1985), p. 43. 33 Swynnerton, Charles (Rev.), Folk-Tales of the Upper Indus, London, 1893; reprinted in Islam- bad [Lok Virsa] 1987, p. 54.

2 A Note on Death and the Holy Man in South Asia the social norms applicable to his person and physical body. That which he left as a physi- cal remainder, his ‘ucchiṣṭa’, came to be regarded as the opposite to the highly polluting material leavings of ordinary human beings.

Incidents of the transfer of spiritual knowledge and even salvation by the saliva, the un- touched remainder of a meal (anucchiṣṭa), the partially chewed food (ucchiṣṭa), or pān [betel leaves] of Hindu/Muslim saints in South Asia can be found in hagiographical ac- counts, in Purānas,34 in folk-tales, and even in the hadīth or traditions of the deeds of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).35 The connection of ucchiṣṭa as the apotheosized remainder of the Vedic sacrifice as described at length inAtharvaveda , 11.7.1–27, and the spiritually potent material remainders left by holy men may be a result of the historical development of the notion of the interiorization of the sacrifice as an ascetic practice.36 The well-known prac-

34 That the consumption of the material leavings of a holy man can mean the outright reversal of social norms, i.e. eating the highly impure, partially chewed‘juṭhā’ of a meal, and not just a symbolic or partial exception to the rules of ritual purity is made clear by the use of the composition‘ucchiṣṭalepa’ [the impure leavings’ or ‘ the impurities that are the remainders (of a meal)’] in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa (BhP) 1.5.25: ucchiṣṭalepān anumodito dvijaiḥ sakṛt sma buṅje tadapāstakilbiṣaḥ / evaṃ pravṛttasya viśuddhacetasas taddharma evātmaruciḥ prajāyate// [‘As one who had been granted by the Twice-Born (i.e. the Brahmin sages) the impure leavings (of their meal) I once ate (and became) one whose faults had been cast off. For (me) who was thus engaged, whose mental activities (had become) pure, there arose a liking for their dharma (that was of the nature of the) ātman.’] (my translation). On related terminology for less impure remainders of food, some of which do not entail the consump- tion of partially eaten pieces of food but the ingestion of comestibles taken from a partially used stock of uncooked foods or an untouched portion of a cooked meal, see Wezler, Al- brecht, Die wahren ‘Speiseresteesser’ (Skt. vighasāśin) [‘The true eaters of the remnants of food’], in: Beiträge zur Kenntnis der indischen Kultur- und Religionsgeschichte, Mainz [Akademie der Wissenschaften und Literatur], 1978, pp. 78f, and note 238. Unfortunately, in my study of Śrī Sant Ekanāth, I overlooked the passage BhP 1.5.25 in the discussion of the role of ucchiṣṭa as a means of conveying spiritual knowledge from master to disciple. However, in this passage too, it is a ‘liking for the dharma’ of the Bhāgavatas that is con- veyed by the ucchiṣṭa of the ṛṣis, not the spiritual knowledge of the guru (cf. van Skyhawk, Hugh, Bhakti und Bhakta. Religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen zum Heilsbegriff und zur religiösen Umwelt des Śrī Sant Ekanāth, in: Beiträge zur Südasienforschung 132, Stuttgart [Franz Steiner Verlag] 1990, pp. 63―67). 35 The first reference in Islamic tradition to the power of a holy man’s saliva occurs in the tra- ditional account of an event in the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). In the battle of Qumūs (May-June A.D. 628), Muhammad (S.) is said to have stopped the pain caused by an arrow that had pierced his son-in-law’s (‘Alī ibn Abi Tālib’s [R.]) eye by applying his saliva to the wound (see Rizvi, Sayyid Athar Abbas, A Socio-Intellectual History of the Isnā’Asharī Shī’īs in India, Vol. I, Canberra/Delhi [Munshiram Manoharlal], 1986, p. 15). I am grateful to Ian Duncan for the Christian gospel account of Jesus mixing his saliva with some clay to lay on a blind man’s eyes—John ix 6. 36 On the identification of the Vedic sacrifice with asceticism (tapas) as the ‘inner sacrifice’ in the Upaniṣads see Eliade, Mircea, Geschichte der religiӧsen Ideen, I. Von der Steinzeit bis zu den Mysterien von Eleusis, Freiburg [Herder Verlag], 1978, 217ff.; translated from the French by Elisabeth Darlap. Original edition: Histoire des croyances et des idées religieuses I. De l’âge de la pierre aux mystères d’Eleusis, Paris [Éditions Payot], 1976.

3 Well Articulated Better Paths tice of shattering the skull of a dead yogī in order to release his imprisoned jīva and the consumption by the participants and observers of this ritual of the pieces of the coconuts shattered on his head as prasād points to the perception of the dead yogī’s body as the material remainder of his interiorized sacrifice, that is, of the asceticism he practiced in life.37

By far the greatest remainder or ucchiṣṭa that any human By far the greatest remain- being leaves behind in his corpse. While in the case of der or ucchiṣṭa that any hu- an ordinary human being, the corpse is a noxious, poten- man being leaves behind in tially dangerous object that must be disposed of quickly his corpse. While in the case and with ritual precision, the corpse of a saint is an object of an ordinary human be- of worship, a tangible repository of the divine power in- ing, the corpse is a noxious, herent in the saint’s asceticism, or in his close relation- potentially dangerous object ships to the divine. The same purifying spiritual potency that must be disposed of that inheres in the saint’s ucchiṣṭa in life remains forever quickly and with ritual preci- in the dust of his bones. In this connection the pilgrim- sion, the corpse of a saint is age of singers to the grave of Tānsen at Gwalior, whose an object of worship, a tan- heavenly voice was said to be the gift of Muḥammad gible repository of the divine Ġaus Gwāliyārī (d. 970/1562―3) is especially striking as power inherent in the saint’s Muhammad Ġaus’ gift is believed to be transmitted to asceticism, or in his close re- the pilgrim vicariously by the leaves of the tamarind tree lationships to the divine. growing on Tānsen’s grave.

While the taking of the dust of a saint’s tomb for spiritual or medicinal purposes is a com- mon feature of folk piety throughout South Asia, the most striking example of the saint’s mortal remains as potent ‘ucchiṣṭa ‘ occurred in the church of St. Paul’s College in Goa, where in 1554 a female devotee of St. Francis Xavier (d. 1552), Doña Isabel de Carom, in the passion of her devotion bit off the little toe of the right foot of the saint in an attempt to obtain the salvific power contained in his holy body.38

The belief in the potency of a saint’s mortal remains for the good of the community even led the people of Gilgit to kill a certain saint who had successfully rid the region of a dan- gerous spirit, a female yach [Burúśaski: yach, Skt. yakṣa], lest he wander away, die and

37 On the burial practices of haṭha-yogīs see Oman, John Campbell, The Mystics, Ascetics, and Saints of India, London [T. Fisher Unwin], 1903, p. 157. 38 The manner in which Doña Isabel de Carom obtained this part of the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier differs clearly from later clinical amputations and dissections of the saint’s body in order to provide holy reliquiae for the devotees of St. Francis in various parts of Asia. On the pious mutilations of St. Francis Xavier’s mortal remains see Rayanna, P. (Society of Jesus), St. Francis Xavier and his Shrine, Goa 1964; revised reprint 1982, pp. 155ff. I am grateful to the late Wilhelm Halbfass (1940-2000) for his insights into the incident involving St. Francis Xavier’s toe [personal communication in Heidelberg, May 1993].

4 A Note on Death and the Holy Man in South Asia be buried elsewhere and thus allow the female yach to resume her depredations.39 Later, the belief in the potency of Sayyid Šāh Walī’s mortal remains led the people of Ghulmét (Nagér) to steal his body from the people of Thol and re-bury it in their own village.40

Just as the norms of avoidance of contact are reversed in Indeed, many devotees be- the case of a saint’s mortal remains, so also are the ritu- lieve that the saint is physi- als that are intended to transport speedily the spirit of cally alive inside his tomb the deceased into the world of the ancestors, or, in the and that he can and does case of Muslims, into the grave to await the Day of Judg- intercede in the affairs of the ment. While in medieval Muslim families the corpse was world on behalf of his devo- often removed through a window or even a hole in the tees. Instead of the funerary wall made especially for that purpose in order that the rituals of an ordinary human spirit of the deceased person not find its way back into being, a Muslim saint who the family home—Šāh Jahān’s and Auraṅgzīb’s corpses has died physically is ‘mar- were removed from the houses in which they died in this ried to God’. His wedding or manner41 —, the spirit of a deceased saint is prayed to re- ‘urs with the Divine Beloved main among his devotees by hymns of praise [qawwālī], is celebrated. burning of incense, offerings of food, flowers, fine cloths for covering the grave, and by the constant petitions of devotees who visit his dargāh. Indeed, many devotees believe that the saint is physically alive inside his tomb and that he can and does intercede in the affairs of the world on behalf of his devotees. Instead of the funerary rituals of an ordinary human being, a Muslim saint who has died physically is ‘married to God’. His wedding or ‘urs42 with the Divine Beloved is celebrated. In keeping with the spirit of a wedding, his dargāh is not a place of despair, but of hope and rejoicing. In this connection the Sufi cite the ḥadīth-nabāwī:

‘Truly, the friends of God do not die. Rather, they move from one house to another...... ’43

39 This myth is an example of the over layering of an autochthonous shaman cult with the story of a later Muslim saint, who possibly came from Kashmir. For the Hunza version recorded by the late Hermann Berger (1926―2005), see Müller-Stellrecht, Irmtraud, Materialien zur Ethnographie von Dardistan (Pakistan). Teil II. Gilgit. Teil III. Chitral und Yasin. Aus den nach- gelassenen Aufzeichnungen von D.L.R. Lorimer, in: Karl Jettmar (ed.), Bergvӧlker im Hindu- kusch und Karakorum 3.II and 3.III, Graz [Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt], pp. 55 ff. note 129. 40 Müller-Stellrecht, Irmtraud, Materialien zur Ethnographie von Dardistan (Pakistan). Teil I. Hunza. Aus den nachgelassenen Aufzeichnungen von D.L.R. Lorimer, in: Karl Jettmar (ed.), Bergvӧlker im Hindukusch und Karakorum 3.1, Graz [Akademische Druck- und Verlag- sanstalt], 1979, p. 249. 41 Sharif, Ja’far, (Šarīf, Ja”far), Qānūn-i-Islām, translated by Herklots, Gerhard Andreas [1790―1834], and revised and annotated by Crooke, William, Oxford [Oxford University Press] 1921; reprinted in Delhi [Oriental Books Reprint Corp.] 1972, p. 96. 42 On the derivation of the world ‘urs from an Arabic word for marriage see Hussaini 1985, p.43. 43 Ibid.

5 Well Articulated Better Paths

Striking examples of this Just as the Muslim saint is wedded to God in his new are the marriage of Zahrā house, the dargāh, so also in India female devotees or or Zohrā Bībī, a blind girl, to even Hindu goddesses are married each year to certain Sālār Masūd Ghāzī Miyā at pīrs. Striking examples of this are the marriage of Zahrā Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh or Zohrā Bībī, a blind girl, to Sālār Masūd Ghāzī Miyā at ‘urs Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh every year during the urs‘ on every year during the on 44 the first Sunday in the Hindu the first Sunday in the Hindu mouth of Jeṭh (May-June), mouth of Jeṭh (May-June). or the marriage of Yoga-Māyā of Mehrauli (south Delhi) to Haẓrat Sayyid Quṭb ud-Dīn Bakhtiyār-i-Kākī.45

The living presence of the pīr in his dargāh or ‘royal court’ is expressed by the observance of etiquette derived from the traditions of the Mughal court: devotees bow and salām to the pīr in the mazār, even prostrate themselves from a distance as was customary when approaching the bādśāh at the Mughal court. One should never turn one’s back to the

44 Schwerin, Kerrin Gräfin von, „Saint Worship in Indian Islam: the Legend of the Martyr Salar Masud Ghazi”, in: Ahmad, Imtiaz (ed.), Ritual and Religion among Muslims of the Sub-con- tinent, New Delhi [Manohar], 1984, pp. 148f. and Mahmood, Tahir, “The Dargah of Sayyid Salar Mas’ud Ghazi in Bahraich: Legend, Tradition and Reality”, in: Troll, Christian (ed.),Mus - lim Shrines in India: Their Character, History and Significance, New Delhi [Oxford University Press], 1989, p. 35. 45 According to a descendant of Quṭb ud-Dīn, the late dargāh mutawalī Islām ud-Dīn, the popular tradition of the marriage of Yoga-Māyā and Quṭb ud-Din may have originated when the Mughal emperor, Bahādur Šāh II (reigned 1837–57, died 1862, better known by his pen- name, ‘Z̤afar’), in order to strengthen the solidarity of Delhi’s multi-religious population against the interference of the British resident in local politics, gave royal support to the Hin- du-Muslim festival‘Phūl valoñ kī sair’, [The procession of the flower vendors’], during which the Mughal emperor, whose summer residence was adjacent to Quṭb ud-Dīn’s shrine, first performed ziyārat at the dargāh, then, on the following day, had darśan of Yoga-Māyā (a Śaktic goddess in whom attributes of Durgā and Lakșmī are combined) in her temple nearby the Quṭb Minar (for a summary of the historical situation see Varma, Pavan K., Ghalib: The Man, the Times, New Delhi [Penguin Books], 1989; reprint, 1992, pp. 42f.). Though today only the ceremonial fans (paṅkhā) of Yogā-Māyā are carried to Quṭb ud-Dīn’s dargāh during the festival, some Hindu devotees of Quṭb ud-Dīn still believe that Yoga-Māyā and Quṭb ud Dīn are divine marriage partners [personal communication in Mehrauli, 1 March 1994]. In an enclosed grave plot near the ‘Z̤afar Mahal’ (the ruins of a three-storey palace built by the emperor Akbar II [1806―1837], the portal of which Bahādur Śāh II had restored), near the west or ‘Ajmeri’ gate to Quṭb ud-Dīn’s dargāh, in a row of graves of members of the royal family, an open, empty grave still bears silent witness to the last Mughal’s devotion to Quṭb ud-Dīn, the dargāh, and his beloved Hindustān. Here one can see the ‘six feet of earth in the lane of the Beloved’ (‘… do gaz zamīn ... kū-yi yār mē ...’), for lack of which the exiled poet- emperor pined away in Rangoon during the final years of his life. During the final month of his life, in January 1948, Mahātmā Gāndhī, who was well aware of the symbolic significance of Quṭb ud-Dīn’s dargāh for the multi-religious society of the new, democratic India͟ saved the shrine from destruction by inducing hundreds of illegal occupants, who had taken pos- session of it in the chaotic situation that followed upon independence and the end of British rule, to leave the holy precincts peaceably (a photograph of Gāndhī leading the squatters out of the dargāh is in my possession).

6 A Note on Death and the Holy Man in South Asia mazār, but take leave facing the pīr or by turning one’s right side to him and slowly with- drawing offering repeated salāms. Unlike the temporal ruler, whose power after death is often not even sufficient to protect his own grave from plunder and desecration, the power of the pīr increases after his physical death. Often palace-likedargāhs are built with a labyrinth of corridors that eventually lead to the mazār itself. In the case of dargāhs built outside cities the surrounding countryside can become known as the jāgīr of the pīr, whose authority and protection then extends to all who come within this area and not only to devotees. An example of this type of living presence is the jāgīr of Afzal Śāh Biyābānī of Kazi Peth (Dt. Warangal), which lies between the borders of four hills on each of which Afzal Śāh Biyābānī is said to have practiced asceticism for twelve years.46

The power of the pīr to protect all who come to his jāgīr Bībī Šāh, the milk-mother or dargāh for sanctuary is expressed most often in the of a young prince of Hunza, form of punishments for those who violate this sanctu- Jalandar Šāh, took refuge in ary. An example of such punishments is found in a tra- the dargāh of Šams-i-Tālib ditional account of events that took place in the dargāh as a last resort to save her of Šams-i-Tālib in the Gojal region of Hunza in 1887. Bībī foster child from an assassin Šāh, the milk-mother of a young prince of Hunza, Jalan- sent by the supporters of a dar Šāh, took refuge in the dargāh of Šams-i-Tālib as a last rival prince, Safdar Ali, who resort to save her foster child from an assassin sent by was seeking to remain mīr of the supporters of a rival prince, Safdar Ali, who was seek- Hunza by killing all other con- ing to remain mīr of Hunza by killing all other contenders tenders for the throne. The for the throne. The assassin violated the sanctity of the assassin violated the sanc- dargāh, took out the milk-mother and child, and killed tity of the dargāh, took out 47 them by throwing them from a precipice. According to the milk-mother and child, an oral tradition of Hunza, one year later to the day, the and killed them by throwing assassin was riding his horse near the dargāh of Šams-i- them from a precipice. Tālib when suddenly the mountainside under him gave way and plunged rider and horse to their deaths under a mountain of earth and stone.

As recently as 1984, following the murder of Indira Gandhi by her own Sikh bodyguards, more than a hundred Sikhs of Delhi saved their lives when pursued by frenzied mobs by taking refuge at the dargāh of Nizām ud-Dīn Awliyā. Though there were no police, army, or other visible power to prevent the mobs from killing their victims within the shrine itself, they stopped short at the gates of the dargāh and did not violate its sanctity.

The saint’s protection of the living who come within the precincts of his dargāh or jāgīr extends also to those who are born or die near him or those whose mortal remains are brought for burial to the dargāh. The protection of the saint Šayḫ Selīm Čištī in whose khānqāh in Fatehpur Sikri the future Jehāngīr had been born, restrained Akbar in 1602

46 Twelve years is the traditional period of amahātapa (period of great asceticism) of a Hindu ascetic. 47 Müller-Stellrecht 1979, p. 242.

7 Well Articulated Better Paths from having his son and heir executed for the murder of his close friend and adviser Abu‘l Fazl (1551―1602), who had been beheaded by Bir Singh Deo of Orcha on Prince Selīm’s orders. Though Akbar ordered that all living creatures including livestock within the small kingdom of Orcha be killed because of their supposed complicity in Abu‘l Fazl’s death, he stopped short of executing the future Jehāngīr when reminded that Prince Selīm’s life was under the protection of Šayḫ Selīm Čištī.

One of Prince Dārā Šikūh’s final acts was to send the body of his beloved wife from child- hood, Nādirā Begum, from the Ran of Kutch to the dargāh of Miyāñ Mīr in Lahore, ac- companied by his remaining troops, so that she might be protected by Miyāñ Mīr until the Day of Judgment. Even today, devotees of Miyāñ Mīr in Lahore bring the bodies of their deceased loved ones to the dargāh before burial in a nearby cemetery.

Similarly, Sahībā Jahānārā, Šah Jehān‘s elder daughter and the sister of Dārā Šikūh and Auraṅgzīb, herself a Sufi of the Qādirī-silsilā, found comfort in the presence of Haẓrat Niẓām ud-Dīn Awliyā during her unhappy life and solace in the assurance that she would be buried near him in the courtyard of the dargāh of Niẓām ud-Dīn. Even the stern Aurangzīb, hardened by fifty years of continuous war, wrote in the first sentence of his last will and testament:

That they should shroud and carry this sinner drenched in sins to the neighbor- hood of the holy Chistī tomb of the revered leader, Sayyīd and Shaikh, Zayn al-Dīn Dā’ūd Shīrāzī, since without the protection of that court [of the saints], which is the refuge of forgiveness, there is no refuge for those drowned in the ocean of sin.48

Roughly forty years later, in 1748, the repentant playboy-emperor Muḥammad Šāh Rāṅgīlā, who, in 1739, had seen the people of Delhi, slaughtered and his kingdom pillaged by the armies of Nādir Šāh of Persia, had himself buried near Nizām ud-Dīn in hopes of obtaining the saint’s forgiveness and protection.

Not only at the end of life but also at its beginning the protection of the saint is sought by visiting his dargāh. In hopes that their children will grow up healthy and live long and prosperous lives, mothers in the vicinity of Aurangabad bring their babies to the dargāh of Azam Šāh Biyābānī in the Šāh Gunj precinct of Aurangabad. Holding their babies in their arms they sing cradle songs in front of the mazār. Only then is the baby given its name.

48 Ernst, Carl W., Eternal Garden. Mysticism, History, and Politics at a South Asian Sufi Center, Albany [State University of New York Press], 1992, p. 224 and note 106. Ernst quotes a translation of Auraṅgzīb’sTestament of Twelve Articles, published in the Muncipal Gazettee, Lahore, 1908.

8 A Note on Death and the Holy Man in South Asia

While the pīr usually manifests himself in a benevolent While the pīr usually mani- form in his dargāh, there are pīrs who, in addition to their fests himself in a benevolent benevolent form, can also, for reasons that are not always form in his dargāh, there apparent, manifest themselves in an aggressive or malev- are pīrs who, in addition to olent form. A striking example of this type of pīr, known their benevolent form, can as a jalālī-pīr, a pīr in which the mysterium tremendum also, for reasons that are not 49 of God has found its expression, can be found in Shim- always apparent, manifest shal (in the Gojal region of Hunza) at the dargāh of Šams themselves in an aggressive ud-Dīn Tabrīzī, the famous šayḫ of Jalāl ud-Dīn Rūmī, or malevolent form. A strik- who protects Shimshal from the predations of evil spirits ing example of this type of and ensures its fertility, but, at the same time, has been pīr, known as a jalālī-pīr, a known to blind devotees when they are struggling up the pīr in which the mysterium 4,000 meter high scree slope that leads to his dargāh and tremendum of God has found cause them to fall, or to cause rockslides that plunge dev- its expression. otees headlong to their deaths. Each visit to Šams ud-Dīn involves a confrontation with one’s own death, in which the pīr may play a benevolent or malevolent role. Most devotees prefer to offer theirsalām from the riverbank, about 400 metres below the dargāh.

According to an oral tradition of Gulbarga, a devotee who knocks with a stick onthe mazār of Tigh Barahna (‘Naked Sword’; Saiyid Husām al-Dīn Tigh Barahna, d. 1281 AD), a saint of the thirteenth century,50 may meet his death in the form of a sword that emerges from the grave held by an unseen hand and relentlessly pursues its victim until it inflicts a grave wound. No less a personage than a grandson of Haẓrat Bandā Nawāz Gīsūdirāz once doubted the truth of this tradition and knocked on the mazār with a stick. At once the sword emerged and pursued the terrified youth from the eastern wall of the fort of Gulbarga to Gīsūdirāz’ khānqāh (hospice) near the western wall. Only there, on Gīsūdirāz’s order, did the sword make only a slight wound on the boy and then return to its resting place in Tigh Barahna’s mazār. Up to this day, no one has been known to have knocked again with a stick on Tigh Barahna’s mazār.

At the dargāh/samādhi of Ajñānasiddha in Narenda (Dt. Kolhapur, Taluka Hatkangale), the devotee desiring to have darśan of the svarūp of Ajñānasiddha must first ritually wash himself at the ghusl-khānā near the saint’s shrine, pray al-Fātīḥa, the first sūrah of the Holy Qur’ān, and then descend by means of a narrow shaft two metres into the earth be- neath the pādukā [sacred marble foot impressions] of Ajñānasiddha51 where a nāg (cobra)

49 On the two aspects of the ‘Beauty and Goodness of Allāh’ [ğamāl and ğalāl], the mysterium fascinans and the mysterium tremendum, see Schimmel 1990, pp. 183f. 50 Saiyid Husām al-Dīn Tigh Barahna (d. 1281); cf. Eaton, Richard Maxwell, The Sufis of Bijapur. 1300―1700. Social Roles of Sufis in Medieval India, Princeton [Princeton University Press], 1978, p. 32. 51 This underground vault is remarkably similar to the side-chamber grave used by Sunni Mus- lims in south Asia.

9 Well Articulated Better Paths will first appear and then the human form of Ajñānasiddha. Devotees must enter the vault alone and—if successful in their quest—are re-born when they emerge from the saint’s grave.

A similar ritual of death and re-birth—but with the points of departure and destination reversed—is practiced by the devotees of Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān of Maḍhī (Dt. Ahmad- nagar), who descend into a shaft near the saint’s mazār/samādhi and then crawl later- ally through the mountain underneath the mazār in order reach a liṅga-shrine at which Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān is said to have practiced yoga.

The unique potential of human beings to overcome death is one of the recurring themes of devotional religion or bhakti in South Asia. At the same time, the short duration of hu- man life and the “hovering presence of death (kāl) give to the warnings of [bhakti-poets such as Kabīr] a tragic intensity….“52

Kabīr, for a little bit of life people make a grand display. Yet they all stand on the same road. Be they sultan, prince or tramp! [KG, sākhī 15.43] Kabīr, do not pride yourself. kāl holds you by the hair. Who knows where he will strike you? Whether at home or abroad? [KG, sākhī, 15:44] Today or tomorrow or in five days you will rest in the jungle. Cattle will stray over your head eating the grass (indifferently). [K.G,sākhī, 15.67]53

According to Bhīmasvāmī On the other hand, the sants can also have great humor Śirgāvkar, Ekanāth decid- with regard to deaths as in the hagiographical account ed one day to depart this of the death of Śrī Sant Ekanāth by the Rāmdāsī hagi- world of mortals and enter ographer Bhīmasvāmī Śirgāvkar (d. 1797). According to samādhi forever. He went to Bhīmasvāmī Śirgāvkar, Ekanāth decided one day to depart the banks of the Godāvarī, this world of mortals and enter samādhi forever. He went sat down in meditation, and to the banks of the Godāvarī, sat down in meditation, and soon reached samādhi. soon reached samādhi. Hearing of this, his disciples were alarmed and hurried to their beloved guru:

52 Vaudeville, Charlotte, “Sant Mat: Santism as the Universal Path to Sanctity”, in: Schomer, Karin, and McLeod, W. H. (eds.), The Sants. Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India, New Delhi [Motilal Banarsidas], 1987, p. 26. 53 Ibid.

10 A Note on Death and the Holy Man in South Asia

Svāmī! An evil person on the way told us that you had died! The svāmī spoke: “Who has died?”, they (i.e. the people) ask. But who knows the deathless Knower [the ātman]?’ When they had made their obeisance, Ekanāth departed in truth.54

Bhīmasvāmī Śirgāvkar’s version of Ekanāth’s death is perhaps more in keeping with the humor and self-effacement that characterizes the ocean of literature that Ekanāth wrote than the larger-than-life portrayal of ecstatic Vaiṣṇava piety by his contemporary, the Vārkarī-saṃpradāya hagiographer Mahīpatibūvā Tāharābādkar (1715―90), whose Bhakta-Līlāmṛta (1774) is the textual source of popular renditions of Ekanāth’s death, such as in the Amar-Citra-Kathā comic books.

Though Ekanāth, like most bhakti-sants, left behind no Ekanāth, in the person of tomb or mortal remains, devotees none-the-less seek his descendant, who stands to purify themselves by touching the pillar in his house on the veranda of the sec- on which he is said to have leaned while writing, or his ond storey of the temple, pādukās (sacred marble replicas of his feet) when they then strikes the bundle with are carried in a palanquin in a procession through Paiṭhaṇ a stick, while as many devo- (nagara-pradakṣiṇā) during his death-anniversary cel- tees as can find a place un- ebrations (puṇya-tithi). Even more striking is the worship derneath the tīḷgūḷ scramble of Ekanāth in the person of a descendant, a young man to get some piece of the who is thought to resemble his saintly ancestor, who, prasād that falls in all direc- during the celebrations of Ekanāth-saṣṭhi, dresses like tions among the multitude. Ekanāth and walks in a festive procession from the saint’s house to the Ekanāth-mandir. All along the way devotees attempt to touch his feet, while police and community volunteers attempt to prevent them by forming a protective circle around him. The most conspicuous example of the belief in the material transfer of divine power takes place on the seventh and final day of the Ekanāth-ṣaṣṭhī, on Phālgun vādya eighth55 and is called dahīhaṇḍī (the vessel of curds’, or ‘balls of rice and curds’) or kālā (‘the termination’). The custom as it is practiced today involves a large bundle of balls of sesame seeds and jaggery (tīḷgūḷ) that is suspended in the air from the veranda of the sec- ond story of the Ekanāth mandir. Ekanāth, in the person of his descendant, who stands on the veranda of the second storey of the temple, then strikes the bundle with a stick, while as many devotees as can find a place underneath thetīḷgūḷ scramble to get some piece of the prasād that falls in all directions among the multitude. For many devotees, Ekanāth manifests himself every year on his death anniversary in the person of his descendant, who is thus a living proof of the saint’s victory over death.

One of the most frequently used metaphors describing the physical death and subsequent life of a Muslim saint is ’to go behind the curtain’ or ‘sit behind the curtain’. At āstāna or shrines where the gādī (teaching chair or cushion) of the saint forms the focal points of

54 Svāmī tvahī melā mhaņun vāṭesī dușṭāneṃ ahmāsī nīvedīleṃ. Svāmī mhaņeṃ koņī meleṃ hī mhaņatī. Amara jāņatī ̄jnānī koņī. Nāthāsī namana karonī…. [illegible word] taya kale Nātha gele satya. From Bhīmasvāmī-Śirgāvkar-kŗta Bhaktalīlāmŗta. Ekanātha-caritra, 40.11―13. 55 The eighth day of the dark half of the lunar month Phālgun (March―April).

11 Well Articulated Better Paths devotion, as at the āstānaye Biyābānī in Puṇe, a curtain is drawn between the mundane world and the sphere of the saint at all times except the five times of daily prayer and -dur ing religious observances. When the curtain is drawn devotees may go behind the curtain to pray, sit and talk to the pīr. Food, drink, pān, flowers, incense, and fine silk cloths are -of fered to the pīr sitting behind the curtain, and it is believed that he eats, drinks and enjoys such offerings. As in the dargāh, so also in the āstāna, etiquette taken from the Mughal court is observed with regard to the gādī.

Love of God and love of man are at the heart of Sufism. Through the love of God or ishq the Sufi kills all that within himself that is not God. His khūdī or empirical individuality is merged completely with the Will of Khudā, that is, God, Allāh, The Divine. Thus he dies before his death. At the moment of his death as an individual he gains a new life in the ex- perience of the Divine Unity [at-Tawḥīd]. The material analogy to this is the physical death of his body, and the new life he is given as the pīr who has ‘gone behind the curtain.’ The insight into the esoteric meaning of dying before one’s death as expressed in a verse from Šayḫ Ahmad of Jam (d. Muharram 536/August 1141) sent the great ČištiŠayḫ Quṭb-ud-Dīn Bakhtiyār-i-Kākī into ecstasy for five days and nights before his physical death on 14 Rabi I, 633/27 November 1235:

The martyrs of the knife of taslīm (surrender) each moment get a new life from the Unseen World.56

Each time Quṭb-ud-Dīn returned to mundane consciousness the verse was repeated by the qawwāls, and he was again sent into divine ecstasy until, at the end of five days and nights, he departed his physical body forever.

The certainty of the victory over death infuses later Sufism with indomitable optimism. We would be hard pressed to find a more inspiring expression of hope for mankind than the following verses universally (but perhaps spuriously) attributed to Jalāl ud Dīn Rūmī, in which the dargāh is conceived to be a place at which both death and social differences are transcended:

Come, come! Whatever you are, it doesn’t matter. Whether you are a Kafir, an idolater, or a fire-worshipper. Come, our dargāh is not a place of despair! Come, even if you have broken your vows a hundred times, come yet again! Come!

56 kuštagān-i khanjur-i taslīm rā har zamān āz ġāyb jān-i dīgar āst; quoted by Hasan Sijzī Dihlawī (died. 1328) in the Fawai’du’l Fu’ad, pp. 159f; quoted by Rizvi, Sayid Athar Abbas, A History of Sufism in India, vol. 1, Delhi [Munshiram Manoharlal] 1978, p. 137; quoted by Ernst, Carl W., and Lawrence, Bruce B., in: Sufi Martyrs of Love. The Chisti Order in South Asia and Beyond, New York [Palgrave Macmillan], 2002, p. 16; quoted by Annemarie Schimmel 1990, p. 227.

12 HINDU-MUSLIM RELIGIOUS SYNCRETISM IN THE FOLK LITERATURE OF THE DECCAN57

nlike the orthodox forms of Islam, Sufism adapted itself quickly to the Indian way of life. From the 12th century onwards Sufis became increasingly involved both in the Ureligious life and in the personal problems of Indians from all walks of life. World- ly people sought help from Sufis for their worldly problems; spiritually inclined people sought the guidance of Sufis for their spiritual problems. The attachment that many In- dians felt for a famous šayḫ during his lifetime was transferred to the dargāh of the šayḫ after his death. Visiting his dargāh (ziyārat) was often seen as having even more spiritual benefit than performing thehajj .58 The attraction of the spiritual power of a greatšayḫ or of his dargāh was by no means limited to Muslim devotees, but was felt by Hindus and Indians as well.

57 First published in: Brückner, Heidrun, Lutze, Lothar, and Malik, Aditya (eds.), Flags of Fame: Studies in the Folk Culture of South Asia, New Delhi [Manohar], 1993, pp. 445―467. 58 With regard to the great importance of ziyārat for Indian Sufis Muhammad Mujeeb ob- serves: “Even a ṣūfī so careful of his words and acts as Shaikh Niẓāmuddīn declared that the murīd who just said his prayers five times a day and repeated some waẓīfah (litany) for a while, but had absolute faith in his pīr and was intensely devoted to him, was better than the murīd who spent his time in prayer, fasting and the repetition of litanies and who- per formed the hajj, but was wanting in faith and devotion to his pīr (Mujeeb quotes here from the Fawā’id al-Fuwād of Amīr Hasan Sijzī). ‘He (Shaikh Niẓāmuddīn) said, “After the death of Shaikh al-Islām Farīduddīn, I had a strong desire to go for the Great Hajj. I said to myself, ‘Let me go to Ajodhān for a pilgrimage to the shaikh’. When I had accomplished the pilgrimage (to the tomb of) Shaikh al-Islām, my desire was fulfilled, with something added on. Again I had the same desire, and my need was fulfilled”. (Mujeeb, Muhammad,The Indian Muslims, London [George Allen and Unwin], 1967, p. 126).

13 Well Articulated Better Paths

In this connection we need to distinguish between attitudes of “orthodox Ṣūfīs”,59 who re- mained aloof from and often mistrusted non-Muslims and the open-minded liberalism of Sufis like Šayḫ Farīduddin Šakarganj, Šayḫ Niẓāmuddīn Awliyā, and Šayḫ Nasīruddīn Čirāġ- i-Delhī, whose missionary efforts were characterized by the “...appraisal, assimilation, or rejection of the spiritual and moral values of Hinduism. Visits of yogīs are mentioned in accounts Šayḫ Farīduddīn and Šayḫ Niẓāmuddīn. The latter, in particular, had a very open mind. He believed, apparently, that the acceptance of Islām by the Hindus should be a by-product of the spiritual endeavor and self-discipline of the Muslims, and one occasion he definitely refused to say anything to induce the brother of a convert to accept Islām. We do not know whether Šayḫ Niẓāmuddīn studied the principles or the practice of yoga or Hindu metaphysics. Šayḫ Nasīruddīn may have studied them. He refers to siddhas, the gurus of the yōgīs, who take a fixed number of breaths; he says that the ṣūfī must keep an eye on his breathing, and must be able to hold his breath in order to concentrate…”60

For their liberal-mindedness and for their efforts to bring Hindus and Muslims closer, Šayḫ Niẓāmuddīn and Šayḫ Nasīruddīn are also remembered in the folk literature of the Dec- can. According to a popular tradition of the Nāgeś-saṃpradāya, Šayḫ Nasīruddīn even travelled from Delhi to the Deccan for the sake of a Hindu devotee. This popular tradition forms the basis of a Marāṭhī pamphlet with the title “Alakhaniraṅjana”, which was pub- lished in Pune in 1981 by Śekh Abdul Rajhākśāh Ismā’īl Biyābānī, a retired police officer and šayḫ of the Biyābānī-Rifā’ī-Qādirī-silsila. Biyābānī’s chief aim in compiling the several sources of the folk tale of Nasīruddīn and Hegras-svāmī and publishing them in a Marāṭhī For their liberal-mindedness pamphlet is to bring Hindus and Muslims closer by making and for their efforts to bring them aware of the roots they share in the religious and Hindus and Muslims closer, cultural history of Deccan. Although Biyābānī’s attempt Šayḫ Niẓāmuddīn and Šayḫ and to trace the origins of several bhakti movements in Nasīruddīn are also remem- the Deccan back to Šayḫ Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i-Delhī may bered in the folk literature not be historically correct, the examples he presents of of the Deccan. According to Hindu-Muslim popular traditions about Šayḫ Nasīruddīn a popular tradition of the Čirāġ-i-Delhī and his Hindu devotee Hegras-svāmī provide Nāgeś-saṃpradāya, Šayḫ valuable insights into Hindu-Muslim religious syncretism Nasīruddīn even travelled – especially with regard to the attraction felt by non-Mus- from Delhi to the Deccan for lims for a great šayḫ. the sake of a Hindu devotee. The story in its present printed form consists of a frag- ment from an anonymous Urdū manuscript (which has since been lost), scattered excerpts from several medieval Marāṭhī and Persian sources, an excerpt from an old copy of a Marāṭhī pamphlet of the Nāgeś-sampradāya known as “Saṃkaṭ-haraṇī” (the remover of calamities’) and of Śekh Biyābānī’s own account of

59 Ahmad, 1964, p. 131. With regard to the Sufis, of medieval īB jāpūr, Richard Maxwell Ea- ton distinguishes between “rustic Literati” and “urban Reformer” Sufis, the former having contacts with non-Muslims, and the latter refraining from such contacts. (Eaton 1978, pp. 132f.). 60 Mujeeb, 1967, p. 165.

14 Hindu-Muslim Religious Syncretism in the Folk Literature of the Deccan witnessing a divine confirmation of the truth of the story. Śekh Biyābānī’s narrative com- bines elements of oral tradition with hagiographical accounts of lives of bhakti saints of Mahārāṣṭra:

“Śrī Najhīrśāh was originally from Wāī, in District Sātārā. As a resident of Puṇe he lived for many years in the old Modīkhānā. And in 1948 he went to “Śrī Najhīrśāh was originally Pakistan. In his possession there was an Urdu manuscript, from Wāī, in District Sātārā. which he took with him to Pakistan. (Here is) some infor- As a resident of Puṇe he lived mation contained in that manuscript: ‘Khvājā Nasiruddin for many years in the old (sic)61 Cirāg Delhī (‘the Lamp of Delhī’), who was of the Modīkhānā. And in 1948 he family of Hajrat Umar – May Allāh be merciful unto him! went to Pakistan. In his pos- —, who was the kaliphā of the most, revered Muḥammad session there was an Urdu Paigaṃbar—May peace be upon him!—, after obtaining manuscript, which he took the condition of spiritual perfection (pūrna-avasthā) from with him to Pakistan. (Here Khvājā Nijāmuddīn Avaliyā on 17 Rabīūl Ākhir in the Hijra is) some information con- year 725 (1347 A.D.), received an order to have his gādī tained in that manuscript: moved immediately and travel to the south, and in the ‘Khvājā Nasiruddin (sic) Cirāg name of the Caitanya-saṃpradāya (cistiyā) [sic] spread Delhī (‘the Lamp of Delhī’), monotheism (ekeśvarī vād) and spiritual knowledge who was of the family of (adhyātma) of the dharma of Islām among the Hindus, Hajrat Umar – May Allāh and bring Hindus and Muslims near (to one another). be merciful unto him! —, The sadguru-paramparā of this Caitanya-sampradāya who was the kaliphā of the has been given below. It has been taken from the books most, revered Muḥammad Haśyeba-hasyata, Nāgeśa-līlāmṛta, and Tajakeratula- Paigaṃbar—May peace be avaliyā.62 Detailed information will be obtained from upon him! these books. In addition, one might even examine an old Gazetteerof the Solāpūr District:

1) Khvājā Nasīruddīn Cirāg Dehlī alias Ādināth alias Nāgnāth, 2) Macchindranāth, 3) Gorakhnāth, 4) Gahinīnāth, 5) Nivṛttināth, 6) Jñāneśvar; 7) Sopan, 8) Muktabāī, 9) Visobā Khecar, 10) Yogirāj Cāṅgdev, 11) Nāmdev Śiṃpī.

61 As a rule Biyābānī writes the name “Nasiruddin” in his Marāṭhī publication instead of the more widely accepted “Nasīruddīn”. For the remainder of the present paper we have used “Nasīruddīn” and “Nijāmuddīn” for the sake of uniformity. Otherwise, the transliteration of proper names and titles follows the Marāṭhī text, e.g. “Husenī” instead of the more widely accepted “Hussainī”. 62 Haśyeba-hasyata and Tajakeratula-avaliyā were not accessible to me.

15 Well Articulated Better Paths

II. The Garland of the Disciples of the Vārkarī-Saṃpradāya From Khvājā Nasīruddīn Cirāg Delhī alias Nāgnāth Śivyogī there evolve three branches of succession: Branch A: 1) Rāghav Caitanya, i.e. Allāhuddīn Māśāyakh, Āḷandī, 2) Bhak- ta Mujumdār, Junnar, 3) Siddhaliṅg, Āḷandī; Branch B: 1) Keśav Caitanya, i.e. Khvājā Bandenavāz, Gulbarga, 2) Navkoṭ Nārāyaṇ, Kalburge;63 Branch C: 1) Bābājī Caitanya, i.e. Śāhabuddīn Bābā, Mānyahāḷ, 2) Sant Tukārām, Dehu.

III. The Garland of Disciples of the Liṅgāyat-panth From Hajrat Kamāluddīn Ālama Prabhū there evolve four branches of succession: Branch A: 1) Hiṃmant Svāmī, Muḷgund; Branch B: 1) Siddheśvar Siddharāmeśvar, Solāpūr, 2) Bhakta Basaveśvar Kalyāṇ Moglāī, 3) Canna Basaveśvar, 4) Tresaṣṭh Purāṇ; Branch C: 1) Aminuddīn, Vijāpūr (Bījāpūr), 2) Phakīrsvāmī Sirhaṭṭī, Dhārvāḍ, 3) Maḷī Prabhū Muḷgund, Dhārvāḍ; Branch D: 1) Rāmaliṅg Āḷte, Kolhāpūr.

IV. The Garland of Bhaktas of Khvājā Śekh ‘Nasīruddīn Alias Nāgnāth 1) Datta Caitanya Siddha, Vaḍvaḷ, 2) Rāmbhaṭ, Mahgāv, 3) Raghunāth Khillārī, Moglāī, 4) Timaṇṇā Dhangar, Indūr, 5) Kṛṣṇabāī, Hirve, 6) Ekaliṅg Telī, Manūr [i.e. Mānūr, Dt. Bīḍ or Dt. Solāpūr?], 7) Hegrasvāmī Yogīrāj, Mohoḷ, whose disciples were: (1) Ajñānsiddha, Narade [Narenda], (Dt.) Kolhāpūr, (2) Narendra Siddha Phulārī, Vaḍvaḷ, and (3) Siddhaliṅg, the son of Bhakta Majumdār, the pujārī of Mohoḷ, 8) Varadammā alias Varad Basavaṇṇa, Mānūr, 9) Badakavvā, Mārḍī, 10) Narasiṃha alias Balarām, Āpegāv, 11) Bahiram Bhaṭ, Paiṭhaṇ.64

63 “Kalburge” is probably a misprint for Gulbarga. 64 The story of Bahiram Bhaṭ alias Bahirā Pisā (‘Mad Bahirā”), his conversion to Islām, his rein- statement as a Brahmin, his confusion concerning his true nature, and his ultimate libera- tion from doubt through the encounter with the sadguru Nāgnāth is told in at least three caritre in Old Marāṭhī: 1) in the Hegras-caritra of Ajñānasiddha (14th or 16th century; for a brief discussion of the dating of Ajñānasiddha see Tulpule , S. G., Classical Marāṭhī Litera- ture: From the Beginnings to 1818, Wiesbaden [Otto Harrassowitz], 1979, p. 371; 2) in the Bahirambhaṭ-caritra of Uddhavacidgana (17th century); 3) in the more lengthy narration of Mahīpati (18th century) in the Bhakta-vijaya, 44.8―44.85. For a brief discussion of the three versions of the story see my article “Vaiṣṇava Perceptions of Muslims in 18th century Maha- rashtra”, infra, pp. 53-64.

16 Hindu-Muslim Religious Syncretism in the Folk Literature of the Deccan

A manuscript copy of the book Nāgeś-Līlāmṛta is the possession of Śrī (Bhāskarpant) Deśpaṇḍe’s family in Mohoḷ. A copy of it must be with Dr. Śrī Yu. Em. Paṭhāṇ, Head of the Marāṭhī Section, Auraṅgābād University (i.e. Marāṭhvāḍā University). He has published a book in Marāṭhī with the title Nāgeś-saṃpradāya through the Auraṅgābād University.65

Śrī Va. Sī. Bendre has written the Marāṭhī bookTukārām-Mahārājāṃcī-guruparamparā .66 In this book the following information has been given on page 49: ‘Information on the sants and sādhus in the Nāgnāth-saṃpradāya is available in the Nāgeś-Līlāmṛta. The parts therein that are relevant to the subject under discussion are these: “Nāgeś-avatār” and “Caitanya-traya” (‘the Caitanya-trio’). In the eight chapter of the third book the legend of the Nāgeś-avatār begins. Information about where and when thisavatār originated is not given. However, while narrating the wonders of the avatār the author writes:

Like that our svadharma (specific duties proper to one’s birth group) will be different. But the highest serenity (uttama virāma) is only in one place. Thus the nature of the Self (svarūpa) has been shown. Known ye that the very one the Hindus call “Nāgeś” is Nasīruddīn for the yavanas (i.e. the Muslims). Verily, they say this name is hidden (i.e. Nasīruddīn). The cobras [bhujaṅg, i.e. his disciples in the Nāgeś-saṃpradāya] use the other one (i.e. “Nāgeś”, ‘Lord of the Snakes’). (8.76-80)67

Nāgnāth alias Ādināth – that was Nasīruddīn Cirāg Delhī. Hegras-svāmī, a resident of Mohoḷ in district Solāpūr, was his disciple. Hegras-svāmī has a big temple. The booklet “Saṃkaṭ-haraṇī” was written by him.68 I obtained an old copy of it in 1952. Therein, in the final ślok (here: generic term for a verse), it is clearly mentioned that Nasīr Cirāg Dillī— May Allāh be merciful unto him!—came from Dillī for the One day the goddess told sake of Hegras-svāmī. And he himself is Nāgnāth alias Hegras-svāmī to close his Adināth. Someone took this booklet from me to read, eyes and open them again. but did not return it. A certain goddess was pleased with When he closed his eyes and Hegras-svāmī. For many days he stubbornly persisted (in opened them, he had a vision praying) to her: ‘Let me meet a sadguru!’ One day the that he was standing on the goddess told Hegras-svāmī to close his eyes and open bank of a certain river, while them again. When he closed his eyes and opened them, Khvājā Nasīruddīn Cirāg Delhī he had a vision that he was standing on the bank of a cer- (was standing on the other) tain river, while Khvājā Nasīruddīn Cirāg Delhī (was stand- bank of the river and calling ing on the other) bank of the river and calling to him. He to him. ordered Hegras-svāmī to return (to the Deccan) and said:

65 Paṭhāṇa, Yusufakhāna Mahaṃmadakhāna, Nāgeśa-saṃpradāya, Auraṅgābād, 1963. 66 Bendre, Vāsudeva Sītārāmā, Tukārāmācī-guruparamparā, Muṃbāī, 1960. 67 These ovī-s can be found in the eight adhyāya, verses 76f., of the Nāgeśa-līlāmṛta edited by Śivājīrāva Śadāśivarāva Śeṭe Kolhāpūrkar in Kolhāpūr in śake 1900 (A.D. 1978). 68 Here Śekh Biyābānī apparently confuses Hegras-svāmī with Ajñānasiddha, Hegras’s grand- son through his daughter Ahalya, who is considered to be the author of the Saṃkaṭ-haraṇī.

17 Well Articulated Better Paths

‘I shall come to the South for your sake!’69 According to this vision, Khvājā Nasīruddīn Cirāg Delhī came to the South on the order of his sadguru Nijāmuddīn Avaliyā Dehlī, together with Khvājā Bandenavāz Gesūdarāz (who is known to the Hindus as Keśav Caitanya) and many other avaliyā (literally: ‘friends of God’, i.e. saints). Many pīrs took up residence in Daulatābād. Among them was a certain pīr sāheb Khvājā Śekh Salāuddīn Cistī, who to- gether with his disciples came to the Kasbā Peṭh in Puṇe and settled there.

Once Hegras-svāmī decided While doing his “Nāgeś-līla” (his divine sport as “Nāgeś”, to offer food to his (Brah- ‘the Lord of the Snakes’), Nasīr Cirāg Dehlī came to 70 min) ancestors. Accordingly, Vaḍvaḷ. (The palanquin in which he had travelled all the plans were made and has been placed inside the precincts of the dargāh of 71 everyone was invited to dine Bandenavāz Gesūdarāz). Mohoḷ is four miles from there. (together). But all the Hindus He saved Hegras-svāmī (from his entanglement in wordly in Mohoḷ decided that they life) (tyāṃnī Hegras Svāmī uddhārile). Once Hegras-svāmī should not go to this (inter- decided to offer food to his (Brahmin) ancestors. Accord- communal) dining; the rea- ingly, all the plans were made and everyone was invited sons was that Hegras-svāmī to dine (together). But all the Hindus in Mohoḷ decided was keeping company with that they should not go to this (inter-communal) dining; Musalmān-phakīrs, etc. the reasons was that Hegras-svāmī was keeping compa- ny with Musalmān-phakīrs, etc.72 Hegras-svāmī went to Vaḍvaḷ and gave this news to Nasīr Cirāg Dehlī. Then Nasīr Cirāg Dehlī alias Nāgnāth him-

69 It is striking that even today Delhī is mentioned by the devotees of theNāgnāth-saṃpradāya as one of their seven devasthān, the remaining six being Mānūr (Dt. Bīḍ or Dt. Solāpūr?), Narenda (Dt. Kolhāpūr), Degāv (Dt. Solāpūr), Mārḍī (Dt. Solāpūr), Vaḍvaḷ (Dt. Solāpūr), and Mohoḷ (Dt. Solāpūr). Whereas at the six other devasthān a specific Nāgnāth temple is the focal point of the cult, in Delhī no certain temple or holy place is mentioned. I was told that this is because in the six centuries since the time of Hegras-svāmī, devotees seldom visited this devasthān, it being situated a great distance from Deccan. Thus, in the course of time, the exact location of Nāgnāth’s manifestation in Delhī was forgotten. 70 The place name “Vaḍvaḷ” is sometimes given as“Vaḍvāḷ” . For the sake of uniformity, I have used the form Vaḍvaḷ throughout this paper. 71 I am grateful to Sayyid Shah Khusro Hussaini of Gulbarga, a descendant of Hazrat Banda Nawāz Gīsūdirāz, for informing me that, according to family records, the palanquin of Nasīr ud-Dīn Cirāġ Dehlī was given to Gīsūdirāz by Šayḫ Nasīr ud-Dīn as tabarūk (a gift of divine grace). The palanquin was then brought to Gulbarga by Gīsūdirāz when, at the age of eighty, he came to the Deccan for the second time in 1402 (his first visit to the Deccan was in 1326 when he and his father together with hundreds of other important Delhi Sufis were exiled to Daulatābād at the orders of Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlug). According to the records of the Hussaini family, Šayḫ Nasīruddīn Cirāġ Dehlī, Hazrat Bandenawāz’s pīr, never visited the Deccan. Dr. Carl Ernst suggested that the story of Nasīruddīn Cirāġ Dehlī coming to Mohoḷ might be a version of the story of the Sufis being expelled from Dehli and sent to Daulatābād in 1326 at the order of Muhammad bin Tughlug (personal communication of 2 March 1990). 72 At this point the various versions of the story diverge: Śekh Biyābānī’s narration then fol- lows the sākhī of Ajñānasiddha, while S. N. and V. S. Moholkar’s pamphlet simply states that Nāgnāth then came to Mohoḷ and rescued Hegras-svāmī.

18 Hindu-Muslim Religious Syncretism in the Folk Literature of the Deccan self came to Mohoḷ. And on a nearby hillock73 he directed that the leaf-plates (patrāvaḷī) of all the (villagers’) ancestors be laid out by name. The villagers watched these proceedings from a distance. Just when the leaf-plates had been laid out, all those ancestors in whose names the leaf-plates had been laid out themselves came down from heaven and began tasting the food. Seeing this wonder, the villagers were confounded (stimit).74

Khvājā Nasīruddīn Cirāg Dehlī was himself a great sadguru ‘Allāh (s.w.t.) is One’– this in the tradition of the Cistī-pīrs. He is the very one whom was the message he gave. they call Nāgnāth alias Ādināth. The very spot on which Allāh is pure (pāk) and flaw- the mūrtī stands in the temple at Vaḍvaḷ is the place (he less (be aib hai) – just this was used) for sitting (in meditation) (cilla). This very Cistī- his teaching. ‘Allah (s.w.t.) is saṃpradāya [sic] is the Caitanya-saṃpradāya. Through One’ (Allāh ek āhe) – the cor- this saṃpradāya he brought pious Hindus to their basic rupted form (apabhraṃśa) doctrine of monotheism (ekeśvarī vād), and from that of this became “alakh”. And the Vārkarī-saṃpradāya came into being. ‘Allāh (s.w.t.) is “pāk aur be aib hai”- as the One’– this was the message he gave. Allāh is pure (pāk) sense of this was “nirañjan” and flawless (be aib hai) – just this was his teaching. Al- the adherents of the Nāth- lah (s.w.t.) is One’ (Allāh ek āhe) – the corrupted form panth began giving the spiri- (apabhraṃśa) of this became “alakh”. And “pāk aur be tual instruction “alakhnirañ- aib hai”- as the sense of this was “nirañjan” the adher- jan”. ents of the Nāth-panth began giving the spiritual instruc- tion “alakhnirañjan”.

73 The hillock in question is known as “vimān-ṭekaḍī”. A small temple to Śiva as “Uttareśvar” (‘the Lord of the North’) stands on the summit of the hill. The liṅga in the garbha-gṛha forms the focal point of worship. Outside the temple, there is a beautiful hero-stone inlaid in the northern temple wall. It is striking that the villagers freely speak to this hillock as the place to which Šayḫ Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i-Delhī came to help Hegras. We were shown a Muslim grave covered with a green cloth that was said to be the grave of “Śekh Nasīruddīn Bādśāh kī Has- tinapur” (the ancient name of Delhi). We were also told that Šayḫ Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i-Delhī and Nāgnāth were one and the same person. This view is also shared by the devotees of Nāgnāth at the samādhi of Ajñānasiddha, Hegras-svāmi’s grandson, in the village of Narenda in District Kolhāpūr. At Narenda it is especially striking that the devotees wash themselves at a water tank in the Muslim fashion before entering the samādhi. In the samādhi itself both the kalimā (profession of faith in Islām) and the fātehā (the opening sūrah of the Qur’ān) are recited before devotees proceed to the underground samādhi where they receive darśan of the svarūp of Ajñānasiddha. The samādhi consists of a small chamber, built upon a heap of stones approximately two meters in height, in which the pādukā of Ajñānasiddha are kept, and of the underground chamber mentioned above, which bears a striking resemblance to a Muslim grave. The shrine itself also faces the west, the direction of Mecca in relation to the Deccan, which is unusual for Śaivite shrines. 74 A similar story is told by Śrī Sant Ekanāth’s hagiographer, Mahīpati. By feeding three hungry fakirs in his house, Ekanāth enraged the orthodox Brahmins of Pratiṣṭhān to the point that they threatened to throw him out of their caste unless his heavenly ancestors came down from heaven and ate from the leaf-plates laid out for them. Thereupon, Ekanāth called his heavenly ancestors to come down from heaven, and they appeared shining with divine lus- ter. The intense luster of Ekanāth’s heavenly ancestors blinded the Brahmins and forced them to hide their heads between their knees in shame. See Abbott, 1927, pp. 86–91.

19 Well Articulated Better Paths

In 1947―1948 I myself went to the temple of Nāgnāth alias Ādināth in Vaḍvaḷ. In this temple there is a brass mūrtī of Ādināth. Standing in front of the mūrtī, I said in my heart of hearts (manātlyā manāt mhaṇālā): ‘If you give some sign that Khvājā Nasīruddīn Cirāg Delhī really was at this place, then I shall recite the phātehā (al-fātiḥa, the opening sūrah of the Qur’ān).’ Instantly a wonder occurred. I saw a beard on the brass mūrtī. The hair on my whole body stood on end and I trembled. Immediately, I recited the phātehā, offered my namaskār, and turned back.

Every year in Vaḍvaḷ a big yātrā is held for (Nāg)nāth.75 I have heard that if, when lifting Nāth’s palanquin at this time (the people) don’t give a shout “Yaroddīn is the friend of Nasir Cirāg!”(Nasir Cirāg kī dostī Yaroddīn), the palanquin cannot be lifted.76 I have not yet had the opportunity of going there and seeing for myself…”

I have not succeeded in obtaining a copy of the edition of the Saṃkaṭ-haraṇī mentioned above by Śekh Biyābānī, which was published in Solāpūr around 1950. However, in a re- cent edition of the Saṃkaṭ-haraṇī the story of Hegras-svāmī meeting his sadguru is told differently.

After propitiating the goddess Reṇukā by 16 forms of constant worship (ṣoḍaṣopacāre nitya pūjā), Hegras-svāmī receives darśan of Nāgnāth (Śiva). Nāgnāth then grants He- gras the following wish: the god will go with Hegras to Hegras agrees, and both set Mohoḷ if, on the way, Hegras does not look back to see out from Māhur to Mohoḷ. if Nāgnāth is following him. Hegras agrees, and both set But Hegras cannot resist the out from Māhur to Mohoḷ. But Hegras cannot resist the temptation of looking back temptation of looking back to see if Nāgnāth is still be- to see if Nāgnāth is still be- hind him. Thus, at Mānūr, in District Solāpūr (or Dt. Bīḍ?), hind him. Thus, at Mānūr, Hegras looks back, and Nāgnāth becomes a stone mūrtīat in District Solāpūr (or Dt. that very spot. Eventually, Nāgnāth manifests himself to Bīḍ?), Hegras looks back, and Hegras again at Mohoḷ and at Vaḍvaḷ in order to help his Nāgnāth becomes a stone devotee out of a difficult situation (as in Śekh Biyābānī’s mūrtīat that very spot. narration).

75 Though the yātrā of Nāgnāth takes place at Mohoḷ, the village of Vaḍvaḷ, some six kilometers distant, figures importantly in the festivities. The festival is mentioned in part ѴII.B of vol- ume 10 of the Census of India (1961), entitledFairs and Festivals of Maharashtra. A detailed description of the yātrā of Nāgnāth at Mohoḷ is given in the Gazetteer of District Sholapur published in Bombay 1977, pp. 872―878. 76 There is a slight difference of opinion regarding the exact wording of the shout. At Mohoḷ, I was told that the devotees shout: “Śekh Nasīruddīn bādśāh kī do cirā hor din Hara Hara!” At Vaḍvaḷ, however, devotees claim that the following shout is raised; “Śekh Nasiruddīn bādśāh ki do cirā hor din Śiv bolā Hara Hara Mahādev!” In both villages I was told that possession by Nāgnāth often occurs immediately after the shouting.

20 Hindu-Muslim Religious Syncretism in the Folk Literature of the Deccan

In the 1987 edition ofSaṃkaṭ-haraṇī there is no mention According to V. S. Mohoḷkar, of Šayḫ Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i-Delhī. Though mention is made a descendant of Hegras- of the difficulties Hegras had because of his association svāmī, a fakir by the name with fakirs in general, no fakir is mentioned by name in of “Nasīruddīn” may have 77 the narrative. According to V. S. Mohoḷkar, a descendant been associated with Hegras- of Hegras-svāmī, a fakir by the name of “Nasīruddīn” may svāmī, but as his guru-band- have been associated with Hegras-svāmī, but as his guru- hu (fellow disciple) and not as 78 bandhu (fellow disciple) and not as his guru. However in his guru. However in another another collection of the sākhī-s of Ajñānasiddha and of collection of the sākhī-s of another descendant of Hegras-svāmī, Siddhaliṅga-svāmī, Ajñānasiddha and of another that was published in Solāpūr around 1950 on behalf of descendant of Hegras-svāmī, the Nāgnāth-mandīr in Mohoḷ, Šayḫ Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i- Siddhalingasvāmī, that was Delhī figures importantly, his name being mentioned no published in Solāpūr around less than seven times. Moreover, in the story of the ha- 1950 on behalf of the rassment of Hegras by the orthodox Brahmins of Mohoḷ Nāgnāth-mandīr in Mohoḷ, because of his association with fakirs, Nāgnāth is referred Šayḫ Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i-Delhī to as “…baḍe karāmata vallī, siddha Nāganātha cirāka figures importantly, his name Dehalī” (‘the great wonder-[working] holy man, Siddha being mentioned no less Nāgnāth Cirāk Delhī’), thus identifying him with Šayḫ than seven times. Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i-Delhī.79

According to S. G. Tulpule, Ajñānasiddha lived not in the 14th but in the 16th century, which would make it impossible that his grandfather, Hegras-svāmī, actually met Šayḫ Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i-Delhī, who died in 1356. Though Tulpule mentions the “liberality” of the Nāgeś-saṃpradāya, and substantiates this by referring to Alam Khān, a Muslimbhak - ta of “Siddha-Nāgnāth”, he makes no mention of a tradition of the Nāgeś-saṃpradāya according to which Nāgnāth is identified with Šayḫ Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i-Delhī, nor that Šayḫ Nasīruddīn helped Hegras-svāmī in his difficulties with the orthodox Brahmins of Mohoḷ.80

Whatever the historical truth of the legend of Nāgnāth/Nasīruddīn/Hegras-svāmī may be, there can be no doubt that in the popular traditions surrounding these religious figures there arose a strong attraction to the great Šayḫ Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i-Delhī. Centuries later, in post-partition India, this devotion to the famous Čišti Šayḫ of Delhi became the source of a controversy within the Nāgeś-saṃpradāya concerning the authenticity of sacred tra- dition, a controversy that has continued up to the present time.

77 Ajñānasiddha, Saṃkaṭaharaṇī, edited by Śaṅkar Nānābuvā Mohoḷkar and V. S. Mohoḷkar, Solāpūr, 1987, pp. 7ff., 13, and 78f. 78 Interview in Solāpūr, 7th June 1990. 79 See sākhī number 15 of Ajñānasiddha in: Siddhaliṅga Viśvanātha Svāmī and Nāganātha Guṇḍubuvā Kuruḍe (eds.), Ānaṃda-laharī-va-sākyā, Solāpūr, no date given, circa 1950, p. 19. 80 Tulpule 1979, pp. 370f. and note 322.

21 Well Articulated Better Paths

For many years he lived at Setu Mādhavrāv Pagaḍī was a Marāṭhī-speaking Brah- Auraṅgābād, in Marāṭhvāḍa, min from Bidar. After completing his higher education a region in which Hindu- at Allāhābād and Banāras, he served as a gazetted -of Muslim religious syncretism ficial (sandī nokar) in the government of His Highness, was, and to some extent still the Nizām of Haiderābād. After 1948, he became an of- is, especially strong. Pagaḍī ficial in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). For many himself is a good example of years he lived at Auraṅgābād, in Marāṭhvāḍa, a region the cultural synthesis of the in which Hindu-Muslim religious syncretism was, and to Deccan: he is fluent in Urdū, some extent still is, especially strong. Pagaḍī himself is Persian, Hindī, Sanskrit, a good example of the cultural synthesis of the Deccan: Kannaḍa, Telugu, Marāṭhī, he is fluent in Urdū, Persian, Hindī, Sanskrit, Kannaḍa, and English. Telugu, Marāṭhī, and English. The style in which Pagaḍī writes Marāṭhī is well suited for describing Hindu-Mus- lim religious syncretism. Drawing freely on the rich stock of words of Arabic, Persian, or Hindustānī origin in Marāṭhī, he seldom requires a parenthetical explanation of the Urdū or Persian oral text. Moreover, through his intimate knowledge and obvious love of Deccanī culture Pagaḍī endows his Marāṭhī translation of Urdū dantakathā (oral tradi- tions) with great sensitivity towards the cultural nuances as the unique world and world- views of the characters involved.

The basis of the following English translation is Pagaḍī’sSūfī-saṃpradāya (Muṃbāi 1953), in which the author combines a short history of Sufism in India with Marāṭhī translations of the Urdu oral traditions of the Deccan. The book is intended as an introduction to the spiritual teachings of the Sufis and their missionary work in medieval India, especially in the Deccan. It is primarily intended for the non-Muslim Marāṭhī reading public.

Where Marāṭhī words of Arabic, Persian, or Hindustānī origin have been transliterated they have been placed in italics and marked with a *. As in the preceding translation Marāṭhī words have been transliterated according to their pronunciation:

Paiṭhaṇāṃcā Nijāmuddīn (‘Paiṭhaṇ’s Nijāmuddīn’) “Sayyad Ussādāt Sayyad Nijāmuddīn81 was originally from the Sistān region [of Iran].82 He was born at the end of the 14th century. His father’s name was Sayyad Mophamuddīn Idris. When he presented himself for admission to school he utterly astounded the schoolmas-

81 Sayyad Ussādāt Sayyad Nijāmuddīn is better known today in Paiṭhaṇ as “Maulanna Sāheb”. His dargāh is listed as one of the tourist attractions of Paiṭhaṇ on a sign displayed at the petrol pump on the Auraṅgābād road on the outskirts of Paiṭhaṇ. Numerous devotees of Kāniph Nāth of Maḍhi visit the dargāh in order to pay homage to Kāniph Nāth’s guru before proceeding to the temple of Kāniph Nāth at Maḍhi. 82 The parentheses and brackets in the following English translation of Pagaḍī’s Marāṭhī text are mine.

22 Hindu-Muslim Religious Syncretism in the Folk Literature of the Deccan ter by reciting and explaining the entire Kurāṇ (Qur’ān). The schoolmaster made a report of this to his father and said: ‘It seems this boy read the Kurāṇ even while in his mother’s womb.’ Nijāmuddīn began concentrating on his devotion to God from childhood on. He would always be reading the Kurāṇ. He would always say: ‘In the Hadīs (ḥadīth) – among the sādhana [means] of devotion to the Lord – reading the Kurāṇ has been recognized as the best of all.’ He himself would read the Kurāṇ continuously while standing.

After some time, Nijāmuddīn began to become famous among the people. His (fame) grew to such an extent that it began to be an obstacle in his daily life. Finally, he decided to leave his native land. Nijāmuddīn was an adept in the art of wrestling(mallavidyāpravīṇ). In order that people should not recognize his true nature, he made the exhibition of wres- tling skills his outward occupation. He would walk about with an arrow in one hand and a stone weight (vajanācā* dagaḍ) in the other hand. He would say, ‘I shall apprentice myself (spiritually) to the man who recognizes my inner nature.’

After leaving his native land, Nijāmuddīn wandered After leaving his native and wandered and (finally) came to Daulatābād. Sayy- land, Nijāmuddīn wandered ad Allāhuddīn Jiyā, a very famous Sufi, was residing at and wandered and (final- Daulatābād at that time. Nijāmuddīn went to his khānkā ly) came to Daulatābād. (hospice) and got down (from his horse). Then he gave Sayyad Allāhuddīn Jiyā, a a demonstration of his skill in wrestling. Allāhuddīn Jīyā very famous Sufi, was resid- discerned Nijāmuddīn’s inner nature and said to him: ‘But ing at Daulatābād at that Nijāmuddīn, you are a mumukṣu (one desiring liberation). time. Nijāmuddīn went to What’s the sense of wandering about aimlessly? You need his khānkā (hospice) and to increase your spiritual power (in contrast to the physical got down (from his horse). power of a wrestler)’. Upon hearing this, Nijāmuddīn took Then he gave a demon- refuge with Allāhuddīn Jiyā, and he received gurūpadeś stration of his skill in wres- 83 (spiritual instruction) from Allāhuddīn…” “… (One day, tling. Allāhuddīn Jīyā dis- many years later, when Allāhuddīn’s time of death was at cerned Nijāmuddīn’s inner hand) he summoned all his disciples and spoke: ‘My dis- nature and said to him: ciples are many, but the best of all is Sayyadussādāt (i.e. ‘But Nijāmuddīn, you are a ‘the best Sayyad’) Nijāmuddīn Idris al-Husenī. I ordain mumukṣu (one desiring lib- him as my kaliphā and put him in charge of (havālīṃ*) eration). promoting religion in the Paiṭhaṇ region. He should pro- ceed there and promote religion (dharma-pracār)…’84

The most famous of all of Nijāmuddīn’s (Sayyid as-Sādāt Niẓāmuddīn) disciples was Kāniph Nāth alias Śāh Ramjān. As it is generally known in Mahārāṣṭra that he was of the Nāth- saṃpradāya, the following information, which comes from an oral tradition of the Mus- lims, will be illuminating:

83 Pagaḍī 1953, pp. 87f. 84 Pagaḍī 1953, p. 89.

23 Well Articulated Better Paths

In the succession of events (in the life) of Nijāmuddīn Kāniph Nāth has a place of impor- tance. They say that he was the son of a king.

From childhood on, he had a passion for practicing yoga and obtaining siddhis. After achieving success in this, he began performing miracles even at his young age. Becoming invisible, flying through the sky – he began performing such miracles. So, after some days had passed (in this way), he began longing to reach God (īśvaraprāpti); and he began wan- dering about in search of guru. He made ready a palanquin and began to circle about in the sky. ‘I shall become the disciple of that man who strikes down my yogic power’ – such was the ‘memory-knot’ (khūṇgāṇṭha) that Kāniph Nāth tied for himself.

While wandering in this While wandering in this way by means of his palanquin, way by means of his pa- he once flew over Nijāmuddīn was washing his hands for lanquin, he once flew over prayer, and his disciple Śāh Tavvakul was pouring water Nijāmuddīn was washing his into his hands. He saw the flying palanquin. That his guru hands for prayer, and his dis- should be on the ground and some fellow should parade ciple Śāh Tavvakul was pour- about in the sky - Śāh Tavvakul did not like that. ‘Such ing water into his hands. He a man’s pride should be taken away’ – thus he made saw the flying palanquin. his humble petition to Nijāmuddīn. ‘We are phakīrs*. That his guru should be on What have we got to do with some other man?’ – thus the ground and some fellow Nijāmuddīn pacified his disciple. But Śāh Tavvakul did not should parade about in the give up his obstinacy (haṭṭa), and he persisted in press- sky - Śāh Tavvakul did not ing his guru: ‘That man’s palanquin should be made to like that. ‘Such a man’s pride descend!’ Finally, Nijāmuddīn threw his wooden shoes should be taken away’ – thus (khaḍāvā) into the air. And in the interval of time, in which he made his humble petition Nijāmuddīn’s shoes fell down, Kāniph Nāth’s palanquin to Nijāmuddīn. crashed down with a loud thud (dhāḍdiśī). While lying on the ground Kāniph Nāth assumed the form of a tiger and moved toward Nijāmuddīn. At that time Nijāmuddīn’s son, Sayyid Badruddīn was sitting next to him. Being irritated by him, the tiger tore open its jaws. Pacifying his son, he said: ‘That isn’t a tiger. It’s a man. It isn’t proper to harass him.’ And from that day on Badruddīn got the name ‘Whiskered Tiger’ (kalleśer*). At this point Nijāmuddīn cast some pebbles at the tiger. The instant that the pebbles fell upon the (tiger’s) body, Kāniph Nāth cast off the form of a tiger, appeared in a human body, and took refuge with Nijāmuddīn (śaraṇ ālā). In accordance with his wish, Nijāmuddīn gave him the dikṣā of Islām and named him “Śāh Ramjān” (i.e. Ramaḍān).

After some days, Śāh Ramjān made evident his wish of obtaining the guru’s teachings. ‘That will take a little time’ – said Nijāmuddīn. As it was Nijāmuddīn’s wish thatŚāh Ramjān’s ahaṃkāra concerning his siddhis and wonder-working (camatkār) should first be destroyed, he assigned him the work of serving the guru (guru-sevā). The first labour that he told Śāh Ramjān (to perform) was filling the large stone water-jar in the maṭh (i.e. Nijāmuddīn’s in Paiṭhaṇ). Nijāmuddīn gave him a rough earthen pitcher (ghaḍā) and

24 Hindu-Muslim Religious Syncretism in the Folk Literature of the Deccan assigned him the labour of fetching water and filling the rāñjaṇ. Śāh Ramjān thought: ‘What’s so difficult about filling the rāñjaṇ? ’ He picked up the earthen pitcher, put it on his head, and set out on the way to the river. They say that (at first) by power of hisyogbal (pschyo-kinetic yogic powers) he would carry the earthen pitcher (suspended) in the air one and a quarter hands above his head. But the more his yogbal began to diminish, the more the ghaḍā descended, until, in the end, it lay on the ground.

Even after many days, Śāh Ramjān’s labour of filling the rāñjaṇ was not completed. The reason was that the guru was making trial of his disciple. In the morning Śāh Ramjān would bring water from the river, and in the afternoon he would fetch wood from the jungle (jaṅgal). He was very adept at playing the flute (baṃsrī*). The snakes in the wil- derness would become stupefied (mugdha) by the sweet sound of his (music). Thus, it often occurred that Śāh Ramjān would catch the snakes that had become stupefied by the sound (of his flute), bind up his bundles of wood (with them) and take them to themaṭh of Nijāmuddīn. They say that even to this day snakes will not bite in the maṭh of Nijāmuddīn.

Seeing that Śāh Ramjān had got the grace of the guru, One day they petitioned Nijāmuddīn’s other disciples began to fume and chafe Nijāmuddīn: ‘The cow ‘Bholā’ (jaḷphaluṃ lāgle). Śāh Ramjān had a cow by the name of should be slaughtered and a ‘Bholā’ (‘guileless’). The eyes of the (other) disciples fell meal be made of her’ – that upon this (cow). One day they petitioned Nijāmuddīn: is our unanimous wish!’ At ‘The cow ‘Bholā’ should be slaughtered and a meal be first Nijāmuddīn did not give made of her’ – that is our unanimous wish!’ At first his consent in this matter. Nijāmuddīn did not give his consent in this matter. Finally Finally because of their ex- because of their excessive pressing, Nijāmuddīn consent- cessive pressing, Nijāmuddīn ed (kabūl* keleṃ) saying: ‘You can kill the cow. But there consented (kabūl* keleṃ) is one condition: you must bring the cow’s head, feet, and saying: ‘You can kill the cow. hide into the maṭh.’85 The disciples did accordingly. In the But there is one condition: evening, when Śāh Ramjān had fetched a bundle of wood you must bring the cow’s and was about to set foot in the maṭh, the other disciples head, feet, and hide into the ridiculed him viciously and said: ‘Today, on the guru’s maṭh. orders, we killed your cow and ate it!’ hearing this Śāh Ramjān felt very bad. Hanging his head, he went to Nijāmuddīn and sat down. Nijāmuddīn

85 Nizām ud-Dīn’s stipulation that “the cow’s head, hide, and hoofs” be brought into themaṭh bears a striking resemblance to the legend of Šayḫ Aḥmed of Ruh (Afghanistan), whose habit it was to slaughter daily 400 sheep for hungry wayfarers, then collect the animal’s bones, heads, and hides. When the shepherd from whose herd Šayḫ Aḥmed had taken the sheep for slaughter counted his sheep on the following morning, he invariably found his herd to be complete. Apparently, Šayḫ Aḥmed had revived the slaughtered sheep at night by manipulating their bones, heads, and hides in a supernatural way. The belief is wide- spread among the Dards and Afghans that the bones, heads, hides, hoofs, and skeleton of an animal (especially an animal slaughtered by a hunter) possess a supernatural power that can be activated to revive a slaughtered animal and thus insure the abundance of game and domestic animals (Müller-Strellrecht 1973, pp. 195―200, especially, p. 196).

25 Well Articulated Better Paths made out the reason for his disciple’s dejection and said: ‘Go, Śāh Ramjān, go outside and call your cow loudly.’ Śāh Ramjān went outside the maṭh, stood in the town square (this square is known in Paiṭhaṇ up to this day as ‘phakīr-cauk’), and shouted. ‘Śāh Ramjān is calling the dead cow. He’s really gone crazy!’ – in that manner the other disciples began talking among themselves. Then, what a wonder! In front of (everyone) the cow together with its calf came running! In this way Nijāmuddīn completely confounded (khajīl*) all his disciples.

In this manner Śāh Ramjān served his guru for twelve years. One day Śāh Ramjān was mas- saging his guru’s feet (pāy dābat* hotā). At that time the insects (living) on Śāh Ramjān’s head fell down (onto the ground). He picked them up and put them back onto his head. When the guru asked the reason (for this), Śāh Ramjān gave the following answer: ‘But these insects are creatures of God (īśvara) and their food is on my head. If you turn from this pillow onto that pillow, the insects under you will be crushed. So, I picked them up and put them (back) onto my head.’ The guru rejoiced at Śāh Ramjān’s answer. He said: ‘Go. Now my full grace (pūrṇa kṛpā) is upon you. Go. Bathe yourself, and return.’ After Śāh Ramjān had bathed and returned, the guru brought him near and placed his hand of beneficence (varada hasta) on his head. Because of this, the insects of Śāh Ramjān’s head were completely removed and, in addition, he received the complete teachings of the guru.

They say that one day Śāh Ramjān was late in coming to the maṭh. When asked the reason, he explained: Today is dasarā day, and Hindus by the thousands have taken up flagstaffs and banners and are walking about (phirat* hote). I was standing and watching that. Hear- ing this, Nijāmuddīn said: ‘If you like flagstaffs and banners, then in the future thousands will bring such flagstaffs to your place.’ Even to this day when performing the yātrā, flag- staffs (jheṇḍe*) and banners are brought to Śāh Ramjān’s, that is, Kāniph Nāth’s samādhi in Maḍhī (District Aḥmednagar). And it is believed that this is the fruit of Nijāmuddīn’s blessing.

One day (some time after he One day (some time after he had imparted his teachings had imparted his teachings to Śāh Ramjān), Nijāmuddīn said: ‘Ramjān, the light of a to Śāh Ramjān), Nijāmuddīn lamp (divī) cannot be seen in front of a torch (maśāl*). said: ‘Ramjān, the light of a Now you should no longer stay at Paiṭhaṇ, but should be lamp (divī) cannot be seen sent to another place (pāṭhavāve*) in order to promote in front of a torch (maśāl*). religion – that is my wish’ (dharmapracārā-karitāṃ).’ Hav- Now you should no longer ing said this, the guru gave Śāh Ramjān a staff (chaḍī*) stay at Paiṭhaṇ, but should and a large piece of cloth (rumāl*). And he said: ‘At the be sent to another place place, whither this cloth flies and falls, that region shall (pāṭhavāve*) in order to be yours for promoting religion.’ Śāh Ramjān said: ‘May promote religion – that is I spend my whole life toiling at your feet! – that is my my wish’ (dharmapracārā- wish! But you are driving me away from you!’ Nijāmuddīn karitāṃ). eased his mind and said: ‘The whole world is the jahāgīr* (proprietary estate) of a phakīr. A phakīr must be like wa-

26 Hindu-Muslim Religious Syncretism in the Folk Literature of the Deccan ter, which means that if his wish is (to flow) in this direction, then he should flow (away) in the other direction. If it is Parameśvara’s wish, then you should spread (religion) in another direction.’ Having most reverently understood the order of the guru, Śāh Ramjān let go of the cloth in the air and set out following it. The cloth flew and flew, and in the end, fell in the vicinity of Maḍhī. At this place there was a maṭh of a certain gosāvī. Having brought (the maṭh) under his control, he drove away the gosāvī and settled at this place.

After that, Śāh Ramjān would visit Nijāmuddīn. One day, when he arrived for his visit with the guru, the banks of the Godāvarī were overflowing. Śāh Ramjān was distressed about how to reach the farther bank. Then a big fish came forth from the river. He cast his eyes upon the fish (najar* paḍūn) and commanded it. And riding upon its back, he reached the farther bank of the river. From that day on he got the name Māhīsavār* (‘who rides a fish’), that is, Matsyarohī (‘he who is mounted upon a fish’).86

Śāh Ramjān lived to a ripe old age. He lived at Maḍhī for sādhu, 87 How this who ad- fifty years and received death (mṛtyu pāvlā) toward the Islām-dharma th opted at end of the 15 century. How this sādhu, who adopted the hands of Nijāmuddīn Islām-dharma at the hands of Nijāmuddīn and got the and got the name “Śāh name “Śāh Ramjān,” came to be known in the Nāth- Ramjān,” came to be known saṃpradāya as a great adept by the name of “Kāniph in the Nāth-saṃpradāya as Nāth” is one of several secrets in the cultural history of a great adept by the name Mahārāṣṭra. He must have proselytized forIslām-dharma of “Kāniph Nāth” is one of in the Maḍhī region. In this capacity, what work did he several secrets in the cultural perform (bajāvilī*) in the Nāth-saṃpradāya? It is neces- history of Mahārāṣṭra. sary that this be explained…”88

The above story in its present form was intended primarily for the Hindu reading public in Mahārāṣṭra. For this reason, Pagaḍī translated it from spoken Urdū into literary Marāṭhī. But, while the original language of the story had to be translated in order to reach a wider, non-Muslim audience, the context of the story needed no translation or parenthetical explanations of unfamiliar ideas. For, in each of the vignettes contained in the story of Nijāmuddīn and Śāh Ramjān a spiritual lesson is taught that is well known in the bhakti

86 In numerous folk tales of the Sufis, power over water and all marine and aquatic creatures is attributed to Khwājā Khiḍr (khiḍr = ‘sea-green’), whose vehicle is a big fish. In the above regional tradition, Śāh Ramjān (or Kāniph Nāth) has apparently been associated with the traditional role of Khwājā Khiḍr, and has also been given a big fish as his vehicle. About Khwājā Khiḍr and his fish, see Titus 1930, pp. 139f. 87 Note Pagaḍī’s use of the honorific euphemism in Marāṭhī for the death of a holy man: he ‘received death’. 88 Pagaḍī, pp. 94―98. In the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. XVII (Ahmednagar), for the year 1884 (pp. 726f.) there is no mention of a Kāniph Nāth in connection with the dargāh of the Muslin-Hindu saint Rāmzān Mahi Savār who also was known and is still known as Kānhobā (a popular epithet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa).

27 Well Articulated Better Paths tradition of Mahārāṣṭra: Does not the humbling of Kāniph Nāth’s pride in his yogic pow- ers remind us of Jñāneśvar, who broke the pride of Cāṅgdev Vāṭeśvar, the 1400 year old yogīrāj who rode upon a tiger and used a cobra as his whip?89 Does not Nijāmuddīn’s use of guru-seva in order to destroy the ahaṃkāra of his disciple remind us of Ekanāth’s guru- sevā for Janārdana-svāmī? Does not Nijāmuddīn’s restoring the dead cow to life affirm the great importance of ahiṃsā? Indeed, it is only after applying this lesson of respect for all forms of life even to the insects living on his scalp that Śāh Ramjān loses the last trace of his ahaṃkāra and receives the full grace and complete teachings of his guru. And who would not see similarity in Śāh Ramjān’s reluctance to leave the service of his guru with Ekanāth’s reluctance to leave Janārdana-svāmī? Clearly, the world-view that underlies the tradition of Nijāmuddīn and Kāniph Nāth differs little from the world-view found in the traditions of the bhakti saints of Mahārāṣṭra.

Here, in the story of Paiṭhaṇ’s Nijāmuddīn and his disciple Kāniph Nāth, we are in the colorful world of a medieval Deccanī pīr, a world in which yogīs and Sufis confront one another, fight one another, learn from one another, and, not infrequently, form bonds of great affection for one another. Two important legacies of this fusion of ideas and spirits are the numerous cults of Hindu-Muslim saints in the Deccan and the folk tales of those holy men who brought Hindus and Muslims closer.

Acknowledgement To Dr. Ian R. Duncan, formerly of the Department of Social Anthropology, Massey Uni- versity, Palmerston North, New Zealand, I owe a special debt of gratitude for introducing me to Śekh Biyābānī in the summer of 1982 and accompanying me in Dt. Solāpūr in the summer of 1990.

89 The story of the holy man who, by riding on a stone wall, breaks the pride of his pretentious rivals is well known in Sufi traditions. In the Fawā’id al-Fuwād (14th century compilation of the sayings of Nijāmuddīn Avaliyā) of Amīr Ḥasan Sijzī, the following story is told of Šayḫ Luqmān of Sarakhs: “They say that on one occasion he (Šayḫ Luqmān) had missed his Friday prayer or omitted to follow one or the other of the divine injunctions…The religious leaders of the town came out to interrogate him. People said to him, ‘The leaders of the town are coming in order to argue with you’. ‘Are they coming on foot or riding?’ he asked. People replied, ‘They come riding’. The Shaikh was at the time sitting on a wall. He said to it, ‘Move, by the command of God’. The wall immediately began to move.” Mujeeb 1967, pp. 121.

28 PĪR-WORSHIP AND ŚIVA-BHAKTI IN THE NĀGEŚ SAṂPRADĀYA90

early fifty years have passed since Yusuf Muhammed Pathan called attention both to the importance and to the regrettable obscurity of the Nāgeśa Saṃpradāya in Nstudies of the religious and cultural history of the Deccan.91 R. C. Dhere later pro- vided valuable information concerning the literature of the Lingāyat-bhaktas of Vaḍvāḷ- siddha-Nāgnāth,92 the question raised by Pathan concerning the numerous allusions to

90 First published as “Pīr-worship and Śaiva-bhakti in the Literature of the Nāgeśa saṃpradāya”, in: Entwistle, Alan W., and Mallison, Françoise (eds.), Studies in South Asian Devotional Lit- erature. Research Papers Presented at the Fifth Conference on Devotional Literature in New Indo-Aryan Languages, held at Paris – ÉcoleFrançaise d’Extrême-Orient, 9-12 July 1991, New Delhi/Paris [Manohar and École Française d’Extrême-Orient], 1994, pp. 255-270. In the present paper the following conventions of transliteration have been used: 1) Marathi words have been transliterated according to pronunciation: 2) both the first occurrence of a bibliographical reference to a publication in an Indic language and its entry in the “Referenc- es” at the end of the paper have been given in full transliteration, that is, with the inherent “a” between syllables and at the end of the world; thereafter, the author’s name has been given according to its usual English pronunciation, i.e. “Pathan” and not “Paṭhāṇa”, followed by the year of publication and page number of the reference; 3) words of Urdu, Persian, Ara- bic, or Hindustani origin written in Devanāgarī have been transliterated according to their orthography in Devanāgarī; 4) other words of Urdu, Persian, Arabic, or Hindustani origin have been given according to the transliterations found in Muhmmad Mujeeb’s The Indian Muslims. 91 Paṭhāṇa, Yū, Ma,. Nāgeśa-saṃpradāya. Auraṃgābāda: Vahiḥaśāla śikṣaṇa maṃdala: 1963, p.1 92 Ḑhere, Rāmacandra Ciṃtāmana, Prācīna-Marāṭhīcyānavadhārā: prakāśana, śake 1894 (1972 AD), pp, 115―133.

29 Well Articulated Better Paths the identity of Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i-Delhī and Nāgnāth in the literature and oral traditions of the Deccan remains unanswered.93

Moreover, the story has oc- Whatever the historical truth of the legend may be, there cupied the thoughts of nu- can be no doubt that the popular belief in the identity merous followers of the of Vaḍvāl-siddha-Nāgnāth and Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i-Delhī Nāgeś Saṃpradāya and the and his miraculous journey to the Deccan in order to save 94 Čištī- and Biyābānī-silsilas up his Brahmin devotee, Hegras-svāmī, from ostracism has to this day. given rise to significant devotional literature both in Old Marathi and in Dakanī.95 Moreover, the story has occu- pied the thoughts of numerous followers of the Nāgeś Saṃpradāya and the Čištī- and Biyābānī-silsilas up to this day.96

In the present paper I shall present some examples of the devotional poetry of Ajñānasiddha and Siddhaliṅga-svāmī97 taken from a little known collection entitled Ananda-lahari-vā- sākyā published by the late Nāgnāth Guṇḍubūvā Kuruḍe and Siddhaliṅga Viśvanāth-svāmī

93 Pathan 1963, pp. 9f, Though Pathan criticizes Vāsudeva Sitārāma Bendre’s rejection of the oral tradition concerning the identity of Nāgnāth and Nasīruddīn Cirāġ-i-Delhī as being an “imaginary or ficticious story”, he also stresses the importance of many of Bendre’s argu- ments, such as the fact that Nasīruddīn Cirāġ-i-Delhī never visited the Deccan (cf. Bendre, Vā. Sī., Tukārāmamahārāja-yāṃcī-guruparaṃparā, Muṃbai, 1960, pp. 21f.). But simply re- jecting the story out of haṇd---Pathan observes---neither explains its wide-spread popular- ity nor its occurrence in such Urdu works as the Haśyebe-haisiyata and Tajakīrāte-auliyā. 94 According to R.C. Dhere, Hegras-svāmī was a “Bhāradvājgotrī brāhmaṇa” of Mohol (in pres- ent-day Dt. Solapur). See Dhere 1972, p. 133. 95 See Nāgeśalīlāmṛta, especially the adhyāyas 8, 23 and 24. The verse in which Nāgnāth and Nasīruddin are identified as being one and the same person can be found in the eighth adhyāya, ovis 76f., of the Nāgeśalīlāmṛta edited by Śivājirāva Śeṭe Kolhāpūkar in Kolhapur in śake 1900 (A.D. 1978). 96 See my article “Hindu-Muslim Religious Syncretism in the Folk Literature of the Deccan”, supra, pp. 13-28.” 97 The dating of Ajñānasiddha and Siddhaliṅga-svāmi is problematic. The followers ofthe Nāgeś Saṃpradāya believe that Hegras-svāmi lived in the late 14th (some even believe in the late 13th ). Ajñānasiddha (Hegras’s grandson by his daughter Ahalya) in the early 15th, and Siddhaliṅga-svāmī in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Two important modern scholars of Old Marathi do not attribute such a high antiquity to these early saints of the Nāgeś saṃpradāya; S. G. Tulpule dates Ajñānasiddha to the 16th century on the basis of his au- thorship of the Pan̄cakaraṇaprameya (edited by S.N. Moholkar, Sholapur, 1950; see Tulpule 1979, p. 371) and R.C. Dhere dates Ajñānasiddha to the 17th century on the basis of a refer- ence to a discussion between Śahā Mutabji Brahmanī ūrph Mṛtyunjaya-svāmī (a prince of the royal family of Bidar who was both a Sufi saint and aŚiva bhakta; Dhere gives 1575 and 1650 as his birth and death dates. See Musalamāna-Marathi-santa-kavī, Poona, 1967, pp. lf.) and Aviṃdhapaṃcikaraṇa of Mṛtyunjaya-svāmī (a work on Sanskrit and Persian termi- nology; see Dhere 1972: 14lf. and 153). For a discussion of the legend of Mṛtyunjaya as it is told by the Vaiṣnava hagiographer Mahīpati see my article “Vaiṣnava Perceptions of Mus- lims in 18th-Century Maharashtra”, infra, pp. 53―64.

30 Pīr-Worship and Śiva-Bhakti in the Nāgeś Saṃpradāya in Mohoḷ circa 1950. This small book contains thirty-five devotional poems in Old Marathi, Dakani, and Sanskrit in the śikhāriṇī, dohā, ovī, and sākī (sākhī) metres. I have not been able to gain access to the manuscripts used by Kuruḍe and Viśvanāth-svāmī in editing their collection. However, some remarks on the manner in which I obtained a copy of this nearly inaccessible publication will shed light upon the syncretistic milieu in which these poems are still regarded as sacred literature.

This book was given to me by the late Śekh Abdul This book was given to Rajhākśāh Biyābānī of Poona (d. 1995), a šayḫ of the me by the late Śekh Abdul Biyābānī-Qādirī-Ṣūfī-silsila, who received it from a devo- Rajhākśāh Biyābānī of Poo- tee of Nāgnāth from Dt. Kolhapur who is also a disciple of na (d. 1995), a šayḫ of the Śekh Biyābānī and whose father was also a disciple in the Biyābānī-Qādirī-Ṣūfī-silsila, Kolhapur region. Similarly, it should be mentioned that who received it from a devo- gādis (literally: the throne of a potentate) for Maḥmūdśāh tee of Nāgnāth from Dt. Kol- Biyābānī (d. 1958), who was regarded as a manifestation hapur who is also a disciple of Nāgnāth, are maintained by some devotees in their of Śekh Biyābānī and whose homes, while at the samādhi of Ajñānasiddha at Nar- father was also a disciple in endra (Dt. Kolhapur) the darūd-šarīƒ (hymn praising the the Kolhapur region. Holy Prophet, PBUH) and the ƒātiḥā (the opening sūrah of the Qur’ān) are sung before taking darśan of the svarūp of Ajñānasiddha in an under- ground vault approximately three metres beneath the floor of the shrine in whichpādukā of Ajñānasiddha are kept.

Most conspicuous in the poems of Ajñānasiddha and Siddhaliṅga-svāmī is the strong at- traction felt by members of a spiritual lineage of Śiva-bhaktas for the great Indian šayḫ Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i-Delhī. Even more importantly, this literature bespeaks a milieu of re- ligious syncretism not unlike that of Kabīr-bhakti, haṭha-yoga, pīr-worship, and a world- view characterized by confident strength, openness, and the desire to see the religious and social ‘other’ as one’s spiritual teacher, and thus, as part of oneself.98

Hear the story of the ‘first-house’ (i-e. the spiritual home)! (ādi gharaki suno bāta). Hegras-bābā was a Brahmin. He was the one who brought Nāgnāth (to Mohoḷ). (Hegrasa bābā bamana jāta. Une lāye Nāganātha). There, where there is no night and no day (i.e. in his heart). The great Śekh Nasīruddīn saved (Hegras) straightaway. (jadā nayi [for nahī] rāta, jadā nayī dīna tabalaga baḍā bacāye Śekha Nasarodīna). (sākī 1) Śekh Nasīruddīn is a walī,99 Guru Nāgnāth is Alī.

98 Of the following three sākīs the first two are in Dakanī and the third in Old Marathi. 99 Literally: a friend of God.

31 Well Articulated Better Paths

(Śekha Nasarodīna vallī guru Nāganātha Allī). He left Delhi when Bhakta Hegras called him. Tell what happened in Candramoḷi (Mohoḷ). Tell the story… Nāgnāth came to Mohoḷ village. There the siddha stopped at (vimān) Ṭekaḍī.100 He took on the svarūp of a fakir. His godly body was magnificent. On his body he wore the green of a Qalandar.101 On his neck there was a big cobra. In his hand there was ciphā (a rattle) and a stick. Beside him there is a pair of dogs looking fiercely, who are the storehouses of brahma-bodha [knowledge of the Brahman] (vājū kūtanakā joḍā dekhata nayana deṭhaḍā, brahma bodhakā huṃḍā).102 Speaking profusely, Hegras caught his holy feet: ‘You are the guru! You are the pīr! ‘You are the pīr! You are the pīr! Seeing this sovereign lord of the yogis, I am in complete bliss. (sākī 2) Nāgnāth, o Nāgnāth! How shall we know you? Behold the universe (in him)! He knows fifty-six languages, such as Sinhala, Gauḍa, Baṅgāla, and Khurāsanī. What kind of Brahmin he is, no one knows. (text obscure)…on his feet he wears special leather sandals… (caraṇī pāve camāna khāsā). On his ankles he wears the anklets of his wonderful victories.103 (caraṇī toṃḍara [for toḍara] śobhe brīdāṃcā). A great tiger is his vehicle. He is a digambara (naked ascetic). His ornament is a tiger-skin. In his hand there is a whip of snakes.104 His sword has the sharpness of lightning.

100 A small hillock on the northern outskirts of “Mohoḷ.” 101 The attribute “Qalandar” need not mean an initiated follower of La’l Šāhbāz Qalandar (d. circa 1266). As Annemarie Schimmel observes, Qalandar is a generic term for a roaming derwish with a clean shaven head and chin. Schimmel also refers to the definition of the Qalandars found in the new edition of the Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol, V, p. 471 as a kind of hippy (see Schimmel 1990, pp. 176f. and 200). 102 In the story of Mṛtyuñjaya-svāmī (alias Murtaza Qādirī) as told by Mahīpati in the Bhakta Vijaya (18th century), the two fierce dogs which accompany thisguru-pīr are called Vedānta and Siddhānta, thus referring to the storehouses of brahmanical and Liṅgāyat-Śaiva learn- ing. See my article “Vaiṣṇava Perceptions” in this volume, page 57, note 192. 103 The allusion is to an ancient custom of Dravidian kings who wore anklets on which the names of their vanquished enemies were engraved. I am grateful to the late Shankar Gopal Tulpule (1924–1994) for making me aware of the implication of this metaphor. 104 The same description is given for Cāngdev Vaṭeśvar, the 1400 year-old yogirāj, whose pride was broken by Sant Jñāneśvar.

32 Pīr-Worship and Śiva-Bhakti in the Nāgeś Saṃpradāya

A wondrous light shines from his earrings. His body is (the manifestation) of holy ashes. On his neck there is a rudrākṣa. On his head there are strange matted locks from which the Gaṅgā emerges. The Kāma-dhenu has taken refuge there. How shall I describe your characteristics? Ajñānasiddha says to Nāgeś: ‘Give (me) the words of the condition of mokṣa’. (de mokṣapadaki vācā). (sākī 10)

In the following Dakanī dohā of Siddhaliṅga-svāmī the haṭha-yoga notion of theanāhata- śabda or ‘unstruck sound’, the dhvani that the yogi perceives in the anāhata-cakra, or ‘heart-lotus’ of his subtle body,105 forms the leitmotiv of a poem in which deep devotion for the guru-pīr Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i-Delhī is combined with references to well-known tech- niques of haṭha-yoga.106 Similarly, guru-sevā (verse 8) is combined with the Sufi notion of ƒanā ƒi’sh šayḫ (the absorption of the personality of the disciple in the personality of the spiritual master; see verses 4ff.). Particularly striking are Siddhaliṅga’s descriptions of the madness (unmayī) of the devotee, who—while immersed in the guru-pīr—hears the constant drumming of the ‘unstruck sound’ (see verses 5 and 18), the sound in which all sound vibrations (nādas) are reabsorbed:107

Anahāta-nagārā (‘The Kettledrum of the Unstruck Sound’) Beat the kettledrum of the unstruck sound constantly! The secret light burns in the ‘sky-palace’.108 There, where there is light without the sun and moon, Siddhaliṅga dwells in perpetual drunkenness (sadā matavālā). (1)

105 It is perceived as a red lotus with twelve golden petals, in the middle of which two triangles, one pointed upward and one downward, are arranged so that they encircle a shining liṅga. Above the triangles Īśvara and the Rākini-śakti dwell in sexual union (Eliade, Mircea, Yoga: Unsterblichkelt und Freiheit, Zurich 1960, p. 251). The notion of the anāhata-cakra also forms the basis of the extended metaphor used in the next dohā “Lāl” (‘Red’). 106 Such as the blocking of the inward and outward breathing, recaka and kumbhaka, and the khecarī-mudrā in which the semen (bindu, meḍhra) is blocked, that is, prevented from being ejaculated from the yogi’s body (see below, verse 9 and Eliade 1960, pp. 256f.). 107 See Vaudeville, Ch., Kabīr, Oxford 1974, pp. 128f, and note 2. 108 “gagana mahālameṃ gaiba jotī jagāye”. The ‘sky-palace’ is an allusion to the sahasrāra- cakra which is located on a transcendental plane imagined to be just above the head: It has the form of an inverted lotus with a thousand petals, in the middle of which there is a full moon that contains a triangle. This is the goal of all Tantric sādhāna and the place of the final union of Śiva and Śakti. This, the condition of ultimate unification, is also calledunmayī and is described by Siddhaliṅga as a condition of ‘madness’ (see Eliade, 1960, p. 252).

33 Well Articulated Better Paths

The guru gave me the secret drink; he fed me the sweets as well,109 He gave me his hand of beneficence and blessed me. (diyā dasta paṃjā kiṃyā meherabāni). Siddhaliṅga says: This is the sign of his feet’. (2)

The eyes in the eyes saw the Divine. This same Śekh Nasardin (sic) is my guru-pīr. The friend of my heart (dillayārī) has done a good thing. The invisible (alakh) is my eyelids. Siddhaliṅga says: ‘These are his divine feet.’ (3)

He is a great pīr. Everywhere he stands before me. I see everything filled with Nāgā!110 Siddhaliṅga says: ‘I am mad about this guru.’ (4)

I became mad and a dildār (‘a dauntless one’) took possession of my heart. I persisted and became immersed (in the guru). (kumārī lage daṃga hokara rahyā).111 In this state of madness the secret drumming resounds. (gaiba duṃka bajāi). Siddhaliṅga says: ‘The guru is my (only) gain.’ (5) The hujūr (‘great man’) was fixed in my vision. Jhelatkā! Jamatkā!112 He fed light into my eyes, The world-guru who is (ever) awake is my pīr. Siddhaliṅga says: ‘I missed the cycle of births and deaths!’ (6)

109 Siddhaliṅga alternates between direct language and sandhyābhāṣā, or ‘intentional lan- guage’, i.e. the use of words on at least two levels of meaning in his poetry. Though I am not able to explain what exactly the “secret drink” (gaibapyālā pilāye) is, or what the “sweets” (mistamevā khilāye) are, the symbolic associations in this poem are relatively clear. The fol- lowing dohā, “Lāl”, however, is more complex, containing allusions on at least three levels of meaning. 110 In this connection one is reminded of the verse from the Divān of Ni’mat-Ullah Abdallah of Kirmān (1330―1431) that is inscribed on the southern wall of the dargāh of Aḥmad Shāh Walī, the ninth Bahmanī sultan (1420―1435) and murīd of Ni’mat-Ullāh: “I have found Ni’mat-Ullāh in every form of existence, for I have noticed love and infatuation in all. Ni’mat Ullāh is One in the entire universe; thou shall not find any one like me, nor one like me can be found (by others).” (Cited in Yazdani, Ghulam, Bidar. Its History and Monuments, London, 1947, p. 127.). A similar description of seeing the guru in all things can be found in verses 448 to 456 of the ninth adhyāya of the Śrī-Ekanāthī Bhāgavat (see my Bhakti und Bhakta: Religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen zum Heilsbegriff und zur religiosen Umwelt des Śri Sant Ekanāth. Stuttgart [Franz Steiner Verlag], 1990, pp. 75 and 94). The vision of the Ṣūfī- šayḫ (fanā fi’sh-šayḫ) is linked to the popular identification of the šayḫ with the Logos-quṭb on which the existence and welfare of the world constantly depends (see Trimingham, J. Spencer, The Sufi Orders in Islam, Oxford. 1971, pp. 163ff.). 111 Compare verse 18. 112 Onomatopoeia: “Twinkle, sparkle”.

34 Pīr-Worship and Śiva-Bhakti in the Nāgeś Saṃpradāya

(Your) precious image is in my eyes. ‘Godness’ has filled the world completely.113 The unseen image of God is fixed in my eye like a diamond. Siddhaliṅga says: Hear me, my pīr-bhāī.’ (7)

O Friend, hear me! The (the world of) appearances is very mad! I see (only) a tamāśā (folk theatre) in eternal śūnya (sadā sūnya mo dekhataṃ hai tamāsā). Become a servant (of God) and ugliness will flee. Siddhaliṅga says: ‘You will reach God.’ (8)

Give up your (individual) self and see God in madness (khudā dekha divānī)! There will be treachery in the future, the ‘doctor’ knows (i.e. the spiritual mas- ter knows) (hulsu dagābāda bhiṣāra jāṇe). Block the air and the fluid, block it well. (hāvāhi rasa ko baṃda kara khāsa baṃde).114

Siddhaliṅga says: ‘This business (of suffering and rebirth) will completely disappear.’ (9) Give up worldly affairs! Have faith, friend! Give up the body and wealth and the intoxication of youth. (tanna dhanna javanaki choda mastī). If one knows himself and knows what is not the Self, Siddhaliṅga says: ‘He will get the Godness of God’. (10)

Give up your worries! Become a fakir! Remember God! (phikira choḍa phakira ho jikira khudākī… makara māva? Don’t indulge in illusion! The world is momentary! (makara māvā [for māyā] duniyā phaṇatila ghaḍikī). Take the name of the pīr. It’s sweeter than sugar. (śakarase miṭhā pirakā nāma lenā). Siddhaliṅga says: ‘This is our only gain.’ (11)

113 See above verse 4 and note 21. 114 The allusion is to the kumbhaka and the khecarī-mudrā, the haṭha-yoga technique of breath control and control of the emission of semen in order to keep the kunḍalini in the suṣumṇa so that it will pass through the six cakras (ṣaṭcakra sādhanā) and reach the seventh or sahasrāra-cakra, the ultimate goal of the yogī. See above page 33, footnote 106.

35 Well Articulated Better Paths

Remove your sorrows! Become a dervish in your heart! (darda dura kara dila daraveśa hogā). Have thirst for his feet every moment! Remember his name! If you have no attachment to the fruits (of your deeds), you will build the highest throne. (hāre phala ujita para takyā tuma banāvo). Siddhaliṅgā says: ‘You must please the guru. (12)

Guru Śekh Nasaradīn Cirāk Dhellī [sic] is a pīr of great miracles and an immaculate Friend of God. (Guru Śekha Nasaradīna cirāka dhellī karāmata pīra yo pāka vallī). Lakhs and lakhs of devotees are praising him. Siddhaliṅga says: ‘Where is my place among them? (Kahe lākha baṃde navā jena bije kahe Siddhaliṃga rahu kahā kahāne). (13)

Adam’s feet returned to dust. And now that dust has come again in this disguise. (kadama Ādama khaka gayā khāka huvā. hi khāka āya bajuda makjuda huvā). The jogī has come in this jog (astrological conjunction), this jog, this jog. Siddhaliṅgā says: ‘Infidelity has run away.’(kuphara dura bhāge). (14)

Kill Madana (the Indian Cupid) and flay his body! Suppress the man and remove the (sense of) differences. My heart is constantly fixed on the cave in the sky. (gaganake guṃphame magana dila merā).115 Siddhaliṅga says: ‘Hear the bringer of the Faith!’ (15)

We should make a patchwork quilt (godhaḍi) of the guru’s jñān (spiritual knowledge). In a moment the stitches of parabrahma are complete. I have taken the begging-bowl of desirelessness (nirālaṃbha-jholi) in my hand. Siddhaliṅga says: ‘I am a low beggar’. (16)

I am a beggar who begs for the aims of guru worship. And my master, pīr-bhujaṅga (bhujaṅga = cobra), is the alms-giver who cannot be avoided.

115 Perhaps an allusion to the sahasrā-cakra. See above page 33, footnote 106.

36 Pīr-Worship and Śiva-Bhakti in the Nāgeś Saṃpradāya

He gave me a small gift and I become completely immersed in it. Siddhaliṅga says: ‘It happens naturally’ (or: ‘It happens in the sahaja-condition.’ 116) (17)

Effortlessly (sahaja mo sahaja) we get the teachings of the siddha. Once we taste it we remain immersed. In this madness (unmayī) the secret drumming resounds (gaiba ḍaṃkā bajāī). Siddhaliṅga says: ‘The guru is our (only) gain’. (18)

While day and night the naubat of the Divine Name resounds, My concentration is only on the feet of the guru. Seeing the Invisible in the invisible (i.e. seeing God) … (word unclear)… O Friend, Siddhaliṅga says: ‘There is the remembrance.’ (19)

Guru Siddhanāgeś is always my master. He gave me spiritual instruction and made me happy. Siddhaliṅga says: ‘He gave me the treasure.’ (20)

God has a thousand names. No one can destroy them. I called to God and just by one call I got Pīr-dastagīr.117 Siddhaliṅga says: ‘This is true, this is true.’ (21)

He explains the vacanas of the Kurān [sic] and the essence of the Vedas. I got the secret guru (guru-gaiba)… the great pīr. Siddhaliṅga says: ‘I am neither a beggar, nor a (brahmacāri), nor a householder. (22)

I am not begging for alms, or seeking a post, and I don’t want any property. I am only here to uplift the world. I have no name, no shape, and not a trace of color’.

116 “sahaja” (‘the natural or innate condition’) has been described in various ways: the un- limited, spontaneous condition, the condition in which the yogi transcends all dualities, the quintessential condition that forms the basis of all being (see Eliade 1960, p. 277). It is synonymous with unmayī, unmanā, unmani (Vaudeville 1974, pp. 132f.). On the whole, the terminology and metaphors of haṭha-yoga have greater power and immediacy for Siddhaliṅga than for Kabīr. In Siddhaliṅga’s poetry such terms as sahaj or the drum imagery (nagāra, Naubat) used in connection with the anāhata-śabda have not become mere jar- gon on the lips of would be siddhas. In contrast one is reminded of Kabīr’s sākhi “Sahaja” “They all repeat: Sahaja―yet no one knows the sahaja!” Or the drum imagery in the sākhī “Warnings”:”Kabīr that naubat of yours, but for ten days make it resound. This town, this borough, this lane, never will you see them again!” (verse 3). Or: ”ḍhol, damānā, gargaṛī, sahnāī, together with bheri. The chance to play them has gone and who can bring it back?” (verse 51; cf. Vaudeville 1974, pp. 228 and 238). 117 Pīr-dastagir is an epithet of Abdu’l Qādir Ğilānī (d. circa 1166 A.D.), the first šayḫ of the Qādirī silsila.

37 Well Articulated Better Paths

Siddhaliṅga says: ‘I am the dust on his feet.’ (23)

He is the formless maker of forms, my maulā. This Endeavour (to describe him) is completely empty, yet distinctive. Through the magic of the tongue, see the Unseen. Siddhaliṅga says: ‘Taste the guru!118 (24)

In great Vaḍvāḷ 119 he sits on the throne. There stands the fearless Nāgeś-pīr. The guru is eternal. Siddhaliṅga says: In his gaiba bāṇī (secret language) there is a niśabda-khāṇī (a mine of unstruck sounds, inaudible, The poem achieves an ex- mystical words). (25) traordinary degree of reso- While the aural experience of the yogī in the unmayī or nance through the sustained sahaja condition was the leitmotiv in the previous dohā, use of the multiple levels of in the following dohā, “Lāl”, Siddhaliṅga describes the meanings derived from the visual experience of sahaj. The poem achieves an ex- various senses of the word traordinary degree of resonance through the sustained “lāl”. “Lāl” is at once the col- use of the multiple levels of meanings derived from the or red, a ruby, an epithet of various senses of the word “lāl”. “Lāl” is at once the color the beloved, and by metony- red, a ruby, an epithet of the beloved, and by metonymy, my, a name for the anāhata- a name for the anāhata-cakra. As in the previous dohā cakra. As in the previous Siddhaliṅga alternates between direct language and dohā Siddhaliṅga alternates sandhayā-bhāṣā. In terms of content the poem repre- between direct language and sents a harmonious fusion of haṭha-yoga-sādhanā and sandhayā-bhāṣā. guru-bhakti for “Siddhanāgnāth Cirāg Delhī [sic]”. Particu- larly striking is the adoration for Šayḫ Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i-Delhī as the “perfect man” (verse 1). The “perfect jewel” (verse 6), and the “perfect master” (verse 9). Such descriptions of Nāgnāth-Nasīruddīn point toward the Sufi concept of the al-insān-al-kāmil (the perfect man). Similarly, Siddhaliṅga’s description of Siddha Nāgeś as “our lamp whose sparkling lamp illuminates the night” (verse 7) alludes to Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i-Delhī’s epithet, the ‘Lamp of Delhi’, especially so when one considers that at the dargāḥ of Nasīruddīn in Delhi a large lamp of ruby-coloured glass hangs over the maẓār (grave) shedding a sparkling ruby-like light at night:

118 That is, through the magic of language perceive that which escapes sense perception, the Unseen, or God. 119 A village in District Solapur, situated six kilometers from Mohoḷ and fifty kilometers from Solapur city.

38 Pīr-Worship and Śiva-Bhakti in the Nāgeś Saṃpradāya

In my lāl red consumed red.120 When the red in the red reached the field (huwā lāla mai lāla maidāna pāyā), he dissolved the red. He is the complete man, my great Siddhasāheb. (diyā lāla layā sahi marda sārā baḍā yo Siddhasāheba merā). (1) The flag of the great lāl (beloved) is flying high. The true Siddhanāgeś stands before (me). In the flag of blue there is the invisible, the highest beloved. (nilaki niśāni ālakha parama pyārā).121 A great lāl is this Siddhanāgeś. (2)

My ‘heart-sheath’ (dila-myāne) is greedy for lots of lāl.122 Having become immersed, it dwells in madness. (gaye ghuṃga hokara rahe hai divāni). The beloved lāl placed a diamond in my hand (i.e. spiritual knowledge). My Siddhasāheb is the great lāl. (3)

The (beloved) lāl gave (me) a precious emerald (diyā lāla pīroja khāsā jirenā). Jhelatkā jhematkā! (onomatopoetic) The earthen pot was empty!123 Glittering dust filled the sky! My Siddhasāheb is the great lāl. (4)

The beloved diamond of the five bodies124 (i.e. the Self, the ātman) is shining. (pacyao [for pan̄ca] tannake lāla hirā jhematkā). Understand the heroic beloved (word unclear)…

120 I.e. in my union with the beloved (Nasīruddīn), the subject-object relationship has been dissolved, or, in my anāhatacakra I have perceived the union of Iśvara and the Rākinī-śakti (who is red). 121 In keeping with the visual leitmotiv of this dohā this could be a reference to the maṇipūra- cakra, which is conceived to be a blue lotus with ten petals in the middle of which there is a red triangle upon which Mahārudra together with the blue Lākinī-śakti seen sitting on a bull. This is the cakra of vision (see Eliade 1960, p. 251). 122 As the sheath of a sword is conceived to be greedy for blood. 123 I.e. the identification with the material body and the cycle of rebirths and deaths was dis- solved completely. 124 The notion of the five bodies, or sheaths (kośa) surroundings the Self or ātman is as old as the Bṛhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad (4.4.17) and the Taittrīya-upaniṣad (1.7.1). In the Taittirīya- upaniṣad (1.7.1.) the five ‘bodies’ are annamaya (consisting of food) prāṇamaya (consist- ing of breath, which is subdivided into prāṇa (up breathing), vyāna (back-breathing) and apāna (down breathing), manomaya (consisting of the manas or psycho-mental activities) vijn̄ānamaya (consisting of understanding, insight), and ānandamaya (consisting of bliss). This concept is also discussed in the Vedānta-sūtra 1.4. 11–13 and commented upon by Rāmānuja and Śaṅkara. It should be noted that both Śaṅkara in the Brahma-sūtra-bhāṣyā (1.4.11–13) and Rāmānuja in his Śri-bhāṣya (1.4.11–13) have distinguished this notion from the doctrine of the twenty-five tattvas or components of being in the Sāṃkhya-system.

39 Well Articulated Better Paths

the avadhūt (bujo bira lālā baku āradhuta [for avadhūta]). In breath after breath I see the red star (or the star of the beloved). (dame kho dame dekhatā lāla tārā). My Siddhasāheb is the great lāl. (5)

O sākhī! My red ‘heart-sheath’ is hanging like a pendant from the lāl (the beloved). Know ye, that this pīr is Guru Śekh Nasīruddīn! He is the perfect red jewel of bliss. (ānandavaki mītkā ratana lala purā). My Siddhasāheb is the great lāl. (6)

He is the sākhī-lāl, the beloved lāl. He is our lamp. His sparkling lamp illuminates the night. My mipaṇa (‘I-ness’) is lost completely. My Siddhasāheb is the great lāl. (7)

Hear the words of the beloved lāl: ‘The sheath (i.e. the material body) is empty, just as the sugarcane is known to be hollow inside.’ Hear his voice! The āriph-din (the master of the esoteric religion) is generous. My Siddhasāheb is the great lāl. (8)

He is perfect master and the great pir-walī of the world. Guruśekh Nasīruddīn is the Lamp of Delhi. He is the citta-cirāg (the Illuminator of my Mind) in my heart of hearts. (Cirākha Dehali dilli dilame citta cirākha terā).125 My Siddhasāheb is the great lāl. (9)

O sākhī! In the desire for the beloved there is madness (lālase lāla mai tu ivāni). The world seems eager, but they are traitors (duniyā bekararāra saddhise badagumānī). The master, the sadguru with the perfect heart, is a different (type of) man. My Siddhasāheb is the great lāl. (10)

O sākhī, red has been mixed with red (lālase lāla kuṃṭhā milāyā). Glass after glass of red has been given to drink.126

125 “Cirākha Dehalī dīllī dilame citta cirākha terā” is a delightful pun derived from the similar sounds of Delhi, the name of the city, and dīllī from dīl (heart). 126 Possibility an allusion to the well known metaphor in Sufi-poetry of the ‘wine’ of the divine unity on which the mystic becomes ‘drunk’.

40 Pīr-Worship and Śiva-Bhakti in the Nāgeś Saṃpradāya

(lālase lāla pyālā pyālā). O sākhī, the heart of our beloved is willing. My Siddhasāheb is the great lāl. (11)

O sākhī, by angry words one becomes red. O sākhī, through the lāl (the beloved) the cittaenters dhyān.127 O sākhī, I am impatient with desire (for union with the beloved). My Siddhasāheb is the great beloved. (12)

The unstruck sound has thundered in the sky! My wondrous lāl is in bliss! Let the nagārā (kettledrum) be beaten constantly: āghaḍ dhoṃ āghaḍ dhoṃ! My Siddhasāheb is the great beloved. (13)

The guru is the hidden Nāga, the secret bhujaṅga. Hidden from view the secret light shines unbroken. He showed me the siddhāṃta-sārā (essential teachings) of this paṃtha. My Siddahasāheb is the great lāl. (14)

The siddha of Vaḍvāḷ is Nāganāthā. He is neither a name nor a form. He is beyond the six (conditions of the mind).128 Siddhaliṅga says: ‘He is the one who always ripens the crop.’ My Siddhasāheb is the great lāl. (15)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to the late professors V.D. Kulkarni (Hyderabad) and S.G. Tulpule (Poona) for their help in reconstructing the orthography of the text I used and for their help in trans- lating and elucidating the Dakanī text. I am equally grateful to the South Asia Institute of Heidelberg University for the travel grant that made possible my field research on the Nāgeś Saṃpradāya.

127 An allusion to the stage of yogic meditation(dhyān) in which the citta of the yogi penetrates and assimilates the object meditated upon (Yoga-sūtra, III.2). This verse and the one pre- ceding it are good examples of the harmonious fusion of Yoga, guru-bhakti, and the love symbolism of Sufi-poetry in Siddhaliṅga’s dohās and sākīs. 128 Possibly an allusion to the wide-spread popular notion of the ṣaḍūrmī: the six psycho-men- tal conditions of the body (vṛttis): birth, death, hunger, thirst, grief, delusion.

41

ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE MAHĀVĀKYAS IN THE LITERATURE OF THE CĀND BODHALE CIRCLE (MARĀṬHVĀḌĀ, 1550–1650)129

n his introduction to the confrontational philology of Paul Hacker (1913―1979) the late Wilhelm Halbfass (1940―2000) emphasizes the importance of Hacker’s encounter with the so-called ‘tat tvam asi -ethics’ of Neo-Hinduism. For Hacker, the position that altru- I 130 ism logically follows from the realization of the unity of being was a by-product of the dialogue with Christianity. Within the cognitive system that underlies the ‘Great Utter- ances’ (mahāvākyas) of Indian radical non-dualism (advaita-vedānta) altruism, according to Hacker, was logically impossible, even “monstrous”.131

When Paul Hacker expanded his assertion to medieval Hinduism and the ethics of the Bhagavadgītā (hereafter: BhG) he ignored the fact that a crucial change in textual con- text had taken place.132 Though the BhG as one of the three scriptures of the canonical

129 First published in: Horstmann, Monika (ed.), Bhakti in Current Research, 2001-2003. Pro- ceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Early Devotional Literature in New Indo- Aryan Languages, Heidelberg, 23-26 July 2003, South Asian Studies XLIV, Delhi [Manohar], 2006, pp. 285–294. 130 Held most notably by Swami Vivekananda and, later, by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Cf. Hack- er, Paul, “Schopenhauer und die Ethik des Hinduismus”, in: Saeculum, vol. 4 (1961), pp. 365–399; reprinted in Schmithausen, Lambert (ed.), Paul Hacker. Kleine Schriften, published as volume 15 in the series Kleine Schriften by the Glasenapp-Stiftung, Wiesbaden [Franz Steiner Verlag] 1978, pp. 531–564; available in English in: Halbfass, Wilhelm (ed.), Philology and Confrontation. Paul Hacker on Traditional and Modern Vedanta, Albany [State Univer- sity of New York Press] 1995, pp. 273-318. 131 Halbfass 1995, pp. 8ff. 132 Hacker 1961, pp. 365ff.; reprinted in Schmithausen 1978, pp. 531f. and (in English) Halbfass 1995, pp. 273f. Unfortunately, the English translation “…probably not...” (p. 274, line 15) for Hacker’s “...höchstwahrscheinlich nicht...” is not emphatic enough. More appropriate would be “…highly unlikely...”.

43 Well Articulated Better Paths prasthāna-traya of the advaitin (‘radical non-dualist’) has been commented upon by fa- mous ācāryas (Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja, Abhinavagupta, etc.), it has had a far greater influence on the shaping of ethics in Hinduism via the commentaries on it in the regional languages of India and the transmission of its teachings in the Purāṇas, especially, in the Bhāgavata- Purāṇa (hereafter BhP). I have called attention to this fact in two previous publications.133

Criticisms of my position and defense of Paul Hacker’s perception of Hindu ethics have not been wanting. In this connection I refer to the late Peter Gaeffke (1927―2005):

The basic “good” action of a sant consists, however, in teaching bhakti and by doing so he helps others to reach liberation. This is something very different from the Muslim injunction to payzakāt for the poor and missionary work in hospitals and with untouchables. (...) This is surely a different sort of “Nächstenliebe” [‘al- truism’] and one of the reasons why, until today, the Hindu society has not been able to solve the social problem of the “scheduled castes“. I think Hacker put his finger on one of the most sensitive spots in Hindu attitudes and gave a very convincing account of it.134

In the present paper I intend to show that the percep- I intend to show that the per- tion of the unity of being (advaita) contained in the ception of the unity of being teachings of the bhakti sant of 16th century Maharash- (advaita) contained in the trian Śrī Sant Ekanāth, which ultimately derive from the teachings of the bhakti sant BhG 13.27f.,135 was similar to perceptions of the unity of of 16th century Maharash- being (waḥdat al-wujūd) prevalent among the Qādirī- trian Śrī Sant Ekanāth, which šayḫ of the 15th and 16th centuries, such as among the ultimately derive from the followers of Šāh Ni’matullāh Walī of Kirmān (d. 1431).136 BhG 13.27f. Moreover, both the bhakti and Sufi traditions of the unity of being later found expression in the Yogasaṃgrāma (hereafter: YS) of the Qādirī-šayḫ Śekh Mahaṃmadbābā Śrīgondekar (1560–1650), who was the disciple of the mysteri- ous “Cānd Bodhale”, who himself had been the disciple of Śekh Mahaṃmad’s own fa- ther, Rāje Mahaṃmad. Śekh Mahaṃmadbābā was thus the guru-bandhu (‘co-disciple’) of Janārdana-svāmī, the killedār137 of Daulatābād and guru of Śrī Sant Ekanāth of Pratiṣṭhān

133 van Skyhawk 1990, pp. 107–111; cf. van Skyhawk, Hugh, “Perceptions of Hindu Ethics in German Indology”, in: Dandekar, R. N., and Laddu, S. D. (eds.), Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, volume LXXIV (1993), Amṛtamahotsava Supplementary Volume, Poona [Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute] 1994, pp. 85–99. 134 Gaeffke, Peter, “Review of Hugh van Skyhawk Bhakti und Bhakta. Religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen zum Heilsbegriff und zur religiösen Umwelt des Śrī Sant Ekanāth”, in: Jour- nal of the American Oriental Society, volume 118, number 4 (October–December 1998), pp. 560ff. 135 Cf. van Skyhawk 1994, pp. 85–89. 136 The most notable of whom was the ninth ruler of the Bahmanī sultanate, Aḥmad Šāh Walī (d. 1436). 137 Marāṭhī: ‘commander’.

44 Ethical Implications of the Mahāvākyas in the Literature of the Cānd Bodhale Circle (Marāṭhvāḍā 1550–1650)

(Paiṭhaṇ) (1533―1599),138 the author of the influential Old Marāṭhī commentary on the eleventh book of the BhP, the Ekākārā-ṭīkā or, as it is popularly known, the Śrī Ekanāthī Bhāgavat (hereafter: EBh).139 It is to this closely connected group of bhakti-sants that I have given the name the “Cānd Bodhale Circle”.

I will present pertinent new material drawn from the EBh of Śrī Sant Ekanāth, theYS of Śekh Mahaṃmadbābā Śrīgondekar, and the Dīvān of Šāh Ni’matullāh of Kirmān and Aḥmad Šāh Walī Bahmanī.. First, the famous passage of the BhG (13.27f.) cited by Hacker in his discussion of the ‘tat tvam asi-ethics’ of Neo-Hinduism:

He who sees the same Highest Lord abiding in all beings, not perishing when they perish, he (truly) sees. Seeing the same Lord abiding equally everywhere, he does not injure the Self by means of the Self. Thus, he advances to the highest path.140

In his final words in the final verses of his magnum opus of 18,810 ovīs (‘stanzas’) Ekanāth emphasizes just this, the core of the ethics of Hinduism:

Janārdana has taught me just this: “See only me in all beings. Do not consider the charac- teristics of prakṛti (matter’) at all.”141 (EBh 31.519)

“Seeing the prakrti-guṇa (’characteristics of matter’) of others the mana (‘organ of think- ing’) becomes irritated. But that should be ignored. One should see the caitanya (‘con- sciousness-substance’) abiding equally in all beings.”142 (EBh 31.521)

138 Tulpule, 1979, p. 356. Up to the present day there is no scholarly consensus concerning the dates of birth and death of Janārdana-svāmī. 139 Cf. van Skyhawk 1990, pp. 310-325 and van Skyhawk, Hugh, “Der muslimische Beitrag zur religiösen Dichtung Marāṭhī-sprechender Hindus” in: Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlän- dischen Gesellschaft, vol. 153, no. 1 (2003), pp. 91f. 140 samaṁ sarveṣu bhūteṣu tiṣṭhantaṁ Parameśvaramvinaśyatsv avinaśyantaṁ yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati samaṁ paśyan hi sarvatra samavasthitam Ῑśvaramna hinasty ātmanātmānaṁ tato yāti parāṁ gatim. Belvalkar, Shripad Krishna (ed.), The Mahābhārata, volume seven, The Bhīṣmaparvan. Being the sixth book of the Mahābhārata, the great epic of India, Poona [Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute] 1947, p. 169. All text passages from the EBh cit- ed in this paper refer to Somaṇa, G. R. (ed.), Śrī Ekanāthī Bhāgavata, parts one and two, Sātārā [Śrī Ekanātha Maṇḍaḷa Sātārā], 1973. All references to the text of the Yogasaṃgrāma of Śekh Mahaṃmadbābā Śrīgondekar refer to Bendre, Vāsudeva Sītārāma (ed.), Śekha Mahaṃmadbābā Śrīgondekara kṛta Yogasaṃgrāma, Muṃbaī [Pī. Pī. Eca. Bukasṭāla] 1959. 141 heṃci śikavileṃ Janārdaneṃ//sarva bhūtīṃ majaci pāhaṇeṃ//prakṛtiguṇāṃcī lakṣaṇeṃ // sarvathā āpaṇeṃna mānāvīṃ. 142 evaṃ parāce prakṛtiguṇa//pāhatāṃ sarvathā kṣobhe mana//te na pahāve āpaṇa// sarvabhūtīṃ caitanya samatveṃ pahāveṃ.

45 Well Articulated Better Paths

Janārdana has greatly stressed this teaching. Otherwise no Man of Knowledge can cross the Ocean of Reincarnation.143 (EBh 31.522)

Man and God are one. Knowing this one is liberated completely. But not recognizing this many have drowned in the confusion of their own Self.144 (EBh 31.562)

Let us now turn to some passages in the EBh in which Ekanāth describes in detail the conduct of those who have attained the realization of the unity of being. Concerning the conduct of the yogī we learn:

Nothing but altruism emerges from the mountain. It simply does not know any other at- titude than doing good for others.145 (EBh 7.384)

Verily, the sādhaka should be generous like the mountain in body, words, and thoughts. He is happy when he can give everything to others.146 (EBh 7.385)

In his actions he should always do good for all. Kicking in scorn at the possession of crores (of rupees) he should always be ready to do good for others.147 (EBh 7.386)

His desire is for the highest goal (liberation from suffering and re-birth). He immediately gives up his own interests and ventures into difficulties for others.148 (EBh 7.387)

Hear me! Just as the sugarcane does good deeds through its sweetness, so also does the yogī practice altruism in the world through his sweetness.149 (EBh 7.389)

143 yeci upadeśīṃ atyādara//Janārdaneṃ kelā thora//yāvegaḷā bhavābdhipāra//sajnāna nara pāvoṃ na śake. 144 jana Janārdana eka//jāṇe to suṭalā niḥśekha heṃci neṇoniyāṃ loka//guṃtale aneka nijātmabhrameṃ. 145 evaṃ parvatācī je utpattī//te paropakārārtha ekaṃtīṃ//upakārāvāṃcūni cittīṃ//dujī vṛtti jāṇenā. 146 tyā parvatā aiśī tattvatāṃ//asāvī sādhakāsī udāratā//kāyā vācā āṇī cittā//sarvasva detā ulhāsu. 147 ceṣṭāmātreṃ paropakārarthā//sarvadā karāvī samastāṃ//koṭilābhā hāṇoni latā//upakārī tattvatāṃ. 148 Paramārthāciyā cāḍā//svārtha sāṃḍoni rokaḍa//paropakārārtha avaghaḍa//righe sāṃkaḍa parārtheṃ. 149 ūṃsu jaisā avaghārīṃ//sarvāṃsī goḍapaṇeṃ upakārī//taisāci yogiyā saṃsārīṃ// paropakārī madhuratveṃ.

46 Ethical Implications of the Mahāvākyas in the Literature of the Cānd Bodhale Circle (Marāṭhvāḍā 1550–1650)

In the eyes of the bhakti-sants virtuous conduct was the distinguishing mark of those who had realized the unity of being, while those who clung to dualities were at best spiri- tually benighted and, more often than not, morally flawed. By juxtaposing virtuous and immoral figures from the colorful medieval society in which he lived his long life, Śekh Mahaṃmadbābā Śrīgondekar – not unlike Geoffrey Chaucer – shows the link between transcendental vision and ethical conduct with striking imagery and earthy humor:

The virtuous conduct of those of true mystical vision will I describe to you through the lib- erating knowledge of the Self. When all the saintly beings have heard this they will rejoice with the bliss of the Self.150 (YS 5.78)

The kājī 151 is he who knows without being told. When judging the mansubī 152 (‘legal dis- putes’) his citta (‘mind’) does not waver. He strives assiduously to find the balance of the equal and the odd. He doesn’t take bribes.153 (YS 5.79)

Thus, he awards (punishments) only according to virtues and vices. His mana (‘mind’) is engrossed in the worship of God. Having first cleansed himself within he then shows (out- ward purity). Know ye that he is the true kajī.154 (YS 5.80)

The mulaṇā 155 is he who knows his mūḷa (‘origin’).156 He considers the suffering of others to be his own (suffering). The inexpressible crowing of the Egg of Brahmā thunders “I am He”157 as he turns the tasbī (‘rosary’).158 (YS 5.81)

150 sahī darśanāṃce ācāra saguṇa//ātmajnāneṃ sāṃgena tyāṃceṃ lakṣaṇa//teṃ aikona sakaḷa sādhujana// svānaṃdeṃ mānavatī. 151 Arabic (hereafter: a.): qāẓī. 152 a. mansubah. 153 kājī to jyāsa sāṃgitlyāviṇa kaḷe//manasubī karitāṃ citta nā caḷe//sama viṣama tuḷadhāra nyāhāḷe//lāṃca neghe mhaṇūnī. 154 jyāceṃ bhūṣaṇa dūṣaṇa tyāsīca lāvī//Ῑśvarabhajanīṃ āpuleṃ mana govīṃ//aṃtara dhuvaṭa karonī bāhera dāvī//to jāṇā satya kājī. 155 Persian: maulānā (‘Our Lord’), a title of judges and heads of religious orders. Often used as a honorific title when mentioning Jalāl ud-Dīn Rūmī (d. 1273). 156 A pun is intended here despite the difference in pronunciation of l and ḷ. 157 Though strictly speaking not one of the four classical mahavākyas of advaita-vedānta, the saying so’ ham ’I am He’, that is, ’I am (the transcendental) puruṣa’ or ’I am that (su- preme) deity’ (Bṛhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad, V.15.2) has essentially the same meaning as ahaṁ brahmāsmi (‘I am the brahman’) or ayam ātma brahma (‘The Self is the Absolute’) and is very close in meaning to the ‘Great Saying’ of the Sufi tradition on the doctrine of the unity of being (waḥdat al-wujūd ) “hama ūst” ‘Everything is He’, that is, ’Everything is Allāh (s.w.t.), the Absolute’. It is particularly striking that Śekh Mahaṃmad perceives in this vener- able upanishadic expression of the identity of the individual self with the transcendental Self not only an epistemological but an ethical truth of great significance. For those of true mystical vision the suffering of others is truly their own suffering. 158 mulaṇā to jo āpulem mūḷa jāṇeṃ//āpuleṃ duḥkha taise parāveṃ māne//anirvācya bāṃga brahmāṃḍa daṇāne//so’hama tasabī pherī.

47 Well Articulated Better Paths

With viveka159 he slaughters the water-buffalo of ahamkāra160 using the knife of akkal161 (‘wisdom’, ‘good sense’) and feasts upon it. He deposits his prayers in the Mosque of unmanī.162 He it is who is called mulānā.163 (YS 5.82)

The phakīr164 is he who has relinquished attachment to the objects of sense. When inhal- ing and exhaling he always remembers Allāh. Having seen loose behavior and confusion he flees and enjoys bliss in solitude.165 (YS 5.83)

He is not ostentatious about being a phakīr. He himself teaches the ways of the ‘twenty- three and thirteen’.166 He is moved by the intoxication of divine love through the nature of the Self. Verily, he is the devout phakīr.167 (YS 5.84)

159 The power of separating the eternal Self from the world of appearances, or spirit from mat- ter, truth from falsehood, reality from illusion. 160 Literally: the ‘I-maker’, i.e. the mistaken identification of one’s individuality with one’s eter- nal, unchanging Self. 161 a. ‘aql. 162 The fifth and highest state of human consciousness, the final union of Śiva and Śakti in the teachings of the Nāth-siddhas (Kanphaṭā-yogīs), in which human consciousness is complete- ly liberated from māyā (‘illusion’). The frequency of similar terminology in the YS confirms Śekh Mahaṃmad’s familiarity with the practices ofHaṭha-yoga and Tantric sādhanā (‘meth- ods’, ‘practices’). 163 ahaṃkāra ṭoṇagā akkala surī//vivekeṃ kāpūna bhakṣaṇa karī//unmanī maśjīdīṃta nimāja gujarī//to bolije mulāṇā. 164 a. faqīr. 165 phakīra to jo rāga viṣayīṃ sāṃdavalā//śvāsa ucchvāseṃ nitya āṭhavī Allā//dekhoni paḷeṃ bāṣkaḷa galabalā//ekāṃta sukha bhogī. 166 As is the case in the poetry of Śrī Sant Ekanāth (cf. van Skyhawk 1990, pp. 24-30) mysti- cal numbers play an important role in the YS of Śekh Mahaṃmad Śrīgondekar. The mysti- cal meaning of the numerals 2+3+1+3=9 mentioned above can be obtained by using the system of abjad, also known as the fourteen Nūrānī letters, the total numerical value of which is 693. By further addition of the digits 6+9+3=18 and 1+8=9 the mystical numeral 9 is obtained which stands for Haẓrat ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib [R.] (d. 661 a.D.), the son-in-law of the Holy Prophet [S.], husband of Fātima̤ [R.], father of Imām Ḥasan [R.] and Imām Ḥusain [R.], the fourth xalīfah of Islam, first imām of the Shias and first pīr of all Sufi orders with the exception of the Naqšbandiyya. According to Sufi tradition Haẓrat ‘Alī [R.] was chosen by the Holy Prophet [S.] to receive the inner meaning of the Holy Qur’ān, the ‘ilm-i bāṭin. As a Qadirī-šayḫ Śekh Mahaṃmad would have every reason to teach the esoteric knowledge of the 23 and 13, that is, of Haẓrat ‘Alī. (On the system of Nūrānī letters see e.g. ‘Allāmah Naṣīr al-Dīn Hunzāī, Nuqūš-i ḥikmat (‘Diagrams of Wisdom’), Karachi [Khānah-i Ḥikmat-Idārah-i ”Ārif] 1988, pp. 58 and 81.). 167 phakīrapaṇācā dāvī nā torā//svayeṃ vāṭā bujavilyā tevisa terā//premācā aṃmala lāgalī sahaja mudrā//satya to phakīra jiṃdā.

48 Ethical Implications of the Mahāvākyas in the Literature of the Cānd Bodhale Circle (Marāṭhvāḍā 1550–1650)

The ācāryā (‘spiritual teachers’) of the Yavana (‘Muslims’) are the mullās (‘doctors of the- ology’) and the kajī (‘Islamic judge’). They throw out all the irreligious people. They who rule over the family and the worship of God are the true ācāryā.168 (YS 5.99)

The true Sufi is the ācāryā of the fourteen panths (‘spiritual lineages’).169 The one who says that only his way is good, scorns the others, and puffs himself up with pride, his jnāna is false.170 (YS 5.100)

The jaṅgama171 is one who knows the āgamas.172 He causes the ‘comings and goings’ (i.e. the cycle of births and deaths) to cease forever.173 When jīva (‘the unreleased soul’) and Śiva became one he gave up trouble and care, as when bitter becomes sweet.174 (YS 5.89)

The jaṅgama themselves name five panths. They become intensely involved with others. They are like Īśvara himself in their experience (of the Divine) through their condition of strong spiritual knowledge.175 (YS 5.103)

Know ye that the guru of the śūdra-varṇa is the brāhmaṇa. These clever ones say: “There is pollution everywhere!” They do not recognise that the mark of brāhmaṇ-ness and full divinity is (to be found) equally everywhere (i.e. in all beings).176 (YS 5.104)

168 Yavanāṃcā ācāryā mullā kājī//sakaḷa adharmāṃsī dyāvīṃ bājī//gotrāsa karāveṃ bhaktīsa rājī//to ācāryā kharā. 169 The tradition of the čaudah xānvādah (‘the fourteen households’) attributed to the third (9) and fourth (5) of the original cār pīr (‘four guides’), Haẓrat ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (d. 661 a.D.), Ḥasan Basrī (d. 728 a.D.), Ḥabīb ‘Ajamī (d. 738 a.D.), ‘Abd ul-Wāhid b. Zaid Kūfī (d. ??) is al- luded to here. Cf. Šarīf, Ja”far, 1921 (1972), pp. 287f. 170 caudā paṃthāṃcā ācārya sophī kharā//āpalyaca mārgāsa barā//āṇikāṃteṃ nikhaṃdūni karī torā//tyāceṃ jnāna mithyā aseṃ. 171 The entry under jaṃgama in James Thomas Molesworth’s A Dictionary, Maráthí and Eng- lish Bombay 1831, reprinted in 1857, is still unequalled for brevity and marksmanship: “An individual of a particular sect[Vīraśaiva, Lingāīt (sic.)]. They follow Śiva, worship the lingam, and hate the Bráhman. 2. A guru amongst this people.” 172 The body of Sanskrit texts that teach the nature and worship of Śiva from within the Vīraśaiva, Lingāyat tradition are meant in this context. 173 There is a good-natured pun on the five repetitions of verbal roots of motion (Sanskritgam– , yā–) in the first two caraṇas of the ovī. See the Marāṭhī text below. 174 jaṃgama to jyāsa kaḷe āgama//āyāgamanācā karī nirgama//jiva Śiva hoūni sāṃḍī śrama// kaḍū goḍ a taiseṃ jāleṃ. 175 jaṃgama svayeṃ pāṃca paṃthī mhaṇavī//āpaṇa guṃtalā āṇikāṃteṃ goṃvī// Ῑśvarāsārikhā hoya anubhavī//prabaḷa jnātpaṇeṃ. 176 śūdra varṇācā brāhmaṇa guru jāṇā//sarvatra aśuca mhanavī śāhāṇā//sarvatrīm. sama neṇeṃ brahmatvācyā khuṇā//purate Ῑśvaratvapaṇeṃ.

49 Well Articulated Better Paths

Īśvara always sees (only) one. Behold! The ācāryā ignores the consciousness of dualities. In this way he does not get mixed up and cools (others) down. The sadguru is like sandal- wood paste.177 (YS 107)

Though the sadguru abides in the true mystical vision, his grace can illuminate certain people. But others, adhering to the consciousness of dualities and the evils of life in the world, die completely in vain.178 (YS 5.108)

On the southern wall of the dargah of Aḥmad Šāh Walī Bahmanī at Bidar the following inscription taken from theDīvān of Šāh Ni’matullāh Walī bears witness to the devotion of the ninth Bahmanī sultan for the great šayḫ of Kirmān. Particularly striking in this context is Aḥmad Šāh Walī‘s avowal:

I have found Ni’mat Ullāh (‘Divine Bounty’) in every form of existence, for I have noticed love and infatuation in all. Nim’at Ullāh is One in the entire universe; thou shalt not find any one like me, nor one like me can be found (by others).179

The spiritual phenomenon of The spiritual phenomenon of seeing the guru in all be- seeing the guru in all beings ings and, thus, seeing him as a divine being, is well and, thus, seeing him as a di- known in the bhakti traditions of Maharashtra. Indeed, it is the most familiar teaching of Śrī Sant Ekanāth whom vine being, is well known in 180 the bhakti traditions of Ma- we have quoted above in this connection. On the left harashtra. Indeed, it is the side of the miḥrāb in the western wall an extensive tract most familiar teaching of Śrī of Ni’matullāh’s teachings on the unity of being and the Sant Ekanāth whom we have ethical implications derived from this vision of the Divine quoted above in this connec- have survived up to the present day. The similarity to the tion. teachings of Śrī Sant Ekanāth and Śekh Mahaṃmadbābā Śrīgondekar is striking:

Thou shouldst consider His multiplicity always like the bubble transitory, His unity like the ocean, and the source thus established. (line 11)

Thou shouldst regard Unity and Multiplicity as hypothetical, And read the book of wisdom in that way. (12)

177 Ῑśvareṃ sarvadā eka dekhileṃ//ācāryeṃ pahā dvaita bhāvitāṃ vaṃcale//parī miśrita hoūni nāhīṃ nivāle//sadguru caṃdana jaisā. 178 sāhī darśanamadhyeṃ sadguru ase//parī tyācī kṛpā koṇī ekāsa prakaśe//yera ghetātī dvaita prapamṃcāceṃ jhāṃse//udaṃḍa vyartha mele. 179 Yazdani 1947, p. 127. 180 Cf. van Skyhawk 1990, pp. 83–95, 294–299.

50 Ethical Implications of the Mahāvākyas in the Literature of the Cānd Bodhale Circle (Marāṭhvāḍā 1550–1650)

I notice the picture of the universe as imaginary, And in that imaginary picture I see His beauty. (13)

He is the quintessence pervading all; The water of Life flowing in our stream (existence). (14)

Whoever talks of knowledge (Truth), He speaks of himself, if he were to understand that. (16)

’Thou are I, and I am thou’, thou shouldst leave duality; Ego does not survive, hence give up (the idea of separate entities of) ‘me’ and ‘thee’. (17)

Thou; and not ’thou and I’ except He; He, and there is no god but He. (18)

None remains in the house but He; According to me, anyone but He is the thief (deception). (19)

The shadow and the person appear two; But really they are one, without ’I’ and ’thou’. (23)

O my friend and the apple of my eye, I am thy vision, And (to say that) Thy existence is my existence undoubtedly means the same.(25)

In manifestation duality emanated from unity, The eye which sees one as two is squinting. (26)

The (squint) eyed perceives two when he perceives; He does not hear the single note. (27)

The false echo is true; Thou shouldst not communicate the secret truth to the liar. (28)

The (wise people) consider God and His attributes (both united) as one; They call the Divine Being without His attributes single. (29)

51 Well Articulated Better Paths

The Divine Being can be ascertained through His attributes: Whoever has perceived Him, he has perceived Him thus. (30)

Lovers who represent each other’s existence, They perceive their own existence from the existence of each other. (33)

Apparently, although they are several in number; But in reality they are (one), neither of them being a commoner or distin- guished. (34)

They are all sympathetic to each other; Whatever happens, they stand by each other. (35)

Whoever is not sympathetic to the afflicted, Thou mightst say that he is not from the group of manly (persons). (36)

... as I am initiated into the secret of Existence, I know the secret of Ni’mat Ullāh also. (39)

The love of Majnūn and the beauty of Laila; Have been described amply and heard of amply.181 (40)

The conversation of lovers, come and listen; Do not listen to ‘We’ and ‘Thou’, but listen to God. (41)

Delightful life is flowing in the stream, Thou shouldst seek the source of the stream and seek it from the waters. (42)

Praise be unto (God) Who is the Praiser and the Praised, All that which exists is His gift.182 (43)

181 I.e. Majnūn’s love for Laila was so great that in his rapture he exclaimed: ”I am Laila!“, that is, Majnūn merged with Laila completely. Ni’matullāh and Aḥmad Šāh Walī are drawing an analogy here to the merger of the murīd with his šayḫ in the spiritual practice of fanā fi-š- šayḫ (‘extinction of individual personhood in the personhood of the šayḫ ). (Cf. Schimmel, Annemarie, Pain and Grace. A Study of Two Mystical Writers of Eighteenth-century Muslim India, published as volume XXXVI in the series Studies in the History of Religions (Supple- ments to Numen), Leiden [E.J. Brill], 1976, p. 157.). This practice is also one of the most important sādhanā (‘spiritual practices’) in the bhakti of Śrī Sant Ekanāth. Cf. van Skyhawk 1990, pp. 72, 82f, 87ff, 95, 192, 294. 182 Yazdani 1947, pp. 122f.

52 VAIṢṆAVA PERCEPTIONS OF MUSLIMS IN 18th CENTURY MAHARASHTRA183

n his contribution to the volume Islamic Society and Culture184 J. T. O’Connell under- scores the importance of hagiographies of Hindu sants as a source of knowledge of the perceptions of Muslims held by Hindus at various times and places in hagiographical I th accounts of the life of Kṛṣṇa Caitanya (1486–1533) written in the 16 century, O’Connell reaches the conclusion that

In sum, the stereotyped Vaiṣṇava conception of the religious dimensions of Muslims’ lives in uneven, distorted and condescending… The upshot of this heavily edited presentation of Islam is to leave the Vaiṣṇava reader edified in knowing that a Muslim can be genuinely pious by being a good Muslim…. (pp. 309f.).

Mahīpatibovā Tāharābādkar (1715–1790) is the most prolific and influential hagiographer in Old Marāṭhī. He is remembered today primarily for his two major works, Bhakta-Vijaya (1762) and Bhakta-Līlāmṛta (1774).185 In both works we find numerous references to Mus-

183 First published in Dallapiccola, Anna Libera, and Zingel Avé-Lallemant, Stephanie (eds.), Is- lam and Indian Regions, Beiträge zur Südasienforschung 145, part 1, Texts, Stuttgart [Franz Steiner Verlag], 1993, pp. 203–215. 184 See O’Connell, J. T., “Vaiṣṇava Perceptions of Muslims in 16th Century Bengal”, in: Islamic Society and Culture, ed. by Milton Israel and N. K. Wagle, Delhi [Manohar Publishers], 1983, pp. 289–311. 185 I have translated most Marathi words according to pronunciation. However, direct quota- tions from the Devanāgarī text have been given in full transliteration, that is, with the in- herent “a” between syllables and at the end of a word. Moreover, it should be noted that in Old Marathi ovīs the inherent “a” at the end of a word was pronounced in keeping with the pattern of end rhyme typical of the ovī. Similarly, bibliographical references to works in Indian languages have been given in full transliteration.

53 Well Articulated Better Paths lims who stood in various relationships to the sants and Vaiṣṇava-bhaktas. In the pres- ent paper we shall examine some of the perceptions of Muslims found in the 9,916 ovīs of Mahīpati’s first major work, the Bhakta-Vijaya (BhV), which was written around 1760 when Marāṭha power was at its zenith.

As in the hagiographies of As in the hagiographies of Kṛṣṇa Caitanya in O’Connell’s Kṛṣṇa Caitanya in O’Connell’s study, the terms “Muslim” or “Musalmān” do not occur in study, the terms “Muslim” the BhV. In their place we find aviṃdha (one whose ears or “Musalmān” do not oc- have not been pierced, that is a non-brahmin) and yava- cur in the BhV. In their place na (the original Sanskritic term for an Ionian) as designat- we find aviṃdha (one whose ing Muslims. As in O’Connell’s paper we find in Mahīpati’s ears have not been pierced, narrative no indication that the legitimacy of a Muslim 186 that is a non-brahmin) and rājā per se is questioned. Similarly, aviṃdha and yava- yavana (the original San- nas are not criticized merely because they are Muslims, skritic term for an Ionian) as but because of aggressive actions taken by some of them designating Muslims. As in against Vaiṣṇavas. But, unlike the description of the vari- O’Connell’s paper we find in ous encounters between Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Muslims Mahīpati’s narrative no indi- found in the hagiographies dealt by O’Connell, a distinct cation that the legitimacy of tone of tolerance underlies Mahīpati’s portrayal of Mus- a Muslim rājā per se is ques- lims. There is no sign of condescension or of an attempt tioned. to distort the character or beliefs of Muslims. Moreover, in Mahīpati’s narrative we find a wide range of possible treatment of deserv- ing and non-deserving Muslims (from the Vaiṣṇava point of view). While the masğid (mosque) of certain evil aviṃdhas who had beaten up a group of Vaiṣṇavas is destroyed by Maruti (BhV 56.210-222), the adjoining hut (jhoṃpaḍī) of pious fakir (phakīr) is spared (BhV 56.214f.). In a similar vein, the affectionate relationship between Sūfī-sādhus and sants is highlighted in the story Mahīpatis narrates of Śekh Mahaṃmad of Cāmbhārgond, who telepathically detects a fire in a tent in a distant village in which Sant Tukārām is performing a kīrtan, and telekinetically extinguishes it, thus saving theVaiṣṇavas and pre- venting the interruption of Tukārām’s kīrtan (BhV 52.86–52.119).

By far the most striking example of Mahīpati’s reverence for a pious Muslim is the story of Śānta Bāhmaṇi alias Mṛtyunjaya (‘Who Overcomes Death’), whom he identifies as a famous rājā of Bidar.187 The core of this story is Mahīpati’s tale of encounter between the sadguru Mṛtyunjaya and an arrogant Liṅgāyat-jaṅgam, who questions Mṛtyunjaya’s quali- fication to be a sadguru because he is a Muslim. Though the humiliation of the jaṅgam at Mahīpati’s hands may be an example of the traditional rivalry between Brahmins and Liṅgāyat, Mahīpati’s nonetheless unconditionally affirms that a Muslim devotee of Srihari

186 For example, Mahīpati’s treatment of “Rājā Akbar” (BhV 3.16-3.31, 3.257–3.314). 187 Śānta Bāhmaṇī is also known is Bidar as Shāh Mutabjī Kādrī or Murtaja Kādrī. According to R.C. Ḍhere (Musalamāna-Marāṭhī-santa-kavi, Puṇe, 1967, pp. 1f.), Mṛtyunjaya was not the sultan but a prince of the royal family of Bidar, whose life-span is given as 1575–1650.

54 Vaiṣṇava Perceptions Of Muslims In 18th Century Maharashtra

188 can be a sadguru. Even more importantly, there emerge All holy men are members of from Mahīpati’s narrative two widely held beliefs that ac- one spiritual community. As count in part for the relatively high degree of religious this hagiographical account and social harmony that characterized life in the medi- provides us with unique in- eval Deccan: 1) the perception of community as not being sights into the relations of limited to members of one’s own religious community; 2) at least three important the belief that true spiritual experience transcends the religious communities of empirical categories of “Hindu” and “Muslim”. All holy the medieval Deccan – the men are members of one spiritual community. As this Vaiṣṇavas, the Muslims, and hagiographical account provides us with unique insights the Liṅgāyat - we shall now into the relations of at least three important religious present some of its key pas- communities of the medieval Deccan – the Vaiṣṇavas, the sages in English translation. Muslims, and the Liṅgāyat – we shall now present some of its key passages in English translation. The basis of my translations is the Old Marathi text published by the Nirṇaya Sāgara Press (Bombay) in 1915:189

At this place (Nārāyaṇpūr) there lived a jaṅgam by the name of Bhavarāyā. He was very pious (bhāvik) and knowledgeable (jnānī). He took shelter with Mṛtyunjaya and received spiritual instruction from him with great affection. (BhV 41.57)

Another jaṅgam by the name of Samuccya also lived at this place. He was considered to be the head (śreṣṭha) (of the jaṅgam).He upbraided Bhavarāyā (nindā) and cast him out of the (Liṅgāyat) community (ghātale vālīta). (BhV 41.58)

188 Though S.G. Tulpule speaks of Mṛtyunjaya’s “conversion of Hinduism” (see Tulpule 1979, p. 363), there is no textual evidence in the Bhakta-Vijaya that indicates that Mṛtyunjaya renounced Islam, or that he was no longer considered to be a member of the Muslim com- munity by his contemporaries. In fact, the tension in the story derives from the fact that the jaṅgam Samuccaya considers Mṛtyunjaya to be Muslim despite his devotion to Śrīhari. Moreover, there is no mention of a ‘conversion’ from one religion to another in the text. Similarly, there is no indication in the text that Mṛtyunjaya perceived a conflict between his belief in Islam and his devotion to Śrīhari. 189 On the comparing the text of the Nirṇaya Sāgara Press edition with Justin Abbott’s and N.R. Godbole’s English translation of theBhakta-Vijaya, I discovered some serious discrepancies in the translation of passages in which Muslims figure importantly. For this reason, I have made a new translation of the passages presented in this paper. Such passages have been compared in the footnotes to my translation of the story of Bahirambhaṭ, which is given be- low. In his foreword to the second part of Abbott’s and Godbole’sStories of Indian Saints, J.F. Edwards notes that Reverend Abbott and Pandit Godbole used an edition of Mahīpati’s text entitled “Abhinava-Bhakta Vijaya”, which had been edited by one “Dindās” and published by the “Paramārtha Sādhanālya Sansthā” of P.O. Phond Ghat in the former princely state of Savantwadi (near Ratnagiri) in 1930 (Stories of Indian Saints), Part II, p.x. Thus far I have not been able to obtain a copy of this edition of theBhakta-Vijaya, and am not in a position to say whether Abbott and Godbole erred in their translation, or whether editor “Dindās” failed to provide them with a trustworthy text. Nonetheless, it should be noted that Abbott and Godbole’s translation does not correspond to the text of the Nirṇaya Sāgar Press, which is generally accepted by scholars in India as a reliable text of Mahīpati’s Bhakta-Vijaya.

55 Well Articulated Better Paths

He said: ʹMṛtyunjaya belongs to the Yavana-jātī (literally: the Muslim caste). Very little knowledge has fallen to his share. Why did Bhavarāyā not know of this? (Why did he) receive spiritual instruction from him?’ (BhV 41.59)

‘If a Brahmin sees that cooked food (pakkāna) comes from the house of śūdra, will he eat it? Even if the water of the Gaṅgā is poured into a vessel containing alcohol, one should still not drink from it.’ (BhV 41.60)

‘Even when sandals are new, one should not wear them on the head. Should one (really) worship the steps in front of the great portal of the temple?’ (BhV 41.61)

‘The king’s courtesan may be beautiful and talented. But will she sit next to him during the puṇyāha-vācana-ritual? 190 In the same way, one belonging to the caste of the Muslims (yavana-jāti) should not be honoured as a sadguru.’ (BhV 41.64)

With such doubts in his heart Samuccaya upbraided Bhavarāya. When Bhavarāya heard this he became very sad in his heart. (BhV 41.65)

Then he went to Mṛtyunjaya and told him about the matter. On hearing of this, the sad- guru encouraged his (śiṣya).191 (BhV 41.66)

He said: ‘Persevere in your faith. Worship Īśvara in tranquility. You should never listen to the words of those who are hateful and mistrusting.’ (BhV 41.67)

He regularly feasted ten (In Kalyāṇ) there lived a king by the name of Kāśīpati, who thousand jaṅgams in his was a great bhakti of Śiva. He regularly feasted ten thou- place, serving them at their sand jaṅgams in his place, serving them at their paṅkti paṅkti (dining row) person- (dining row) personally, One day, not long after Samuc- ally, One day, not long after caya had excommunicated Bhavarāyā, a strange event Samuccaya had excommuni- occurred in Kāśīpati’s palace. At the time of naivedya cated Bhavarāyā, a strange (the ritual of offering food to the deity before eating), event occurred in Kāśīpati’s when the cloth covering the linga of Śiva was removed, palace. the linga vanished. Moreover, the small silver lingas that the jaṅgams wore around their necks also vanished. The meaning of this strange event was clear: Śiva was no longer present among the jaṅgams. Following a protracted discussion punctuated with mutual recriminations King Kāśīpati gave the jaṅgams the following advice:

“…It seems that one of you has annoyed a holy man (sadhu puruṣāṃcī chaḷaṇā koṇī ālā karūni disata āhe) (BhV 41.81)

190 The puṇyāha-vācana is the traditional benediction invoked by sacrificial priests at the begin- ning of the sacrifice for the benefit of the patron (yajamāna) of the brahmanical sacrifice. 191 Mahīpati underscores his reverence for Mṛtyunjaya by using the honorific third person plu- ral of the verb deṇe (to give) “detātī”: “aikatāṃ sadguru tyākāraṇeṃ āśvāsana detātī”.

56 Vaiṣṇava Perceptions Of Muslims In 18th Century Maharashtra

‘That’s why the Lord of the Universe has become angry with you and gone away.’ Having heard the words of the king, the jaṅgams conferred immediately with one another. (BhV 41.82)

Then Samuccaya, the jaṅgam, spoke from his heart: ‘I have erred. I upbraided Bhavarāyā because he is the disciple of a Muslim (aviṃdhācā śiṣya).’ (BhV 41.83)

‘My error is grave. My heart bears witness to this. I know not what solution there (may be) to this (dilemma).’ (BhV 41.84)

Then the king spoke: ‘Know ye that if all of you implore (prārthā) Mṛtyunjaya your di- lemma will definitely vanish.’ (BhV 41.85)

All (who were present) took the king’s advice to heart. They rose from the paṅkti and set out at once. One arriving at Mṛtyunjaya’s maṭha (hermitage), they prostrated themselves (before him). Having (respectfully) presented their news to him, they folded their hands (in supplication) (tayāsī vṛttāṃta nivedana karūna kara joḍūna ṭhākale). (BhV 41.87)

They said: ‘Verily, we have spoken roughly to Bhavarāyā. Because of this Śrī Śaṅkar has hidden himself and will not appear.’ (BhV 41.88)

Having heard this Mṛtyunjaya had them sit down. Then he addressed them all in a thun- dering voice. (BhV 41.89)

He said: ‘Vedānta and Siddhānta192 lives as dogs in our house. I believe they might have stolen your lingas. Then he called Vedānta, and the dog appeared at once. (BhV 41.91)

Mṛtyunjaya spoke: ‘Why did you steal the jaṅgam’s lingas for no reason? Spit them out again at once!’ When the dog heard Mṛtyunjaya’s command, it spat out five thousand lingas on the ground. (BhV 41.92)

192 The intended symbolism in Mahīpati’s choice of the names of Mṛtyunjaya’s dog, “Vedānta” and “Siddhānta”, indicates that Mahīpati perceived Śaiva-siddhānta to be the storehouse of spiritual knowledge for the Liṅgāyats, as is the Vedānta for the Brahmins. Though Śaiva- siddhānta and Vīraśaiva doctrines are similar, they are not identical, the most important difference between them being the Vīraśaiva belief that cognition alone is inadequate for reaching Śiva: the adept must also “achieve what is disclosed” in the revelation of the spiri- tual truth (see Nandimath, S.C., A Handbook of Vīraśaivism, Dharwar, 1942, reprinted in Delhi, 1979, p. 62).

57 Well Articulated Better Paths

Know ye that Mṛtyunjaya then called Siddhānta, and the second dog appeared there, and also spat out five thousand lingas on the ground. (BhV 41.93)

All were astounded as they witnessed this strange (event). They said: ‘No one compre- hends the greatness of the Viṣṇu-bhaktas.’ (BhV 41.94)

But no one was able to recognize and pick up his own linga. Once more they made their namaskār to Mṛtyunjaya with passionate devotion. (BhV 41.95)

When their pitiable response had been heard, all the lingas returned quickly to those to whom they belonged. All cried out ‘Jay! Jay! (Victory! Victory!)’ and shouted ‘Hara! Hara!’ (BhV 41.98)

Then they all gave Mṛtyunjaya the name Jnana-sāgar-ayyā (‘the venerable ocean of spiri- tual knowledge’).193 Thereupon, they all returned to the palace and sat down to eat. (BhV 41.99)

Conversions to Islam occurred for a number of reasons in the medieval Deccan, for mate- rial gain, social advancement, and because of personal conviction. But force was seldom the decisive factor that caused a Hindu to become a Muslim. Nonetheless, conversion to Islam often represented a traumatic experience both for the convert and the society in which he lived. In the view of the Vaiṣṇava hagiographer Mahīpati conversion to Islam is literally a breaking of the ritual purity of a Brahmin, a bhraṣṭa. But having admitted this, we still do not know Mahīpati’s perception of those Muslims who converted Hindus to Islam.

In the following excerpt from the Bhakta-Vijaya, Mahīpati narrates the spiritual odys- sey of Bahirambhaṭ, or Bahirāpisā (‘Mad Bahirā),194 who, having been chided by his wife

193 Standing at the confluence of three important religious traditions of the Deccan Vaiṣṇava-- bhakti, Liṅgāyat-bhakti, and Sufism - Mṛtyunjaya/Murtajā Kādrī is an excellent example of syncretism in devotional religion in the medieval Deccan. Another example of the blending of Ṣūfīsm and Liṅgāyat-bhakti is found in the cult of Aḥmad Šāh Walī, the ninth Bāhmanī sultan of Bidar (1422–1435), whom Ghulam Yazdani has likened to Akbar with regard to his religious syncretism. Aḥmad Šāh Walī was a disciple of Nur ud-Din Muḥammad Ni’matullāh bin ‘Abdallāh of Kirmān (1330–1431), the firstšayḫ of the Ni’matullāhī-silsila. On the ceiling of Aḥmad Šāh Walī’s dargāh at Bidar are inscribed a Qādirī-shajrā, the names of the twelve imams, and the names of the panjatanpāk, Muḥammad, ‘Alī, Fātima,̤ Ḥasan, and Ḥusain. In addition, a jaṅgam of the Liṅgāyat is always in attendance at the dargāh, as the Liṅgāyat regard Aḥmad Šāh Walī’ as “Allama prabhū” (See Yazdani 1947, pp.114ff). 194 Though Mahīpati identifies “Bahirāpisā” as the author of aMarathi commentary on the daśama-skandha of the Bhāgavata-Purāṇa (BhV 44.95), S.G. Tulpule observes that there is no evidence that Bahirambhaṭ actually wrote the commentary in question, theBhairavī-ṭīkā (circa 1400) (see Tulpule, Marāṭhī Literature, p. 346).

58 Vaiṣṇava Perceptions Of Muslims In 18th Century Maharashtra because of his childishness, decides to renounce the In order not to be disturbed world. In order not to be disturbed further in his quest further in his quest for for “Bhagavān” by his fellow Brahmins, Bahirambhaṭ re- “Bhagavān” by his fellow solves to become a Muslim (thus breaking all ties to his Brahmins, Bahirambhaṭ re- caste). Mahīpati’s description of Bahirambhaṭ’s various solves to become a Muslim encounters with the Hindus and Muslims of Pratiṣṭhān (thus breaking all ties to his both prior and subsequent to his conversion to Islam of- caste). fers us unique insights into this multi-religious medieval community in which human relationships are characterized by sensitivity, warmth, and a generous dose of folk humor:

“…In the holy field of Pratiṣṭhān there once lived Bahirambhaṭ, a ṣaṭśāstrī-paṇḍit,195 who was a famous authority on the Vedānta. (BhV 44.8)

Other Brahmins may have read the Vedas, but they called themselves his pupils. Nu- merous priests joined the group of disciples around him and learned the wisdom of the Purāṇas. (BhV 44.9)

Know ye, that although he was such an influential person, he never went to take darśan (here: to attend the king at his court) of the king. It was his habit to perform theagni-hotrā and other holy rituals in his house and to harbor no adverse thoughts in his manas (mind). (BhV 44.10)

Know ye, that he lived from that which he received without asking (ayācitavṛttī) and led the life of a Veda-Nārāyaṇ (a venerable brahmin)…(BhV 44.11)

One day as he sat at dinner he said to his wife in jest: ‘This vegetable needs some salt.’ When his wife heard this remark she retorted: ‘Why should I add salt to it? You are sixty years old. Why do you demand in vain a piquant taste for your tongue?’ (BhV 44.14f.)

When he heard his wife’s words he quickly repented in his heart. He said: ‘Why should I live now in vain? I should make my life meaningful (sārthak).’ (BhV 44.16)

Bahirambhaṭ stood up quickly and made his namaskār to his wife. He said: ‘O mother, out of love you have given me a valuable instruction.’ (BhV 44.17)

Bahirambhaṭ thought: ‘If I withdraw into the forest now, the people will bring me back again because of public opinion.’ (BhV 44.19)

195 “ṣaṭśāstrī” indicates a paṇḍit who is competent in the six major systems of brahmanical philosophy: Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Mīmāṃsā, Vedānta, Sāṃkhya, and Patanjalī (Yoga).

59 Well Articulated Better Paths

‘But if I load the harshest censure upon myself, then everyone will spit on me. They will offend me with slander.196 (BhV 44.22)

‘If things happen in this way, my body will become pure (pāvan).’ Keeping such repen- tance in his heart, he left his home. (BhV 44.23)

Then Bahirambhaṭ went to the house of the aviṃdha-purohit (pāvan). Keeping such re- pentance in his heart, he left his home. (BhV 44.24)

‘Know ye, that making a Muslim out of a Hindu is considered to be meritorious (puṇya) in your śāstra (holy book). So don’t hesitate. Make me like yourself.’ (BhV 44.25)

The kājī replied: ‘Why are you sad (udās)197 today Bhaṭjī? Why have your inclinations (vasanā) changed? I shall take care of this affair of yours (kārya).’ (BhV 44.26)

‘You are a learned paṇḍit. Why do you want to join our caste (āmuce yātīṃta kāsaya yetāṃ)? If you have some wish (kāhīṃ kāmanā) I will fulfill it completely.’ (BhV 44.27)

196 Abbott translates here: “Those who are in the highest positions, however, seeing me thus, will spit on me. Evil men will seek to dishonor me…” (See Abbott: Saints, p. 147). 197 Abbott (Saints, p. 147) translates “udās” as “indifferent” (to worldly affairs). But Mahīpati uses the terminus technicus “vairāgya” for indifference to worldly affairs in his hagiogra- phies. “udās” can mean indifferent in the sense of apathetic. But this is not meant here, as can be readily discerned from the context. The kājī’s subsequent remarks to the effect that he would take care of Bahirambhaṭ’s affairs (BhV 44.26) and Bahirambhaṭ’s own ad- mission that he is not free of desires (mī nāhīṃ jhāloṃ sakāmavirakta, BhV 44.28) create a context in which “sad” would be a more appropriate translation of udās than indiffer- ent. Moreover, the omission of the friendly form of address “Bhatjī” in Abbott’s transla- tion makes the situation appear more reserved and formal than it is in the original text. In this connection it should be noted that of the three hagiographers in Old Marāṭhī who tell the story of Bahirambhaṭ only Mahīpati portrays the kājī as a man of integrity who probes Bahirambhaṭ’s motivations for wanting to convert to Islam, and who solicitously inquires if he can help Bahirambhaṭ in any material way. Thus, Mahīpati highlights both the kājī’s concern for his Brahmin neighbor and his disinclination to accept a convert for reasons other than sincere faith in Islam. A much different perception of thekājī can be found in Ud- dhavacidghana’s Bahirambhaṭ-Caritra (17th century) in which the kājī immediately assents to Bahirambhaṭ’s request, replying only “avaśya” (‘certainly’) and straightaway getting on with the job (see Uddhavacidghana’s Bahiraṃbhaṭ-Caritra. in: Saṃkaṭ-haraṇī / ed. Śaṅkar Nānābuvā Mohoḷkar — Solāpūr, śake 1909, isvī sān 1987, p. 81). In Ajnānasiddha’s version of the story (14th or 16th century; for a brief discussion of the dating of Ajnānasiddha see Tulpule: Marāṭhī Literature, p. 371) the character of the kājī is not developed as the story begins with Bahirambhaṭ’s arrival at Nāgnāth’s maṭh (hospice) (see Ajnānasiddha: Hegras- caritra, in: Saṃkaṭ-haraṇī / ed. Śaṅkar Nānābuvā Mohoḷkar and V.S. Mohoḷkar ­— Solāpūr, śake 1909, isvī sān 1987, pp.14–19).

60 Vaiṣṇava Perceptions Of Muslims In 18th Century Maharashtra

Then Bahirambhaṭ replied: ‘I have not become free of desires. (But) yours appears to be a direct way of reaching Bhagavaṃta (God). (BhV 44.28)

Having perceived his determination the kājī polluted Bahirambhaṭ (Bahirambhaṭāsī bhraṣṭavileṃ tyāṃnīṃ). When the Brahmins (of Pratiṣṭhān) heard about this, they be- came very depressed. (BhV 44.29)

However, as there was no solution to (the problem), they remained quiet. But there were doubters in Paiṭhaṇ who upbraided Bahirambhaṭ whenever they saw him. (BhV 44.30)

Mahīpati then relates the various reactions expressed by the people of Pratiṣṭhān to Bahirambhaṭ’s conversion. In the narration of a certain Brahmin’s observations concern- ing Bahirambhaṭ’s wife, we catch a glimpse of Mahīpati’s genial sense of humor:

Some said: ‘His wife shouldn’t have talked so much. Fate (prāktana) seems to be unfavour- able to her.’ (BhV 44.32)

Some said: ‘He has no pity in his heart. Our wives also talk a lot. But vairāgya doesn’t come to my mind (citta) and I don’t give up the confusion of life in the world (prapanca- bhrāṃtī na soḍoṃ).’ (BhV 44.33)

It is significant that in none of the criticisms voiced by the As will be seen in the out- typical members of Paiṭhaṇ’s Hindu community is a doubt come of the story, Mahīpati raised that Bahirambhaṭ would not find God by becom- is not concerned with ing a Muslim. The remarks made by Bahirambhaṭ’s gos- Bahirambhaṭ’s worldly sta- siping neighbors all have one thing in common: they are tus, but with his acquisition worldly considerations. A typical example of this is the of true spiritual knowledge neighbor who remarks that Bahirambhaṭ’s conversion is through bhakti. With regard not in keeping with his status. After all, he is learned in to Mahīpati’s perception of the śāstras and should become a saṃnyāsī, and not join a Muslims, however, it should “low caste” (nīca yātīṃta śirūna) such as that of the Mus- be noted that this, the only lims (BhV 44.35). It would be wrong, however, to identify directly depreciatory remark the opinions of the typical personae that Mahīpati creates about Muslims in the story, is with his own views. Such statements are always preceded put in the mouth of a gossip. in the text by “eka mhaṇtī” (“Some say….”), and repre- sent what might best be described as imperfect perceptions of the situation. As will be seen in the outcome of the story, Mahīpati is not concerned with Bahirambhaṭ’s worldly status, but with his acquisition of true spiritual knowledge throughbhakti . With regard to Mahīpati’s perception of Muslims, however, it should be noted that this, the only directly depreciatory remark about Muslims in the story, is put in the mouth of a gossip. Neither Bahirambhaṭ, not his sadguru, Nāgnāth, nor Mahīpati himself expresses condescension toward Muslims.

61 Well Articulated Better Paths

Some time passes and Bahirambhaṭ then regrets having become a Muslim and begs the Brahmins of Pratiṣṭhān to reinstate him as a Brahmin. In the ensuing dialog with the Brah- mins Bahirambhaṭ tells of his decision to become a Muslim, and of his decision to become a Muslim, and of his reasons for wanting to become a Brahmin again:

They addressed Bahirambhaṭ: ‘Why did you become a yavana? What good characteristics did you perceive there that caused you to leave us?’ (BhV 44.41)

When the Twice-Born spoke to him in this way he replied: ‘My karma was very strong. That’s why I committed this thoughtless act.’ (BhV 44.42)

‘Know ye that I became a Muslim of my own free will in order to reach Īśvara (God). But there also I found no sign at all that one reaches the Self (ātman).198 (BhV 44.43)

Then the Brahmins answered: ‘Only by our good deeds do we attain to the ‘good condi- tion’ (sadgatī) (that is final liberation from suffering and rebirth)…’199 (BhV 44.44)

After being reinstated as a Brahmin Bahirambhaṭ finds that he is even less certain about his true spiritual identity than before his conversion to Islam. He begins to wander about Paiṭhaṇ accosting passersby with the question: “Am I now a Hindu or a Muslim?” To either of the two answers implied in the question, Bahirambhaṭ knows a cogent rejoinder:

Bahirambhaṭ said to them: ‘How is it that you have made an aviṃdha of me? The holes in my pierced ears are perfectly visible. I have my doubts about this.’ (BhV 44.52)

198 Here there is a significant difference between Abbott’s English translation and theOld Marāṭhī text of the Nirṇaya Sāgara edition. The translation which reads “But I do not see there any way of obtaining knowledge of the soul” does not account for the sentence signi- fier “hī” (also, even, and) of the original Old Marāṭhī: pari yetheṃhī ātmaprāptīceṃ cinha naye disona sarvathā, which gives a much different sense to Bahirambhaṭ’s narrative (see Abbott, Saints, p. 148). 199 It would be wrong to identify the view expressed by the Brahmins in this passage with Mahīpati’s own spiritual doctrine. For Mahīpati, as for all Vaiṣṇava-bhaktas, final liberation can only be achieved through bhakti, and not simply thorough ‘good deeds’ (that is, those deeds prescribed by brahmanical ritual texts). Though the Brahmins find a way to reinstate Bahirambhaṭ as a Brahmin through penance (prāyaścitta), they fail to answer his true spiri- tual identity. Thus Bahirambhaṭ’s answer “But there also I found no sign of reaching the Self”. Means “Neither as a Brahmin nor as a Muslim have I found God.” For Mahīpati, both the way of the Brahmin and the way of the kājī are forms of exoteric religion. They are inca- pable of imparting knowledge of the Self. For that, asadguru is required, such as the Muslim mystic Mṛtyunjaya in the story given above, or the Śaivite ascetic Nāgnāth, who becomes Bahirambhaṭ’s guru.

62 Vaiṣṇava Perceptions Of Muslims In 18th Century Maharashtra

‘Although there are holes in my ears, you still say“aviṃdha” to me. Isn’t your citta (mind) ashamed of itself?’ In this way he discussed (the matter) with the Muslims. (Eventually) everyone became tired from so much talking. (BhV 44.56)

To the Brahmin priests he said: ‘Hear my words! You have imposed a penance (prāyaścitta) on me, and made me a Brahmin again. I don’t know which of your śāstras it is that deals with this matter.’ (BhV 44.57)

‘My foreskin has been cut (carma kāpileṃ liṅgāvaruteṃ), and it definitely hasn’t come back through the prāyaścitta. Then how shall I become pure by rubbing myself with cow dung and ashes?’ (BhV 44.58)

‘You call me a vipra (brahmanical priest), although I have been circumcised (sunatā, a word of Arabic origin).’ Then he undressed and showed his penis (linga)200 to (the people), and they were astonished. (BhV 44.69)

As he questioned everybody (he met) in this way, he got the name Bahirāpisā (‘Mad Bahirā’). He said to himself: ‘When shall I meet a sadguru who will destroy the influence of doubt?’ (BhV 44.70)

Eventually Mad Bahirā meets the sadguru Nāgnāth and Eventually Mad Bahirā meets also demands of him an answer to the question ‘Am I a the sadguru Nāgnāth and Hindu or a Muslim?’ Nāgnāth considers Bahirā’s ques- also demands of him an an- tion to be impertinent and knocks him on the head with swer to the question ‘Am I a his staff. While Bahirā is unconscious Nāgnāth decides Hindu or a Muslim?’ Nāgnāth on a plan to destroy his doubts once and for all. He rolls considers Bahirā’s question Bahirā’s body into a big ball like a lump of dough, forms it to be impertinent and knocks into a new body, and then infuses life into it by means of him on the head with his 201 his ‘look of grace’ (kṛpā-dṛṣṭī, BhV 44.80).Then the sad- staff. guru instructs Bahirā concerning his true nature, which is neither “Hindu” nor “Muslim”.

Then the sadguru asked him who he was. He said: ‘Bahirāpisā, listen to these words. Tell me quickly who you are.’ (BhV 44.82)

200 Abbott’s translation appears to paraphrase the text: “You call me a Brahman. If so, why is the sign of circumcision still there?’ He showed it to them and all wondered.” (See Abbott, Saints, p. 151). 201 I am grateful to Professor J.C. Heesterman for pointing out the possible symbolic association of the above mentioned “lump of dough” (uṇḍe) with the lumps of rice called piṇḍa that form the focal point of the brahmanical śrāddha-ritual. (Personal communication, 12 July 1989).

63 Well Articulated Better Paths

When he heard this question Bahirāpisā considered and then spoke: ‘My doubts have vanished.’ Having said this, he became silent. (BhV 44.83)

‘Should I say I am a Muslim, although my foreskin covers my penis? Should I say that I am a Brahmin, although my ears definitely do not appear to be pierced?’202 (BhV 44.84)

A sadguru teaches knowledge (of the Self). But who can alter the body? Nāgnāth did the impossible and destroyed (Bahirā’s) dreadful doubt. (BhV 44.85)

Thus, the tranquility of the The Bhakta-Vijaya is a collection of hagiographical ac- Muslim sadguru, Mṛtyunjaya, counts. Mahīpati’s chief aims in compiling the numerous who is unjustly slandered legends of holy men contained in it were to preserve the simply because he is a Mus- stories of the lives of the sants for future generations, lim, should serve as exempla- and to encourage the reader or listener to emulate the ry conduct for the Vaiṣṇava- conduct of the sants. Thus, the tranquility of the Muslim bhakta. That is, he should sadguru, Mṛtyunjaya, who is unjustly slandered simply neither slander others, no because he is a Muslim, should serve as exemplary con- lose his self-control when duct for the Vaiṣṇava-bhakta. That is, he should neither slandered by others. More- slander others, no lose his self-control when slandered by over, the pious Vaiṣṇava others. Moreover, the pious Vaiṣṇava should perceive that should perceive that Mus- Muslims can also be sadgurus. Similarly, Bahirambhaṭ’s lims can also be sadgurus. candid admission that he had found God neither among his fellow Brahmins nor among the Muslims should serve to instill humility in the bhakta with regard to the relative spiritual superiority of his own caste or religious community. For membership in a certain community is not decisive in obtaining spiritual knowledge. For that the grace of a sadguru such as Mṛtyunjaya or Nāgnāth is required. Not less edifying – especially for a contemporary reader or listener – is Mahīpati’s respect for the kājī, who first inquires if he can help Bahirambhaṭ in any material way, and only then, when he is convinced of his Brahmin neighbor’s determina- tion to become a Muslim, agrees to convert him to Islam.

202 Abbott’s translation of this ovī stands in contradiction to the text of the Nirṇaya Sāgara edi- tion of theBhakta-Vijaya, thus blurring Mahīpati’s perception of Muslims considerably: “If I call myself a Muhammadan, yet my foreskin is already there; if I say I am a Brahman my ears look as if already pierced.” (See Abbott, Saints, p.152).

64 MUHARRAM PROCESSIONS AND THE ETHICIZATION OF HERO CULTS IN THE PRE-MODERN DECCAN203

riting on 7 January 1849, in letter forty-two of his famous “Hundred letters”, Gopāḷ Hari Deśmukh (1823–1892), alias “Lokahitavādī” (‘Propounder of Social Well-being’), who was later to be deemed one of the founders of Liberalism W 204 in Maharashtra, confirms the wide-spread Hindu practice of building grave replicas (tābūd, ta‘ziya) and carrying them in procession on the tenth day of the Islamic month Muharram (āšūra) as observance of communal mourning for Ḥusain ibn ‘Alī, who was martyred together with 72 loyal relatives and followers on the battlefield of Karbalā on the same day in 61 a.H. (680 a.D.):

“As the Hindus are not proud of their religion today they have fallen. One sees that in their deeds. Though they are Hindus by birth, they practice Musalmān-dharma. At present in Puṇe there are some five or ten ḍoḷās (=tābūd, ta‘ziya) of the Muslims and a hundred of the Hindus. And just as these people see to the śrāddha rituals for their ancestors or the pilgrimage to Vāraṇāsi they take the matter into their hands and build replicas of Husain’s grave. Isn’t that a disgrace for the Hindu religion? … What blindness this is! Their igno- rance has become great! Thus they sit down in front of the Muslims, perform (the ritual), and become fakirs!205 But these people are not ashamed. They spend money and build replicas of Husain’s grave. And the morons take vows in front of these tābūds. Just like this – so I’ve heard – have some Brahmins fallen. In fulfilment of their vows their wives pour water from vessels in front of the tābūd on the day the tābūd-procession takes place. … The Hindus have adopted the customs of the Muslims completely!”206

203 First published in: Jacobsen, Knut (ed.), South Asian Religions on Display. Religious Proces- sions in South Asia and the Diaspora, Abingdon [Routledge], 2008, pp. 126–139. 204 Lederle, Matthew R. (Rev.), Philosophical Trends in Modern Mahārāṣṭra, Bombay [Popular Prakashan], 1976, pp. 112-124. 205 ajñāna phāra jhālyāmuḷeṃ Musalamānāṃ puḍheṃ basūna gheūna phakīra hotāta. 206 Deśamukha, Gopāḷa Hari, Lokahitavādīkṛta nibaṃdhasaṃgraha. Prathamāmśa, Ahmadan- agara, 1866 (a.D.); centenary edition reprinted in Bombay [Populara Prakāśana], 1967, p.105.

65 Well Articulated Better Paths

Though recent years have seen the publication of several important studies on Shiism in India and, specifically, in the Deccan,207 apart from remarks in passing, no attempt has been made to explain why the mourning procession of a minority community within the minority community of Indian Muslims achieved such widespread and exuberant accep- tance among non-Shiites, and, even more remarkably, among non-Muslims. It will be the work of this paper to illuminate this important question.

Using historical, religious-historical, archaeological, and traditional oral sources, I intend to show how the sacred events that are remembered and re-enacted in Muharram mourn- ing processions, especially on the tenth day of Muharram (āšūra), were seen by Hindus as familiar themes in the religious landscape of the pre-modern Deccan, while, at the same time, devotion to Ḥusain and the People of the House(ahl-i-bayt) added a new dimension to indigenous hero worship: the divine passion of a holy martyr, Ḥusain ibn ‘Alī, younger son of Fātima̤ bint Muḥammad [R.] grandson of the Holy Prophet Muḥammad (PBUH).

In the long reign of Burhān Certainly, no analysis of the development of Muharram as Niẓām Šāh of Ahmadnagar a major religious observance in the pre-modern Deccan (1510–1553) Shiism was not can ignore the geo-political decisions of two centuries of only the religion of the court Muslim rulers. Shiism had been openly and, at times, as- and the capital city but was siduously promoted by the Muslim sultans of the Deccan spread to villages through- since as early as 1422, when Aḥmad Šāh Wālī Bāhmanī out the sultanate by the ef- (ruled 1422–1436) invited the great šayḫ of Kirmān, Šāh forts of the prime minister Ni‘mat Allāh (d. 1431 a.D.), to take up residence at his Šāh Tāhir al-Dakkanī (in of- new capital, Bidar. In Bijapur, Yusuf ‘Ādīl Šāh (ruled 1490- fice 1520–1538), who may 1510 a.D.) attempted in 1506 to establish Shiism as the have been the 31st imām of state religion and, later, ‘Ismā’īl (ruled 1510-1534) and the Muḥammad Šāhī Niẓārī ‘Alī ‘Ādīl Šāh (ruled 1558–1580) openly practiced Shiism ‘Ismā‘īlīs. as state religion. In the long reign of Burhān Niẓām Šāh of Ahmadnagar (1510–1553) Shiism was not only the reli- gion of the court and the capital city but was spread to villages throughout the sultanate by the efforts of the prime minister Šāh Tāhir al-Dakkanī (in office 1520–1538), who may have been the 31st imām of the Muḥammad Šāhī Niẓārī ‘Ismā‘īlīs.208 From the time of Aḥmad Šāh Wālī Bāhmanī until the final conquest of the Deccan sultanates by Aurangzīb in 1687 the promotion of Shiism was always linked to the hope of gaining support from Iran against the invasions of the predominantly Sunni Mughals.

Though royal decree may declare a religion to be the official faith of a state, it cannot oblige the people to have enthusiasm for its practice as no less a monarch than Akbar, the Great Mughal (ruled 1556-1605), was to learn when Rājā Mān Siṅgh refused to accept Ak- bar’s Dīn-i-‘Illāhī. Thus, the wide-spread participation of Hindu devotees in pre-modern

207 Pinault, David, The Shiites. Ritual and Popular Piety in a Muslim Community, New York [St. Martin’s Press], 1992. 208 Daftary, Farhad,The Ismāʻīlīs. Their History and Doctrines, Cambridge [Cambridge University Press] and Delhi [Munshiram Manoharlal] 1990, p. 554.

66 Muharram Processions and the Ethicization of Hero Cults in the Pre-Modern Deccan

Muharram processions must be explained with reference to the interaction of popular Shiism with indigenous religious traditions and practices of the Deccan. The most sig- nificant single historical development in this context was the introduction of the portable replica (tābūd, ta‘ziya) of Husain’s grave to Muharram processions by none other than Tīmūr Lane (d. 1405) on his return to India from a pilgrimage to Karbalā in 1398.209

The worship of hero stones (vīra-gal) had been one of the two pre-dominant forms of popular religiosity in the Deccan since time immemorial, the other being the worship of God by entering into an emotional relationship with one’s chosen deity (bhakti).210 The Muharram procession with portable grave replicas was to combine both indigenous forms of religious experience with popular Shiite cults of Ḥusain and his ten year-old nephew, Qāsim ibn Ḥasan, the Holy Bridegroom. Moreover, the cult of Ḥusain as protector of the family is typical of later, more ethicized, Vaiṣṇava vīras of the Deccan such as Viṭhṭhala of Paṇḍharpūr (though he himself may have begun his career as a cattle rustler),211 while the cult of the slain bridegroom had long been a familiar theme in hero stones, the slain dūlā- vīra or bridegroom hero often being depicted on the upper panel of hero-stones in the company of heavenly nymphs (apsarasaḥ) who escorted him to the heaven of Śiva where he would (presumably) dwell in bliss for eternity.

vīra vīra-gal Though the (‘hero’) of the was worshipped Though the vīra (‘hero’) of or petitioned for help in various worldly matters by devo- the vīra-gal was worshipped tees, detailed re-experiencing of his agonies and death or petitioned for help in vari- struggle was not a typical form of hero-stone worship. ous worldly matters by devo- Thus, specific descriptions of the hero’s battle andhe- 212 tees, detailed re-experienc- roic death were often forgotten. In the cults of Ḥusain ing of his agonies and death and Qāsim the reverse is true: Vivid word pictures of the struggle was not a typical injuries and suffering of the holy martyrs are invoked by form of hero-stone worship. (zakīr, waqia‘ah ḫān) sobbing rhapsodists at mourning Thus, specific descriptions of assemblies each year during the month of Muharram, the hero’s battle and heroic eternal bliss in paradise being more axiomatic here than death were often forgotten. the focal point of devotion. Unlike the meditative detach- ment typical of the vīra or yogī when facing death, the agonies of Ḥusain, his relatives, and his loyal followers are felt to be very near indeed. One remembers the heroic attempt of Abbās ‘Alī Alamdār to bring water in a leather bag from the Euphrates to quench the thirst of the dying children in Ḥusain’s camp. One remembers Ḥusain standing as a suppli- cant asking for water with his infant son, ‘Alī Ašgar, in his arms. One remembers the cruel answer of his enemies in the form of a three-headed poisoned arrow inscribed with the

209 Sharīf, Ja’far, 1921 (1972), p. 164. 210 Settar, S., and Kalaburg, M.M., “The Hero Cult. A Study of Kannaḍa Literature from the 9th to the 12th Centuries”, in: Settar, S., and Sontheimer, Günther D. (eds.), Memorial Stones. A Study of their Origin, Significance and Variety, South Asian Studies XI and Indian Art History 2, Dharwad/Delhi 1982, p. 17. 211 Sontheimer, Günther D., “Hero and satī Stones in Maharashtra”, in: Settar and Sontheimer 1982, pp. 265ff. 212 Sontheimer 1982, p. 263.

67 Well Articulated Better Paths names of Abu Bakr, Omar, and Uthmān (for Shias usurpers of ‘Alī’s caliphate) that pierces ‘Alī Ašgar’s innocent heart and the heart of Islam in one terrible blow. As the early Austro- Hungarian Jewish Orientalist Ignaz Goldziher (1850-1921) once observed: “The mourning for Husain forms the very essence of Islam. It is impossible for a Shîʻah not to weep. His heart forms a living grave, the grave proper for the head of the beheaded martyr.”213

Such word pictures were so well known to participants in Muharram observances that objects closely related to the martyrs could be used in processions as characteristic sym- bols that would be immediately recognized by the masses, such as the mašk-i-Sakīnah, the leather water-bag carried by Abbās ‘Alī Alamdār in his heroic ride to the Euphrates, the noble shield of Ḥusain, the ḍhāl sāhib, or Lord Horseshoe, the na’l sāhib, which is said to be a horseshoe from Ḥusain’s battle charger, Zuljanāh, which had been brought by a pilgrim from Karbalā to Bijāpūr and later taken to Hyderabad, in which the spirit of the Holy Bridegroom, Qāsim ibn Ḥasan, is believed to dwell.214

From the point of view of history of religions we recognise two major themes in the popu- lar cults of Ḥusain and Qāsim: protection of the family and the granting of children as -ef fected by worshipping ta‘ziyas and na’l sāhibs, respectively. In 1907, John Campbell Oman reported for Lahore:

While the tazias stood in their appointed places on the roadside, devout women were fanning them with palm leaves and horse-hair chauris (fly-flappers), and even with their own chaddars (veils). Some were Hindu women, probably unfor- tunate mothers, who thus paid respect to the effigies of the martyrs’ tombs, in the fond hope that Imam Husain would graciously extend his protection to their surviving children and grant them long life… In one instance I noticed a woman pinning on to a tazia with her own hands a paper on which her arzi (petition) to the martyrs was written, and it need not be doubted that she did so in trembling hope of a favorable response…215

Even a brief review of the corresponding entries in the Gazetteer of India, Maharashtra State for the districts Aurangabad and Ahmadnagar, and (beginning in 1969) for District Bhir (Bīḍ)216 will confirm that similar devotion to Ḥusain via the ta‘ziya or to Qāsim ibn

213 Goldziher, Ignaz, Vorlesungen über den Islam, Heidelberg 1910, pp. 213f; translated by Lassy, Ivar, The Muharram Mysteries among the Azerbeijan Turks of Caucasia, Helsingfors [University of Finland] 1916, p. 135. 214 Sharīf 1972, p. 160. 215 Pinault 1992, p. 73, quoting Oman, John Campbell, The Brahmans, Theists and Muslims of India, London [T. Fisher Unwin] 1907, pp. 300f. 216 Cf. Pagadi, Setu Madhavrao (ed.), Gazetteer of India. Maharashtra State. Bhir District, Bom- bay [Directorate of Government Printing] 1969, pp. 204f.; Kunte, B. G. (ed.), Gazetteer of India. Maharashtra State. Ahmadnagar District, Bombay [Gazetteers Department, Govern- ment of Maharashtra] 1976, pp. 891f.; Kunte, B. G. (ed.), Gazetteer of India. Maharashtra State. Aurangabad District (Revised edition), Bombay [Gazetteers Department, Government of Maharashtra] 1977, p. 350.

68 Muharram Processions and the Ethicization of Hero Cults in the Pre-Modern Deccan

Ḥasan via the na’l sāhib was wide-spread among Hindus in the pre-modern Deccan (in places up to the present day).

While supplication and petition are characteristic forms of devotion with regard to Ḥusain and his ta‘ziya, the cult of Qāsim ibn Ḥasan embodied in the na’l sāhib was (and still is) a cult of possession.

Strangely, David Pinault (quoting Sir Richard Temple’s diary of May 14, 1867) mentions the na’l sāhib in his 1991 study of popular Shiite piety in Hyderabad but does not explain what it might be or mean as a popular religious symbol:

“In the evening I went out driving to see the tazia processions by torchlight in Chadarghat. The usual crowds and detachments of the Nizam’s troops were present. About midnight the torchlight procession of the “Na’l sāhib” took place. I wrote to the minister to know if it was worth seeing, but he replied that it was attended only by the lowest classes of the population.”217

Thus, Ja‘far Sharīf’s description of 1832 remains the most detailed account of the cult of the na’l sāhib in the pre-modern Deccan:

“As soon as they see the new moon… They recite the Fātiha over sugar in the name of the martyrs and go to the spot selected for the fire pit(alāwā) … [A day or two later] After the pit is dug they light fires in it every evening during the festival, and ignorant people, young and old, fence across it with sticks or swords. Or they run around it calling out: “Yā ‘Alī! Shāh Hasan! Shāh Husain! Dulhā! Dulhā! Hae dost! Rahiyo! Rahiyo!” In Gujarāt a hole is dug about a foot broad and a foot deep. In this hole a fire is kindled and the person who has vowed to become a Dūlā, Dulhā, or bridegroom, goes round the fire seven or eleven times. If any of his friends notices the bridegroom spirit moving the devotee they wave a rod with feathers on it up and down before his face, fanning him gently, while incense is freely burnt. The people round keep up a chorus of “Dūlā! Dūlā! Dūlā!” to the measure of which the person wishing to be possessed sways at first in gentle, and by degrees, in more violent, oscillations. When the full power of the “breath” (hāl) fills the devotee, that is, when his eyeballs turn up and become fixed in a steady stare, and his body grows cold, he is made to keep his face bowed among the peacock feathers. After his face has been for some time pressed in the feathers, the spirit seizes him and he rushes out heed- less of water or of fire. As he starts, one of his friends holds him from behind, supporting and steadying him. He guides the Dūlā’s aimless impulses to the Akhārā or place of other Dūlās or of the ta‘ziya cenotaphs, where fresh incense is burnt before his face. On the way from place to place the Dūlā is stopped by wives praying for the blessing of children, or the removal of a rival, or the casting out of a jinn or other evil spirit. To secure a son the Dūlā generally directs a flower or two to be plucked from the jasmine garlands that

217 Pinault 1992, p. 83.

69 Well Articulated Better Paths deck his rod, a bar of silver or iron ending in a crescent or horseshoe, and covered with peacock feathers… On the seventh day of the moon, by the ignorant on the seventh day of the month, the standard of the martyr Qāsim, distinguished by a little silver or gold umbrella fixed on it, is paraded… He is one of the sacred bridegrooms, for at the age of ten he was betrothed to Fātima,̤ daughter of Husain, and was slain in battle…. His standard is carried by a man on horseback and the dancing girls who follow sing elegies and beat their breasts. Sometimes it is carried by a man on foot who reels like a madman calling out “Dulhā!” “Dulhā!” “Bridegroom!” as he passes any ‘Āshūrkhāna on the road he salutes the standards and recites the Fātiha over the smoke of burning aloes wood. Then he is escorted to his own ‘Āshūrkhāna, where he is laid on a stool as he is believed to imperson- ate the dead martyr, shrouded and treated as a corpse, while lamentations are made… The Holy Horseshoe is made of gold, or other metal, or of wood, or paper smeared with sandalwood paste. It is rather larger than a common horseshoe. The bearers rush through the crowd, upsetting men, women, and children to the diversion of the lookers-on.

In the Deccan, particularly in Some, in ignorance of the Law, make a thing like a human Hyderabad, after each Mu- figure, and put the horseshoe on it as a head… A woman harram many such rods with makes a vow to the horseshoe: “If through thy favour I horseshoes mounted on the am blessed with a son I promise to make him run with thy tops are thrown into a well, procession.” Should a son be born to her she puts a para- and before the next Mu- sol in his hand and makes him run with it… Something of harram all those who have the bridegroom’s spirit is supposed to dwell in the horse- thrown their rods into the shoe, which works miraculous cures. To gain the inspira- well go there and await the tion a silver or iron rod ending in a crescent or horseshoe, pleasure of the martyr who and covered on all sides with peacock’s feathers, is set makes the rod of the person up with the burning of incense. In the Deccan, particu- he has chosen rise to the sur- larly in Hyderabad, after each Muharram many such rods face.” with horseshoes mounted on the tops are thrown into a well, and before the next Muharram all those who have thrown their rods into the well go there and await the pleasure of the martyr who makes the rod of the person he has chosen rise to the surface.”218

Writing in 1977 B.G. Kunte confirmed the continuing importance of the cult of Qāsim and Lord Horseshoe in Muharram processions in Aurangabad District:

“The month of Muharram … is observed indifferently [without difference] by Sunnis and Shiahs and the proceedings with the Sunnis, at any rate, have now rather the character of a festival than a time of sorrow. Models of the tomb of Husain calledtazia or tabut are made of bamboo and paste-board and decorated with tinsel. These are taken in proces- sion and deposited in a river on the last and great day of Muharram. Women who have made vows for the recovery of their children from an illness dress them in green and send them to beg; and a few men and boys having themselves painted as tigers go about mim-

218 Sharīf 1972, pp. 158f.

70 Muharram Processions and the Ethicization of Hero Cults in the Pre-Modern Deccan icking as a tiger for what they can get from the spectators. At the Muharram, models of horse-shoes made after the caste shoe of Kasim’s horse219 are carried fixed on poles in a procession. Men who feel so impelled and think that they will be possessed by the spirit of Kasim make these horse shoes and carry them. Frequently they believe themselves pos- sessed by the spirit, exhibiting the usual symptoms of a kind of frenzy and women apply to them for children or for having evil spirits cast out.”220

Writing the first gazetteer of Biḍ District in 1969, the late Padmabhushan Setu Madhavrao Pagadi documented the continuing importance of ta‘ziya processions:

“The Shias and the Sunnis keep different holy days. However, festivals like theMuharram , the ramzān and the bakr id are common to both the sects. Another activity in the Mu- harram festival is the preparing of taaziahs or tābūts, bamboo or tinseled models of the shrine of the Imām at Karbalā, some of them large and handsome costing a few hundred rupees. Poor Hindus and Muslims, men and women, in fulfilment of vows throw them- selves in the roadway and roll in front of the shrine…”221

The colorful and, at the same time, highly didactic con- The colorful and, at the same tents of pre-modern Muharram processions cannot fail to time, highly didactic contents have left vivid impressions of Ḥasan, Ḥusain, the pañjtan of pre-modern Muharram pāk (‘The Pure Five’), and the ahl-i-bayt (‘The People of processions cannot fail to the House’) in the minds of devotees of all communities. have left vivid impressions of But up to now historical reconstruction of the popular Ḥasan, Ḥusain, the pañjtan cults of Ḥusain and Qāsim has been attempted only on pāk (‘The Pure Five’), and the the basis of descriptions of contemporary observers. In ahl-i-bayt (‘The People of the contrast, the following oral text of the Dhangar shepherds House’) in the minds of devo- of the Deccan offers a perception of Ḥusain and the ‘Peo- tees of all communities. ple of the House’ from within a community known for its Bhakti to god Viṭhṭhala and its devotion to the cult of hero-stones:

“On the bank of a river a dhangar kept watch over his sheep. He saw that each time a [certain] bāhmaṇ (Brahmin) performed [his rituals] he took his sacred thread in his hand and laid it over his neck222… ‘It’s about Yallamā, isn’t it?’223 [a listener interjects]. Yekvā, Mhākvā, Durgāvā, Durgvā, Margvā, Jakvā, Tukvā, these were the ‘Seven Sisters’. ‘Seven

219 Contra Sharīf (1972, p. 160) who writes that the na’l sāhib is a horseshoe from Ḥusain’s horse in which “…something of the spirit of the bridegroom (i.e. Qāsim) dwells”. 220 Kunte, B. G. (ed.), Gazetteer of India. Maharashtra State. Aurangabad District (Revised edi- tion), Bombay [Gazetteers Department, Government of Maharashtra] 1977, p. 350. 221 Pagadi, Setu Madhavrao (ed.), Gazetteer of India. Maharashtra State. Bhir District, Bombay [Directorate of Government Printing] 1969, pp. 204f. 222 nadicyā kāṭhālā dhanagara meṁḍharaṃ rākhīta vhatā. tara tara bāhmaṇānaṃ kāi keleṃ vhataṃ gāḷyāta jānavaṃ ghālāicaṃ soḷaṃ hātāta ghyāyācaṃ. 223 Yallamā viṣayī nā.

71 Well Articulated Better Paths

Sisters’ [there were], and the youngest was Yallavā [Yallamā],224 and she was the most stubborn, this Canarese Yallavā. These ‘Seven Sisters’ joined together, took shield and sword, and went off hunting, these ‘Seven Sisters’.225 What happened then? [rhetorical question]. When they had gone hunting in the forest at a certain place the little sister, Yallavā, became thirsty.226 ‘O elder sister! I feel very thirsty.’, she said. Then she said: ‘Let’s stay [for a while] at this place.’ And she said: ‘You go, drink water, and come back.’ And little Yallavā went to drink water [too].227

Going through jungles, through bush lands, through grasslands, how would Yallavā find her way back? She wouldn’t.228 So what did she do? She wove ropes of grass and bound up mounds of stone as way markers for coming back. Like this she went very far.229 Where did she want to find water? [aside]. She climbed up a little hill and gave such [angry] looks in all directions230 [illustrative]. And where did she see water? [rhetorical]. She saw water in Mahādev’s pond. The water in Mahādev’s pond sparkled so brightly that she went there to drink from it.231 Now, after she had drunk from it, what happened to the chickpea bush there on the bank of the pond?232 [rhetorical]. [Mahādev thought:] ‘The chickpeas should not be picked! The beautiful yellow chickpeas should not be picked! Now she has gone into [my] water up to her knees and thighs, filled her cupped hands, and has drunk [my] water.233 [And now] on the way back this has come into her head: “I should take a twig of the chickpeas.” [And] chewing on that she should go234 [on her way.]’. So when she took such a twig in her hand Mahādev cried out: ‘Don’t pluck that twig! If you pluck that twig, blame will fall on your head!’ Just as she thought: ‘Now I’m going to pluck the twig I’m

224 Yekavā, Mhākavā, Durgāvā, Durgavā, Margavā, Jakavā, Tukavā āśā sāta bhaṇī hena tyā [sāta bahiṇī]. sāta bahiṇī. ma sagaḷyāta lahānagī Yallavā [Yallamā]. On the ‘Seven Sisters’ as Śaivite goddesses see Sontheimer, Günther-Dietz, Birobā, Mhaskobā und Khaṇḍobā. Ur- sprung, Geschichte und Umwelt von pastoralen Gottheiten in Mahārārāṣṭra, Schriftenreihe des Südasien-Instituts der Universität Heidelberg 21, Wiesbaden [Franz Steiner Verlag] 1976, pp. 38-43, 54-60; Feldhaus, Anne, Water and Womanhood. Religious Meanings of Rivers in Maharashtra, New York/Oxford [Oxford University Press], 1995, pp. 126–141. 225 Karaṃḍī Yallavā sagaḷyāta thākaṭī. āsā sāta bhaṇīcā myāḷā jamūna ḍhāla talavārī ghivūna āśā sāta bhaṇī gyālyā śikārīlā. 226 ma śikārīlā āraṇyāta gyālyā āsatānā kāi jhālaṃ. maga āraṇyācyā ṭhīkāṇyālā lahānagyā bhaṇīlā tāhāna lāgalī Yallavā. 227 malā mhaṇalī jāvūna pāṇī pivūna [ye]. ma hyā pāṇī pyāyālā nānhagī [lahānagī] Yallavā gilī. 228 ma Yallavā gilī tara ātā jaṃgalātanaṃ jhāḍātanaṃ gavatātanaṃ jāyācaṃ maga ātā parata yāilā vāṭa kaśī ghāvaṇāra. ghāvaṇāra nāhī. 229 mhaṇūna hinaṃ kāi keleṃ gavatācyā gāṭhī mārāicyā āna dagaḍācyā ḍhigūryā māṃḍāicyā. majī [mhaṇje] tyā khuṇavarūna māghārī yāyalā āśī gilī barīca lāṃba. 230 ma ātā hilā pāṇī kuṭaṃ ghāvaṇāra. ekā ṭekāvara caḍalī āna cahukaḍaṃ āsī nadāra ṭākalī. 231 pāṇī kuṭhaṃ disatai kā tara Mahādevācyā taḷyāta pāṇī tilā disalaṃ. Mahādevācyā taḷyāta pāṇī āsaṃ jhaḷakāi lāgalaṃ mhaṇūna Mahādevācyā taḷyālā hī pāṇī pyāyālā gilī. 232 ma pāṇī pyālā gilī tara tataṃ kāi jhālaṃ vhataṃ taḷyācyā kāṭhālā hārabaryācaṃ jhāḍa vhataṃ. 233 hārabaryācā solāvanā, pivaḷājarata hārabaryācā solāvanā. ma hī guḍaghyā māṃḍyā pāṇyāta gilī, cuḷa bharalī, pāṇī pīlī. 234 hicyā dhyānāta kāi ālaṃ kī parata jātānā mhaṇalī eka hārabaryācā ḍhāḷā ghyāvāvā. āna āpalaṃ khāta khāta jāvāvaṃ.

72 Muharram Processions and the Ethicization of Hero Cults in the Pre-Modern Deccan holding’, [Mahādev spoke a curse:] ‘The same to your own father!’, and on the palm of the hand with which she had held and pulled [the twig] a blister appeared on Yallamā.235 Yallamā held the hand on which the blister had come on her stomach.

The little mother went very far. The blister began to burn. When the blister began to burn a lot …. [sentence fragment]. What did she do because the blister burned? [rhetorical question]. ‘Now’, she said, ‘the blister should be pierced.’236 So what did she do? [rhetori- cal]. With the thorn of a Piḷakuṭi-tree she pierced the blister. When she pierced it there was a lump of blood in the blister and a little baby was born, just as when the full moon has risen and its light falls [on the earth], such was the radiance of this baby.237 But who was that baby who was born from the blister on Yallamā’s hand? [aside]. Parasarāma [Paraśurāma]. She tore off the end of her ochre-coloured silken sari, cleansed the new- born baby with it, and held him on her stomach, and holding the baby crosswise on her stomach, Yallavā set out.238

On her way she saw the ‘Seven Sisters’.239 ‘Stay away!’, they cried. ‘Don’t come closer! You have made us the relatives of a bastard! We don’t want to touch you! And we don’t want you in our group! As you have born a bastard go away from us!240 Don’t ever come to us!’ Then the six sisters turned back.241 The Canarese Yallavā had a problem. ‘O God! What shall I do now? My sisters have said that I am blameworthy with no reason at all, 235 mhaṇūna hinaṃ āsā ḍhāḷyālā hāta ghātalā, tavhara [toṃ vara] Mahādevānaṃ hāḷī [hāka] māralī. ḍhāḷā upaṭū nako, ḍhāḷā upaṭaśīla tara śirī dosa lāgala tulā, hijaṃ [hinaṃ] mhaṇaṃ ātā dharalyālā ḍhāḷā upaṭāicaṃ, tasāca āpalā vaḍalā, dharūna vaḍhalyābarubara tijyā taḷātāta phoḍa ālā, Yallamācyā. 236 Yallamācyā hātāta phoḍa ālyābarubara tyo [tī] tasāca hāta poṭāsaṃga dharalā. vais barīca lāṃba gilī. tyo phoḍa jaḷajaḷāi lāgalā. jaḷajaḷāi lāgalyāvara lai […] phoḍa jaḷajaḷātoi mhanūna, tinaṃ kāi kelaṃ, ātā mhanalī hyo phoḍāvā. 237 mhaṇūna tin [tineṃ] kāi keleṃ, Piḷakuṭicyā kāṭyānaṃ ti phoḍa phoḍalā. phoḍa phoḍalyāva tyā phoḍāta raktācā jaḷū tānhā bāḷa jalāmalā [janmalā], jasā punavecā caṃdra ugāvaton [ugāvatūna] tasā parakāsa [prakāśa] paḍato, āsā tyā bāḷācā parakāsa paḍalā. 238 tara tyā Yallamācyā taḷātātalyā phoḍāta bāḷa jalāmalā kuṇacā. Parasarāma. Parasarāma bāḷa jalāmalyābarubara tinaṃ pitaṃbrācā [pitāṃbara] padara phāḍalā āna tyo bāḷa āsā lusūna pusūna āsā poṭāsaṃgaṃ dharalā, āṇi bāḷa āḍavā dharūna Yallavā nighūna cālalī. 239 The fact that Yallamā could see only six sisters as she herself is one of the ‘Seven Sisters’ disturbed neither the narrator nor his audience. 240 There is a pun here involving the different meanings of “phoḍā”: As noun, blemish, blis- ter, and pustule; as verb, break, pluck, and pick, rhyming with “thoḍā” (‘little’) and phuḍha (‘ahead’, ‘in front’). Yallavā plucked the forbidden chickpeas therefore she received a blister or pustule (something to be ‘plucked’ and broken open) as a punishment from Mahādev both in a literal (on her hand) and in a figurative (the blemish of an illegitimate child) sense. Her hard-hearted sisters tell her to go away by saying “Where there is a blister (that is, the illegitimate baby) there is no land in front (that is, nowhere to go)”. I am grateful to Dr. Arun Gupte (Ingelheim, Germany) for making me aware of this proverb in Manwaring, Alfred (Rev.), Marathi Proverbs, Oxford [At the Clarendon Press], 1899 (Nr. 1176). 241 ma nighūna jātānā sātī bhaṇinī baghitalaṃ. sātī bhaṇīn baghitalyābarubara lāṃbaca ubhā rāhā mhaṇalī, mhoraṃ [moharūna] ivū [yeū] nakosa. amacyā mhaṇalī biradālā baṭā [beṭā] lāvalāsa, āmhālā mhaṇalī tū śivū nakosa, āṇ tū āmacyā myāḷyāta nakosa. Jjyā ārtī tū baṭā lāgalā tyā ārtī tū āmhākaḍan jikaḍaṃ phoḍā takaḍaṃ muluka thoḍā takaḍaca tū mhaṇalī jā. āmhākaḍaṃ kāi ivū nakosa. mhanūna hyā sāhā bhaṇī parata gyālyā.

73 Well Articulated Better Paths then where shall I eat now?’ Weeping bitterly she said: ‘Where should I put the child God has given me?’ So she held little Parasarāma on her stomach.242 And what did she do at that time [long ago]? [rhetorical]. Where there is a ‘blister’, there is nowhere to go [aside]. So Yallamā set out through bushy jungles and terrifying243 forests. When the day had gone she drowned in pitch-blackness. She asked herself ‘Which way should I take? Where should I go?’244. And at that time, [long, long ago], she saw the light of the oil-lamp of the Musalmān brothers Āsan Usan [= Ḥasan and Ḥusain]. Then she said: ‘Now I see the light of a lamp. We should go toward the light of this lamp’. So she went near to the brothers Āsan Usan.245

She began speaking to the brothers Āsan Usan: ‘O elder brothers! Give me a place in the dead of night! I will stay on your veranda for the night and after daybreak I will go.’ And what happened when she said that [long, long ago]? [rhetorical]. The brothers Āsan Usan answered: ‘Stay on our veranda.’ And she stayed the night on Āsan Usan’s veranda. And at daybreak [long, long ago] she stood on the veranda with folded hands and spoke to the brothers Āsan Usan: ‘Now give us a place’246 [to live]. The brothers Āsan Usan thought: ‘What can we say?’ At that time [long, long ago] they took the golden sling, laid the silken lash on it, and tied it with golden strings. Then they said to the Canarese Yallavā: ‘Wherev- er this stone falls [on the earth], that place is yours.’247 Then the brothers Āsan Usan made the golden sling whirl, the stone flew [through the air] and fell on Saundatti Hill. Having reached the top of Saundatti Hill, the stone fell, and at that time [long, long ago] she held Baby Parasarāma on her stomach. And the Canarese Yellavā set out at that time248 [long, long ago].

She set out and went to Saundatti Hill. Yaḷlā [Yellamā] went to the foot of the hill on the front side at evening time, at that time [long, long ago], to the house of one Jagūḷ Satyavā

242 Kāraṃḍīyallavālā koṃḍaṃ paḍalaṃ. dyāvā ātā karāicaṃ kāi. malā tarī hī dosa lāgalā bhaṇī mhaṇatyātyā, bīna ānnyāyācā, ma ātā jāvū tarī kuṭaṃ. baraṃ āsū mhanalī, dyāvānī dilyālā bāḷa ṭākāicā tarī kuṭaṃ, mhanūna tyo tānhā Parasarāma bāḷa poṭāsaṃga dharalā. 243 Literally: ‘through the forests of the Demon of Dread’ (bhayāsūra). 244 āṇī tinaṃ tyā vaktālā kāi keleṃ. phoḍā takaḍaṃ muluka thoḍā. āsī tī Yallamā jhāḍī jaṃgalātaneṃ bhayāsūra vanātan[eṃ] nighālī. divasa gyālā buḍāilā. kaṭi kāḷūka paḍalaṃ. vāṭa kuṭaṃ ghāvānā, jāyācaṃ kuṭaṃ ātā. 245 mhanūna tyā vaktālā Āsana Usana baṃdū Musalamānī dyāvācā divā disalā tilā . maga ātā mhaṇalī ātā hyāhitaṃ divā disatoyā, divyācyā sumārana āpūṇa jāvāvaṃ, mhanūna tī Āsana Usana baṃdūjavaḷa gilīn. 246 Āsana Usana baṃdūlā bolāi lāgalī, dādānū mhaṇalī malā rātacī rāta jāgā dyā mhaṇalī. tumacyā mī vasarīlā rāhate ratacī rāta, āṇ dinamāna ugalyānaṃtara mī jāte. kā vhainā mhanūna tinaṃ sāṃgitalaṃ tyā vaktālā, Āsana Usana baṃdunī rāhā mhaṇalī āmacyā vasarīlā. ma Āsana Usana baṃdūcyā vasarīlā rātacī rāta rāhilī. dinamāna ugavalā hāta juḍūna ubhā rāhilī tyā vaktalā Āsana Usana baṃdū mhaṇalī āmhālā jāgā dāva ātā. 247 Āsana Usana baṃdūnī vicāra kyālā manālīn [mānālīn]. tyā vaktālā savarṇācī gophana ghitalī. ryāsamācaṃ pāgāra lāvalaṃ, savarṇācā guṇa ghātalā tyā guphanīlā, āna sāṃgitalaṃ Kāraṃḍyā Yallavālā jyā ṭhīkāṇyālā hyā dagaḍācā ṭipū vhaila, tyā jāgyālā mhaṇalī tujī jāgā. 248 ma Āsana Usana baṃdunī savarṇācī gophana garāgarā phīrīvalīn dhoṃḍā phyākalā tyo dhoṃḍā jāvūna paḍalā, Sauṃdaticyā ḍoṃgarālā. ḍoṃgarācyā māthyālā jāvūna tyo dhoṃḍā paḍalā. ma Sauṃdaticyā ḍoṃgarālā tyā māthyālā jāvūna tyo dhoṃḍā paḍalā, maga he tyā vaktālā Parasarāma bāḷa poṭāsaṃgaṃ dharalā; āṇi Kāraṃḍyā Yallavā nighūna cālalī, tyā vaktalā.

74 Muharram Processions and the Ethicization of Hero Cults in the Pre-Modern Deccan

[‘Sweet Jaggery, Speaker of Truth’]. She went to Jagūḷ Satyavā’s compound.249 ‘Do give me a place to stay in the dead of night!’, she said. ‘O woman! I would give you a place to stay, but mine is a Musalmān house and there will be flesh meat. My sons have gone hunting. So how shall I give you a place to stay now?’250 [answered Jagūḷ Satyavā]. ‘Say what you want! But give me a place to stay here in the dead of night!’251 [insisted Yallamā]. Then she stayed there at that place in the dead of night. And what happened after she had stayed at that place? [rhetorical]. Then in the evening the sons who had gone hunting came252 [home]. Bhram and Āppā were the names of the two sons who had gone hunting. ‘Satyavā’s, Jagūḷ Satyavā’s?’ [a listener asks]. Jagūḷ Satyavā’s [the narrator confirms]. ‘What were the other names, Bhram, Āpā, and…?’ Bhram and Āpā [they were] the two. Āpā and Bhram. Bhram and Āpā---they were the ones who had come from the hunt.253

They had hunted, brought [wild] goats back, skinned them, and were now about to sit down to eat, but first she said something to this Jagūḷ Satyavā: ‘Your sons have come and sat down to eat. My…’ [sentence fragment]. At that time [long, long ago] she said: ‘Hey father! Your maternal aunt has come! My boy should sit down with you. Let your sister join your dining row!’---that’s how she spoke. Then the two [sons] sat down to eat. What did she do then after they had sat down to eat? [rhetorical]. “Hey father!”, she said, ‘Your sister needs a place to eat in your dining row!’ And what bliss there was! Taking Baby Parasarāma on her lap, Yallamā sat down there at that time254 [long, long ago].

Yallamā sprinkled the nectar of immortality on all the meat they had there and gave [the dead animals] their full life-force again. And Baby Parasarāma was accepted in the circle of the Musalmān boys, and in bliss did they eat together. And in the dead of night she stayed there.255

249 nighūna gilī Sauṃdaticyā ḍoṃgarālā. ḍoṃgarācyā pāithyālān mukhāicyā bājulā, tyā vaktalā gilī saṃdhyākāḷī Yaḷalā kuṇācyā gharalā Jagūḷa Satyavā. Jagūḷa Satyavācyā vāḍyālā gilī. 250 ān rātacī rāta mhaṇalī malā vastīlā jāgā de. bāī gaṃ. mājhyā hitaṃ tulā vastīlā jāgā dilī āsatī, paṇa mājhaṃ Musalamānācaṃ ghara; āna mājhyāta mhaṇalī vaśāṭa āsaṇāra. mājhaṃ lyoṃka [leṃka] gyālyātī mhaṇalī śikārīlā; ān mhaṇalī ātā tulā kasā vastīlā jāgā divū. 251 kāibī mhaṇ para mhaṇalī rātacī rāta malā hyā ṭhīkāṇyālā vastīlā jāgā de. 252 maṃ rātacī rāta vastīlā rāhilī; maga vastīlā rāhilyānaṃtara kāi jhālaṃ, tavhara [to vara] tijaṃ saṃdhyākāḷī mulagaṃ śikārīlā gyālyālī ālaṃ. 253 Bhrama, Āpā nāvācī dona mulaṃ ticī śikārīlā gyālyālī …[ Satyavācī, Jagūḷa Satyavācī]. Jagūḷa Satyavācī. [dusaryācaṃ nāvaṃ kāi, Bhrama, Āpā āṇi…]. Bhrama, Āpā doghaṃ. Āpā āṇi Bh- rama, hī Bhrama Āpā doghajaṇī, āpalaṃ śikārīsna āle. 254 ma tī śikāra karūna āṇālyālaṃ bakaraṃ toḍalaṃ, śijīvalaṃ, ān āpalaṃ ātā jevāi basāicaṃ tara hinaṃ kāi sāṃgitalaṃ vhataṃ ādī tyā Jagūḷa Satyavālā, tujhī mulaṃ ivūna jevāilā basalī majī […] tyā vaktālā mhaṇāicaṃ bābā re, eka māvacī bhaṇa ālīyā; mājhaṃ mulagā jī hāyī [?] tī tyāṃcyājavaḷa nihūna basīva; ān āpalyā bhaṇīlā jevāi paṃgatīlā ghe, mana āsaṃ sāṃgitalaṃ. ma i[kaḍe] doghaṃjaṇī jevāilā basalaṃ, ma jevāilā basalyānaṃtara kāi kelaṃ, bābā re mhaṇalī āpalī bhaṇa mhaṇalī āpalyā paṃgatīlā jevāilā ghyāilā pāije[ pāhije]. maga kāi tyāsnī ānaṃda jhālā. i[kaḍe] Yallamā titaṃ basalī. 255 Yallamānaṃ āmṛta śipūna tī tyāṃcaṃ tī vaṣāṭa jī sāraṃ vhataṃ tī cāṃgalaṃ sāraṃ sājīvaṃta kelaṃ; ān tyā bāḷālā ghivūna māṃḍīvara āgadī tyā ānaṃdāta jivalī khāvaḷī; rātacī rāta rāhilī.

75 Well Articulated Better Paths

Who saw Yallamā’s temple there at daybreak? [rhetorical]. Bhram and Āpā, Āsan and Usan, these four brothers were there.256 They were Jagūḷ Satyavā’s four children. And they said: ‘We are two and we have two more brothers. So, the four of us will build your temple. On Saundatti Hill will the four of us build your temple, and on the hill there will be room for all of us’.257 After they had built the temple the Canarese Yallavā took Baby Parasarāma and stayed in the temple on the hill. And how many days did she pass in that temple at that time258 [long, long ago]?”

Thus with the sublime silhouette of the Śaivite goddess Yellamā standing with the folded hands of a supplicant on the veranda of Āsan Usan’s house asking for shelter for her baby two important features of folk religion in the Deccan come into sharp focus: the ethiciza- tion of indigenous hero-cults through Bhakti and the perception of Ḥasan and Ḥusain as protectors, not specifically of sacred cows, but all the more clearly of helpless women and children as they are known to millions in South Asia today in the posters depicting the martyrdom at Karbalā.

While oral traditions are usually difficult to trace with any certainty, an important detail in the above narrative clearly points to the Muharram procession as its source of inspira- tion. Throughout the story the narrator refers only to “Āsan Usan”, almost as a dvandva compositum, and never to Ḥasan or Ḥusain individually. This is especially striking when one remembers that a similar dvandva originating in the same religious context has since become immortalized in the title of Henry Yule’s and Arthur C. Burnell’s Anglo-Indian dic- tionary: “Hobson, Jobson” (first published 1886). For this linguistic misapprehension oc- curred when British soldiers whose mother tongue was Cockney recalled the cry they had heard most often while keeping the peace at Muharram processions.

Acknowledgement The foregoing transliteration and translation follows a preliminary transcription of an oral text of the Dhangar shepherd Narāyaṇ Koṇḍibā Māne (Dt. Kolhapur) given to me by the late Prof. Dr. Günther-Dietz Sontheimer (1933–1992) who suggested that I translate and discuss this text as a contribution to the religious history of the Deccan. The material in square brackets is my own.

256 Now the narrator remembers the names of the four sons of Jagūḷ Satyavā. 257 dinamāna ugavalā, ma sakāḷacyā pāhārī hī devaḷa kuṇī bāṃdhalaṃ Yallamācaṃ, tara Bh- rama Āpā āṇi Āsana Usana he caudhaṃ bhāū vhataṃ. hī Jagūḷa Satyavācī cāra mulaṃ. tara tyān kāi sāṃgitalaṃ kī āmhī doghaṃ hāi, āṇi āṇika āmacaṃ doghaṃ bhāū hāitī; āsaṃ hī āmhī caudhaṃjaṇī miḷūna tujhaṃ devaḷa bāṃdhū, Sauṃdaticyā ḍoṃgarālā tyā caudhāna devaḷa bāṃdhūna, ḍoṃgarācyā kaḍyālā āvaghaḍa jāgyālā. 258 hinī devaḷa bāṃdhūna tataṃ Karaṃḍī Yallavā tyā Parasarāma bāḷālā ghivūna tyā ḍoṃgarācyā dyāvaḷāta tinaṃ kāḍhalaṃ tyā vaktālā.

76 LOKASAṂGRAHA IN THE CULT OF A HINDU/ MUSLIM SAINT AND FOLK DEITY OF THE DECCAN259

Ian Duncan and Hugh van Skyhawk

ntil recently the study of the cults of Hindu/Muslim saints occupied a marginal posi- tion in the research on folk religion in India. This is particularly surprising when one Uconsiders the great number of Hindu/Muslim shrines in India and the considerable influence they have and have had on the shaping of that complex, predominantly non- literate network of beliefs and traditions known as “folk religion”.

With few exceptions, the study of the cults of Hindu/Muslim saints has fallen outside the purview of the scholars of folk Hinduism.260 Scholars of Islam, in a similar fashion, limit the scope of their major investigations to literary materials on the self-understanding of famous Sufis and their relations to the state, and relegate the equally important question of the relationship of the pīr to his Hindu followers to the sphere of afterthoughts and learned remarks-in-passing.261 Recent studies devoted to Muslim shrines in South Asian

259 First published in the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft [Journal of the German Oriental Society] Band [vol.] 47, Heft [number] 2 (1997), pp. 405–424. 260 Stuart Blackburn and A. K. Ramanujan refer to this gap in the introduction to their anthol- ogy of essays on the folklore of India: “We need also to collect folklore from non-Hindus. Do Muslims tell the same tales as Hindus? Do Christians?” (Another Harmony. New Essays on the Folklore of India, Berkeley [University of California Press], 1986, p. 28.). Eleanor Zelliot and Maxine Berntsen preface the entries in their bibliography on Muslims in Maharashtra with the following note: “Material on Muslims in Maharashtra is even sparser than that on Christians. See the Tribes and Castes [of Bombay] and Fairs and Festivals [of Maharashtra] volumes as above.” (Berntsen, Maxine, and Zelliot, Eleanor (eds.), The Experience of Hindu- ism. Essays on Religion in Maharashtra, Albany [State University of New York Press], 1988, p. 365. 261 Eaton 1978, p. 132 and pp. 153f. Also see Ernst, 1992, pp. 160f. and 251–263. On the limita- tions of Ernst’s approach see Böwering, Gerhard, “Brief Review of Carl W. Ernst’s Eternal Garden, in: Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 114.3 (1994), p. 521.

77 Well Articulated Better Paths have contributed much to our understanding of the role of the dargāh in South Asian Islam, but have offered little about the cults of Hindu/Muslim saints as a component of Indian religion, that is, of folk Hinduism.262 Social scientists, in general, have given more attention to the interactions of Hindus and Muslims in folk Islam.263 Veena Das has even called for a “Folk Theology and Theological Anthropology of Islam”.264 But up to now there have been few studies of the cults of Hindu/Muslim saints as a constituent component of folk religion in India.

Notable exceptions to this scholarly trend are the contributions of N.K. Wagle, one of which was read in the panel “Hinduism Reconsidered” at the European Modern South Asian Studies Conference at Heidelberg in 1986, a preliminary study of the cult of Kāniph Nāth at Maḍhī by S.K. Huble, Traude Vetschera, and Sudhakar Khome, more recently, Su- san Bayly’s religio-historical study of relations between Muslims, Christians, and Hindus in south India, and Jackie Assayag’s descriptions of the disintegration of Hindu/Muslim co- operation in temple cults in Karnataka.265 These studies, together with research by Duncan on the Nāth-saṃpradāya in Maharashtra since the 1970s266 and by van Skyhawk on the cult of Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān̤ at Maḍhī (Dt. Ahmadnagar) since the 1980s,267 form the point of departure of this article.

262 See Troll, Christian, Muslim Shrines in India. Their Character, History and Significance, New Delhi [Oxford University Press], 1989, for an excellent anthology of such studies. 263 Gaborieau, Marc, “The cult of Saints among the Muslims of Nepal and Northern India”, in: Wilson, S. (ed.), Saints and their Cults. Studies in Religious Sociology, Folklore and History, Cambridge [Cambridge University Press], 1983, pp. 291–308; “Les orders mystiques dans le sous-continent indien. Un point de vue ethnologique”, in: Popovic, A., and Veinstein, G. (eds.), Les orders mystiques dans l’Islam. Cheminements et situation actuelle. Paris [EHESS], 1986, pp. 105–134. See also Van Der Veer, Peter, “A Sufi Saint’s Day in Surat”, in: The Journal of Asian Studies, volume 51.3 (August 1992), pp. 545–564. 264 Das, Veena, “For a Folk-Theological Anthropology of Islam, in: Contributions to Indian Soci- ology, new series, 189.2 (1984), pp. 239-305. 265 Wagle, N.K., “Hindu-Muslim Interactions in Medieval Maharashtra”, in: Sontheimer, Günther D., and Kulke, Hermann (eds.), Hinduism Reconsidered, New Delhi [Manohar Publications], 1989, pp. 51–66, especially, pp. 61f.; Huble, S. K., Vetschera, Traude, and Khome, Sudha- kar, “The Sacred Complex at Maḍhī”, in: Man in India, vol. 56.3 (July-September 1976), pp. 237–262; Bayly, Susan: Saints, Goddesses and Kings: Muslims and Christians in South Indian society, 1700–1900, Cambridge South Asian Studies 43, Cambridge [Cambridge University Press], 1989; Assayag, Jackie, “The Goddess and the Saint: Acculturation and Hindu-Muslim Communalism at a Place of Worship in South India (Karnataka)”, in: Studies in History, new series, vol. 9.2 (1993), p. 232; originally published in French in: Annales ESC, juillet-octobre 1992, pp. 789-813; translated from the French by Ms. Punam Puri. The authors are grateful to Gilles Tarabout (Paris, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) for the reference to Jackie Assayag’s article. 266 Duncan, Ian, “Contemporary Local Developments of the Nāth Saṃpradāya in Maharashtra” and “The Nāth Saṃpradāy: Interpretation and Reinterpretation”, unpublished papers 1990a and 1990b. 267 van Skyhawk, H., ““Hindu-Muslim Syncretism in the Folk Literature of the Deccan”, supra, pp. 13–28.”.

78 Lokasaṃgraha in the Cult of a Hindu/Muslim Saint and Folk Deity of the Deccan

In the 1884 edition of the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, volume XVII, Ahmadnagar District, the English civil servant James Elphinston, by virtue of his liking for detailed de- scriptions of sacred places, rendered a valuable service to generations of future scholars who are interested in the history of folk religion in the Deccan at the close of the medieval period. As the information contained in Elphinston’s article on Maḍhī forms a concise introduction to the shrine of Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān̤ and, at the same time, sheds light on recent developments there, we shall quote this material in extenso. Moreover, Elphin- ston’s article is not included in post-independence editions of the Maharashtra State Gaz- etteers:

Madhi (…) sixteen miles south-west of Shevgaon and three miles south-west of Páthardi is a noted place of pilgrimage with a shrine or dargáh of a Musalmán-Hindu saint Sháh Rámzán Mahi Sawár or Kánhobá. The shrine is held in great reverence by both Hindus and Musalmáns, and the chief buildings which on a small hill were built by Hindu kings and chiefs.

The buildings consist of the shrine [and] a lofty building Close to Sháhu’s building in which the saint is buried. Near the shrine is a small and almost at the entrance domed building with a narrow staircase leading down to to the dargáh is a lofty drum a spot about twenty feet down the hill. The building is house or Nagárkhána with a lighted by a stone perforated window or grating where flat roof reached by a narrow the saint is said to have been in the habit of retiring for staircase and commanding a religious meditations. Two domed buildings where the very wide view reaching, it is ancestors of the present inámdár and mujávar are bur- said, as far as Paithan about ied were built in 1730 (Shak 1652 Sádháran Samvastsar) thirty miles to the north- by Piláji Gáikwár whose name and that of his minister, west. The handsome build- Chimnáji Savant, are engraved in Devnágri letters in front ing was raised about 1780 of the shrine. On the south-east corner of the shrine is a by Káhuji Náik, a rich landed domed building called the Bárádari with open windows proprietor of Básim in the looking down on the village of Madhi below. This was Nizám’s dominions. There built by Sháhu Rája (1708-1749), the grandson of Śiváji, are two rest houses for pil- in fulfillment, it is said, of a vow taken by his mother if he grims built by Salábhat Khán returned safe from the Moghal camp where he was taken II, the famous minister of as a prisoner with his mother, Yesubái. Close to Sháhu’s the fourth Nizám Sháhi king, building and almost at the entrance to the dargáh is a Murtaza Nizámsháh (1565- lofty drum house or Nagárkhána with a flat roof reached 1588). by a narrow staircase and commanding a very wide view reaching, it is said, as far as Paithan about thirty miles to the north-west. The handsome building was raised about 1780 by Káhuji Náik, a rich landed proprietor of Básim in the Nizám’s dominions. There are two rest houses for pilgrims built by Salábhat Khán II, the famous minister of the fourth Nizám Sháhi king, Murtaza Nizámsháh (1565-1588). The en- closure has two handsome gates, one built by Moré, a Maráthá chief at the Peshwa’s court and the other about 1750 by Khwája Sharif, the great Khojá [Nizārī̤ Ismā‛īlī] merchant of Ahmadnagar. Close to the gate is a recently repaired mosque.

79 Well Articulated Better Paths

A prettily adorned room close to the saint’s tomb was built by the Deshmukh of Bárámatī in Poona in gratitude for recovery from blindness. The whole space inside the gates of the dargáh, about 26,000 square feet was paved and eighty-five steps built on one side and ninety on the other, all by a Bijápur king. The shrine is hung with ostrich eggs and large co- loured glass globes and contains many votive offerings, among others a silver and a brass horse presented by a Bháu Sáheb Ángira of Kolába and two white horses, one of clay and one of wood, presented by a carpenter.

Sháh Rámzán Mahi Savár or Kánhobá [Kṛṣṇa], as he is generally called by Hindus, is said to have come to Paithan in about 1350 AD (H. 752) where he was converted to Islám by one Sádat Ali. After travelling for six years, he came to the age of ninety years. The saint is said to have exercised miraculous powers, and his Musulmán name is said to be derived from his having crossed the Godávari mounted on a large fish, mahisavár. A yearly fair is held at the shrine on the dark fifth of Phálgun (March-April) and is attended by twenty to thirty thousand pilgrims, both Hindus and Musalmáns. Pilgrims and visitors are shown a spot at the shrine where at the time of the fair persons are said to become possessed and to throw themselves down from the top of the hill, and a woman now in the village is said to have done this some years ago.

Land measuring two cháhus, or two hundred acres, is A third quarter is now paid said to have been granted to the dargáh by the emperor as judi [juḍī] to the British Sháh Álam [Bahádur Sáh I, 1707–1711]. Madhi village it- Government, and one fourth self was given in inám by Sháhu, but afterwards, at dif- of the village revenues goes ferent times, a fourth was given to Sindia and another 241 to the shrine… It is well fourth to Holkar for maintaining order at the yearly fair. A known that the bhakti move- third quarter is now paid as judi [juḍī] to the British Gov- ment in Maharashtra begins ernment, and one fourth of the village revenues goes to with Śrī Sant Jnāneśvar, who, the shrine…268 according to pious tradition, at the age of nineteen, in It is well known that the bhakti movement in Maharash- the late 13th century, wrote tra begins with Śrī Sant Jnāneśvar, who, according to the Jnāneśvarī, a commen- pious tradition, at the age of nineteen, in the thlate 13 tary on the Bhagavadgītā in century, wrote the Jnāneśvarī, a commentary on the Old Marāṭhī, that has given Bhagavadgītā in Old Marāṭhī, that has given devotional devotional religion in Ma- religion in Maharashtra its shape up to the present day. harashtra its shape up to Less well known is Jnāneśvar’s siddha-paramparā, ac- the present day. Less well cording to which he was a Nāth-yogī, a disciple of his known is Jnāneśvar’s siddha- elder brother, Nivṛttināth. Jnāneśvar spells out his affili- paramparā, according to ation to that saṃpradāya in the Jnāneśvarī, chapter 18, which he was a Nāth-yogī, a verses 1751-1758, where he gives his guruparamparā: disciple of his elder brother, Śiva (usually referred to as Ādināth by Nāth-panthīs) Nivṛttināth. >Matsyendra (or Macchindra) Nāth > Gorakṣa (or Gora- kh) Nāth > Gahinī Nāth > Nivṛtti Nāth > Jnāneśvar. Of these, Gahinī Nāth (Gayanī Nāth, Gahanī Nāth, Gainī Nāth) appears to be the most obscure, for little is known of his life.269

268 Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, volume XVII, Ahmadnagar, Bombay, 1884, pp. 726f.

80 Lokasaṃgraha in the Cult of a Hindu/Muslim Saint and Folk Deity of the Deccan

Nāmadeva states270 that Gahinī Nāth instructed Nivṛtti Nāth’s and Jnāneśvar’s grand-par- ents, Govindapant and Nirāī. And in his gāthā Jnāneśvar speaks of Nivṛtti Nāth’s being given the mantra of Kṛṣṇa by Gahanī Nāth.271

There is, however, a tradition which has identified Gahinī Nāth with a Muslim figure, Gaibī Pīr. We do not know the antiquity of this tradition, but it appears in theNavanātha-bhakti- sāra, an early nineteenth-century poetical work by Narahari Dhuṇḍirāj Mālū, also known as Mālo Nāth,272 giving the miraculous birth stories and magical deeds of a number of the most important figures in the Nāth cult, who were all said to have taken samādhi in the region of Garbhāgirī (Dt. Ahmadnagar) in the tenth century.

N. Y. Mirīkar comments that all these so-called samādhis were constructed as for Muslim pīr and that several of them have Muslim names. Thus, Jālandhra Nāth is called Jān Pīr, Macchindra Nāth, Māyambā, Gahinī Nāth, Gaibī Pīr, Mīn Nāth, Mirāvaḷī Bābā. These name changes are all given in the Navanātha-bhakti-sāra, where the explanation is that this was done to avoid future depredation during the Muslimrāj. Mirīkar’s somewhat guarded opinion is that the truth of all this cannot readily be determined.273 It would be a reason- able assumption that Mālo Nāth was giving expression to current beliefs dating from an earlier period.

Certainly, there is a large number of dargáh-samādhi In some, such as Hājī Malaṅg in Maharashtra with both Muslim and Hindu affiliation at Kalyāṇ (near Bombay), claimed for them. In some, such as Hājī Malaṅg at Kalyāṇ which is also claimed to be (near Bombay), which is also claimed to be the samādhi the samādhi of Macchindra of Macchindra Nāth the officiant is a Muslim, while in Nāth the officiant is a Mus- others, he is a Hindu and the ritual of worship is Hindu lim, while in others, he is a as the dargáh-samādhi of Māyambā/Macchindra Nāth at Hindu and the ritual of wor- the Garbhāgirī, near Maḍhī (Dt. Ahmadnagar). There is a ship is Hindu as the dargáh- small dargáh-samādhi in Guruvār Peṭh, Puṇe, dedicated samādhi of Māyambā/ to Gahinī Nāth. The officiant is a Hindu who uses an Urdū Macchindra Nāth at the Fātiḥa274 instead of Marāṭhī in his ritual, declaring that Garbhāgirī, near Maḍhī (Dt. there was great pāvar (“power”) in those words and that Ahmadnagar). There is a they were pleasing to Gahinī Nāth. He related the same small dargáh-samādhi in story as Mālo Nāth, that Gahinī Nāth was aware of the Guruvār Peṭh, Puṇe, dedicat- coming of the Muslims and, therefore, ordered that the ed to Gahinī Nāth. rituals of worship should be done in the Musulmānī rivāj

269 Ḍhere, Rāmacandra Cintāmaṇa, Śrīguru Gorakṣanātha: caritra āṇi paramparā, Muṃbāī [Vora and Co. Publishers, Pvt., Ltd.], 1959, p. 138. 270 Nāmadevācāgāthā, ādi a., 1–2, cf. Ḍhere 1959, p. 138. 271 Ḍhere 1959, pp. 140f. 272 Known to the readers of the Śrī Navanātha bhaktisāra as “Dhuṇḍisuta Mālukavī”. 273 Mirīkar, N.Y., Śrī Kānahobā-Maḍhī, in: Bhārata Itihāsa Saṃśodhaka Maņḍaḷa Vārsika, itivṛtta śake 1837, śake 1838 [A.D. 1916], p. 211. 274 The opening sūrah of the Holy Qur’ān.

81 Well Articulated Better Paths

(“Muslim manner”),275 Both Muslim and Hindu devotees were observed here, each mak- ing his offerings according to the customs of his or her own religion.276 Thus, at an early point, yoga, bhakti and pīr-worship were united in the folk traditions that revolve around Śrī Sant Jnāneśvar, the holiest of holies for those whose mother tongue is Marāṭhī. Though the majority of the dargāh/samādhis concerned (rightly or wrongly) with the Nāth- Saṃpradāya are small shrines, at least two are major pilgrimage centres in Maharashtra: Hājī Malaṅg at Kalyāṇ (near Bombay) and Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān̤ at Maḍhī. Both are shrines of divine beings who are jāgṛt (‘awake, conscious’), who take possession of their devotees, who are propitiated by various forms of self-mortification, who relish animal sacrifices, who bestow those posers generally known as abhicāra or jādū (witchcraft, the casting of spells and charms), who can drive out evil spirits, who can cure incurable ill- nesses and heal mortal injuries, etc., etc.

Perhaps this very confluence of heterogeneous traditions, located geographically and ideologically in a liminal ‘no-man’s land’, led inevitably to the appearance of the religious phenomena described above and their identification from outside the cult as “folk reli- gion”. The nomenclature itself is certainly ‘etic’, that is, applied from the standpoint of the observer and not the participants. The above-mentioned phenomena of folk reli-

275 Although, according to a variety of informants, there are more than one dargāh-samādhi claimed to be those of Macchindra Nāth, such as Hājī Malaṅg and Māyambā, several places associated with Gahinī Nāth - Kāṭguṇ, Sātārā District, Rājevāḍī, near Jejurī, and Yāmanūr and Gulbarga in Āndhra Prādeś – or of Kāniph Nāth and Maḍhī and at Dive Ghāṭ, near Haḍapsar, Puṇe, Gorakh Nāth, the founder of the Nāth-saṃpradāya, seemed to have been missed out. However, the informant from Puṇe declared that the tomb of Qamar ‘Alī Darveś at Śivapūr, Taluka Kheḍ, was really that of Gorakh Nāth. Other informants have claimed that wherever there is a Nāth samādhi there will be a temple or shrine nearby dedicated to that magical figure, Hanumān (see Duncan, Ian, “Hanumān Mahāvīrasvāmī”, in: Brückner, Heidrun, van Skyhawk, Hugh, and Zoller, Claus Peter [eds.], The Concept of Hero in Indian Culture, South Asian Studies XLIV, Delhi [Manohar], 2007, pp. 45–66) and, indeed, there is one near Qamar ‘Alī Darveś’s tomb, and one within the small Gahinī Nāth dargāh-samādhi complex in Puṇe. Similar confluences ofyoga, Śiva-bhakti, and pīr-worship can be found at the shrines of the Nāgeś-Saṃpradāya in Districts Śolāpūr and Kolhāpūr in Maharashtra, such as at the shrine of Ajñānasiddha at Narenda (Dt. Kolhāpūr), where the devotee desiring to have darśan of the svarūp of Ajñānasiddha must first ritually wash himself at the ġusl-ḵhāna near the saint’s shrine, pray the al-Fātiḥa, the first sūrah of the Holy Qur’ān, and then descend by means of a narrow shaft two meters into the earth beneath the pādukā of Ajñānasiddha into a horizontal vault dug at a right angle to the shaft – which is remarkably similar to the side-chamber grave used by Muslims in South Asia where a nāg (cobra) will first appear and then the human form of Ajñānasiddha. Devotees must enter the underground vault alone and – if successful in their quest – are reborn spiritually when they emerge from the saint’s grave (van Skyhawk, H., “A Note on Death and the Holy Man in South Asia”, in: Schömbucher, Elisabeth, and Zoller, Claus Peter [eds.] The Ways of Dying. Death and its Meanings in South Asia, South Asian Studies XXXIII, Delhi [Manohar] 1999, pp. 190–204). The shrines of the Nāgeś-saṃpradāya, however, should be distinguished from those of the Nāth-saṃpradāya, though at some shrines there is evidence of past linkage (cf. van Sky- hawk, Hugh, “Pīr-worship and Śaiva-Bhakti in the Literature of the Nāgeś-saṃpradāya”, su- pra, pp. 29–41. 276 Duncan 1990b, pp. 4f.

82 Lokasaṃgraha in the Cult of a Hindu/Muslim Saint and Folk Deity of the Deccan gion, however, have often been distinguished (usually with disdain) by medieval authors of bhakti literature in the regional languages. An extensive passage, full of fascinating details, in which the practices of the devotees of the folk deities Jhoṭiṅg, Piśāc, Kaṇkāḷ, Mārako, Mesako, Mairāḷ Vetāḷ and Nagna-Bhairāv are made the object of vehement con- demnation, can be found in the Ekanāthī-Bhāgavat, 10.465-10.604.

In keeping with Ekanāth’s ethical teachings on the sub- While in Paiṭhaṇ on the ject, today there certainly would be little chance of see- morning of the sixth of the ing the practices characteristics of the jatrā of Kāniph dark half of the lunar month Nāth/Šāh Ramzān fifty kilometers to the north at Paiṭhaṇ, ̤ Phālgun (Ekanāth-ṣaṣṭhī) the bhakti saint’s home, and a major pilgrimage cen- the pādukā (marble replicas ter of the Vārkarī-saṃpradāya. While in Paiṭhaṇ on the of the saint’s footprints) of morning of the sixth of the dark half of the lunar month Śrī Sant Ekanāth are washed Phālgun (Ekanāth-ṣaṣṭhī) the pādukā (marble replicas of in the holy Godāvarī river the saint’s footprints) of Śrī Sant Ekanāth are washed in to the accompaniment of the holy Godāvarī river to the accompaniment of gentle gentle bhajans and the ring- bhajans and the ringing of small cymbals (tāls), fifty kilo- ing of small cymbals (tāls), meters to the south, goats are slaughtered amid frenzied fifty kilometers to the south, drum beating and shouts of “Śrī Kāniph Nāth Mahārāj-jī goats are slaughtered amid kī jāy!” (‘Victory to the great king, Holy Kāniph Nāth!’) frenzied drum beating and to propitiate Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān – albeit not in ̤ shouts of “Śrī Kāniph Nāth the temple itself but in the field below. At the temple of Mahārāj-jī kī jāy!” (‘Vic- Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān on the morning of the fifth of ̤ tory to the great king, Holy the dark half of the lunar month Phālgun (Kāniph Nāth- Kāniph Nāth!’) to propitiate pancamī), devotees become possessed by Kāniph Nāth, Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān̤ – strip to the waist, raise their arms above their heads and albeit not in the temple itself demand to be flogged with whips by friends and fellow but in the field below. devotees. At the house of Śrī Sant Eknāth in Paiṭhaṇ on the evening of the same day, bhaktas dressed in freshly pressed white kurtas and wear- ing spotless Gandhi caps enact a mock repetition of the flogging of a possessed devotee of Kāniph Nāth to the loud laughter of the pious assembly of bhaktas. The possessed devotee of Kāniph Nāth is brought to his senses (and to the way of respectable Vaiṣṇava- bhakti) by an admonishing kīrtan and the practice ofnāmasmaraṇa (pious chanting of the names of God).

“The bhakti saints” wrote Günther Sontheimer “took a critical position vis-à-vis folk reli- gion and turned their monotheism against the polytheistic and animistic atmosphere of their environment, in which, in their view, deities to whom animals were sacrificed, magic, and a carnival atmosphere were predominant. Thus, reflexivity could also mean religious criticism. As a rule, this did not mean the exclusion of the other faith, but rather its hier- archisation or relativisation.”277

277 Sontheimer, Günther-Dietz, “Religion und Gesellschaft im modernen Indien”, unpublished manuscript 1992, p. 8 [translated by H. van Skyhawk].

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As the Godāvarī has been Though the type of reflexivity involved in the criticism known since ancient times of the practices current in folk religion by followers of as the “Dakṣiṇā-Gaṅgā” (‘the the bhakti movement is rather clear-cut – in this case Gaṅgā of the South’) and ridicule and farce -, the way in which the devotees of shivaitic deities should ide- Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān̤ perceive their religious neigh- ally receive water from the bors at Paiṭhaṇ is more complex: Though some take wa- Gaṅgā for abhiśekha (‘ritual ter directly from the tank in Eknāth’s house and carry it th ablution’), this all seems on foot to Maḍhī on the 15 of the dark half of Phālgun,

rather straight-forward from the no-moon day preceding Gudhīpāḍvā, to cleanse the the point of view of the grave and the mūrti of Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān̤ fol- Brahmans of Paiṭhaṇ. It is, lowing the jatrā, most take water from the Godāvarī to 278 however, at this point that Kāniph Nāth . As the Godāvarī has been known since an important aspect of the ancient times as the “Dakṣiṇā-Gaṅgā” (‘the Gaṅgā of the cult of the folk deity Kāniph South’) and shivaitic deities should ideally receive water Nāth/Šāh Ramzān̤ becomes from the Gaṅgā for abhiśekha (‘ritual ablution’), this all evident: seems rather straight-forward from the point of view of the Brahmans of Paiṭhaṇ. It is, however, at this point that an important aspect of the cult of the folk deity Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān̤ becomes evi- dent: lokasaṃgraha, ‘the holding together of the world’. For, the water of the Godāvarī may only be taken when Kāniph Nāth’s spiritual master, Sayyid us-Sādāt Sayyid Nizām̤ ud-Dīn Idrīs al-Ḥusainī, has given his permission.279 Devotees say that it is Kāniph Nāth’s hukūm (‘order’) that pūjā (ziyārat) first be performed at thedargāh of Maulana Sāheb and his permission be obtained before the kāvaḍī-procession280 from the Godāvarī to Kāniph Nāth’s temple at Maḍhī, some fifty kilometers to the south, may begin. The likely source of this custom is an oral tradition concerning Kāniph Nāth’s apprenticeship(guru-seva) to Maulana Sāheb, his spiritual master, who required him to carry water from the Godāvarī to fill the tank in his house, a tank that, in the end, proved to be unfillable.281 This impor- tant statement concerning the relationship of the self (Hindu) to the other (Muslim) as being that of disciple and spiritual master, respectively, having its origin in the oral tradi- tion mentioned above, is re-enacted each year in the final ritual of Kāniph Nāth’s jatrā.

278 Gudhīpāḍvā, the New Year’s Day in the Deccan. 279 According to pious tradition, Paiṭhạṇ’s Nizām̤ ud-Dīn, as he is often called, is linked to one of the most prestigious Sufi lineages in South Asia: theČištī-silsila in the line of Muīn ud-Dīn Čištī (Ajmer) > Quṭb ud-Dīn Bakhtiyār Kākī (Delhi) > Farīd ud Dīn Ganj-i-šakar (Ajodhān) > Nizām̤ ud-Dīn Awaliyā (Delhi) > Nasīr ud-Dīn Cirāg-i-Dillī > Burhān ud-Dīn Ġarīb (Burhānpūr) > Allāh ud-Dīn Ziyā (Daulatābād) > Nizām̤ ud-Dīn Idrīs (Paiṭhaṇ) > Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān̤ (Maḍhī). Regrettably, Carl W. Ernst fails to appreciate the importance of the role Paiṭhaṇ’s Nizām̤ ud-Dīn played and, to some extent, still plays in “holding together the world”, and sees in him only a “strange man…” with a “…shadowy Sufi lineage”, who propagated “little of the teaching content of Sufi tradition…” (Ernst 1992, pp. 228f.). 280 kāvaḍī: Traditionally, the carrying of water in earthen pots held in slings hung from a bam- boo lath that is carried over the shoulder. For a discussion of this ritual practice in Maha- rashtra today see Feldhaus 1995, pp. 29–35. 281 The story of Kāniph Nāth’s discipleship under Maulana Sāheb can be found in ““Hindu-Mus- lim Syncretism in the Folk Literature of the Deccan”, supra, pp. 13-28.”

84 Lokasaṃgraha in the Cult of a Hindu/Muslim Saint and Folk Deity of the Deccan

Though certain aspects of the complex network of relationships among the three tradi- tions within the shrine at Maḍhī and between the shrine itself and the more ‘homoge- neous’ bhakti pilgrimage center at Paiṭhaṇ may be described accurately by such concepts as Louis Dumont’s opposition of “pure and impure”,282 Paul Ricœur’s “appropriation”283 Paul Hacker’s “Inklusivimus”,284 or McKim Marriott’s subtle transactional networks of “cooling = homogenous and heating = heterogeneous inputs”,285 - to mention only a few of the conceptual models available in academic discourse on religion in India – the ap- proaches that promise the greatest degree of insight into the layers of beliefs and tradi- tions that ‘hold together’ social reality at the temple complex of Maḍhī appear to be A.K. Ramanujan’s reflections on “reflexivity”286 and G.-D. Sontheimer’s perception of the “Five Components of Hinduism”.287

In these times of growing religious fundamentalism – Certainly, the festivals at Hin- both Hindu and Muslim – and militant political organiza- du-Muslim pilgrimage cen- tions that claim to represent the vital interests of their ters often mirror this ideal in respective communities, one of the most important microcosm. In this connec- services scholarship can offer is to reemphasize that the tion, Günther Sontheimer’s strength of folk Hinduism is its all-encompassing sense of thoughts on lokasaṃgraha a greater community of mankind, to which all belong and as a central concept of Hin- are related to one another despite differences of religion, duism take on far more than caste, language, or ethnic origin. Certainly, the festivals at academic relevance: Hindu-Muslim pilgrimage centers often mirror this ideal in microcosm. In this connection, Günther Sontheimer’s thoughts on lokasaṃgraha as a central concept of Hinduism take on far more than academic relevance:

282 Dumont, Louis, “Pure and Impure”, in: Contributions to Indian Sociology, vol. 3, Paris/ Den Hague [Mouton], 1959, pp. 9–39. 283 Ricœur, Paul, Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences. Essays on Language, Action and Inter- pretation, edited, translated and introduced by Thompson, John B., Cambridge [Cambridge University Press] and Paris [Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme], 1981; reprint- ed 1982 (twice) and 1983, p. 159. More recently, Carl W. Ernst expressed appreciation of Ricœur’s critical tools in “demythologizing” hagiographical texts on Indian Sufi saints (Ernst 1992, pp. 245f.). 284 Hacker, Paul, “Inklusivismus”, in: Oberhammer, Gerhard (ed.), Inklusivismus: Eine indische Denkform, Wien [Publications of the De Nobili Research Library], occasional papers, Nr. 2, 1983, pp. 11–28. 285 Marriott, McKim, “Hindu Transactions: Diversity without Dualism”, in: Kapferer, Bruce (ed.): Transaction and Meaning. Directions in the Anthropology of Exchange and Symbolic Behav- ior, Philadelphia, 1976, p. 111 and, especially, pp. 125f., where McKim Marriott applies his thermal dynamic approach to the “hot” cults of “goddesses, demons…and popular Islamic festivals…”. 286 Ramanujan, A. K., “Where Windows are Mirrors: Towards an Anthology of Reflections”, in: History of Religions, vol. 28 (1988/89), pp. 187–216, especially, pp. 189f. 287 Sontheimer, G.-D., “Hinduism: the Five Components and their Interaction”, in: Sontheimer, G.-D., and Kulke, Hermann (eds.), Hinduism Reconsidered, New Delhi [Manohar Publica- tions], 1989, pp. 197–212.

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Hinduism rejects the notion that my faith is superior to yours. For, my faith is nothing more than the way I have chosen for the moment to achieve personal perfection. The so- cial path on the way to personal perfection must not only be in the co-existence of various individuals and different social groups, rather it must ensure that there is a common life among them. For, this leads to what the Bhagavadgītā calls “The holding-together of the world”: lokasaṃgraha.288

At some point between the year 1977 and 1980 the two hereditary Muslim servants (mujāvar) of Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān̤ were forced to leave the temple at Maḍhī. In their places pūjārīs wearing dhotis were installed and the specifically Muslim cult objects – ostrich eggs (aṇḍe), coloured glass globes (phāsū), green cloth covering the saint’s grave were painted over to pink. With the same intention, the minars surrounding the great dome were painted in pink and white stripes. And the basmala289 was removed from the walls of the sabhāmaṇḍap.

These changes are said to be the work of “Devendra Nāth” (Vijayakumār Sule, d. 1982).290 He came from a modest family, his father being a forest ranger in the Khandesh region, in which devotion to the Nāths and ritual reading of the Navanātha-bhaktisāra (popularly known as the “Nāthpothī”) was a family practice. Vijayakumār was the second of three brothers, and there were two sisters. In their childhood, it is reported, there were inci- dents of trance or possession (sancãr) by Macchindra Nāth, following illnesses or critical events in the family, usually involving what was perceived to be black magic or “hostile forces”. From the age of 5-6, Vijayakumār believed himself to have been “chosen” by Mac- chindra Nāth for serving the Nāths (Nāthasevā-kārya).

In his late teens he became a student of architecture at the J. J. School of Art, Bom- bay, when he was initiated into yogic practices by a certain Dr. Mukherji, a follower of Śrī Aurobindo of Pondichery [Tamil: Puducherry].291 Continuing his spiritual practices, Vijayakumār would see Śrī Aurobindo and ‘The Mother’292 in meditation, and then on one occasion he saw an old man who, in a vision, initiated him into the practice of a certain

288 ““Hinduism rejects the notion that my faith is superior to yours. For my faith is nothing more than the path in the direction of personal fulfillment that I have chosen for the moment. The social path on the way to personal fulfillment must not be seen only in the co-existence of individuals and various social groups but must insure the common life of the people. This leads to the condition that theBhagavadgītā calls the ‘Holding Together of the World’ (lokasaṃgraha).” (Translated from the German by Hugh van Skyhawk).”. 289 ‘In the Name of Allāh, the Compassionate and the Merciful’. 290 A Marāṭhī biography of Devendra Nāth is being prepared by his followers. The following information on his life comes from interviews with followers and some of their published material (Nevāsakar 1983, Vidye 1983). 291 The Indian nationalist and karma-yogi Aurobindo Ghose (1872–1950). 292 Mira Alfassa (1878–1973), Aurobindo Ghose’s female companion, widely known as “The Divine Mother”.

86 Lokasaṃgraha in the Cult of a Hindu/Muslim Saint and Folk Deity of the Deccan mantra and gave him the name of Devendra Nāth. He did not recognize the old man, but he did understand that he was being initiated into the Nāth-saṃpradāya. After graduat- ing, he went to Puṇe to practice architecture, and there chanced upon a math in Lakṣmī Road, built by the followers of a saint, originally from Maharashtra but who had settled in Karnataka, Rāghavendrasvāmī (1597-1671).293 Devendra Nāth recognized him from pic- tures in the math as the one who had initiated him. Subsequently, Rāghavendrasvāmī told Devendra Nāth that he should go to Aḥmadnagar District as the Garbhāgirī-Maḍhī region was a “Nāthabhūmi” (‘Nāth territory’).

Devendra Nāth was immediately attracted to that region. It is this identification of One informant implied that it was for him a home-com- Devendra Nāth and Kāniph ing, as “he himself was Kāniph Nāth”. It is this identifi- Nāth at Maḍhī that has pro- cation of Devendra Nāth and Kāniph Nāth at Maḍhī that vided Devendra Nāth and his has provided Devendra Nāth and his followers with the followers with the overt jus- overt justification for their religious practices at Maḍhī, tification for their religious in particular Kāniph Nāth’s speaking through Devendra practices at Maḍhī, in - par Nāth while in trance, and for the changes they have made ticular Kāniph Nāth’s speak- to the temple. As noticed above, all apparent signs of a ing through Devendra Nāth Muslim presence have been removed from the temple while in trance, and for the – indeed Nevāsakar’s accounts studiously avoid the very changes they have made to suggestion of the possibility of a Muslim connexion, and the temple. Devendra Nāth himself specifically denies its Muslim an- tecedents (Devendra Nāth 1979, pp. 31–32). Devendra Nāth established the Śrī Navanāth Devasthān Sevā Maṇḍaḷ Trust to transform or “restore” the temple. The symbolic sandals, pādukā, and a marble image of Kāniph Nāth were installed, a muddy creek nearby was cleaned out and a pump and tank installed to provide drinking water, and a garden was laid out to provide flowers for the daily pujā. Devendra Nāth had a pit dug for fire sacri- fices (homa-kuṇḍa) at Kāśīviśveśvara Śiva situated on a small hill known as Mayūr Ṭekaḍī opposite the main temple. The ash from these rituals is used as a sacred substance, and is given to supplicants to cure their illnesses, grant the fulfillment of their wishes, or aid them in their spiritual pursuits. Devendra Nāth was married, with a son and a daughter.

From interviews and observation it appears that the majority of Devendra Nāth’s follow- ers are middle-class or urban people rather than rural folk and other activities of the Trust bear this out. To list a few of them – a journal, Alakh Niranjan, has been published since 1975; an office in Aḥmadnagar known as the Dvaitādvaita Pīṭh was opened to carry out research on the history and philosophy of the Nāth-saṃpradāya and establish a library of texts and other relevant material (Vidye 1983, pp. 81–82); an apartment block in Kaḷvā near Ṭhāṇā has been named after Devendra Nāth and contains a temple under the charge of Khagendra Nāth, a nephew of Devendra Nāth; and, in 1982, a savings scheme was introduced to fund the organization’s activities, with members contributing Rs. 50 – a month and receiving the sum with interest after thirty months.

293 On Rāghavendrasvāmī see Pagaḍī 1990a, b, c.

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Devendra Nāth died in May 1982, while practicingbhasma-samādhi, i.e. meditating while seated in a pit full of sacred ash (bhasma). It is stated that at the time of establishing the Dvaitādvaita Pīṭh, Devendra Nāth was possessed by Ādināth and received the command to perform bhasma-samādhi forty-two times (Nevāsakar 1983, p. 15). In the eyes of his followers, Devendra Nāth’s death was not death but simply the shedding of the body (deha-tyāg). Nevāsakar’s words demonstrate the devotees’ understanding of this event: “Śrī Svāmī Rāghavendrasvāmī’s full grace was upon him, and at his command Devendra Nāth, with no holding back through weak-spiritedness, he left his body, and Devendra Nāth’s light became merged with the light of Rāghavendrasvāmī. (…) Devendra Nāth is now everywhere in his radiant (niranjan) state” (Nevāsakar 1983, pp. 11–13), and so his grace is always with his followers. Rāghavendrasvāmī is reputed to have told his follow- ers at the time of his death that he would remain immersed in samādhi for 700 years and then reappear (Pagaḍī 1990c, p. 61). From then till Devendra Nāth’s death some 311 years passed. Devendra Nāth told one of his followers that, similarly, he would remain in samādhi for some 300 years and then emerge in time to be reunited with his guru.

However, Devendra Nāth has not meanwhile turned his For instance, on one occa- face from the world. He did leave behind a considerable sion observed at his samādhi body of writing in Alakh Niranjan.294 Before dying he had on Mayūr Ṭekaḍī, one of his initiated some of his followers asNāths , with such names followers went into a trance as Jitendra Nāth, Yogendra Nāth, Khagendra Nāth, etc., and the others present put and commissioned them to carry on with the fire sacri- questions to and received fices at Maḍhī and also at the temple in Kaḷvā as well as answers from him as if he to maintain the activities of theDvaitādvaita Pīṭh and the were Devendra Nāth. Śrī Navanāth Devasthān Sevā Maṇḍaḷ Trust. But he con- tinues to involve himself more actively with his devotees by guiding them by means of trance and possession. This may happen at a variety of times, frequently spontaneously. For instance, on one occasion observed at his samādhi on Mayūr Ṭekaḍī, one of his fol- lowers went into a trance and the others present put questions to and received answers from him as if he were Devendra Nāth. Questions and answers at that time were this- worldly and pragmatic rather than other-worldly and transcendental, and one suspects that this is the more common pattern. The content of Devendra Nāth’s writings, despite its wide range of topics, does not present to his followers a way of life similar to that of Nāth yogis with its Shramanic295 tinge of non-Brahmanical, antinomian and folk prac- tices. Devendra Nāth’s movement is, or aims at being, highly respectable. For instance, at Bolhegāv, seven kilometers from Ahmadnagar, a memorial shrine or vṛndāvana was built for Rāghavendrasvāmī and consecrated with Vedic ritual in December 1990, along with worship of Satyanārāyaṇa and Lakṣmī, Ādināth and Gaṇeśa, situating it firmly within contemporary orthopractic Hinduism.

294 His writing covered such topics as the philosophy ofNāth yoga, haṭha yoga, kuṇḍalini yoga, the tantric pancamakāra, śāvarī vidyā, the life of Macchindra Nāth, Gorakh Nāth, Śivadīn Nāth, Jnāneśvar, Nāth dress and regalia, Maḍhī, visits to Nāth sites throughout Maharash- tra, the Viveka-darpana (cf. Tulpule 1979, p. 314). 295 The term is used by Romila Thapar in “Syndicated moksha?” in: Seminar, Nr. 313 (September 1985), pp. 14–22.

88 Lokasaṃgraha in the Cult of a Hindu/Muslim Saint and Folk Deity of the Deccan

However, nowhere does there appear any interest in Moreover, it should be not- or attempt to accommodate what would have been ed that Devendra Nāth also Rāghavendrasvāmī’s dvaita background, since his guru- had a considerable number paramparā goes back to Madhvācārya (Pagaḍī 1990a, of detractors, who doubted p. 13). Thus, what Devendra Nāth offered were exhibi- his authenticity as Kāniph tions of states of possession, which is in continuity with Nāth’s medium. Devendra the traditional folk practices at sites such as Kāniph Nāth/ Nāth’s death, according to Šāh Ramzān,̤ while, on the other hand, he propagated a some, was not the result of 296 form of ‘syndicated guru-bhakti’, which looks askance a sublime deha-tyāg, but at the outlandish practices – self mortification by whip- was caused by a heart-attack ping, casting of spells, sale of charms, animal sacrifice, while he was experimenting performing ziyārat at the shrine of Maulana Sāheb in with yogic breathing tech- Paiṭhaṇ, etc. – that characterize the cult of Kāniph Nāth/ niques (prāṇāyāma). Šāh Ramzān̤ among the great majority of his devotees. Moreover, it should be noted that Devendra Nāth also had a considerable number of de- tractors, who doubted his authenticity as Kāniph Nāth’s medium. Devendra Nāth’s death, according to some, was not the result of a sublime deha-tyāg, but was caused by a heart- attack while he was experimenting with yogic breathing techniques (prāṇāyāma).297

Through the institution that Devendra Nāth founded, the Śrī Navanāth Sevā Maṇḍaḷ Trust, his predominantly middle-class followers have now gained a dominant position in the ev- eryday affairs of Kāniph Nāth’s temple at Maḍhī. In this connection an important question arises: What impact has the change from a shrine of a Hindu/Muslim saint cum folk deity to a center for the propagation of syndicated Hinduism had on the cult of the folk deity Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān?̤ In seeking answers to this question we should first consider the role that education plays in shaping the religious experience and world-view of De- vendra Nāth’s followers, in contrast to the largely non-literate devotees of Kāniph Nāth/ Šāh Ramzān̤ who come from the semi-nomadic Vaḍārī (rat-catcher, stone-splitter),Beldār (stone-splitter), Gopāḷa (cowherd), Vaidū (herbalists, practitioners of ‘black-magic’), and Kaikāḍī (basket-maker) castes.

Up to now, the jatrā of Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān̤ has taken its traditional course: goats are slaughtered on the sixth of the dark half of Phālgun, ziyārat/ pujā is performed on the ‘no-moon’ 15th of the dark half of Phālgun at the dargāh of Maulana Sāheb at Paiṭhaṇ, the Vaidūs continue to offer for sale herbal preparations and malevolent incantations to help their clients and damage their clients’ enemies, cases of possession are numerous, the flagstaffs carried by Kāniph Nāth’s devotees still have the same crescent moon symbol- at tached to their upper ends as is found on the sikhara of the dome above Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān’s̤ grave. (It is symbol found atop the domes of numerous dargāhs in the Deccan.). And, most importantly, Muslim devotees of Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān̤ still take part in the

296 Duncan (1990b, pp. 2–8). The term “syndicated guru-bhakti” was inspired by Romila Thapar’s article “Syndicated moksha?” mentioned in the preceding footnote. 297 Duncan 1990a, p. 7.

89 Well Articulated Better Paths yearly jatrā. And, most appropriately, the loud braying of the donkeys at Kāniph Nāth’s “donkey bazaar” still drowns out whatever Vedic chanting might be attempted at the time of the jatrā. In this connection, we are reminded of Victor Turner’s notion of “perennial communitas”, which may persist at an ancient pilgrimage center even after the superim- position of a new religious order upon the old, in which the pilgrims may see the promise of a “renewed true fellowship”.298

The temple complex at Maḍhī as a religious institution and the cult practices at the time of the jatrā of Śrī Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān̤ occupy radically different spheres of reality. They are likely to do so for some time to come. The reason for this is at once obvious and pro- found. The type of religious experience offered by Devendra Nāth’s followers simply does not fulfill the need for a jāgṛt-deity who takes possession of this devotees, who relishes animal sacrifice, who punishes those who speak falsely, who bestows fertility upon man and beast, who imparts the knowledge of herbs and incantations, who cures illnesses, who is both Śiva, Nārāyaṇ and the pīr Šāh Ramzān,̤ who teaches yoga and bhakti and deals with all of the ugra (terrifying) and saumya (gentle) affairs of life, and, most importantly, unites his followers each year in an ideal community at the time of hisjatrā . A programme of syndicated Hinduism is, after all, a rather shabby substitute for a god who holds to- gether the world.

298 Turner, Victor, “The Center Out There: Pilgrim’s Goal”, in: History of Religions, vol. 12 (1972), p. 230. Two traditions concerning the manner in which Kāniph Nāth/Šāh Ramzān̤ took pos- session of the temple at Maḍhī in the 14th century are known to me: 1) he drove away a certain gosāvī and established himself in his place (van Skyhawk 1993, p. 463); 2) he drove away a certain goddess, who then took refuge in a nearby cave (Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, 1884, p. 727, note 1). Maḍhī is thus the type of ancient pilgrimage center that Turner refers to in the context of superimposition of cults and perennial communitas. Re- grettably, Turner spoke only of the bhakti pilgrimage center at Paṇḍharpūr and juxtaposed it with Mecca and Medina, the two great pilgrimage centers of scriptural Islam. He then reached the erroneous conclusion that Muslim pilgrimage centers exclude non-Muslims, in contrast to the openness characteristic of bhaktipilgrimage centers. One wonders why Vic- tor Turner, one of the truly great anthropologists of our time, did not compare similar enti- ties, i.e. the openness to members of the other religious communities that is characteristic of the shrines of folk Islam and Hindu/Muslim shrines in south Asia with the openness that is characteristic of the bhakti pilgrimage center at Paṇḍharpūr (Turner 1972, pp. 212–221). Within 100 kilometers of Paṇḍharpūr, at Gulbarga, there is a Muslim shrine of great impor- tance that is the natural counterpart to its bhaktineighbor at Paṇḍharpūr. But Turner looked toward Mecca and not Gulbarga when he wrote “The Center Out There”, and we are much the poorer for that.

90 PROCESSIONS BETWEEN HOLY PLACES AS NETWORKS OF REFLEXIVITY299

nder the corresponding heading in the encyclopaedia of South Asian folklore ed- ited by Margaret Mills, Peter Claus, and Sara Diamond we find a functionalist de- Uscription of “processions” by Diana Mines with which both Bronislav Malinowski and Julius Caesar could be equally happy: “As they move through space they lay claim to space”.300

While neither wishing to deny that processions religious and/or political often do lead to conflict, violence, and bloodshed in South Asia nor to question the historical continuity that leads from the ancient Indian horse sacrifice (aśva medha) to provocative Gaṇeśa processions in Muslim neighborhoods of Indian cities, the description of processions as socio-religious practices that “…may be expected to foster dispute…”301 has as little claim to general acceptance as describing the European national sport solely from the point of view of street-fighting soccer hooligans.

More often than not, processions strengthen the bonds that hold multi-religious societies together rather than threaten to destroy those bonds, a point that no less a politician than N.T. Rama Rao was at pains to emphasize in the aftermath of the bloody clashes between Hindus and Muslims at Hyderabad in December 1990.302

299 First published in the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft (ZDMG), Vol. 158 (2008), Number 2, pp. 353–370. 300 Mines, Diana, “Processions” in: Mills, Margaret A., Claus, Peter J., and Diamond, Sara (eds.), South Asian Folklore. An Encyclopedia, New York and London (Routledge) 2003, p. 487. 301 Ibid. 302 Pinault, David, The Shiites. Ritual and Popular Piety in a Muslim Community, New York (St. Martin’s Press) 1992, pp. 157ff.

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Moreover, religious proces- Moreover, religious processions are often intimately con- sions are often intimately nected with experiencing personal membership in the so- connected with experienc- cial and transcendental communities that have grown up ing personal membership in around the birth place or, more often, the place of death the social and transcenden- of a religious personage. As such they link individuals and tal communities that have groups into a community rather than divide them into grown up around the birth conflicting communal fronts. For the 600,000 participants place or, more often, the in the greater of the two month-long annual pilgrimages place of death of a religious (vārī) of the Vārkarī-saṁpradāya in the month of Āṣāḍh personage. As such they link (June/July) the riderless horse reminiscent of the aśva- individuals and groups into medha has another meaning: to follow the foot images a community rather than (pādukās) of Śrī Sant Jñāneśvar (d. 1275 a.D.) as soldiers divide them into conflicting in the army of the “inner war” against the six common communal fronts. enemies of mankind: greed (lobha), confusion (moha), desire (kāma), anger (krodha), madness (mada), and envy (matsara), to have compassion with all sentient beings (kāruṇya), to behave prop- erly toward others.

On a more modest scale, the procession of the riderless royal horse can be found in a sub- lime Hindu/Muslim context in the ‘urs/puṇya-tithiof the Muslim holy woman Banu Mā at Bodhegaon, District Ahmadnagar, Taluka Shevgaon, Maharashtra, on the first Thursday303 after Āśvinī purṇimā, the full-moon day of the month Āśvin (Sept/Oct), not long after the celebration of Rāmā’s victory over Rāvaṇa at Dasarā:

In her life-time, [Banu Mā] used to sit in a bullock-cart which was gaily decorated with flowers and leaves. It used to be taken out in a procession to the accompa- niment of music, etc. The destination of such a procession was decided by Ban- numma herself. Since the demise of Bannumma, a galāf [a silken cloth] is spread over the back of a horse and a flower net held high by persons is carried behind it. The procession moves toward the dargah to the accompaniment of music.304

While in Banu Mā’s unpredictable processions during her life the way, that is, the proces- sion itself, was clearly the goal, that is, the sanctifying of her devotees as a distinct com- munity by uniting them in a procession, processions in honor of other saints often aim at the cleansing, renewal, and protection of the place and the people. By clockwise circum- ambulation of the walls or other boundaries of a city carrying the sacred foot images of a saint (pādukās), such processions sanctify and separate the precincts of the settlement from the dangers and pollutions of the world surrounding it. These processions usually occur annually at the birth or death anniversary of the patron saint of a city.

303 Traditionally, Thursday is the evening on which the weekly dhikr (‘remembrance of Allāh (s.w.t.) or ğamarāt (‘spiritual assembly’) takes place at the dargāh of a Muslim saint. 304 Kunte, B. G. (ed), Gazetteer of India. Maharashtra State. Ahmadnagar District, Bombay [Gazetteers Department, Government of Maharashtra] 1976, pp. 891f.

92 Processions Between Holy Places as Networks of Reflexivity

Two striking examples of the communitas-building influence of such nagar pradakṣiṇās can be seen in the diurnal and nocturnal circumambulations of Paiṭhaṇ during the birth and death anniversary of Śrī Sant Ekanāth (1533–1598?) on the fourth to the sixth of the dark half of the Hindu month Phālgun (Feb/March) at Paiṭhaṇ, known as the Ekanāth- ṣaṣṭhī (‘Ekanāth’s [Dark] Sixth’).305

Both the diurnal and the nocturnal processions are dis- Devotees struggle to touch tinctive with regard to their time settings. In the diurnal th his feet and security police procession a descendant of Ekanāth in the 13 genera- struggle with equal deter- tion (who is said to resemble his saintly ancestor physi- mination to keep them at cally) puts on clothes that Ekanāth might have worn in th bay. While blows are some- the 16 century and demarcates the boundaries of the times meted out to men, city on foot in a procession that includes traditional music anonymous knuckles rapped, groups, brass bands and military drum corps, and almost nameless feet cudgeled, every member of the community who can walk. Devotees women generally reach the struggle to touch his feet and security police struggle with locus of sanctity as police as equal determination to keep them at bay. While blows a rule do not slap or cudgel are sometimes meted out to men, anonymous knuckles them. rapped, nameless feet cudgeled, women generally reach the locus of sanctity as police as a rule do not slap or cudgel them. But even the punitive staffs that are swung through the air transfer the saint’s grace (kṛpā) to the devotees on their receiving ends by virtue of having been near to, or having brushed against the cloth- ing of the revivified Ekanāth. Such blows are perceived to besatsanga (auspicious physical contact) that renew the vitality and help to cleanse the stains of karma of the recipient for another year.

In the nocturnal nagar pradakṣiṇā the same descendant of Śrī Sant Ekanāth again appears wearing clothing of the 16th century and is received with reverence by the community. But the focal point of devotion has now shifted to the palanquin (pālkhī) in which small silver foot images of Ekanāth (pādukās) are carried. The loud exuberance of the proces- sion in the daylight hours has vanished, it is approaching midnight, and the descendant of Ekanāth takes his place behind the sacred palanquin with other descendants and family relatives and retraces the steps he took in the daylight only some hours before. Numerous traditions have grown up around the nocturnal nagar pradakṣiṇā. But one thing is clear: the atmosphere and tone of the procession is solemn. The shouting, drumming, and loud music of the day are conspicuous by their absence. In contrast to the diurnal procession, the demarcation of the boundaries of the city by night is not directed inward toward surg- ing crowds of devotees but outward into the inchoate darkness.

It is at this point that a constitutive theme of Bhakti literature begins to be enacted as a community ritual: the ethicization of demonic hordes and ‘lower deities’ (kṣudra-devatā)

305 According to pious tradition, Śrī Sant Ekanāth was born, died, and first met his guru, Janārdana-svāmī, on the sixth of the dark half of the Hindu month Phālgun.

93 Well Articulated Better Paths such as the bāvan vīr (‘the 52 heroes’) and their ‘rājā’, Vetāḷ, who sweep over the fields by night in the wild chase familiar in Indo-European traditions. Even now the bāvan vīr can sometimes be heard howling in the distance on stormy nights.306 Not unlike the Lakṣmaṇ- rekhā (‘Lakṣmaṇ’s line’) that was to protect Sītā from the depredations of Rāvaṇa and his demon hordes in the Rāmāyaṇa (Āraṇya-kāṇḍa), the bearers of the palanquin carry- ing the pādukās of Ekanāth tread out an invisible protective threshold across which the blood-seeking demons of the night may not pass. Both Ekanāth’s abhorrence and his first- hand knowledge of the kṣudra-devatā and their ‘rājā’, Vetāḷ, can be found in the tenth adhyāya, ovīs 576–593, of the Śrī Ekanāthī Bhāgavat, Ekanāth’s voluminous commentary (18,810 quatrains) in Old Marāṭhī on the eleventh skandha of the Bhāgavata-Purāṇa:

In order to perform rituals of black magic they sacrifice rams, jackals, monkeys, lizards, frogs, fish, crocodiles, vultures and kites.307 (10.579)308

306 It will be remembered that the traditional Indian etymology of the Vedic verbal root rud- is “to howl” (Gonda, Jan, Die Religionen Indiens I. Veda und älterer Hinduismus, published as volume 11 in the series Schröder, Christel Matthias [series editor] Die Religionen der Menschheit, Stuttgart [Verlag W. Kohlhammer] 1960; second revised edition 1978, pp. 85– 89) and god Rudra is not only the ‘Howler’ par excellence who is invoked in the Ṛg-veda (1.114.1) to “…keep all in the village free from illness…” but the leader of a band of ‘Howl- ers’, the gaṇa of demons who are invoked (not to cause harm) in the Śatarudrīya litany of the Taittirīya-saṁhitā (4.5.1) of the Kṛṣṇa-Yajurveda and in the Vājasaneyi-saṁhitā of the Śukla-Yajurveda (16 and 18): “Homage to the loud calling, the screaming, to the lord of foot- men!” (4.5.2.m), “Homage to the glider, to the wanderer around, to the lord of the forests homage!” (4.5.3.e), “Homage to the bearers of the sword, the night wanderers, to the lord of cut-purses homage!” (4.5.3.g), “The Rudras that are so many and yet more occupy the quarters, their bows we unstring at a thousand leagues!” (4.5.11.k), “Homage to the Rudras on the earth….to them homage, be they merciful to us, him whom we hate and him who ha- teth us, I place him within your jaws!” (4.5.11.l,m,n). (Keith, Arthur Berriedale, The Veda of the Black Yajus School entitled Taittiriya Sanhita. Part 2: Kāṇḍas IV–VII, published as volume 19 of Charles Rockwell Lanman [series editor] Harvard Oriental Series, Cambridge, Massa- chusetts [The Harvard University Press], 1914, pp. 355f, 362.). In thePāraskara-gṛyha-sūtra (III.15) “…Rudra was still a terrible god, who had to be appeased. He was the god that held sway over the regions away from home, over fields, wildernesses, cemeteries, mountains, old trees, and rivers…Many are the occasions in the life of man which excite fear; there are epidemics and other diseases, poisons, serpents, storms, thunderbolts, wild and awful scenes, and consequently, the god who brings on these occasions, and protects when ap- peased, will be thought of oftener than other gods. The lovableness of the works of God, his greatness and majesty and his mysterious nature, are also matters which strike the mind of man; and these appear to have operated in bringing Viṣṇu into prominence.” (Bhandarkar, Ramakrishna Gopal, Vaiṣṇavism, Śaivism and Minor Religious Systems, Straßburg, 1913; re- printed in Poona 1982, pp. 145–151.). 307 The following translations of Ekanāth are based on the Old Marāṭhī text published in Somaṇa, G. R. “Bāpūrāva” (ed), Śrī Ekanāthī Bhāgavat, bhāga pahilā [part one] Sātārā [Śrī Ekanātha Maṇḍaḷa] śake 1895, Isvī sān [a.D.] 1973, pp. 471f. 308 Karma karāvayā abhicāra | meṣa jaṃbūka vānara | saraḍa beḍūka matsya magara | gīdha ghāra homitī ||.

94 Processions Between Holy Places as Networks of Reflexivity

They worship such strong spirits as the Naked Bhairava, Vetāḷ, Jhoṭiṅg, Piśāc, Kaṅkāḷ, Mārako, Mesako, and Mairāḷ. (10.580)309

They kill black pen-sparrows, long-beaked kites, crows, cranes, and owls. Having invited a black female cat, they sacrifice using the Śābara-mantra.310 (10.581)311

They steal oil from a running oil-press to bathe when the astrological conjunction of (the beginning of) the thirteenth day (of the dark half of the lunar month) falls on the evening of a Saturday.312 In a sacrifice at midnight they arouse theśākinīs and ḍākinīs.313 (10.582)314

They fill earthen pitchers with wine and worship a woman of the Māṅg caste.315 Chanting the Mohinī-mantra they pour blood into the skin of a corpse. (10.583)316

To recite the root mantra they have the fresh skin of a human corpse, a deer, or a bear brought (for sitting upon) and feel no fear or wrongdoing in this. (10.586)317

They sorely torment the creatures of the air, the earth, and the water. Taking the blood of the Brahmins they practice black magic. (10.587)318

309 Nagna Bhairava Vetāļa | Jhoṭiṅga Piśāca Kaṃkāḷa | Mārako Mesako Mairāḷa | bhūteṃ prabaḷa upāsī ||. 310 A mantra which forms part of the Śabarotsava (cf. Kālikāpurāṇa 63.17ff) in which rules of hierarchy and norms of sexual propriety are abandoned. 311 Kāḷī ciḍī ṭoṃkaṇa ghārī | kāga baka ulūka mārī | āvaṃtūni kāḷī māṃjarī | Śābaramantrī homitī||. 312 Ekanāth alludes here to the Tantric ritual Śiva-pradoṣa (‘Śiva’s Evening’) which should take place when the beginning of the thirteenth day of the dark half of the month falls on a Saturday evening. The Saturday being sacred to and named after Śani (Saturn), the planet which presides over abundance but also over calamities, it is forbidden to read the Vedas at that inauspicious time. In keeping with the systematic reversal of Vedic norms in Tantra, the Saturday evening of the dark thirteenth is thus the ideal point in time to begin a Tantric ritual. 313 Female consorts and counterparts of male Tantric deities. On a mundane level, women who join themselves sexually to male practitioners in Tantric rituals. 314 Vāhatyā ghāṇyāceṃ tela corī | pradoṣasaṃdhīṃ nhāye Śanivārīṃ | śākinī ḍākinī madhyarātrīṃ | homāmājhārīṃ cetavī ||. 315 A caste of sweepers, disposers of human and other refuse, and tanners of leather. From a Vedic point of view, the Māṅgs represent the superlative degree of ritual impurity just as the Brahmins are the epitomes of ritual purity. Thus, a woman of the Māṅg caste is the ideal female partner for the male Tantric practitioner. 316 Madyāce ghaṭa pūrṇa bharī | Mātaṃgīcī pūjā karī | rudhira ghālī pretapātrīṃ | mohanīmaṃtrīṃ [sic] maṃtrūnī ||. 317 Bīja japāvayā maṃtrāceṃ | vole kātaḍeṃ pretāceṃ | āṇavī mṛgaasvalāṃceṃ [sic] | bhaya pāpāceṃ mānīnā ||. 318 Khecara bhūcara jaḷacara | jīva pīḍitī apāra | gheūni brāhmaṇāceṃ rudhira | abhicāra ācaratī||.

95 Well Articulated Better Paths

Know ye that they sorely torment the cows and Brahmins! Taking the fields, the wealth, and the women for their own use, they take their lives as well! (10.588)319

In his essay “The five components of Hinduism and their interaction” the late Günther- Dietz Sontheimer (1933–1992) reflected upon “the fluctuating continuity” between- set tlement (kṣetra) and wilderness (vana) that forms the underlying historical context of Ekanāth’s perception of the danger thekṣudra-devatā pose for the community of Bhakti:

Between the two poles vana and kṣetra there is a reversible, fluctuating continu- ity. A brahmanical kṣetra with a purāṇic deity may relapse into a locality where pastoral people and “predatory” people again dominate. The deity is forgotten and superseded by a folk deity attended by Guravs, a non-brahmanical caste… Kṣetra I would describe, in brief, as well-ordered space, the riverine agricultural nuclear area which is ideally ordered by a King and by the Brahmans with their dharmaśāstra.320

Paiṭhaṇ is an example par excellence of such a “riverine agricultural nuclear area” in which the pre-dominant deity is Viṭṭhala, a form of the God-King Viṣṇu. The nocturnal nagar pradakṣiṇā as a communal ritual which seeks to keep the “predatory people” at bay high- lights the “reversible, fluctuating continuity betweenvana and kṣetra” Sontheimer saw as characteristic of Hinduism.

The procession lasts most of the night, and shortly before dawn the participants hearken to the sound of the viṇā and the gentle melody of a bhajan in the Ekanāth temple near the river Godāvarī. The kṣetra has been cleansed and its borders secured for another year. By walking together in the processions of the day and the night the devotees have taken part in the divine movement that ‘holds together the world’, the lokasaṁgraha.

While carrying Ekanāth’s pādukās in procession cleans- While carrying Ekanāth’s es and renews the sanctity of Paiṭhaṇ for another year, pādukās in procession pādukā-processions of other bhakti-sants have regional cleanses and renews the and even universal significance. Carrying Sant Tukārām’s sanctity of Paiṭhaṇ for anoth- pādukās from his home village, Dehū, to and into the er year, pādukā-processions Tukārām-mandir in the Ferguson Road in Puṇe for a of other bhakti-sants have few moments at the time of the vāri (pilgrimage) of the regional and even universal Vārkarī-saṃpradāya every year in the month of Āṣāḍh significance. (June/July) renews the sanctity of the temple by material transfer of Tukārām’s grace (kṛpā), symbolized by the saint’s foot images. The procession mentioned above in which Śrī Sant Jñāneśvar’s pādukās are carried in a palanquin for

319 gāyībrāhmaṇāṃsī jāṇa | pīḍā karitī dāruṇa | kṣetravittadārāharaṇa | svārtheṃ prāṇa ghetātī||. 320 Sontheimer, Günther D., and Kulke, Hermann [eds.], Hinduism Reconsidered, South Asian Studies 24, Delhi [Manohar] 1989, p. 201.

96 Processions Between Holy Places as Networks of Reflexivity fifteen days over 200 miles from Āḷandī to Paṇḍharpūr in Maharashtra is said to bring rain to the parched fields it passes. Along its way devotees pick up the droppings of Śrī Sant Jñāneśvar’s horse which walks riderless in front of the palanquin accompanied by another horse ridden by a śiledār (‘spear-bearer’) in medieval dress. The droppings and dust of the horse’s hoofs are then spread upon the fields at home to insure a rich harvest. The annual procession of Śrī Sant Jñāneśvar’s palanquin thus cleanses (rain) and renews a field (horse droppings) as large as the boundaries of the Marāṭhī language community. When the pro- cession reaches its goal, Paṇḍharpūr, on the eleventh day of the bright half of the Hindu month, Āṣāḍhī-ekādāśī, a final procession, known as raṅga, takes place in which Śrī Sant Jñāneśvar’s horse gallops around his assembled devotees, some of whom run in front of the horse which is now said to encircle and renew the world for another year.

Śrī Sant Jñāneśvar’s renewal of the universal field takes place in summer, at the beginning of the monsoon, some eight months before Ekanāth’s cleansing and renewal of Paiṭhaṇ between the end of the cold and the beginning of the dry, hot season (March/April). The positioning of these two important processions of cleansing and renewal at opposite ends of the agricultural year suggests their complementarity as multi-forms of the same ritual.

But religious traditions are seldom as neatly symmetrical But religious traditions are as the systems social sciences develop to analyze them. seldom as neatly symmetrical While Ekanāth’s procession may not renew as many kilo- as the systems social scienc- meters of farmland each year as Śrī Sant Jñāneśvar’s, the es develop to analyze them. power of his processions to cleanse and renew crosses While Ekanāth’s procession a boundary that is equally universal in its implications. may not renew as many kilo- Six days after the Ekanāth-ṣaṣṭhī, on the twelfth day of meters of farmland each year the dark half of Phālgun, a procession of devotees car- as Śrī Sant Jñāneśvar’s, the rying buckets of water (kāvaḍī) from the rāñjaṇ (cistern) power of his processions to in Ekanāth’s house leaves Paiṭhaṇ to arrive at Maḍhī cleanse and renew crosses a three days later on the afternoon of the new moon day boundary that is equally uni- (amāvāsyā) of Phālgun to cleanse the temple/dargāh of versal in its implications. Kānhobā/Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān.321

In all likelihood, the kāvaḍī were originally carried from the dargāh of Sayyid as-Sādāt Sayyid Nizāmuddīn Idrīs al-Husainī of Paiṭhaṇ (d. circa 1390) to Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān (a Hindu/Muslim saint who died circa 1450 a.D.) at Maḍhī as the filling of an unfillable cis- tern had been the task given Śāh Ramzān by his spiritual master, Nizām ud-Dīn of Paiṭhaṇ, in order to break the spiritual arrogance of his disciple:

321 Anne Feldhaus’ description of this ritual is puzzling. Neither does Feldhaus mention that the water to cleanse the mūrti of Kāniph Nāth comes from the cistern (rāñjaṇ) in Ekanāth’s house nor that Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān are one and the same and their Hindu and Muslim devotees share one of the most important śrī-kṣetra (‘holy field’) in theMarāṭhvāḍā region of Maharashtra. (Cf. Feldhaus 1995, pp. 30 and 34; cf. van Skyhawk, Hugh, “Hindu-Muslim Religious Syncretism in the Folk Literature of the Deccan”, supra, pp. 13-28.

97 Well Articulated Better Paths

After some days, Śahā Ramjān made evident his wish of obtaining the guru’s teachings. ‘That will take a little time’, said Nijāmuddīn. As it was Nijāmuddīn’s wish that Śahā Ramjān’s ahaṃkāra (‘egotism’, ‘spiritual arrogance’) concerning his siddhīs (‘supernatural abilities’) andcamatkār (‘wonder working’) should first be destroyed, he assigned him the work of serving the guru (gurusevā). The first labour that he told Śahā Ramjān (to perform) was filling the large stone water- jar in the maṭh (i.e. Nijāmuddīn’s ḵhānqāh, or hospice) everyday. This water-jar (rāñjaṇ) has come to be preserved to this very day in the hospice of Nijāmuddīn in Paiṭhaṇ. Nijāmuddīn gave him a rough earthen pitcher (ghaḍā) and assigned him the labour of filling the rāñjaṇ. Śahā Ramjān thought: ‘What’s so difficult about filling the rāñjaṇ?’ He picked up the earthen pitcher, put it on his head, and set out on the way to the river. They say that (at first) by power of hisyogbal (‘psycho-kinetic yogic powers’) he would carry the earthen pitcher (suspended) in the air one and a quarter hands above his head. But the more his yogbal be- gan to diminish, the more the ghaḍā descended, until, in the end, it lay on the ground. Even after many days, Śahā Ramjān’s labour of filling therāñjaṇ was not completed. The reason was that the guru was making trial of his disciple…322

Today the relationship of Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān and Nizām ud-Dīn of Paiṭhaṇ has re- ceded into the ritual substrata, and it is the unfillable cistern of Ekanāth that is now filled by women devotees carrying water-pots on their heads during the Ekanāth-ṣaṣṭhī, and, when their efforts prove futile, by god Pāṇḍuraṅg himself, who gives the extra measure of the Divine to make the cistern overflow.

The bearers of the poles While the water carried from Ekanāth’s cistern cleanses mūrti jatrā (jheṇḍe) on which the Holy the of Kāniph Nāth and thus ritually closes the Horseshoe (na’l sāhib) is at- (pilgrimage festival) of his death anniversary on the fifth Phālgun tached often become pos- of the dark half of for another year, it is still the baraka na’l sāhib sessed both at the dargāh (‘blessedness’) transferred by the (‘Lord of Nizām ud-Dīn and at the Horseshoe’) attached to the ends of long poles that are (mazār) temple/dargāh of Kāniph laid on the grave of Nizām ud-Dīn of Paiṭhaṇ and Nāth/Śāh Ramzān and their then carried either on foot or (today) by bus from Paiṭhaṇ jatrā processions frequently end in to Maḍhī that open the each year by being placed na’l sāhib frenzied flagellation or self- upon the larger which crowns the dome both sanc- flagellation when the na’l over the grave of Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān and the tum sanctorum (garbha gṛha) sāhib of the pole is touched of the Kānhobā temple at to the larger na’l sāhib on the Maḍhī. It is widely believed by Hindu and Muslim devo- top of the temple. tees of Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān that Nizām ud-Dīn of Paiṭhaṇ gives his hukm (order) each year via the na’l sāhib that the death anniversary (puṇya-tithi, ‘urs) of Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān should now be- gin. The bearers of the poles (jheṇḍe) on which the Holy Horseshoe (na’l sāhib) is attached often become possessed both at the dargāh of Nizām ud-Dīn and at the temple/dargāh of Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān and their processions frequently end in frenzied flagellation or self-flagellation when the na’l sāhib of the pole is touched to the larger na’l sāhib on

322 van Skyhawk 1993, pp. 460f.

98 Processions Between Holy Places as Networks of Reflexivity the top of the temple. The frequent possession associated with the na’l sāhib cannot be explained solely on the basis of synchronic materials. For an introduction to the cult of the Lord Horseshoe we are still indebted to the Sunnihakīm (doctor of traditional Muslim medicine) and munśī (scribe, language specialist) Jaʿfar Sharīf of Ellore (Kistna District) of the Madras Presidency who circa 1830 wrote the thirty-four pages of description of the āšurā (the tenth day of Muharram) processions we find in the Qānun-i-Islām at the behest of Gerhard Andreas Herklots (1790–1834) an India-born Dutch physician in British service at the Madras Establishment in the years 1819–1834:

One standard, called ‘Nal sahib (i.e. na’l ṣâḥib, ‘Lord Horse-shoe’) is of somewhat larger size than a common horse-shoe. With this [the rod to which Lord Horse- shoe is attached] they run most furiously… Some, through ignorance, construct with cloth something of a human shape, and substitute the shoe for its head…323 A woman makes a vow to the horseshoe: ‘If through thy favour I am blessed with a son, I promise to make him run with thy procession.’ Should a son be born to her she puts a parasol in his hand and makes him run with it… Something of the bridegroom’s spirit (i.e. Qāsim ibn Ḥasan’s spirit) is supposed to dwell in the horseshoe, which works miraculous cures. To gain this inspiration a silver or iron rod ending in a crescent or horseshoe, and covered on all sides with peacock feathers, is set up with burning incense. In the Deccan, particularly in Hyderābād, after each Muharram many such rods with horseshoes mounted on the tops are thrown into a well, and before the next Muharram all those who have thrown their rods into the well go there and await the pleasure of the martyr who makes the rod of the person he has chosen rise to the surface…324

All Sufi orders with the exception of the Naqhsbandiyya Moreover, the love for ‘Alī recognise ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (d. 661 a.D.) as the custodian and the People of the House of the ‘inner knowledge’ (‘ilm-i-bāṭin) of the Holy Qur‘an (ahl-i-bayt) had always been that had been imparted to him by the Holy Prophet strong among the Čištiyya (PBUH). Moreover, the love for ‘Alī and the People of the and the Qādiriyya of the Dec- House (ahl-i-bayt) had always been strong among the can as it was among the fol- Čištiyya and the Qādiriyya of the Deccan as it was among lowers of Šāh Ni‘mat Allāh the followers of Šāh Ni‘mat Allāh (d. 1431 a.D.) of Kirmān, (d. 1431 a.D.) of Kirmān, who who was invited to take up residence in Bidar by the ninth was invited to take up resi- Bahmanī sultan, Aḥmad Šāh Walī Bahmanī (ruled 1422– dence in Bidar by the ninth 1436). From that time until the final conquest ofthe Bahmanī sultan, Aḥmad Šāh Deccan sultanates by the Mughal emperor Aurangzīb (d. Walī Bahmanī (ruled 1422– 1707 a.D.) in 1687 the promotion of Shiism by the Muslim 1436). sultans of the Deccan was always linked to the hope of gaining support from Iran against the Mughals.

323 Shurreef, Jaffur, Qanoon-e-Islam, Madras [J. Higginbotham: Law Bookseller and Publisher] 1863, p. 118; quoted by Lassy, Ivar, The Muharram Mysteries among the Azerbeijan Turks of Caucasia, Helsingfors [University of Finland] 1916, pp. 271f. 324 Sharīf, Ja’far, 1921 (1972), p. 162.

99 Well Articulated Better Paths

In this context the most obvious expression of royal patronage of Shiism was the generous support given to Muharram processions, a tradition that has continued up to the present time in Hyderabad.325 While the promotion of Shiism as political policy ultimately failed, Muharram processions withstood all onslaughts of political fortune to become the most popular religious processions in the pre-modern Deccan, declining in popularity among Hindus only after the introduction of Gaṇeśa processions by Bāl Gangādhar Ṭiḷak in 1893.

Out of the rich pageantry of pre-modern Muharram processions two cults arose that were to become integral parts of folk culture and folk religion in the Deccan: the cult of the tābūt or taʾziya (Arabic: ‘consolation’), the portable replica of the grave of Ḥusain ibn ‘Alī who had been martyred at Karbalā on 10 Muharram 61 a.H. (680 a.D.), and the cult of Ḥusain’s ten year-old nephew, Qāsim ibn Ḥasan, the Holy Bridegroom, who is said to have been married to Ḥusain’s ten year-old daughter, Fātima̤ Kubrā, on the night before the fi- nal battle at Karbalā, and whose spirit is believed to dwell in and whose cult centres on the horseshoe of Ḥusain’s battle charger Zuljanāh brought from Karbalā to Bijāpūr by an anon- ymous pilgrim and later removed to Hyderabad.326 The cults of Ḥusain as the protector of women and the family and of Qāsim as the unjustly slain, unrequited bridegroom were to find fertile fields in the heavy earth of the Deccan plateau, being easily recognizable as themes found in indigenous hero stones (vīra-gal). Replicas of Lord Horseshoe grace the tops of numerous Muslim and Hindu/Muslim shrines in the Deccan up to this day.

In this context we should be grateful to the Indian civil servants of yesteryear whose obvi- ous love for the composite culture of the Deccan led them to document Hindu/Muslim customs that might be omitted from publications today and thus deleted from the reli- gious and cultural history of India. Writing in January 1969, as executive editor of theGaz - etteer of India. Maharashtra State. Bhir District, the late Padmabhushan Setu Madhavrao Pagadi327 observes:

The Shias and the Sunnis keep different holy days. However, festivals like the Muharram, the ramzān and the bakr id are common to both the sects.

…Another activity in theMuharram festival is the preparing of taaziahs or tābūts, bamboo or tinseled models of the shrine of the Imām at Karbalā, some of them large and handsome costing a few hundred rupees… Poor Hindus and Muslims, men and women, in fulfilment of vows throw themselves in the roadway and roll in front of the shrine…328

325 Pinault 1992, pp. 158 and 164. 326 Sharīf 1972, p. 160. 327 For an introduction to Pagadi’s writing on Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān and some biographical notes on his remarkable life see van Skyhawk 1993, p. 457. 328 Pagadi, Setu Madhavrao (ed), Gazetteer of India. Maharashtra State. Bhir District, Bombay [Directorate of Government Printing] 1969, pp. 204f.

100 Processions Between Holy Places as Networks of Reflexivity

For Aurangabad District, B. G. Kunte, Pagadi’s joint editor for history, writes in May 1977:

The month of Muharram … is observed indifferently by Sunnis and Shiahs and the proceedings with the Sunnis, at any rate, have now rather the character of a festival than a time of sorrow. Models of the tomb of Husain calledtazia or tabut are made of bamboo and paste-board and decorated with tinsel. These are taken in procession and deposited in a river on the last and great day of Muharram. Women who have made vows for the recovery of their children from an illness dress them in green and send them to beg; and a few men and boys having themselves painted as tigers go about mimicking as a tiger for what they can get from the spectators. At the Muharram, models of horse-shoes made after the caste shoe of Kasim’s horse329 are carried fixed on poles in a procession. Men who feel so impelled and think that they will be possessed by the spirit of Ka- sim make these horse shoes and carry them. Frequently they believe themselves possessed by the spirit, exhibiting the usual symptoms of a kind of frenzy and women apply to them for children or for having evil spirits cast out.330

At the temple of Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān at Maḍhī there Two members of this group are two distinct groups of devotees who bear the poles of of devotees carry poles to similar description with Lord Horseshoe attached at the which both Lord Horseshoe end: (1) those devotees who carry Lord Horseshoe with and the standards (ʿalams) hukm the (‘order’) of Nizām ud-Dīn of Paiṭhaṇ and (2) of Ḥasan (green) and Ḥusain those who follow two men who are dressed in green and (red) are attached. This latter red, respectively, to symbolize the Holy Martyrs Ḥasan group is strongly reminiscent and Ḥusain. Two members of this group of devotees carry of Jaʿfar Sharīf’s descrip- poles to which both Lord Horseshoe and the standards tions of the dāsmāsī-fuqārā (ʿalams) of Ḥasan (green) and Ḥusain (red) are attached. (‘ten-month faqīrs’) of the This latter group is strongly reminiscent of Jaʿfar Sharīf’s Muharram pageantry in pre- dāsmāsī-fuqārā faqīrs descriptions of the (‘ten-month ’) modern Hyderabad. of the Muharram pageantry in pre-modern Hyderabad.331

In an essay that has since become canonical in the history of South Asian religions the late A.K. Ramanujan (1929-1993) laid the foundation for a perception of Hinduism that goes beyond the reductionist “bundle of religions”332 approach to highlight the dynamic inter- relationships, the “reflexivity”, between and among various Hindu traditions and view- points:

329 Contra Sharīf (1977, p. 160) who writes that the na’l sāhib is a horseshoe from Ḥusain’s horse in which “…something of the spirit of the bridegroom (i.e. Qāsim) dwells”. 330 Kunte, B. G. (ed), Gazetteer of India. Maharashtra State. Aurangabad District (Revised edi- tion), Bombay [Gazetteers Department, Government of Maharashtra] 1977, p. 350. 331 Sharīf 1972, p. 171. 332 Stietencron, Heinrich von, “Hinduism: On the proper use of a deceptive term”, in:Son- theimer and Kulke 1989, pp. 11–27.

101 Well Articulated Better Paths

Where cultures (like the ‘Indian’) are stratified yet interconnected, where differ- ent communities communicate but do not commune, the texts of one strata tend to reflect on those of another: encompassment, mimicry, criticism and conflict, and other power relations are expressed by such reflexivities. Self-conscious con- trasts and reversals also mark off and individuate the groups…Stereotypes, for- eign views, and native self-images on the part of some groups, all tend to think of one part (say, the Brahmanical) as original, and the rest as variations, aberra- tions: so we tend to get monolithic conceptions. But the civilization, if it can be described at all, has to be described in terms of these dynamic interrelations.333

Reflecting upon Ramanujan’s perception of “reflexivity” Sontheimer emphasizes the im- portance of a historical approach to the study of Indian religions:

It follows that a view of what Hinduism is cannot be exclusively derived from the attitudes, written and/or oral texts, or statements of members oneof group, however articulate they may be. Admittedly, modern middle class notions favour certain aspects of Hinduism; these may be summarily circumscribed by the pref- erence for ‘Rāmrājya’, Kṛṣṇa, the Bhagavadgītā…Bhakti, sectarian guru worship, and emphasis on the spiritual and philosophic contents of Hinduism, especially the Vedānta, of ‘Neohinduism’…In this process, much of the ritual world …or the culture of the ‘Little Traditions’…gets out of focus or even disappears, along with its enormous oral literature, whereas middle class notions become more and more assertive and dominant, if not monolithic. All the more does the past of Hinduism have to be studied and recorded taking all components and their inter- action into account, so that we can isolate modern trends towards reductionism, and detect change or persistence.334

From the third day of the dark half of Phālgun processions (Marāṭhī: diṇḍī) of devotees moving in opposite directions can be met on the road between Paiṭhaṇ and Maḍhī. Mov- ing southward toward Maḍhī small groups of men carrying poles with Lord Horseshoe attached at the end that often include a percussionist who beats a large shaman-drum (dāf, cf. Plate VIII.D), moving northward toward Paiṭhaṇ groups carrying poles with ochre- coloured flags attached to the end which often include aviṇa-player (a lute-like instru- ment) who plays accompaniment to devotional hymns sung in unison by the men and women of the procession. Even to the casual observer it would be obvious that each of the groups belongs to a different sphere of religious experience. Less obvious is that in addition to exchanging friendly greetings the two processions may stop for a moment to sing a bhajan (devotional hymn) together before continuing on their different journeys. Moreover, devotees of Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān often go on to Paiṭhaṇ for the final day of Ekanāth-ṣaṣṭhī after having taking part in the quite different religious experience of Kāniph Nāth-pañcāmī.

333 Ramanujan, A. K., “Where Windows are Mirrors: Toward an Anthology of Reflections”. In: History of Religions, vol. 28 (1989), pp. 187–216. 334 Sontheimer 1989, p. 200.

102 Processions Between Holy Places as Networks of Reflexivity

But interaction between the Bhakti pilgrimage festival Most striking in this con- of Ekanāth and the pilgrimage festival of the folk-deity nexion is the mock kīrtan Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān is not limited to individuals (discourse on Bhakti) or who attend both festivals. In both jatrās the ritual prac- persiflage that takes place tices and expressions of religious experience of the other in the inner courtyard of jatrā are reflected in obvious and less obvious ways. Most Ekanāth’s vāḍā (large two- striking in this connexion is the mock kīrtan (discourse on storied house with an open Bhakti) or persiflage that takes place in the inner court- inner courtyard) on the eve- yard of Ekanāth’s vāḍā (large two-storied house with an ning of the fifth of the dark open inner courtyard) on the evening of the fifth of the half of Phālgun: A group of dark half of Phālgun: A group of men gathers around a men gathers around a devo- devotee who pretends to be possessed by a god. As the tee who pretends to be pos- wild movements and ravings of the possessed man might sessed by a god. cause fear among the devotees assembled in Ekanāth’s house the possessed one is bound with a strong rope and exhorted to behave properly. With exaggerated facial expressions and intentionally wild, rolling eyes the pretender to be possessed refuses again and again to behave properly. “Dev aṅgāt āle! Dev aṅgāt āle! (‘God has entered my body! God has entered my body!’), he shouts, and, in the end, the other men pretend to beat him with a heavy rope to subdue his St. Vitus dance. All these farcical escapades are greeted by roars of laughter from the audience. The implicit but unmistakable satirical target of this merry romp is the possession and flagellation in the cult of Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān at Maḍhī which took place as sacred religious experience that same day some fifty kilometers to the south.

In his final academic lecture in May 1992 Günther Sontheimer reflected upon the inher- ent tension between the religion of the bhakti-sants and the wild, occasionally, violent practices found in cults of folk deities:

The Bhakti saints took a critical position vis à vis folk religion and opposed with their monotheistic faith the polytheistic and animistic atmosphere of their envi- ronment, in which, in their view, deities, to whom animals were sacrificed, magic, and pilgrimages to local deities which were similar to fairs predominated. Thus, reflexivity could also mean criticism of religion.335

But it would be wrong to believe that there was (or is) only critical reflexivity between devotees of Bhakti-sants and devotees of folk deities. In the background of a number of photos of mass possession on the day of Kāniph Nāth-pañcāmī at Maḍhī one can see the faces of some of the same well-dressed middle-class devotees who are shown in photos taken the next day at the Ekanāth-ṣaṣṭhī, some fifty kilometers to the north at Paiṭhaṇ. The reason for this is both obvious and profound. While the Bhakti saints criticized many of the practices found in folk religion, especially, animal sacrifice and black magic, they

335 Sontheimer, Günther-Dietz, “Religion und Gesellschaft im modernen Indien”, unpublished manuscript, May 1992. Translated from the German by the present author.

103 Well Articulated Better Paths were also attracted by the jāgṛt-folk-deity, the god who is ‘awake’ here and now and by the strength of faith, the bhāva, of the devotees of folk deities. But, above all, it was (or is) the belief that God actually manifests himself in the procession of the jatrā that attracted Bhakti-sants such as the sober-minded Rām Dās (1608–1681), the guru of Śivājī (d. 1680), to the procession of god Khaṇḍobā:

I saw God Khaṇḍobā with my own eyes! Pilgrims had assembled. How can I describe the glory? The crowds of people, the riders without number? The pushing and shoving of the innumerable pilgrims? Horses neigh, oxen bellow, Pushing in the front, pushing at the end. Right and left the stands of the hawkers. How shall I describe the grace and majesty of the Lord?336

In the foregoing discussion I refer to the Kāniph Nāth-pañcāmī from the time I first visited Maḍhī in 1986 up to the jatrā of 1994. Some of the information contained in the above discussion can be found in another form in a joint-authorship article I wrote together with Ian Duncan in 1997.337 Thereafter, I visited Maḍhī for one week in the summer of 1999 and talked with informants I had known since the 1980s. The following discussion includes information gained in those talks.

Since the destruction or disfiguring of a number of the Members of the Shiv Sena Muslim features of the temple/shrine of Kāniph Nāth/ are always nearby to scruti- Śāh Ramzān at Maḍhī by members of the Hindu political/ nize the movements of Mus- para-military group Shiv Sena in 1990338 militant Hindu- lims (and other ‘foreigners’) ism has dominated everyday life in the temple/shrine. who visit the shrine. But up Members of the Shiv Sena are always nearby to scruti- to now no one has actually nize the movements of Muslims (and other ‘foreigners’) been barred from entering who visit the shrine. But up to now no one has actually the temple or been harassed been barred from entering the temple or been harassed in practicing devotion to in practicing devotion to Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān in his Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān in own way. This applies not only to Muslims but to trib- his own way. al devotees such as the numerous Vadārīs and Beldārs (semi-nomadic construction workers and donkey-drivers)339 as well whose cults of magic,

336 Sontheimer, Günther-Dietz, “König Khaṇḍobā. Szenen aus dem Leben eines indischen Volks- gottes. A film by Günther-Dietz Sontheimer and Günter Unbescheid“, Heidelberg 1988. Vers- es translated from the German film soundtrack by the present author. 337 Duncan, Ian, and van Skyhawk, Hugh, “Lokasaṃgraha in the Cult of a Hindu/Muslim Saint and Folk Deity of the Deccan”, supra, pp. 77-90. 338 Hayden, Robert M., “Antagonistic Tolerance. Competitive Sharing of Religious Sites in South Asia and the Balkans”, in: Current Anthropology, volume 43, number 2, April 2002, p. 209. 339 Rathod, Motiraj, “Denotified and Nomadic Tribes in Maharashtra”, Internet page dated 7 November 2000.

104 Processions Between Holy Places as Networks of Reflexivity possession, and animal sacrifice run counter to the reductionist normative agenda of militant political Hinduism. In this connexion it is necessary to distinguish between poli- tics and religious experience. While the Shiv Sena may “…shut down Ahmednagar…”340 through political agitation targeting the temple at Maḍhī (as Robert M. Hayden has put it) it is hard to imagine how Bal Thackeray’s followers341 could satisfy the religious needs of the majority of Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān’s devotees whose animistic (or Muslim) world- views they view with disdain.

Rather than turning toward the Balkans and John Locke Rather than turning toward (cf. Hayden, loc. cit. and op. cit.) to gain a deeper under- the Balkans and John Locke standing of the controversies at the temple of Kāniph (cf. Hayden, loc. cit. and Nāth/Śāh Ramzān at Maḍhī (Hayden) we might first op. cit.) to gain a deeper see if the religious history of Maharashtra offers any understanding of the con- insights from similar historical situations. In this con- troversies at the temple of nexion the term “Mahārāṣṭra dharma” is of fundamen- Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān tal importance being the name of a political/religious 342 at Maḍhī (Hayden) we movement led by Sant Rām Dās, the guru of Śivājī, might first see if the reli- which was the first systematic effort to link the religious gious history of Maharash- traditions of the Marāṭhas with the political ambitions tra offers any insights from of their chieftains. Not unlike the Shiv Sena, the follow- similar historical situations. ers of Rām Dās, the Rām Dāsīs, also embarked upon a course of re-Hinduising religious life and discouraging the practice of popular Muslim tra- ditions (such as Muharram) by Hindus. Owing to the close relations of the RāmDāsīs to Śivājī and his successors up to the fall of the Marāṭha empire in 1818, the move- ment acquired great power and wealth, having at its apogee hundreds of monasteries in the regions ruled by the Marāṭhas. But by using devotion to god Rāmā to promote political policy and military conquest the Rām Dāsīs drifted away from thehumble- ness and humility that are the very heart of Bhakti. In the end, they became a proud state-sanctioned institution rather than a popular religious movement. Writing in 1928, Wilbur S. Deming assessed the situation of the once powerful Rām Dāsī saṃpradāya:

…the Rāmdāsī sect is to-day only a shadow of its former self, with many of the formalities still practiced but the strength of the movement gone. At the height of its influence there must have been several hundred maṭhs, whereas today there are less than fifty and many of these are more or less inactive. From a movement that enrolled thousands of active followers, it has dwindled to a few hundred

340 Hayden, op. cit., loc. cit. 341 The late Bal Thackeray (1926–2012) kept a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf on display on his desktop. 342 Concerning the origin of “Mahārāṣṭra dharma” the Shankar Gopal Tulpule writes: “The idea of “Mahārāṣṭra dharma” was first propounded by Sarasvatī Gaṅgādhara in his Gurucaritra (c. 1538). Rāmadāsa repeated it in his Kṣātradharma addressed to Sambhājī. His famous words are ‘Marāṭhā tetukā meḷavāvā, Mahārāṣṭradharma vāḍhavāvā’ (‘Unite the Marāṭhās and raise Mahārāṣṭra dharma’).”, in: Tulpule 1979, p. 395.

105 Well Articulated Better Paths

active disciples, numerous others being disciples in name only. In the early days there were disciples among the Government officials, religious leaders, soldiers, farmers and tradesmen; but to-day very few influential men profess allegiance to the sect. Far different is the situation in the Paṇḍharpūr movement, which Tukārām helped to popularize and which still retains a hold upon the hearts of the people of Mahārāṣṭra. The power of the Rām Dāsī cult has passed; but it still enjoys a certain amount of economic prosperity, due to the property which is owned by a number of the maṭhs.343

Thus the legacy of ‘dominance’ for the Rām Dāsī saṃpradāya was decay and the decision of Sant Tukārām (1598–1649) not to accept royal patronage from Śivājī is remembered to this day in Maharashtra. In numerous paintings on temple walls and in book illustrations showing the fateful meeting of the Chatrapati and the sant Tukārām says:

“Spiritual power ought not to be subject to political power.”

343 Deming, Wilbur S. (Rev.), Rāmdās and the Rāmdāsīs, published in the series: The Religious Life of India, Calcutta [Y.M.C.A. Association Press], London [Humphrey Milford, Oxford Uni- versity Press], 1928, p, 191.

106 THE HEART OF RELIGION: A SUFI’S THOUGHTS ON THE RELATIONS BETWEEN RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES344

he conduct of the holy man has always been an important source of notions of ethical conduct both in Hinduism and in Islam. Examples of the sadācāra of the ṛṣis Tand ācāryas from one of the four components of classical Hindu law, or dharma.345 Similarly, the sunna of the Holy Prophet [PBUH] forms one of the four components of the śarī‘a,346 or holy law, for the Muslim. Moreover, in the mystical traditions of both religions moral authority has been extended by analogy to the sant, guru, or Sufi-pīr,347 in whom a divine model for human conduct can be observed at first hand.

Śekh Abdul Rajhākśāh Biyābānī is a šayḫ of the Biyābānī Sufi silsila. “Biyābānī”, which literally means “one who lives in the jungle”, is a particularly appropriate name for a Sufi, who, for many years, was Deputy Superintendent of Police in Puṇe. He is widely respected

344 First published in: van Skyhawk, Hugh (ed.), ‘Minorities’ on Themselves, South Asian Digest of Regional Writing 11, Stuttgart [Franz Steiner Verlag], 1986, pp. 117-133; reprinted in: Chatterjee, Margaret, and Devaraja, N. K. (eds.), Philosophy and Religion, New Delhi [Vikas Publishing], 1989, pp. 73–88. 345 According to the Manusmṛti (11, 12), the sources of dharma are śruti, vedic revelation, smṛti, the legal traditions of the sages,sadācāra, the conduct of the “Good”, and ātmatuṣṭi, the examination of one’s conscience. 346 The four components of the sarī‘a are the Qur’ān, the sunna, or the ‘way’ of Muhammad, qiyās, analogy, and ijmā, the consensus of the Muslim community. 347 The identification of the guru with the deity is a familiar theme both in the Vaiṣṇava and the Śaiva bhakti tradition, the pīr is identified with the ‘Perfect Man’ (al-insān al-kāmil), who is the embodiment of the “Reality of Muhammad” (al-haqiqatu’l-Muhammadiyya). See Nich- olson, R. A., Studies in Islamic Mysticism, Cambridge, 1921; reprinted 1967, pp. 105f. The most important example of this type of bhakti in Maharashtra is the guru-bhakti of Śri Sant Ekanāth (1533–1599?).

107 Well Articulated Better Paths by Hindus and Muslims both as a spiritual leader who has intimate knowledge of the re- ligious traditions of his own community and as a secular leader who, in the course of his long public service, has experienced at first hand the tragic consequences of communal intolerance.

Śekh Biyābānī is a Muslim who sees in the unity of God a moral imperative for the unity of man. For nearly thirty years he has used the authority of the law, and later the author- ity of his šayḫ al-baraka (the spiritual influence of Muhammad which resides in a Sufi šayḫ) to promote the cause of communal harmony. The essence of his spiritual and social teachings has been published in a series of six booklets, of which four are in English and two in Marathi; with the exception of his most recent publication (1981),348 all of his book- lets have been reprinted several times. The booklet which forms the basis of this paper (Dharmāce marma, ‘The Heart of Religion’) has been reprinted five times since its initial publication in 1968. In 1969, one year subsequent to its initial publications, its contents were approved by the Superintendant of Public Schools in Puṇe for teaching in all public schools.

Dharmāce marma comprises eight short essays on various aspects of spirituality and so- ciety. Under the sub-heading “The Two Goals of All Religions”, the unity in diversity of the world of experience is explained by means of the extended metaphor of the sub-divisions of a city, state, country, the world, and finally, the universe, which are all unified in the Supreme Being. In describing the basic division of all religions into exoteric and esoteric, or outward and inward,349 Biyābānī emphasizes both the ultimate identity as well as the empirical diversity of those who are truly religious:

It has been said in the Holy There are two broad goals of all religions: 1) religious du- Gītā “Abandon all rituals. ties and 2) the way of offering all at the feet of the Lord. Take refuge in me alone.” It has been said in the Holy Gītā “Abandon all rituals. Take That means that offering ev- refuge in me alone.” That means that offering everything erything at the feet of the at the feet of the Lord is the true religion. One who offers Lord is the true religion. One everything at the feet of the Lord is a true Musalman. In who offers everything at the same way, one who offers everything at the feet of the feet of the Lord is a true the Lord is truly religious. Although the ways may be dif- Musalman. In the same way, ferent, religion does not change; though there are differ- one who offers everything at ent religions the Lord does not change. Our houses may the feet of the Lord is truly be different but the lane is still one. The lanes may be religious. different, but the part of town (peṭh) is one. The parts of town may be different, but the town is one. There may be

348 Alakhniraṃjan (Puṇe 1981), which traces the guru paramparā of Nāth and Vārkarī- saṃpradāyas to a Sufi-pīr, has become a source of academic controversy in Puṇe. 349 The orthodox karma mārga, the religious path of rituals and observances, and the path of devotional religion, or bhaktimārga, correspond to the “external knowledge of the legist” (al-‘ilm azh-zhāhir) and the “inner knowledge of the Sufi” (al-‘ilm al-bātin) in Islam. See Burckhardt, T., Vom Sufitum, München 1953, p. 119.

108 A Sufi’s Thoughts on the Relations Between Religious Communities different towns, but the world is still one. Though there are different worlds, the universe is still one. And though there are different universes, in all this there is only one Creator, one Cause, the Maker of the universe, the parātmā. Just as it is impossible to make all these houses, etc., into one, how will it be possible to make all religions into one?”350

Abstinence from calumny (nindā) has long been consid- Using the extended meta- ered a precondition for spiritual progress by the bhakti- phor of the relationship of saints in Maharashtra.351 The saint-poet Ekanāth has different universities to one been said that nindā is the worst of all sins (Ekanāthī another and the relation- Bhāgavat, 9.503) and that one who harbors nindā in his ship of the different faculties mind will never make (spiritual) progress (tyās gati nāhīṃ within a university to one sarvathā). Using the extended metaphor of the relation- another as a model for the ship of different universities to one another and the re- relationship of different reli- lationship of the different faculties within a university to gious communities, Biyābānī one another as a model for the relationship of different emphasizes the importance religious communities, Biyābānī emphasizes the -impor of mutual respect between tance of mutual respect between communities. Then, communities. Then, elabo- elaborating upon the metaphor, he contrasts the religion rating upon the metaphor, he of the orthodox legists and jurists to the spiritual experi- contrasts the religion of the ence (anubhava) of the sant or pīr. The comparison of orthodox legists and jurists śabda jn͂āna and anubhava by means of antithesis and to the spiritual experience extended metaphor is not unlike the saint poet Ekanāth (anubhava) of the sant or pīr. (EBh, 11,510-556) in point of content and style. By means of the homely metaphor of eating a mango, Biyābānī brings the difference between verbal knowledge and spiritual experience into sharp focus for all to see:352

350 Unlike the orthodox ulemā, the Sufis in India often use terminology of other religious com- munities in order to convey certain spiritual truths to non-Muslims. Above all, it is important for the Sufi that a beginner on the spiritual path learns about spiritual experience and not that he memorizes a certain vocabulary. See Burckhardt, loc.cit., p. 9: “Denn das Sufitum hat stets das geistige Gesetz anerkannt, nach welchem die gӧttliche Offenbarung sich je nach den menschlichen Gemeinschaften, denen sie zugedacht ist, in verschiedene Formen verkleidet.“ 351 The bhakti-saint Ekanāth recommended anubhava, or spiritual experience, as an alternative to mutual contempt as early as the 16th century, see Zelliot, Eleanor, “A Medieval Encounter Between Hindu and Muslim: Ekanāth’s Drama-Poem Hindu Turk saṃvād, in: Clothey, Fred W. (ed.), Images of Man: Religion and Historical Process in South Asia, Madras, 1982, pp. 177–195, and especially p. 188. 352 The distinction between śabda jn͂āna, the knowledge of words and their meanings, and anubhava, spiritual experience, is typical of the teachings of the bhakti-saints in Maharash- tra. For the Sufi, this distinction represents an aspect of the division of “outer” and “inner” knowledge mentioned in Note 349. Just as there was frequent tension between the bhakti- saints and the orthodox paṇḍits (see the Ekanāthī Bhāgavat, 11.510–556 for a good ex- ample of this) the relationship of the Sufi-pīrs to the ulemā was often strained. See Hussaini, S.S. Khusro, Sayyid Muḥammad al-Ḥusaynī-i Gīsūdirāz: On Sufism, Delhi, 1983, pp. 127f., for an important example of such tension in the Deccan.

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“If we draw a simile between religion and a university, it will not be wrong. There are vari- ous universities and on the campus of each there are different schools. In the same way, in each religion there are differentpanth (sects). A degree of any university is honored by all the various universities. Then let the degree be of Oxford or Cambridge, of Bombay or Puṇe. In the same way, the holder of true degrees in any sect of a religion is honoured by all. Just as every student feels honest pride (sāttvik abhimān) in his own university and does not censure other universities, so accordingly, an individual of any religion or sect has to be proud of his religion or sect and should not censure any other religion.

We shall now consider which degrees there are in all religions and sects. Paṇḍit, śāstrī, pādrī, reverend, maulānā, maulavī, śamsul, and ulemā353—whatever different degrees there are, they are all obtained after doing considerable study of religion and religious law. However, in a religion or sect there are no degrees for obtaining the knowledge of spiritual experience (anubhava-siddhajn͂āna). By studying the books of religion, it is possi- ble to get degrees of the sort mentioned above and to learn the meanings of words and to fully attain to the high art of hairsplitting. But as long as trees of thick shade, arising out of great spiritual experience, do not spring up on this barren So, if someone who had read hill of knowledge, there can be no obtaining of true de- a few books on mangoes and grees of religion. Since the beginning of time, at various had learnt by heart what they times, in all parts of the world, establishers of religion, are, should have explained to avatāras, and prophets have given darśan of the way to us—purely from his imagi- the multitudes. There are true degrees of religion. They nation—what they are, to are sādhusant, pīr-avaliyā, seṇṭ, and similar degrees. whom would the mango have been known? So… al- Understand that when we were born we had not eaten though we are able to stuff or seen a mango. So, if someone who had read a few our heads two hours long books on mangoes and had learnt by heart what they with a speech on it, nonethe- are, should have explained to us—purely from his imagi- less, there will be no obtain- nation—what they are, to whom would the mango have ing of spiritual experience at been known? So… although we are able to stuff our all in those two hours. heads two hours long with a speech on it, nonetheless, there will be no obtaining of spiritual experience at all in those two hours. Such is the plight of our maulvī, paṇḍit, reverend and other such people. Now even if some unedu- cated householder should have a mango in his pocket and someone should ask him for it, he would take it out and give it to that person to eat. Then, when the eater had eaten the mango, he would say “Aha! Ha!” Spiritual experience has taken place. There is no verbal form of any kind that can be given to sweetness or to spiritual knowledge. That is the condition of our sant and holy pīr. Among them, there are spiritual traditions of pīr and

353 Three of the honorary titles in the foregoing list are also specific titles of religious offices: pādrī refers to a Catholic priest (Port. padre), reverend indicates a Protestant pastor, and maulvī is the tile of the Muslim doctor of law. The remaining titles, i.e.,paṇḍit, a brahminical scholar, śāstrī, an expert on classical Hindu law or dharmaśāstra, and śamsul an honorary title for a Muslim scholar, are popular titles, which are attached to the names of respected Hindus or Muslims in India, ulemā (sg.: ‘ālim) are the college of Islamic scholars who are responsible for safeguarding the orthodoxy of a Muslim community.

110 A Sufi’s Thoughts on the Relations Between Religious Communities sadguru that have been established by prophets and avatāras. Without getting initiated by them and without propitiating them, it is unlikely that religious knowledge that estab- lishes spiritual experience will arise. Therefore, the sant have said: “Without a pīr, there is no reaching God!” As Tukobārāya has said: “If you can’t catch the guru’s instructions, then catch his feet, at first.” And as Jn͂āneśvar Mahārāj has said: “By the knower the guru is honoured; through him his work is completed. When the root is watered, naturally, the branches and leaves will be content.”

As the spokes of a wheel meet at the hub, so also, holy men of true spiritual experience have no consciousness of religious or sectarian differences. Similarly, as the spokes of a wheel are farther apart the farther they proceed from the hub, so also, the awareness of religious and sectarian differences increases the further legists and jurists stubbornly stray from true spiritual experience. Left unchecked, the obsession with religious laws and outward forms often ends in fanaticism. In the spiritual leadership of legists and jurists, Biyābānī sees a source of potential conflict in communal relations:

“There are many famous books on religious subjects. Of these two categories should be formed: 1) those books written by paṇḍit, maulvī, pādrī, and others; 2) those books writ- ten by pīr, avaliyā, seṇṭ, and sant. Those who read books of the first category, and those who are responsible for showing them the religious path, are people, from among whom some stubborn communalists (kaṭṭar jātīyavādi lok) have arisen, who have wrought de- struction among the masses. Those who, having studied deeply the literature of thesants , undertake to show their religious path, are truly pious people. The rajoguṇ and tamo-guṇ in them has been destroyed quickly. And they increase love and brotherhood among the masses.”354

Belief in the community of saints (satsaṅga) is an important component in the bhakti tradition in Maharashtra. By extending this model of harmonious human relationships to include Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and Liṅgāyats, Biyābānī applies the notion of the satsaṅga to the relations between different religious communities. The cult of thesant as a link between religious communities has a long history in Maharashtra. Although the de- gree and nature of Hindu-Muslim religious synthesis are matters of scholarly controversy, the unification of Hindus and Muslims in the cults ofsants and pīrs is a living popular tradi- tion which can be observed today in numerous jatrā and ‘urs celebrations in the Deccan. In a typically Maharashtrian way, Biyābānī begins his nāmasmaraṇ of the names of various saints with Jn͂āneśvar:355

354 In contrast to the divisive policies of orthodox religious officials, thesadguru or pīr instills in his śiṣya or murīd respect for members of other religious communities by teaching him to recognize the presence of God in his fellow human beings. The sant who prostrates himself before all living beings is a familiar theme in the hagiographies of the bhakti-saints. We rec- ognize here the important contribution of thesants to the establishment of universal ethical principles (generally known as sādhāraṇa-dharma). 355 An index of the names of the saints mentioned by Biyābānī can be found in the Appendix attached in this paper.

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“In each religion there have been great sants and there are commentaries on religious books that have been written by some of these sants and others: 1) Jn͂āneśvar Mahārāj; 2) Tukārām Mahārāj; 3) Ekanāth Mahārāj; 4) Nāmdev Mahārāj; 5) Gorā Kumbhār; 6) Cokhā Meḷā; 7) Mirābāī; 8) Tulsīdās; 9) Kabīr; 10) Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahaṃsa; 11) Svāmī Vivekānanda; 12) Gauspāk; 13) Gulbarga Khvājā; 14) Śams Tarabej; 15) Ajmer Khvājā; 16) Gulbarga Khvājā; 17) Nasīruddīn Khvājā; 18) Nijhāmuddīn Avaliyā; 19) Amīr Khusro; 20) Śamanā Mirā of Mirāj; 21) Seṇṭ Nikolas; 22) Thomas a Kempis; 23) Bū. Hanīphā; 24) Śāphaī; 25) Mālik; 26) Aḥmad Bin Hanbal; 27) Akkalkoṭ Svāmī; 28) Bīḍakar Mahārāj; 29) Aphjalśāh Biyābānī; 30) Sahasrabuddhe Mahārāj; 31) Guru Nānak; 32) Sādhu Vāsvānī; 33) Basaveśvar; are various sants. May the chatra (a parasol usually held over the heads of rulers) of the Lord’s Grace always be over them!”

The most important belief that is common to both the Sufi-pīrs and the bhakti-sants is the absolute unity of the Supreme Being. Moreover, the experience of the divine unity (brahmānubhava or at-Tawḥīd) is the supreme goal of all spiritual efforts in both tradi- tions. Mystics of both traditions recognized the similarity of their views very early, which caused alarm to their more orthodox brethren. Sarasvatī Gangādhara, author of theGuru - caritra, one of the important religious texts of the Dattātreya cult, complained in the 16th century that “Brahmanas had fallen from their duty and had stared preaching the princi- ples of Vedanta to the Muslims.”356 In an essay entitled “The Nature of Pure Consciousness in the Non-Differentiated Absolute” (nirguṇa-nirākārāt-caitanyasvarūpa) Biyābānī recon- ciles the “principles of Vedānta” to the Sufi interpretation of unity of the Lord (īśvara). Then, he compares the doctrines of creation out of the divine unity in Hinduism and Islam. Finally, he explains the importance of sectarian customs, rituals, and regulations in propi- tiating the sadguru or pīr.

Biyābānī’s didactic technique is never heavy-handed or obscure. Being at home in Urdu as well as Marathi, he gracefully blends the spiritual wisdom of the sants and Sufi traditions showing clearly both their common beliefs and their differences:

“I am continuing to note down the conception of the Lord from the point of view of thepīr, avaliyā, and sādhusants both in Hinduism and in Islam that has occurred to me. According to the Hindu-religion, a strong wish for self-experience arose in the nirguṇa-nirākārāt. At that time it adopted the form of pure consciousness (caitanyasvarūpa). The basic constit- uents of the caitanyasvarūpa were living light, love and an ocean of bliss. From these, the three chief characteristics (guṇa) were adopted: 1) origin; 2) maintenance; 3) dissolution. Then, from these three he became endowed with all attributes. In the course of time, we began to recognize the creator, maintainer, and destroyer by the names Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheś, respectively. From this he (i.e. the nirguṇa-nirākārā) adopted a different na- ture having the characteristics of being born from a womb. Then, he adopted different names that are characteristics of attributes, such as Śaṇkar, Pārvatī, Lakṣmī, Sarasvatī,

356 See Kulkarni, A.R., “Social Relations in the Maratha Country in the Medieval Period”, in: Indian History Congress, Vol. 32, 1970, p. 239.

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Gaṇpatī, and become endowed with all attributes. What And spiritual progress toward is more, this very thing has been said according to the re- this goal will be achieved ligion of Islam, i.e., that the Lord was effected by a strong by becoming humble at the desire for self-experience and from within his secret trea- feet of the guru and by pre- sure houses he created the entire universe. He adopted serving in the repetition of the basic ninety-nine names of his characteristics. From the japa of the name of the these, I will mention some: 1) Khālik, the Creator, that great saint that he has given. is, Brahmā; Abdul Khālik means Brahmādās; 2) Rajjāk- The source of the various Annadātā, the Sustainer, means Viṣṇu; Abdul Rajhāk customs and behavior that means Viṣṇudās; Kahār, the Destroyer, that is, Maheś. In are determined by place and the same way, there are Sattār (Who Shields from Evil). time is parameśvara himself. Gaphphār (Who has Great Forgiveness), and Vahāb (Who The avatāra-paigambars is Bounteous), which are different names of the Lord’s, (prophets) have obtained that is, Allāh’s characteristics. Just as in the Hindu religion knowledge of Him that has various temples for the manifestations ofĪśvara’ s charac- been established by com- teristics have come into being in the course of time, so, plete spiritual experience. in the same way, in the religion of Islam they have come into being and we have got various temples to show: Kādīr (the Almighty), Vahāb, Sattār, Rajjāk, Kahār. But, as the worship of images is strictly prohibited in the religion of Islam, we do not see them. Nevertheless, as a result of praying (japa) to any one of the char- acteristics names of the Lord it is possible to obtain357 those characteristics. However, in order that there be a complete spiritual experience of all the characteristics (of the Lord), one must turn in the direction of the basiccaitanyasvarūpa , that is, in the direction of the nūr. And spiritual progress toward this goal will be achieved by becoming humble at the feet of the guru and by preserving in the repetition of the japa of the name of the great saint that he has given.

The source of the various customs and behavior that are determined by place and time is parameśvara himself. The avatāra-paigambars (prophets) have obtained knowledge of Him that has been established by complete spiritual experience. Through them this knowledge is placed before the masses. When someone propitiates them, they give him the gift of the knowledge of proven spiritual experience. Some special disciples are of- fered the status of sadguru in the paramparā, and the spiritual tradition continues. In order to propitiate theavatāra-paigamber it is necessary that one imitate358 their conduct meticulously. In the same way, in order to propitiate pīra or sadguru in the paramparā,359 it is necessary that one imitate their conduct and observe the rules (niyama) laid down by them. The clarification of the above statement is this: Is it necessary to fashion a different

357 Just as a bhakta can obtain darśan (vision of the deity) or divine grace through the recitation of the divine names (nāmasmaraṇa) so also the murīd can obtain the divine characteristics by means of the recitation of the names of the characteristics of Allāh in the adh-dhikr of the Sufis. 358 A good description of what the “imitation of the conduct ofan avatār-paigaṃbar” can mean for a Sufi can be found in Nicholson 1921 (1967), p. 15. 359 The guru-paramparā in Hinduism corresponds to the silsila, or succession of spiritual mas- ters (khalīfa) in Sufism.

113 Well Articulated Better Paths ornament? Or, are there different manuals of vows and prayers? There is no dharma in a seṇḍi (the characteristics tuft of hair worn by a Brahmin), or in a beard, or in a particular ornament. But, in order to propitiate the sadguru, all this must be observed. Some devo- tees of the Nāth-panth get their ears pierced. There is no dharma in the piercing of ears. But it is necessary to observe all this in order to propitiate the sadguru. Overcoming the shame of identification with one’s individual existence (in bhakti-terminology: ahaṃkāra in Sufism: an-nafs al-ammāra) is the goal of spiritual striving for the bhakti-sants as well as the Sufi-pīrs. As the ahaṃkāra is the cause of the consciousness of individual existence, so also, it is the cause of the identification with such categories as “Hindu”, “Muslim”, or “Christian”.”

In a passage from Glimpses of Reality (Puṇe, 1959, pp. 33f.), Biyābānī discusses the funda- mental error of identification with such transitory categories:

“Who are we? It is certainly not a simple question as many may think it to be. I may say that I am a Police Officer, but I would only be occupying the post of a Police Officer. Then I will say that I am a Hindu, a Muslim or a Christian, but that will only be my religion. Then I will say that I am Shankar, son of so and so, or Ahmed, son of so and so, or David, son of so and so. But Shankar or Ahmed or David will only be my name; the being a son of so and so will be my relationship to someone else. Then, being slightly confused, I will point at my chest and say: ‘I am this.’, or, ‘I am here.’ Well, here also I am mistaken, because what I am pointing at is only my chest. Then, where am I? And who am I? I will try to explain but I will get more and more confused. Instead of spending our time in various discoveries and inventions, it is better to spend some of it in finding out who we are….”

Biyābānī has found the same thoughts expressed in a poem from Jalālu‘d-Dīn Rūmī’s Mathnawī. In a seminar on “Religion and Progress” held at Wadia College, Puṇe, on 21 October 1976, he read the following translation from the Persian:

What can I do, O Muslims? I do not know who I am. I am neither a Christian nor a Jew, nor a Hindu, nor a Muslim. I am neither from the East nor the West, nor from the Ocean, nor from the land. I am neither from Iraq nor from Khurasan (Afghanistan). I am neither from water nor from earth, nor from air, nor from fire. I am neither from Adam nor from Eve, nor from Paradise. My residence is non-residence. My sign is non-sign. I have neither body nor life, nor love of my Beloved. I pondered over duality and found unity in both the worlds. I see One, search for One, read One, and know One. Thou art the first. Thou are the last. Thou art manifest. Thou art hidden. Except thou-nothing and me-nothing. I do not know any other. O Shams Tabrez (Rumi’s teacher)! Why this Hallucination in the world? Without hallucination and intoxication, I have no others goods.” (Islam and Progress, Puṇe 1976, p.5f.)

114 A Sufi’s Thoughts on the Relations Between Religious Communities

The spiritual power of a sadguru or pīr has often been compared to the power of a mag- net. As a magnet can change the molecular structure of a base metal, so also the sadguru changes the nature of the disciple by destroying the ahṃakāra in him. In an essay from the booklet Dharmāce marma (pp. 10f.), Biyābānī compares the melting down of the dis- ciple’s ahaṃkāra by the sadguru to the process of smelting iron into steel:

“Being all-pervasive and all-knowing the sarvātmā (i.e., If a piece of iron is placed the soul of all or God) has spread out from the atoms and near a magnet, magnetism molecules. He resides in the temple of the heart in all of will be produced in it. The us. Having awareness of Him, that is indeed grasping the reason is that the arrange- focal point of religion. If a piece of iron is placed near a ment of the molecules in the magnet, magnetism will be produced in it. The reason is magnet. Accordingly, those the arrangement of the molecules in the magnet. Accord- who are near saints who are ingly, those who are near saints who are in a condition in a condition of perfection, of perfection, feel as though they have, to some degree, feel as though they have, to become one with the divine bliss (sāttvik ānanda). They some degree, become one begin to feel as though they were drinking heavenly wine with the divine bliss (sāttvik (svargīya-madirā). However, on being taken away from ānanda). They begin to feel the magnet, the power of attraction in a piece of iron as though they were drink- disappears. The condition of the sādhaka on leaving the ing heavenly wine (svargīya- sants is just like that. Having made the iron red-hot by madirā). placing it in a fire, if someone, contrary to expectations, should make steel of it, then the power of attraction created in it when it is brought near the magnet again, would remain constant even one being taken away from the mag- net. Like the iron, the sādhaka, having observed the religious laws and rules and having been placed for considerable time under the disciple of vows, prayers, and ascetic prac- tices (tapaścaryet), begins to break through the armȯr put on his heart by the saṃskāras (mental impression of his previous deeds). Afterward, by means of love (prem), devotion (bhakti), and worship (pūjā), he begins to burn down his remaining egocentricity (mīpaṇā) and the armor of his ego consciousness and becomes steel. Then, whatever experience of the Self falls to his share when he is near the sadguru, who has been propitiated, that experience remains constant. That means that he himself has become a magnet, that is, a sant. Tukārām Mahārāj says: “I have seen my own dying with my own eyes.” In the religion of Islam it has been said: “mūtū kabal aj mūtū”. That means die before death. The sense of this is that we have to kill our mīpaṇā and ahaṃkāra. And through bhakti and pūjana we must create great love. The sadguru destroys the ahaṃkāra completely…” (translated from the Marāṭhī by Hugh van Skyhawk).

In the course of his long public service, Biyābānī has been a frequent witness to the failure of government institutions, laws, and the threat of punishment to cope with criminality, corruption, and communal conflicts.The reason for this is that government actions deal with the symptoms of the sickness is society and not with its cause. Biyābānī sees a major cause for moral degeneracy in Indian society in the lack of spiritual instruction in public schools, in a passage from Glimpses of Reality (Puṇe, 1959, pp. 8f.), he calls for the resto- ration of the instruction of the basic ethical values which are common to all religions and

115 Well Articulated Better Paths for a re-assessment of the literature of the sants: To cure the disease we will have to go to the very root of our educational system. The path of righteousness and the fundamen- tal principles of morality are primarily taught by different religions. The pioneers of the present educational advancement feel shy at the very thought of introducing the study of religions in the university curriculum. This has led to the complete exclusion of religion as a dominating factor in the rapid progress of our civilization. Where is this one-sided prog- ress leading us to? It is leading us from fanatic assaults to communal riots and hooliganism of the worst type, and from one Great World War to another.

… Many of my Muslim brothers recite verses from the Holy Quran like parrots without knowing what they actually convey as they know not the Arabic lan- guage. Similarly many of my Hindu brethren have remained in the dark about the teachings of their religion, and the study of which had become a sort of mo- nopoly of a certain group of Pandits. By making religious study a private affair of an individual, we are digging under the very foundation of the spiritual structure of our society.

… If every man knows and understand his own religion perfectly well, he will never stoop to pick up quarrels with his brothers professing different religions… There are clear signs of our moral degradation. If this state of affairs is allowed to be continued long, it will in the end lead to the rule of force and the consequent bloodshed and chaos…

… “Adhyatma” as explained in the “Geeta” and “Sufism” of Islam will never con- flict. The recognition of the presence God everywhere brings them together. The teachings of all the Saints of different religions have never conflicted but the teachings of Padris, Pandits, and Moulvis have conflicted and will conflict. Because the former group is purely devoted to God and the latter group is con- cerned only with the modes, manners, customs, and traditions and hardly knows what God is. The laws running educational institutions may differ but education imparted in them is the same. It is seen that Saints who came forward to preach the real religion were harassed by these very Padris, Pandits, and Moulvis – the protagonists of customs and traditions, Dnyaneshwar Maharaj, Sant Tukaram, Shams-Tabrez, Mansur Mira,360 Robiya [Rābi’a al-‘Adwiyya of Basra],361 Basri362-- May the peace of God be upon them! – and many other saints have all suffered at the hands of these. And therefore I would request that the masses should study the literature left behind by Saints and then only they will know their re- ligion perfectly well and there will be a swift renaissance in the society leading

360 Ḥusayn ibn Manṣūr Ḥallāj (858–922 AD), who was tortured and finally beheaded at Bagh- dad for steadfastly maintaining: “ana ‘l Ḥaqq!” (‘I am the Truth’; see Subhan, op. cit., pp. 211ff.), which, in the view of the ulemā, made him guilty of shirk, attributing partners to Allah (s.w.t.). 361 Rābi’a al-‘Adwiyya of Baṣra (d. 802 AD), who as a slave suffered persecution by her orthodox master. 362 Ḥasan of Baṣra (d. 728 AD), who after ‘Alī, holds the place of greatest reverence in all Sufi – silsilas (see Subhan, op. cit., pp.162f.).

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to moral and spiritual uplift, then they will know that the horizon of life extends beyond the material existence… (Glimpses of Reality, Poona 1959, pp. 8f.).

In addition to his writings, Śekh Biyābānī often gives talks Life is really bhakti but we on the subject of spirituality and communal relations to are not conscious of it. (…) various civic and educational organizations. His circle of Because of this lack of con- devotees includes Muslims, Hindus, and Christians. In sciousness, we begin to feel keeping with Sufi tradition, he lives in a modest dwelling that the illusion in the world khānaqāh which also serves as his (hospice and place of is like wandering lost in a ba- āstānaye-biyābānī, teaching), which is called the or the zaar. Really, it should be con- special place of the Biyābānīs. Every evening from sev- sidered an auspicious sign en to nine devotees gather there for spiritual exercises when one begins to feel this. namāz darūd such as (prayers), (singing songs of praise), There should be agitation in wird or (reciting the names of Lord, the Prophet, or of a our hearts for meeting asad - saint while counting small black stones). Biyābānī places guru or pīr. great emphasis on such exercises in preparing a devotee for spiritual experience. As he says with profound simplicity: That which brings about the unity of jīv with Śiv is the breath. Life is really bhakti but we are not conscious of it. (…) Because of this lack of consciousness, we begin to feel that the illusion in the world is like wandering lost in a bazaar. Really, it should be considered an auspicious sign when one begins to feel this. There should be agitation in our hearts for meeting a sadguru or pīr. And we should have faith that the way that leads to meeting asadguru will soon be open. May the Lord grant wisdom to the people of all religions!363

APPENDIX364 1. “Gauspāk” (12) is one of the names of Šayḫ ‘Abdu’l-Qādir Ğīlānī Ḥasaniu-‘l- Ḥusainī, the firstšayḫ of the Qādirī-silsila, who died in Baghdād on 22 Febru- ary 1166. He is often calledpīr-i-pīrān or pīr of the pīrs. Śekh Biyābānī consid- ers Gauspāk to be the most famous saint of Islam (personal communication of 17 April 1985). On the worship of ‘Abdu-‘l-Qādir-Ğīlānī in India, see Sharif, Ja’far, Qānun-i-Islām (translated by Herklots, G. A., as Herklot’s Islam in In- dia) Oxford, 1921; reprinted in Delhi, 1972, pp. 192ff. 2. Under number 13 of Biyābānī’s list is given the name of the famous pīr Jalālu’d dīn Rūmī (1205-1273, AD), whose Mathnawī holds a place of endur- ing affection for Muslims in India. His šayḫ Shamsu’d-dīn Tabrizī (died circa 1245 AD) is named as number 14. (See Subhan, John A., Sufism: Its Saints and its Shrines, New York, 1939; reprinted, 1970, pp. 35-41). 3. “Ajmer Khvāja” (15) is a popular epithet for Khwājah Mu’īn’ud-dīn Čišti of Ajmer (1140-1236 AD), who may be considered to be the most famous Sufi of India. (See Subhan, op. cit., pp. 193-208).

363 Dharmāce marma, p. 16. 364 Well-known names, e.g. Tukārām, Tulsidas, Swami Vivekananda, have been omitted in the following appendix.

117 Well Articulated Better Paths

4. “Gulbarga Khvāja” (16) a popular epithet for Sayyid Muḥammad al -Ḥusaynī- i-Gīsūdirāz (1326-1422 AD), the most famous Sufi of the Deccan. (See Hus- saini, S. S. Khusro, Sayyid Muḥammad al-Ḥusaynī-i-Gīsūdirāz: On Sufism, Delhi 1983). “Nasīruddīn Khvāja” (17) is a popular name for Gīsūdirāz’s šayḫ, Naṣīru’d-Dīn Mahmūd, Čirāġ-i-Dihlī (sic) (‘the Lamp of Delhi’), who died in 1356 AD. 5. The popular names of another master-disciple pair are given under numbers 18 and 19, viz., Nizamu’d-Dīn Awliyā Maḥbūb-i-Ilāhī (1237-1325 AD) and his disciple, the famous “Parrot of Delhi” and “Chaucer of Urdu Literature”, Amīr Khusrū (died 1325 in the same year as his šayḫ; see Subhan, op. cit., p. 223.). 6. “Śamanā Mirā” is the name of a pīr whose dargāh is in the city of Mīraj, Ma- harashtra. 7. “Seṇṭ Nikolas” (21) is none other than Saint Nicholas or the American “Santa Claus”. 8. “Thomas a Kempis” (22) refers to the German Christian mystic Thomas Häm- merlein or Hämmerken (1380-1471), the author of the De Imitatione Christi. Biyābānī associates “Thomas a Kempis” with the ascetic ideals of the early Christian mystics. Christian mystics were often considered by the early Sufis to be models for zuhd or asceticism. (See Andrae, Tor, Islamische Mystiker, Stuttgart 1960, pp.13–25 (Helmhart Knaus-Crede’s German translation of the Swedish original I myrten trädgården. Studier i sufisk mystic, Stockholm 1947). 9. “Bū Hanīphā” (23) is a popular name for Abū Hanīfa (died 767 AD), the founder of the Hanīfite school of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh); “Śaphāī” (24) is Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfi’ī (767–820 AD), the founder of the Shāfi’īte fiqh; “Mālik” (25) is Mālik ibn Anas (circa 715–795 AD), founder of the Han- balite fiqh (died 855 AD). 10. “Akkalkoṭ Svāmī” refers to Śrī Svāmī Samarth Akkalkoṭ Mahārāj, who accord- ing to his hagiographers, lived from 1758–1878 AD, and was the fourth in- carnation of the Hindu deity Dattātreya. (See Karandikar, N. S., A Biography of Sri Swami Samarth Akkalkot Maharaj, Bombay 1978). 11. “Biḍakar Mahārāj” (28) is a popular name for Rāmānanda Bīḍakar, the guru of Sahasrabuddhe Mahārāj (30), whose samādhi is in Puṇe. 12. “Aphjalśāh Biyābānī” (29) is the name of Śekh Biyābānī’s šayḫ, whose dargāh is in Kazi Peth near Warangal in Andhra Pradesh. 13. “Guru Nānak” refers to the first of the ten gurus of the Sikhs (died 1469). 14. “Sādhu Vāsvānī” is a local sant of Pune. 15. “Basaveśvar” (33) is a popular name of Basava, the minister of the Kalacuri king Bijjala (1162-1167), who was instrumental in spreading the Vīraśaiva faith in the Deccan, where he is worshipped as an incarnation of Nandi, the vāhana of Śiva. (See Nandimath, S. C., A Handbook of Vīraśaivism, Dharwar, 1942; reprinted in Delhi, 1979, pp. 2f).

118 ISLAMIC TRADITION AND UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD IN THE WRITINGS OF TWO DECCANI SUFIS365

uch has been written about social relations in the medieval Deccan, and the term ‘cultural synthesis’,366 though not uncontested, has often been used to describe Mthe fusion of Hinduism and Islam in various aspects of Deccanī culture. Though, as a whole, Muslim and Hindu culture in the medieval Deccan may not have coalesced to the degree necessary to justify the use of the term ‘cultural synthesis’, there can be no

365 First published in: Wink, André (ed.), Islam, Politics and Society in South Asia. Proceedings of the 10th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies, Venice 1988, Delhi [Manohar] 1991, pp. 117–132. 366 See Sherwani, Haroon Khan, “Cultural Synthesis in Medieval India”, in: Journal of Indian History (Trivandrum), vol. 41 (April 1963), pp. 239–259. Karen Leonard questions the appro- priateness of the term ‘cultural synthesis’ to the unique culture of old Hyderabad (Leonard, Karen, “The Deccani Synthesis in Old Hyderabad: An Historiographic Essay”, in: Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society, vol. XXI, part I [January 1973], pp. 205–218). Radhey Shy- am describes some aspects of cultural synthesis in the sultanates of the medieval Deccan (Shyam, Radhey, “The Succession States and Indo-Muslim Cultural Synthesis in the Deccan [Medieval Period]”, in: Mate, M. S., and Kulkarni, G. T. (eds.), Studies in Indology and Me- dieval History (G. H. Khare Felicitation Volume), Poona, 1974, pp. 171–189). A. R. Kulkarni describes the high degree of cultural integration in the Maratha country in the medieval period (see Kulkarni, A. R., “Social Relations in the Maratha Country in the Medieval Period”, in: Indian History Congress (Jalalpur), vol. 32 (1970), pp. 231–269).

119 Well Articulated Better Paths doubt that on the popular level innumerable Hindu and Muslim holy men promoted the fusion of the devotional forms of both religions as a means of achieving social solidarity and universal brotherhood.367

In this connection, the names of Ahmad Shāh Walī Though information concern- Bahmanī*, Shāh Muntojī Bahmanī, Shāh Muni, Shāh ing the silsila of the majority Navaraṅga, Shāh Beg, Shāh Ḥusain, Sayyid Muḥammad, of the Sufis mentioned in the Latif Shāh, Burhān Shāh, Shāh ‘Ali, Śekh Sultāna, Sa- preceding list is lacking, it can ganbhau, Rāje Muḥammad*, Cānd Bodhle*, Śekh be shown that at least four of Muḥammad Śrigondekar*, and Ḥusain Ambarkhān are the above-mentioned Sufis remembered to this day in the Marāṭhī-speaking regions had links with the Qādirī- of the Deccan.368 Though information concerning thesilsi - silsila. la of the majority of the Sufis mentioned in the preceding list is lacking, it can be shown that at least four of the above-mentioned Sufis had links with the Qādirī-silsila. (An asterisk has been appended to the names of these Sufis in the pre- ceding list.)369 From the sixteenth century onward the role of the Qādirīs as links between religious communities in the Marāţhvāḍa and Aḥmadnagar regions of the Deccan became increasingly important. Sometime prior to 1540 theQādirī-šayḫ Rāje Muḥammad, a murīd

367 Dārā Shikuh is only the most famous example of a syncretism that was promoted by numer- ous Qādirī-šayḫ on the popular level. In this connection mention should be made of Mirza Janjanan Mazhar (1701–1781), a famous šayḫ of the Qādīrī and Naqshbandī silsilas of the eighteenth century, who advised his Muslim devotees to regard Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Lord Rāma as a bashīr (divine herald) and nadīr (divine warner) who lived before the Holy Prophet (PBUH). (See Maulavi, ‘Abdu’l Walī, “Hinduism according to Muslim Sufis”, in: Journal and Proceed- ings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, New Series, vol. XIX [1923], pp. 237–245, especially, p. 241). 368 See Kulkarni, op.cit, pp. 238ff. 369 With regard to Ahmad Shāh Walī, Ghulam Yazdani writes: “Some scholars are of the opinion that Aḥmad Shāh, in following the teachings of Ni’mat-Ullāh, embraced the Shī‘ite creed, but there are also strong reasons which contradict this view. First there are no saints (walīs) among the Shī‘ites, who believe only in the twelve imāms; secondly, there are two shajrās, tables of succession, painted on the vaulted ceiling of the tomb of Aḥmad Shāh at Bidar, and, according to one of them, the saint Ni’mat-Ullah belonged to the Qādirīyya order of dervishes, while, according to the other, he belonged to another order sprang from Junaid of Baghdad through his illustrious disciple Abū ‘Ali Rūdbārī. It should also be added that, along with the two shajrās, the names of the twelve Shī ‘ite imāms, which are generally in- scribed on the tombs of the votaries of that sect, are painted on the ceiling. Further, above the small arch to the left of the eastern door of the tomb the following verse is painted: ‘If people inquire of thee, “Who is the Shaikh of this monastery”; Tell them that Mahdī, the Leader, is our Shaikh.’ The author of the verse is Ni’mat-Ullāh, and it shows that the saint, although a disciple of ‘Abd Ullāh Yāf’ī, maintained the Shī‘ite views which he had inherited from his forebears; Aḥmad Shāh also, who succeeded him, had no fixed doctrine to follow, and his religious vagaries made him swing between the Sunnī and Shī‘a faiths, on the one hand, and Sufism and corresponding schools of Indian thought, on the other. He perhaps resembled Akbar or Dārā Shikoh, who appeared on the scene after him in the pageant of Indian history (…).” (Yazdani 1947, pp. 114ff.).

120 Islamic Tradition and Universal Brotherhood in the Writings of Two Deccani Sufis of ‘Sayyid Mahaṃmad Gaus Gvālherī Kādirī’,370 came to the Daulātābād area and initiated one Cānd Bodhle, who was probably a Brahmin, into the Qādirī-silsila. He in turn initiated Janārdan-svāmī Deśpaṇḍe of Cāḷisgāv, the killedār (commander of the fort) of Daulātābād. Janārdansvāmī’s most famous disciple was Śrī Sant Ekanāth, who became one of the most important sant-kavi of Maharashtra. The other branch that evolves from Cānd Bodhle is that of Rāje Muḥammad’s son, Śekh Muḥammad Śrigondekar, who became both a be- loved pīr as well as an important Muslim sant-kavi of Maharashtra.371

In the present paper I shall discuss two contemporary examples of the continuity of the Qādirī tradition of religious syncretism in the Deccan. The first example deals with the- ef forts of Husain Bābā Kādrī of Aḥmadnagar to prevent further communal violence in the Dominions of Hyderābād during the final months of the Nizām’s rule.

Husain Bābā Kādrī was born on 12 December 1901 in In 1934 he became an ex- Aḥmadnagar and died there on 29 December 1979. He cise inspector for the British was born into the Yasin family, who had come from Irāq government at Aḥmadnagar. to serve as soldiers in the army of Tipū Sulṭan of Mysore But fulfilling the duties of and settled later at Aḥmadnagar. In the notebook of the this post proved to be too first British Collector of Aḥmadnagar, Captain Yasin, Hu- hard for Husain Bābā’s com- sain Bābā’s ancestor, is described as being ‘fierce and tall’. passionate nature. Often, he From 1922 to 1934 Husain Bābā served in the British co- himself would pay the fines lonial army. In 1930, during a leave of absence, Husain imposed by the court on the Bābā journeyed to Baghdād and was initiated into the impoverished Bhils (tribals) Qādirī-silsila by one Sayyid Aḥmad Sharf ud-Dīn Qādirī, he had arrested for illegally who had appeared to Husain Bābā in a dream. In 1934 he distilling alcohol. For this rea- became an excise inspector for the British government at son, he was transferred to Aḥmadnagar. But fulfilling the duties of this post proved Ṭhāṇa in 1937. to be too hard for Husain Bābā’s compassionate nature. Often, he himself would pay the fines imposed by the court on the impoverished Bhils (tribals) he had arrested for illegally distilling alcohol. For this reason, he was transferred to Ṭhāṇa in 1937. Shortly thereafter, he resigned his post and returned to Aḥmadnagar where he lived until his death in 1979.

370 See the Sijrā-jadi-Kādirī of Śekh Maḥammad Śrīgondekar in V. S. Bendre’s Kavitāsaṃgraha, Muṃbāī, 1961, pp. 123f. Also see Bendre’s Tukārāmamahārāja-yāṃce-saṃtasāṃgatī, Muṃbaī, 1958, p. 71. On the problem of identifying ‘Sayyid Mahammad Gaus Gvālherī Kādirī’ see my doctoral dissertation Bhakti und Bhakta: Religionsgeschichtliche Untersuc- hungen zum Heilsbergriff und zur religiӧsen Umwelt des Śrī Sant Ekanāth,in: Beiträge zur Südasien-Forschung, vol. 132, Stuttgart [Franz Steiner Verlag] 1990, pp. 311f. 371 For a brief description of the contributions of Muslim holy men to devotional literature in old Marāṭhī see Tulpule 1979, pp. 377ff. For a study of the lives and teachings of the Muslim saint-poets in Marāṭhī see Ḍhere, R. C., Musalamāna-Marāṭhī-saṃta-kavi, Pune, 1967.

121 Well Articulated Better Paths

In the course of time, Husain Bābā became widely known as a saintly person. Though he often received substantial donations from his devotees, he lived out his life in voluntary poverty, always distributing the gifts he received among the needy. In 1956, he was called to Delhi by the central government and given the title ‘Saint of the Indian Army’. At this ceremony all the generals of the Indian army drank from Hussain Bābā’s glass. His ‘urs is celebrated according to the Julian calendar, on 29th of December of each year.

Set against the background of widespread communal Set against the background violence, Husain Bābā Kādrī and his devotees published of widespread communal an open letter in English to the people and leaders of violence, Husain Bābā Kādrī the religious communities of India in Secunderābād on and his devotees published 8th January 1948. Underlying this passionate appeal for an open letter in English to peace and brotherhood was a tradition of religious syn- the people and leaders of cretism that began with the advent of the first Sufis in the the religious communities of Deccan, even before the establishment of Muslim rule. India in Secunderābād on 8th It was from within this tradition of divine love and mu- January 1948. tual obligation that for centuries had united many Hindus and Muslims in dargāhs and āstānas of the Deccan that Husain Bābā admonished the people of the Deccan to forsake violence and hatred. Armed only with his šayḫ al-baraka (the spiritual authority of Muḥammad [PBUH] that resides in every Ṣūfī-šayḫ) he placed himself between the lines of combatants and appealed to a higher moral authority than mere allegiance to one’s own community. As a document of the history of religion the sig- nificance of the following letter can be more fully appreciated if one does not insist upon finding original ideas or astute political or social analyses, but keeps in mind the historical context, the spiritual and moral authority of the speaker, the sincerity of his appeal, and the urgent need for communal harmony in his society:

“In the name of God, the Almighty, who is the most kind and compassionate, I, Durvesh Husein Baba Kadri of Ahmednagar invite all my human brethren irrespective of caste and creed to understand and act on the following message of Love, Truth, and Loyalty, so that the present and future generations may attain peace and happiness upon His earth other in order to build a peaceful and healthy nation.

Oh most loving creatures of the most kind and forgiving God (Pray to His Holy Name) what has made thee to be so cruel, untruthful, and disloyal to thy own brethren? Have ye warded off the garments of humanity and have become so very inhuman as not know Him who hath sent thee on this earth and given thee life and body to exist until death parts? Then why pollute His holy land with misdeeds and create such unhappiness to thyself and thy brethren?

Do all of thee know what ye are doing? Thou art causing His wrath to fall upon us through starvation.372 This is because ye hath no faith in thy most beloved Creator, who is the only supreme ruler of Earth and Heaven.

372 On the food shortages in Marāṭhvāḍa in the years between 1943 and 1948 see Pagadi, Setu Madhavrao (ed.), Maharashtra State Gazetteers, Bhir District, Bombay, 1969, p. 152.

122 Islamic Tradition and Universal Brotherhood in the Writings of Two Deccani Sufis

The present chaos throughout this country and all over the world is simply due to our present defective teachings at home and abroad, which have caused all this turmoil and unhappiness to all His human souls. If parents return to their real duty of educating their beloved offspring with proper training of their minds in religion till the child is capable of taking to further worldly education, things that are seen at present will very much im- prove and the country thou inherit as a gift to live in by the most High will be blessed and He will lead us towards the path of peace and happiness.

Let the leaders of the countries they belong to harken to the message. The word ‘politics’ [should] be now changed [to] guiding the destinies of the masses towards righteousness. Know thee all that thou art responsible for the welfare of the human lives only to one creator. All the prophets who came in the past preached for the betterment of humanity and not[simply] to gain power and respect for [themselves], because they know that God is the most powerful and all praise and respect is due to Him. Are ye not then the follow- ers of those beloved prophets of the most Kind God? Then change thy minds, have faith in Him and follow the teachings of thine own prophets of whatever religion thou hath adopted, and become a blessing to thy community and to humanity at large by preaching to them the simple qualities of Love, Loyalty, and Truth to thine human brethren of the country.

The present disgraceful situation caused on His holy land Thus, all are losing the pre- is by [the] preaching on the [political] platforms of the cious gift of happiness and countries. Ye all know [that]. Consult thy own conscience peace [which is] necessary and form your honest opinion whether ye are guiding the for human existence, which innocent masses properly. Ye are really sowing the seeds is not very long. So why not of animosity, mistrust, and malice amongst your breth- start a new life and act on ren of whatever caste and creed they be, and thereby [ye the precepts of this mes- are] losing all the love and respect of thy followers, and sage? If every individual and they are [being] led astray without any loving and help- especially the leaders of their ful guide. Thus, all are losing the precious gift of happi- communities don’t wake up ness and peace [which is] necessary for human existence, soon to receive the showers which is not very long. So why not start a new life and act of His blessings in the proper on the precepts of this message? If every individual and human way, I, Husein Baba especially the leaders of their communities don’t wake Kadri, warn ye all by God (in up soon to receive the showers of His blessings in the whose power is my life and proper human way, I, Husein Baba Kadri, warn ye all by it will return to Him after God (in whose power is my life and it will return to Him death) that the fate of the after death) that the fate of the country is doomed. Then, country is doomed. wherein lie the qualities and blessings of democratic Gov- ernment by the people and for the people?

I have seen enough of all that is happening. Hence, in this 47th year of my life, I am putting before ye, all the simple facts of Love, Truth, and Loyalty to act and then to distribute its

123 Well Articulated Better Paths blessings to the communities they represent. By following the true laws of life, thou wilt not only guide thy own selves to salvation but will become a savior of humanity.

Become constructive as this Let there be no destructive people in the working of the is the democratic age. Let democratic Government. Become constructive as this is true justice make its appear- the democratic age. Let true justice make its appearance ance in thy minds, so that it in thy minds, so that it may act like a scepter of God the all may act like a scepter of God powerful, to guide thy brethren human beings with equal the all powerful, to guide thy shares in the happiness of the land. This will be achieved brethren human beings with by banishing selfishness from the minds of each and ev- equal shares in the happi- ery community, particularly by the working of Good and ness of the land. peaceful Government. The heads of each and every de- partment should now become broad minded and give a proper share to one and all of different communities brains [intellectuals], [in] order to serve His creatures.

Every human being has a right to live safely and share in the service of the democratic age. [The sooner] such deeds and action come into force the better, and I with confidence in my most beloved master the Lord Almighty say that He will shower His untold blessings upon the land on which ye all exist and will be honoured and loved by every other nation in His Kingdom of the world. Pray to His holy name, Amin.

The foregoing letter bears the following imprimatur: “Printed by Mohamed Yasin Kadri of Secunderabad, follower of Husein Baba, for the benefit of humanity, Intizami Press, Hyderabad, Deccan.”

I am not in a position to make an assessment of the impact of Husain Bābā Kādirī’s appeal on the course of events in Hyderābād up to the fall of the Nizām’s government in Septem- ber 1948. However, on the basis of the materials I have gathered, it is clear that (1) Husain Bābā Kādirī and his followers wanted his appeal to prevent further communal violence in Hyderabad; (2) that he was confident of the acceptance of his spiritual and moral author- ity by a significant portion of the population—both Hindus and Muslims; (3) that the chief targets of his moral condemnation were the communalists, who were ‘sowing the seeds of animosity, mistrust, and malice amongst [their] own brethren of whatever caste and creed they may be ……’; (4) that he perceived the principles of universal brotherhood to be the essence of Islām and not the mere allegiance to the local Muslim community; (5) that the spiritual basis of his appeal was the syncretistic tradition of the Qādirīs of the Deccan.

A similar perception of the relationship of Islām to universal brotherhood can be found in the teachings of Śekh Abdul Rajhākśāh Ismā’īl Biyābānī, a present-day Qādirī of the Dec- can, to whose writings we shall now turn.

124 Islamic Tradition and Universal Brotherhood in the Writings of Two Deccani Sufis

Śekh Biyābānī, a retired Deputy Superintendent of the Bombay and Poona Police Depart- ments, is a šayḫ of the Biyābānī-Rifā’ī-Qādirī-silsila. Like the Yasin family, Śekh Biyābānī’s ancestors came to India from Irāq in the eighteenth century. The served as gunnery offi- cers (golandāj) in the army of Ibrahim Khan Gardi, the commander of the Marāṭha forces that fought against Ahmad Shah Durrani at the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761. As a young man Śekh Biyābānī had known the last known descendant of Ibrahim Khan Gardi, Sardar Mir Ahmed Ali Khan of Bhagwān Dās Chawl, Bhavānī Peṭh, Puṇe, who died in 1935.

In previous papers I have discussed Śekh Biyābānī’s373 thoughts on the relations between religious communities374 and the relations between popular religious traditions in the -me dieval Deccan.375 In the present paper I shall focus on Biyābānī’s perceptions of Islām and the unity of God as the foundation of universal brotherhood. In addition to excerpts from his writings, I shall give a brief description of the social context of Biyābānī’s writings and their reception in the community in which he lives. In this way, I hope that the relevance of his spiritual and social teachings will become apparent. The materials I present were gathered during fieldwork in Maharashtra in 1982, 1983, 1986, and 1988. They include tape-recordings, letters, and booklets in Marāṭhī and English, that is, in so-called non- Muslim languages.

Apart from the religious observances at the numerous dargāhs in the Deccan, Sufis are most often associated with proselytizing for and converting Hindus to Islām.376 Owing to the high degree of interest in this aspect of contemporary religious life in India, I shall begin by presenting Śekh Biyābānī’s views on religious conversion. The following passage is taken from a recent Marāṭhī pamphlet:

The meaning of religious conversion should not be understood as changing religions. Rather, it should be understood as making the differences between religions less, or eliminating them completely. As in each city there are various colleges or institutions of learning, but the degree-giving university is only one,377 in the same way religions

373 The foregoing is a transliteration of Biyābānī’s name as it appears in one of his Marāṭhī pub- lications. In the following pages I have standardized the transliterations of Islamic terminol- ogy following J. Spencer Trimingham’s The Sufi Orders in Islam (Oxford, 1971). It should be noted, however, that there exist Devanāgarī counterparts for most, if not all, Islamic terms in Marāṭhī. See, for example, Pagaḍī, S. M., Sūfī-saṃpradāya, Mumbaī, 1953. 374 See “The Heart of Religion: A Sufi’s Thoughts on the Relations between Religious Communi- ties”, supra, pp. 107-118. 375 See “Hindu-Muslim Religious Syncretism in the Folk Literature of the Deccan”, supra, pp. 13-28. 376 For an appraisal of the proselytizing activities of the Sufis in the medieval Deccan through the eyes of a Hindu scholar of the literature and history of the sant-kavi see Ḍhere, R. C., Vividhā, Puṇe, 1966, pp. 133–142. 377 Śekh Biyābānī is thinking here of Bombay University, which, in former times, operated insti- tutions of learning at various locations in Maharashtra, while maintaining a central degree- giving administration in Bombay

125 Well Articulated Better Paths

may be different and their rules of conduct may be different, but the ultimate object of each is only one, that is, obtaining complete knowledge and spiritual experience about the Lord—which is pure knowledge.378

The distinction between esoteric and exoteric religion, or betweenilm ‘ bāṭinī and ‘ilm ẓāhirī, which Biyābānī alludes to in the foregoing passage, forms the basis of much of his writing. Though eclectic in the sources of his spiritual knowledge—his readings range from the Bhagavad-gītā to Jalāl-ud-Dīn Rūmī and Annie Besant—Biyābānī has at the same time an intimate knowledge of the Holy Qur’ān and the aḥādiṭh, and teaches communal tolerance and universal brotherhood from within Islamic tradition:

In sūrah 2 (sūrah al Bakr) āyāt 285, it is clearly laid down that ‘The messenger believeth in that which hath been revealed unto him from His Lord, and so do the believers. Each one believeth in God and His Angels, and His Scriptures Muslims are further directed and His Messengers (sūrah 2 āyāt 213)’. All mankind were not to advocate the suprem- a single community. This is the basis of Islamic Universal acy of one prophet over the Brotherhood. From this it is quite obvious that the Holy other. These Prophets are Books of all the religions and all the apostles of God are spread all over the world. not only recognized by Islam, but they are held in rever- Here are the provisions of ence and Islam directs us to have faith in them. Muslims uniting the human race are further directed not to advocate the supremacy of into Universal Brotherhood one prophet over the other. These Prophets are spread without distinction of caste, all over the world. Here are the provisions of uniting the creed, color, religion, or the human race into Universal Brotherhood without distinc- high and low. Secularism is tion of caste, creed, color, religion, or the high and low. very specifically recognized Secularism is very specifically recognized by Islam. It is by Islam. It is very foundation very foundation of Islam. But very few, unfortunately, try of Islam. to learn and appreciate this aspect.

It will be a great asset and a boon to Universal Brotherhood if the fanaticism of some people of different religions is curbed or transformed into healthy pride similar to the healthy pride of students for their different Universities, Colleges, or Schools. Faith in all the Holy Books of different religions automatically leads to faith in Universal Brotherhood as preached in those religions.

‘Salama’ means peace and tranquillity. This can be achieved after complete surrender unto God. Hence ‘salama’ means surrender. One who completely surrenders unto God is a Muslim. Islam is a religion which teaches us to lead a balanced life and to surrender unto God. From God we have come, to God we have to return through surrendering unto God. This principle is recognized by all, helping us to build up Universal Brotherhood through a Universal Goal in life.

378 See Biyābānī , Abdul Rajhākśāh, Alakhaniran̅jana, Puṇeṃ, 1981, p.11.

126 Islamic Tradition and Universal Brotherhood in the Writings of Two Deccani Sufis

The conception of God in Islam and in most of the im- This soul of nature is light portant religions of the world brings us closer together explained in similitude to in the bond of Universal brotherhood. Belief in oneness the beams of the fire. (Actu- of God itself, in one word, visualizes and realizes the con- ally Light upon Light—Nur- cept of Universal brotherhood. The Gayatri Mantra of the Ala-Nur). Moses saw the ancient Aryans refers to the Light in similitude to the bril- tree burning in flames, yet liance in the sun. Bhagavad Gita, adhyaya 13, shlok 17: the tree was green and not ‘The Light of all the Lights’ (Nur-Ala-Nur). It is specially burnt. He was surprised. He seated in the hearts of all. In yas 33, Zoroaster refers to heard a voice. ‘Moses take this light in these words ‘Contemplate on the beams of off thy shoes and come, this fire and concentrate on the soul of nature’. This soul of is holy land’. On Mount To- nature is light explained in similitude to the beams of the rah Moses saw a flash of this fire. (Actually Light upon Light—Nur-Ala-Nur). Moses saw light and had fallen down un- the tree burning in flames, yet the tree was green and not conscious. burnt. He was surprised. He heard a voice. ‘Moses take off thy shoes and come, this is holy land’. On Mount Torah Moses saw a flash of this light and had fallen down unconscious. The Holy Prophet (May peace be upon him!) saw this light in the cave of Hira and the Angel Gabriel came with the first revelation of the Holy Qur’ān..

In sūrah Nūr of the Holy Qur’ān God has specifically explained that ‘God is the Light of Heavens and the Earth’. The similitude of this light is as a niche (Apparent dome of the universe) wherein a lamp is. The lamp is in a glass. The glass is, as it were, a shining star kindled from a blessed tree (Sidrat ul-Mantaha); an olive neither of the East nor the West, oil would almost glow forth, though no fire touches it. Light upon Light (Nur-Ala-Nur). God guideth unto His Light whom He will. And God speaketh to mankind in allegories, for God is the knower of all things. Theosophists of the world always pray to God in the form of this Light: ‘O Hidden Life vibrant in every atom; O Hidden Light shining in every creatures; O Hidden Love embracing all in oneness. May each who feels himself as one with Thee know that he is also one with every other’”.379

One of the foundations of the modern secular state is the equal access to education for all members of society, Biyābānī teaches that for a Muslim the acquisition and impart- ing of knowledge is not only a secular goal but act of devotion to God. Reviewing the achievements of Islamic learning, Biyābānī calls upon his fellow Muslims to revitalize their intellectual tradition in order to achieve progress for humanity in all aspects of life. At the same time, he warns against the one-sided development of knowledge only for the sake of material progress. The goal of all knowledge should be to lead a balanced life, giving due attention to material and spiritual needs:

379 See Biyābānī, Abdul Rajhākśāh, Contributions of Islam to Universal Brotherhood, second edition, Poona, 1980, pp. 4f, and 6f.

127 Well Articulated Better Paths

“Islam is a dynamic religion that covers all aspects of life, social, moral, economic, politi- cal, religious and spiritual. It teaches us to lead a balanced life in all the fields and lays down the foundations of acquiring knowledge. He who acquires it in the way of the Lord, performs an act of piety; who speaks of it, praises the Lord, who seeks it, adores God; who dispenses instructions in it, bestows alms; and who imparts it to fitting objects,- per forms an act of devotion to God…. The ink of the scholar is more valuable than the blood of the martyr…. In the Holy Quran, God says, ‘Life itself is devotion but they know not’. Life is a continuous struggle of acquiring knowledge, utilizing it and imparting it to others. As such it is likened to devotion unto God….Oh! If we Muslims today (would) take these great works of our men and translate them into modern languages, if we would teach our young men, if we would train them in the knowledge of our own philosophy, then we would be able to lift high the name of Islam among In conclusion, I would like to the philosophies of the world, leading to better under- point out that most of the standings between different communities and different early Muslim erudites led religions, pooling our resources as Muslims, as Indians, a balanced life following in and as world citizens for the integrated all round prog- the foot-steps of the Holy ress of humanity in all spheres of life…. In conclusion, I Prophet and his Compan- would like to point out that most of the early Muslim eru- ions, and hence they were in dites led a balanced life following in the foot-steps of the the vanguard of material and Holy Prophet and his Companions, and hence they were spiritual progress. Later on, in the vanguard of material and spiritual progress. Later gradually, their successors on, gradually, their successors lost the balance and were lost the balance and were wiped out from leadership. A tilting scale on the side of wiped out from leadership. one or the other is likely to frustrate the very purpose A tilting scale on the side of of God’s creation. The Manor of present-day civilization one or the other is likely to merely built on the sands of material progress alone shall frustrate the very purpose of crumble to dust if its foundation is not strengthened with God’s creation. morality and spiritualism before it is too late.”380

Closely linked to the use of knowledge for spiritual and material progress is Biyābānī’s concept of public service and duty, which he also perceives as devotion or bhakti‘ ’ to God:

“As regards public service, very few have got an idea as to what it really is. No doubt a Government servant is a Public Servant. Beyond this nobody thinks as to what is meant by a Public Servant. In reality every human being is the highest creation of the ‘Almighty’ power. According to different religions, God is in every human being. This shows that the Omnipresent and Omniscient ‘Almighty’ is present in every human being. And the collection of such human beings is known as ‘Janata’ (Public) and God is known by the designation ‘Janata Janardan’. Hence a Public Servant is really the servant of God, and if he proves faithless to God, then he is a sinner.

380 See Biyābānī, Abdul Rajhākśāh, Islam and Progress, second edition, Poona, 1980, pp., 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7.

128 Islamic Tradition and Universal Brotherhood in the Writings of Two Deccani Sufis

Such faithlessness to God includes corruption and dishonesty in the performance of his duty. He may not be caught for while, because God is kind, forgiving, and merciful, and gives him the chance to improve, he definitely suffers the dire consequences of his sin and the punishment of God is very severe, because he is also just. It is of no use to try to root out corruption by fear of law that appeals only to the intellect. There should be a real ap- peal to the inner self, and actually a sort of hatred for corruption or other sins should be created in our hearts. In short, the conscience should be enlivened.

This is actually an opportunity that has luckily come to the lot of public servants to serve God honestly and faithfully, and this is what is known as ‘bhakti’ in the guise of ‘Duty’ as taught by religion. The religions by themselves give lessons of selfless service and no public servant should think that he is doing Public service for getting his monthly emolu- ments. Then only he will be able to show initiative in his work and use his intelligence to a better purpose.

Public servants as well as all of us should inculcate the first principles of discipline amongst ourselves and this can be done only by actually doing after consulting our conscience. Our conscience will never fail us, because it is our inner voice which has connection with the Omnipresent and Omniscient ‘Almighty’. The conscience always tells us not to sin and pricks us when we commit a sin. Thus when we disobey the clear command of our con- science we become deaf to the inner voice.

Morally speaking we have degenerated to a very great extent. For even a very small amount, false witnesses can be purchased. It has become very difficult to rely on the honesty of some fellow beings. (The) slightest fear prevents them from telling the truth. The world history will show that whenever the people had morally degenerated to the lowest level, a terrible calamity or catastrophe befell them. For example, Noah’s Floods, Destruction of Babylon, the miracles of Moses when the chasing legions of Pharaoh were drowned in the Nile, the annihilation of Ravan by Ram, the destruction of the Kaurawas by the Pandawas, the destruction of the tribes of Aad and Samud of Arabia, the First World War, the Second World War, etc. Most of us have morally degenerated and we must make some efforts to reform ourselves, by improving the economic status of the illiterate masses and by bringing them back to the consciousness of their duty….”381

On the subject of public service Śekh Biyābānī once told me of one the proudest achieve- ments of his life:

In the 37 years of my service as a police officer, I never took a pie [penny] of black money.

381 See Biyābānī, Abdul Rajhākśāh, Glimpses of Reality, third edition, Poona 1969, pp. 2f.

129 Well Articulated Better Paths

Śekh Biyābānī is widely respected by civic and religious leaders of all communities in Ma- harashtra. Most of his booklets have been reprinted, one of them five times. A Marāṭhī booklet of his ethical teachings has been approved by the Maharashtra Department of Education for inclusion in the libraries of all public schools (Dharmāce marma, Puṇe, 1967). Numerous reviewers from various religious communities have praised his writings in newspapers and journals. Among his well-wishers one finds the names of many promi- nent educators and intellectuals in Maharashtra, such as, S.V. Dandekar, M.G. Mahajan, S.A. Haqq, Hanuman Prasad Poddar, Balasaheb Wakde, Swami Madhavnath, T.S. Ragha- van, and Ali Yawar Jung, a former governor of Maharashtra.

Despite his advanced age, Biyābānī attended the urs‘ of Makhdūm Bābā of Mahīm, the patron saint of the Bombay police, of Hazrat Banda Nawāz Gīsūdirāz of Gulbarga, and of Sayyid Afzalśāh Biyābānī of Kazi Peth almost up to his death in May 1995. In addition, he presided over the daily namāz at the astānāye-Biyābānī in Puṇe and addressed public gatherings that promoted the cause of communal harmony. His devotees included both Hindus and Muslims, and at least one Christian. Children of all faiths said Salām‘ Bābā’ ‘Namaskār Bābā’ when passing by his door and received a sweet and his blessing. In his neighborhood he was regarded as a saintly person, an embodiment of humility, piety, and concern for his fellow man.

Biyābānī placed great emphasis on humility as a prerequisite to spiritual progress and social solidarity. In this connection, he related the story of the conversion of his ownšayḫ :

Sayyid Maḥmūdśāh Biyābānī showed little interest in leading a spiritual life. But one eve- ning when returning from his daily work he saw a Hindu placing his head on the murti of a certain deity (Ma. ḍoke ṭheṇe). Stopping for a moment, he observed that the Hindu continued placing his head on the murti until his forehead began to bleed. Moved by the simple piety of the Hindu, Sayyid Maḥmūdśāh Biyābānī felt ashamed that he, a Muslim, had so little faith in God. He then changed his way of life and became a Sufi.

Recalling the Qur’ān sūrah 17.39, Biyābānī explained with profound simplicity the way for mankind to achieve universal brotherhood:

“One has to exert his or her best and to humble oneself to this supremely sublime cause in a manner so tersely prescribed by God: ‘And walk not in the Earth boastfully’. For, one who has succumbed to pride will never remain on the path of Universal Brotherhood.”382

382 Biyābānī, Contribution of Islam to Universal Brotherhood, p. 8.

130 Songs of Women at Sufi Shrines in the Deccan383

ecent scholarship has increased the understanding of the role of place in the lives of Muslims of South Asia. Important in this context are Annemarie Schimmel´s (1922- R2003) perception of Mecca-oriented and India-oriented Islam,384 Carl Ernst´s notion of the over layering of sacred maps that give different meanings to the same geographical area,385 and David Gilmartin´s description of place as ‘the vessel through which Muslims participated in a larger moral order´.386

As in other regions of South Asia, devotional Hinduism and devotional Islam in the Deccan have a distinctive overarching character with a long history of interaction, reciprocity, and sacred symbols shared by all. What Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are for Bengalis, Hīr and Ranjhā for Panjabis, Dolā and Maru for Rajasthanis, Sant Puṇḍalīk and his aged parents are for the Marāthī-speaking people of the Deccan. Using the words of Victor Turner we might say

383 First published in: Lassen, Søren, and van Skyhawk, Hugh (eds.), Sufi Traditions and New Departures. Recent Scholarship on Continuity and Change in South Asian Sufism (Proceed- ings of the Panel on Sufism, 17th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies, Hei- delberg, September 2002), in: van Skyhawk, Hugh (ed.), Taxila Studies in Asian Civilizations 1, Islamabad [Quaid-i-Azam University], 2008, pp. 111-129. The songs presented here were recorded in the Deccan in the years 1983, 1984, 1990 and 1994. They have been translated from the transcriptions given in the appendix attached to this article. Without the help of Shaikh Bashir Hilmunnisa, granddaughter of Šayḫ ‘Abdu´l Razzāk Šāh Bīyābānī, this paper could not have been written. For their generous help I thank Georg Buddruss, Almuth De- gener, and Sonja Wengoborski. 384 Schimmel, Annemarie, “Some Salient Features of Muslim Culture in the Deccan”, in van Skyhawk and Lassen 2008, pp. 11-23. 385 Ernst 1992, p. 238. 386 Gilmartin 1998, p. 1083.

131 Well Articulated Better Paths that the practice of religious devotion in the family is the social drama par excellence387 for the people of the Deccan. Even the casual visitor to the Hindu pilgrimage centre Pand- harpur cannot fail to notice the larger-than-life plaster statues of Sant Puṇḍalīk massaging his aged father´s legs while god Vitht̤ hala̤ waits standing on a stone to be received by his devotee.

Given the great strength of this most Maharashtrian sym- Given the great strength of bol of devotional religion, it is not surprising that a similar this most Maharashtrian religious theme figures importantly in the life of the Mus- symbol of devotional reli- lim patron saint of Bombay Makhdūm Faqī Alī Paru,388 a gion, it is not surprising that pīr of the Rifa‘i-Qādirī silsila who lived in Mahīm (d. 1435) a similar religious theme during the reign of Aḥmad Shāh of Gujarāt (1411-1442). figures importantly in the Today, Makhdūm Alī, as he is popularly called, is vener- life of the Muslim patron ated by legions of Hindu and Muslim devotees as their saint of Bombay Makhdūm patron saint at the head of which march none other than Faqī Alī Paru,361 a pīr of the the constables and officers of the Bombay Police Depart- Rifa‘i-Qādirī silsila who lived ment each year at his ‘urs from the 13th to the 22nd of the in Mahīm (d. 1435) during Muslim month of Madār.389 But Makhdūm´s life began in the reign of Aḥmad Shāh of a far more humble context as the only son of his widowed Gujarāt (1411-1442). mother in a small hamlet on the frontier of the Sultanate of Gujarāt:

Makhdūm was a religiously-minded boy and a devoted son to his pious mother. One evening as Makhdūm´s mother was about to fall asleep she asked her son to fetch a glass of water. When Makhdūm returned he found his mother had fallen asleep. Thinking that his mother might awaken and suffer thirst he stood silently at her bedside holding the glass of water in his hand until morning. When his mother woke up and realised what had happened she wept and prayed

387 Turner 1989, pp. 123 ff. 388 This approximates the popular pronunciation of the Arabic (hereafter: a.): Makhdūm Faqīh ‘Alī Paru. As the ‘ain before the aliph in the name ‘Alī is seldom if ever pronounced in popular speech it is not indicated in the present article. Though Hindu devotees of the Muslim saint of Mahīm are more likely to pronounce his name, Makdum Fakī Alī´, Muslim devotees often do pronounce the khā´e-manqūṯa (the tenth letter of the Urdu alphabet) and not the kāf- e-’arabī (the twenty-eighth letter of the Urdu alphabet) when speaking of their saint. Thus, the form ‘Makhdūm Alī´ will be followed in the present article. Similarly, though the title pe. (Persian) and u. (Urdu) ‘Khẉāja´ is often pronounced ‘Kāja´or Kwāja´ by Hindu devotees, Muslim devotees often do say Kh‘ ẉāja´. Accordingly, this form is given in the present article. Well known proper or place names are given in Latin letters without diacritical marks. 389 That is Jumāda-´l-awwal, the month in which the ‘urs of the pīr Madār Zinda Shāh, Ghāzī Miyāṅ of Makanpūr in the Kānpūr District of present-day Uttar Pradesh, is celebrated. Ow- ing to the great numbers of devotees of Madār Zinda Shāh his name became a common el- liptic reference to the Islamic lunar month Jumāda-´l-awwal in western and northem India. Platts (1884, p. 1014); cf. The Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island, vol. III (1910, pp. 301- 304).

132 Songs of Women at Sufi Shrines in the Deccan

to Allah (s.w.t.) to bless her son. From that time on Makhdūm, who was about ten years old, had a strong desire for spiritual knowledge. Then one night in his dreams he beheld Khẉāja Khiẓr390 standing on a rock in the ocean. Khiẓr bade Makhdūm to come to him after his dawn prayers (fajr-kī-namāz) but to tell no one what he was doing. He did so and Khẉāja Khiẓr began teaching him the inner meaning of the Holy Qur´ān (a.‘ilm-i-bāṭin). After some days Makhdūm´s mother noticed her son´s absence in the early morning and asked him where he went. Remembering Khẉāja Khiẓr´s stipulation, he hesitated at first, but finally revealed his secret. On the following morning Makhdūm did not find Khẉāja Khiẓr and returned home weeping. When his mother asked the reason for this Makhdūm told her about Khẉāja Khiẓr´s stipulation. With tear-filled eyes she prayed to Allāh to forgive her son. The next morning Makhdūm found Khẉāja Khiẓr again waiting for him on a rock in the ocean. The Green Prophet then told Makhdūm his mother´s prayers had been answered and began teaching him again.

Al-Khiẓr, the ‘Green Prophet’, is intimately connected Khẉāja Khiẓr returns to the with the ‘Confluence of the Two Oceans´ (a.majma’u´l- rock in the ocean and re- baḥrain) which the prophet Musā (Moses) seeks in the sumes teaching Makhdūm 18th sūrah of the Holy Qur´ān, āyāts 59-81. As al-Khiẓr has the inner meaning of the intimate knowledge of the will of Allāh his perception of Holy Qur´ān. Khẉāja Khiẓr´s right and wrong can differ even from that of the prophet appearance in the life-story Musā, who, in the end, finds it impossible to keep the of Makhdūm Alī raises the condition of silence imposed upon him byKh iẓr. In a simi- question of the relative lar ‘no-win´ situation Khẉāja Khiẓr imposes a condition roles of the walī, the Friend upon Makhdūm that he cannot possibly keep: to lie to of God, and the nabī, the his mother. But Makhdūm passes the spiritual test and is Prophet of God, which was a found worthy in the eyes of Allāh. Khẉāja Khiẓr returns source of controversy in me- to the rock in the ocean and resumes teaching Makhdūm dieval Sufism. As Makhdūm the inner meaning of the Holy Qur´ān. Khẉāja Khiẓr´s ap- later becomes a qāẓī as well pearance in the life-story of Makhdūm Alī raises the ques- as a Sufi the relationship of tion of the relative roles of the walī, the Friend of God, ḥaqīqat (‘transcendental re- and the nabī, the Prophet of God, which was a source ality´) and sharī’at (‘religious of controversy in medieval Sufism. As Makhdūm later be- law´) are the poles within comes a qāẓī as well as a Sufi the relationship of ḥaqīqat which he strives to achieve (‘transcendental reality´) and sharī’at (‘religious law´) spiritual knowledge through- are the poles within which he strives to achieve spiritual out his life. knowledge throughout his life. The meeting with Khẉāja Khiẓr at the age of ten proved that Makhdūm had an inner sense of the proper balance of the demands of the mystical path and the demands of religious law.

Up to this day both Hindu and Muslim women sing the folIowing song on their way to do ziyārat at the dargāh (pe.) of Makhdūm Alī in Mahim:

390 The Persian and Urdu form of a. al-Khidr.

133 Well Articulated Better Paths

Text 1 Makhdūm Alī is in Mahim, Our pīr, true walī! (Refrain) I bought incense for five rupees and went (there) to light it. Our pīr, true walī! I bought sandalwood paste for five rupees and went (there) to have it applied (to the mazār) Our pīr, true walī! I bought a saherā for five rupees and went (there) to have it placed (on the mazār) . Our pīr, true walī! I bought a ćādar for five rupees and went there to have it put (on the mazār) . Our pīr, true walī! Makhdūm Alī is in Mahim, Our pīr, true walī!

The spiritual metaphor of the soul as wife and the supreme deity as husband can be dated back at least as far as the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad (IV.3.21).391 Though bridal mysticism has not been the pre-dominant form of devotional religion in Maharashtra, there have always been examples of this spiritual metaphor in devotional literature in Old Marāthī. Especially striking in this connexion are the Jñāneśvarī: 12.156: to vallabha, mī kāntā (`You are the lover, I the beloved woman´) and Sant Tukārām´s abhang:

Let people outcaste me if they want, and let them call me an adulterous woman; but I will never leave this Vanamāḷī Krsna. I have become indifferent to all notions of prestige and fear. Leaving my family, my tradition, my husband and my in-laws, I have become enwrapt in God. I pray you, not to try to dissuade me from my path; for I have become deaf to all censure.392

391 Usually considered to have been composed not later than the eighth century B.C. 392 Translated from the Tukārām gāthā, abhang no.7, by Shankar Gopal Tulpule in: Tulpule 1984, pp. 86 f.

134 Songs of Women at Sufi Shrines in the Deccan

Fig. 1 – Women at the dargāh of ‘Aẕam Shāh Biyābānī in Shah Ganj, Aurangabad, singing devotional songs in honour of the Biyābānī pīrs.

Moreover, the inherent conflict between the longing for the union with God and the ev- eryday demands of marriage in the world are strikingly illustrated in the bhakti tradi- tions of Sant Sakhū whose cruel in-laws try in vain to prevent her true wedding with god Viṭhṭhala of Paṇḍharpūr by beating and binding her to a beam in their house only to find god Viṭhṭhala himself bound, tied, and bleeding in Sakhū´s place the next morning.

In Sufism, the wedding of the Friend of God occurs after his physical death and is -re membered each year in the celebration of the urs‘ of a saint. Similarly, women who are devotees of pīr-s sing of their ardent desire to be with their true lovers in their spiritual homes. In the following song which was recorded in the old Modīkhānā, a traditionally Muslim part of Puṇe, women who are devotees of Śekh Afẓal Shāh Biyābānī and Sarwar Shāh Biyābānī of Kazi Peth (Qāẓī Peṭh), Dt. Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, sing of their longing to be in their true homes:

Text 2 My eyes fought with the eyes of Afẓal, the Beloved. My eyes fought with the eyes of Sarwar, the Beloved. O Afẓal; I have come to see thy city! (Refrain) For thee I have given up my household, For thee I have given up my household, given up my door, given up my relatives.

135 Well Articulated Better Paths

Thou only look after me! O Afẓal, I have come to see thy city! I will go to the threshold of Afẓal and tell him all my sorrows. O Afẓal, weeping and weeping my life-force has left me. Dye my scarf in the colour393 of the Qādirī-s. Beloved Afẓal is like a noble lover. Beloved Sarwar is like a noble lover. My eyes fought with the eyes of Afẓal, the Beloved. O Sarwar, I have come to see thy city!

Not only Muslims but Hindus and tribal groups such as the Vādārī-s and Beldār-s, tradi- tional house builders and donkey traders, are devotees of Afẓal Shāh and Sarwar Shāh Biyābānī. According to pious tradition it was a Hindu toddy-tapper who first discovered Afẓal Shāh Biyābānī practicing asceticism in the jungle about five kilometres from Waran- gal.

When Afẓal Shāh bent half-way down in prayer (rukū) the surrounding palm trees did the same. When Afẓal Shāh prostrated himself completely (sijda), the palm trees did so as well. When he stood up straight again, the palm trees did the same. Seeing this, the toddy-tapper dropped everything and ran back to Waran- gal shouting: ‘Whoever wants to go to Vaikuṇṭha (the heaven of Viṣṇu) should come and catch the Qāẓī´s feet! ´

In one popular tradition Islam is said to have been brought to the area around Kalyāṇ by Ḥājī `Abdu´l Raḥmān (`The Servant of the Compassionate´), a Muslim missionary from Arabia, in the twelfth century.

Hājī ‘Abdu´l Raḥmān had received an order from Allāh to journey to western India where people were behaving cruelly to one another. Ḥājī `Abdu´l Raḥmān´s land- fall was near Ṭhaṇe, north of present-day Bombay, whence he proceeded over the Western Ghāṭ-s riding on a horse named Dul Dul394, the journey being made easier by the mountains lowering themselves before him.395 Ḥājī`Abdu´l Raḥmān settled on the lower plateau of the mountain that was to later bear his name, Malanggaḍ (`Fortress of the Fakir´). Nala, the Hindu rājā of Kalyāṇ, decided to

393 Green, the colour of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). 394 Duldul is the name of the grey battle mule of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) on which, according to Shī`ī tradition, Alī rode at the Battle of the Camel and at Siffin. No one who was present when this story was narrated took objection to attributing the name of the Holy Prophet´s (PBUH) mule to Ḥājī`Abdu´l Raḥmān´s horse. 395 Both the railway and the national highway follow (or retrace) Ḥājī`Abdu´l Raḥmān´s foot- steps rather closely, bearing north from Puṇe to descend into the Koṅkaṇ at Ṭhāṇe, north of Bombay.

136 Songs of Women at Sufi Shrines in the Deccan

test the integrity and spiritual power of his new neighbour by sending his seduc- tive daughter to tempt Ḥājī`Abdu´l Raḥmān,396 who, however, treated the young damsel as he would have treated his own daughter. Eventually, Nala´s daughter converted to Islam and was given the name Fātima̤ after the daughter of the Holy Prophet. This unexpected turn of events especially displeased Nala´s queen who made several unsuccessful attempts to regain her daughter. Seeing that the queen would not accept her daughter´s new way of life, Ḥājī`Abdu´l Raḥmān changed her into a stone doll.397 Thereupon, Nala took refuge with Ḥājī`Abdu´l Raḥmān and became his disciple, though he himself remained a Hindu.

Accordingly, up to this day, thousands of Hindus, Muslims, In recent times litigation has Parsīs, and Christians make the pilgrimage to Malanggaḍ been pursued both by Hin- twice each year: 1) for the urs of Ḥājī Malang, as he is dus and Muslims to have popularly known today, on the full moon of the eleventh Ḥājī Malang de-syncretised month of the Hindu year, Māgh śuddha pūrṇimā, and 2) and either declared to be an for the fair398 in the third month of the Hindu year, Jyeṣṭha orthodox Sunnī Muslim mis- (April-May). Up to this day the vahivāṭdār (m. `chief ad- sionary or a famous yogī (m.) ministrator´) of the dargāh comes from a lineage of of the Nāth-panth. Thus far, Maharashtrian Brahmins, servants of the former Peśvās legal decisions in this con- (m.), owing to the fact that their forefather, Kāśīnāth Pant nexion have upheld the syn- Keṭkar, had become a disciple of Ḥājī Malang in 1782 and cretic character of the shrine. devoted the remainder of his life to the upkeep and ex- This pilgrimage song was pansion of his dargā (here: m.).399 In recent times litiga- recorded in Puṇe in the old tion has been pursued both by Hindus and Muslims to Modīkhānā: have Ḥājī Malang de-syncretised and either declared to be an orthodox Sunnī Muslim missionary or a famous yogī (m.) of the Nāth-panth. Thus far, legal decisions in this connexion have upheld the syncretic character of the shrine. This pilgrimage song was recorded in Puṇe in the old Modīkhānā:

369 Not unlike the temptation of the Buddha by the daughters of Māra. 397 Ḥājī`Abdu´l Raḥmān´s punishment of Nala´s queen is reminiscent of the tradition concern- ing the colossus of the Buddha in Kargah Nulla near Gilgit in which local tradition sees not the Buddha but a demoness whom an itinerant holy man turned to stone. Unfortunately for the unnamed holy man, local tradition also demanded that he himself become eternally immobile as well in order that the demoness not be able to free herself somehow and continue her predations. Accordingly, the grateful inhabitants of Gilgit killed and buried the holy man under the stone colossus. (Ghulam Muhammed, “Fairs and Festivals of Gilgit” in: Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol I (1905-1907), Nr. 7, pp. 93-127, especially p. 106; cited in Jettmar 1975, p. 244. 398 Marāṭhī (hereafter: m.):meḷā, u. melā. 399 Government of Maharashtra (1882, 288 and 1021-1025).

137 Well Articulated Better Paths

Text 3 The melā of Ḥājī Malang we too will see, the melā we too will see! Let life go! It is of no concern! We too will see the melā, the melā we too will see! (Refrain) From Bamman-vāḍī (=Brāhmaṇ-vāḍī) 400 we get the sandalwood-paste. The serenity of putting the sandal-paste (on the mazār) we too will see, putting the sandal-paste we too will see! The melā of Ḥājī Malang we too will see, the melā we too will see! From Bamman-vāḍī we get the sheet of stringed flowers. The serenity of putting the flowers (on the mazār) we too will see, putting the flowers we too will see! Let life go! It is of no concern! We too will see the melā, The melā we too will see!

Fig. 2 - The mazār of Sarwar Shāh Biyābānī at Kazi Peth, District Warangal.

Owing to the relatively recent origin of theBiyābānī-Rifa`ī-Qādirī-silsila in the latter half of the eighteenth century and to the longevity of its founding pīrs, the link to the charisma of their great šayḫs, Ẓiyā´uddīn, Afẓal Šāh Biyābānī, and his son, Sarwar Šāh Biyābānī, has re- mained especially strong. The present sajjāda-nishīn of the dargāh of `Afẓal Šāh Biyābānī (1824-1921) is the grandson of the pīr, who himself was the disciple of Afẓal Šāh Biyābānī, who in turn was considered to be the vice-regent of `Abdu´l Qādir Jīlānī (1077-1166), the founding šayḫ of the Qādirī-silsila. The presence of the great šayḫ of Baghdad can be felt even in the modest dargāh near the S[tate] T[ransport] bus stand in the Šāh Ganj precinct

400 A nearby village.

138 Songs of Women at Sufi Shrines in the Deccan of Aurangabad. Hindus and Muslims perform ziyārat at the dargāh of Afẓal Šāh Biyābānī chiefly for two reasons: 1) to be freed from possession by evil spirits; 2) to have their in- fants blessed by the pīr.

In the following cradle-song (m. and u. jhūlā) the plaintive devotion of the mother is con- veyed by the poetical image of a garden in full bloom in which blossoms fall unnoticed to the ground. The correspondence of spiritual and sensual levels is striking:

Text 4 Give me leave to come now, I am standing on one leg The canopy of Ḥaẓrat Bānemīyāṅ´s dargāh shines (like the moon). I am filling my yellow cloth-bag with broken blossoms. Bānemīyāṅ Ḥaẓrat´s dargāh is in Shāh Ganj. I see the incense burning (at the portal). Bābā! Pick up the flowers and bring them to me!401 Spring has come to the garden! Bābā! Pick up the flowers and bring them to me! Sailānī Bābā402 is in Shāh Ganj! I can see the cloth (on the mazār)! Bābā! Pick up the flowers and bring them to me! Spring has come to the garden! Bābā! Pick up the flowers and bring them to me! Sailānī Bābā is in Shāh Ganj! I see the moon (over the dargāh)! Bābā! Pick up the flowers and bring them to me! Spring has come to the garden! Bābā! Pick up the flowers and bring them to me! Bānemīyāṅ Ḥaẓrat is always in the jungle. I see the sweets in front (of Bānemīyāṅ) Bābā! Pick up the flowers and bring them to me! Spring has come to the garden! Bābā! Pick up the flowers and bring them to me! O fairies! Offer sweets and see! The canopy of Bāne Ḥaẓrat´s dargāh shines (like the moon). O Sailānī Jīlānī! I will not go empty-handed from your door! (But) he doesn´t listen when called. O my Khẉāja! I (live only) with your help!

401 As women are not allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum of a dargāh and place their flowers on the grave of the pīr themselves they must call to the mujāwar (guardian) to give them the broken blossoms of the sheets of stringed flowers laid upon the mazār as tabar- ruk (blessed leavings of a Muslim holy man) which they gather and take home as protection against all forms of evil. 402 ‘Sailānī Jīlānī´ = `Abdu´l Qādir Jīlānī.

139 Well Articulated Better Paths

I will sacrifice myself at thy dargāh, weeping and weeping. But I will not go empty-handed from your door! (But) he doesn´t listen when called.

Having originated in the Deccan, the tradi- tions of the Biyābānī-s recount the lives, deeds, and teachings of pīr-s who lived in and whose dargāh-s are located in the Deccan. The land- scape of the Deccan is thus charged with the barakat (`blessedness´) of these holy men. As, for the most part, the followers of the Biyābānī-s come from the lower economic class of Muslim society, going on the ḥajj is be- yond their means. But heartfelt devotion to the Holy Prophet and his family is not any less for that. In the words of the following wedding song, which was recorded at Fig. 3 - The dargāh of Afẓal Shāh and Sarwar Shāh Biyābānī at Kazi Peth. Wāī, District Sātārā, not ostentatious displays of wealth but the inexpensive, unadorned objects used by Muslims in daily prayers make up the dowry of Fātima,̤ the daughter of the Holy Prophet [PBUH].

Text 5 There is no god but God, and Muḥammad is His Prophet. With what grandeur was Fātima´s̤ wedding performed? What were the things you gave your dear daughter as dowry? What were the things you gave? You gave an earthen jug for performing ablutions. There is no god but God, and Muḥammad is His Prophet. With what grandeur was Fātima´s wedding performed? What were the things you gave your dear daughter as dowry?

140 Songs of Women at Sufi Shrines in the Deccan

What were the things you gave? You gave her a date-palm mat for offering prayers. There is no god but God, and Muḥammad is His Prophet. With what grandeur was Fātima´s wedding performed? What were the things you gave your dear daughter as dowry? What were the things you gave? You gave her a china-cup for writing the Kalima.403 There is no god but God, and Muḥammad is His Prophet.

While the independence of the Deccan subsequent to the establishment of the Bahmanī kingdom in 1347 proved to be conducive to the development of a society and culture distinct from that of the Delhi Sultanate, the Lodhis, and the Mughals - which in part have survived up to the present day - the spiritual links with the great Čišti-šayḫs of northern India; Mu’īn ud-Dīn Ḥasan of Ajmer (d. 1236), Qutb ud-Din Bakhtiyār-i-Kākī of Delhi (d. 1235) (‘The Man of Bread’), Farīd ud-Dīn Shakarganj (‘The Sugar Treasury’) of Ajodhān (d. 1265), Niẓām ud-Dīn Auliyā Sultānu-l-Mašāykh (‘Chief of the šayḫs’) of Delhi (d. 1325), and Naṣīr ud-Dīn Čirāġ-i-Dillī (`The Lamp of Delhi´; d. 1356), were strengthened by the return of Khẉāja Muḥammad al-Ḥusainī Bandanawāz Gesu Darāz of Gulbarga (d. 1422) (`The Cherisher of His Servants´, ‘He of the Long Locks’) to the Deccan in his eightieth year at the behest of Aḥmad Shāh Walī Bahmanī (d. 1436)404

As ziyārat (pilgrimage) to the dargāh-s of the great pīr-s of northern India would prove as difficult for most devotees as going on the ḥajj itself the `urs of Bandanawāz at Gulbar- ga with its 500,000 pilgrims serves to reaffirm the membership of Deccanī Muslims in a greater Indian Muslim community. The following song was recorded in the old Modīkhānā of Puṇe:

Text 6 It is known as Gulbarga, the Rose of the Garden! O Khẉāja! Turning back I saw Gulbarga, the Rose of the Garden! O Khẉāja! It is known as Gulbarga, the Rose of the Garden! O Khẉāja! Wait (for me) a while, wait (for me) a while. I am sitting for performing ablutions. I am ready to go with you! O Khẉāja! It is known as Gulbarga, the Rose of the Garden! O Khẉāja! Wait (for me) a while, wait (for me) a while. I am sitting for prayers. I am ready to go with you! O Khẉāja! It is known as Gulbarga, the Rose of the Garden! O Khẉāja!

403 That is, a vessel to contain the ink for writing. 404 Ernst 1992, 105.

141 Well Articulated Better Paths

Especially striking are the following verses in Dakhnī attributed to Gesū Darāz in which a modification of the doctrine of the `Unity of Being´ (waḥdat al-wujūd) of the Spanish Muslim mystic Muḥyīud-Dīn Ibn al-`Arabī (1165-1240), the `Unity of Witnessing´ (waḥdat as-shuhūd), is expressed in the words of everyday life:

Text 7 When I looked for Allāh I could not find Him anywhere. When the people said `(He) is (out) there somewhere´, I met Him here and here only.405

Transcriptions

Text 1 Mahiṅ meṅ Makhdūm Alī hamāre pīr saćće valī. pāṅć rupaye kā lobān maṅgāī lobān jalāne ćalī. hamāre pīr saćće valī. pāṅć rupaye kī ṣandal mangāī ṣandal ćaṛhāne ćalī. hamāre pīr saćće valī. pāṅć rupaye kā saherā maṅgāī saherā ćaṛhāne ćalī: hamāre pīr saćće valī. pāṅć rupaye kā ćādar maṅgāī ćādar ćaṛhāne ćalī. hamāre pīr saćće valī. Mahiṅ meṅ Makhdūm Alī hamāre pīr saćće valī.

405 That is, in the heart. Gesū Darāz´s perception of God being `here and now´ can be found in sūrah 2, āyāts 109 of the Holy Qur´ān: `Whithersoever ye turn there is the Face of God´, while the impossibility of seeing Allāh is declared in sūrah 6, āyāts 103. `Sights do not reach Him.´ Similar mystical expressions of the immanence and immediacy of God can be found in Mīr Dard (1721-1785): `The veil on our Friend´s Face that´s we ourselves: We opened our eyes, and no veil was left´. And in Shāh `Abdu´l Latīf of Bhiṭ (1689-1752): `One castle and a hundred doors, and windows numberless: Wherever you may look, o friend, there you will see His Face.´ Translations by Annemarie Schimmel in Schimmel (1976, p. V).

142 Songs of Women at Sufi Shrines in the Deccan

Text 2 Afẓal piyā se morī Sarvar piyā se morī laṛ gaī nazariya.̤ dekhan ko āī Afẓal torī maī nazariya.̤ gharbār bhī ćhoṛī gharbār bhī ćhoṛī ghar ćhoṛī dar ćhoṛī rishta bhī ćhoṛī tumhī to lenā Afẓal morī khabarīya. dekhan ko āī Afẓal torī maiṅ nazariya.̤ Afẓal ke ćaukhaṭ pe maiṅ jāuṅgi ǥam ka fasāna Afẓal ko sunāuṅgī. ro ro ke taj haiṅ Afẓal, ro ro ke taj haiṅ Sarvar, morī ‘umariya. Qādirī raṅg me morī, raṅg do ćunṛī. Afẓal piyā haiṅ morī banke savariya. Sarvar piyā hai morī banke savariya. Afẓal piyā se morī laṛ gaī nazariya̤ dekhan ko āī Sarvar torī maiṅ nazariya.̤

Text 3 Ḥājī Malaṅg kā melā ham bhī dekheṅge vah melā ham bhī dekheṅge. jān jāe balā se vah melā ham bhī dekheṅge vah melā ham bhī dekheṅge. ṣandal kharīd lete haiṅ ham Bamman-vaḍī se. ćaṛhtā haiṅ suhānā vah ṣandal ham bhī dekheṅge vah melā ham bhī dekheṅge. Ḥājī Malaṅg kā melā ham bhī dekheṅge vah melā ham bhī dekheṅge. saherā kharīd lete haiṅ ham Bamman-vaḍī se. ćaṛhtā haiṅ suhānā vah saherā ham bhī dekheṅge vah saherā ham bhī dekheṅge. jān jāe balā se vah melā ham bhī dekheṅge vah melā ham bhī dekheṅge. Ḥājī Malaṅg Bābā kā melā ham bhī dekheṅge vah melā ham bhī dekheṅge.

143 Well Articulated Better Paths

Text 4 kaliyāṅ toḍte khāṛī gauri ćui phuloṅ se bharī ab tum de do raẓā ek pair pa khaṛī. Ḥaẓrat Bānemīyāṅ kī dargāh ćāṇḍanī kā maṇḍavā. kaliyāṅ toḍte khāṛī ćui gauri phuloṅ se bharī Ḥaẓrat Bānemīyāṅ Śāhaganj meṅ sāmane lobān kā dīdār. Bābā mujhe phūl ćun ke lā do. āī na ćaman meṅ bahār. Bābā mujhe phūl ćun ke lā do. Sailānī Bābā Śāhaganj meṅ sāmane ćādar kā dīdār. Bābā mujhe phūl ćun ke lā do. āī na ćaman meṅ bahār. āī na ćaman meṅ bahār. Bābā mujhe phūl ćun ke lā do. Sailānī Bābā Śāhaganj meṅ sāmane ćandā kā dīdār. Bābā mujhe phūl ćun ke lā do. āī na ćaman meṅ bahār. Bābā mujhe phūl ćun ke lā do. Bānemīyāṅ Ḥaẓrat hamesha ban meṅ sāmane malīdoṅ kā dīdāra. Bābā mujhe phūl ćun ke lā do. āī na ćaman meṅ bahār. Bābā mujhe phūl ćun ke lā do. pariyāṅ shīraniyāṅ ćaṛhākar dekho. Bāne Ḥaẓrat kī dargāh ćāṇḍanī kā maṇḍavā. Sailānī Jīlānī, hath khālī na jāuṅ na jāṅ dvāre se. vah to sunate nahiṅ haiṅ pukāre se. mere Khẉājā maiṅ tumhāre sahāre se. vārī jāuṅ maiṅ dargāh pe ro ro ke. hath khālī na jāuṅ na jāuṅ dvāre se. vah to sunte nahīṅ haiṅ pukāre se.

Text 5 lā ilāha illā ´illāhu Muḥammadur rasūlu ´llāh. Fātima̤ kī shādī kyā dhūm se kiye. apnī pyārī beṭī ke jahez meṅ, āpne kyā kyā diye. āpne kyā kyā diye. miṭṭi kā kūza diye, vazū karne ke liye. lā ilāha illā ´illāhu Muḥammadur rasūlu ´llāh. Fātima̤ kī shādī kyā dhūm se kiye. apnī pyārī beṭī ke jahez meṅ,

144 Songs of Women at Sufi Shrines in the Deccan

āpne kyā kyā diye. āpne kyā kyā diye. khajūr kī ćaṭāī diye, namāz paṛhne ke liye. lā ilāha illā ´illāhu Muḥammadur rasūlu ´llāh. Fātima̤ kī shādī kyā dhūm se kiye. apnī pyārī beṭī ke jahez meṅ, āpne kyā kyā diye. āpne kyā kyā diye. ćīnī kā piyāla diye, kalima likhne ke liye. lā ilāha illā ´illāhu Muḥammadur rasūlu ´llāh.

Text 6 aise kahte hai Gulbarga, gul-e-gulzār, yā Khẉāja palat kar dekhī Gulbarga, gul-e-gulzār, yā Khẉāja aise kahte hai Gulbarga, gul-e-gulzār, yā Khẉāja Zara thahro, zara thahro, vazū karne ke baithī huṅ tumhāre sāth ćalne ko taiyār, yā Khẉāja. Zara thahro, zara thahro, namāz paṛhne ko baithī huṅ tumhāre sāth ćalne ko taiyār, yā Khẉāja.

Text 7 ´Allāha ko dekhyā so maimca ´Allāha nahiṅ milaya kahīṅca lokāna batāe kahie ke kakīeca unhe milayā yahīṇ ke yahīṇca.

145

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161

Index of Proper Names

Abbās ‘Alī Alamdār (heroic half-brother of 110, 44 n 136, 45, 50, 52 n 181, 58 n Ḥusain ibn ‘Alī), – 67, 68 193, 66, 99, 120 and note 369, 141, 181

Abbott, Justin Edward (Rev.), – 19 n 74, 55 Ajñānasiddha, – xxvii, 9-10, 16 n 64, 17 n n 189, 60 n 196 and n 197, 62 n 198, 63 n 68, 18 n 72, 19 n 73, 21 and notes 77 and 200, 64 n 202 79, 30-31, 33, 60 n 197, 82 n 275 Abhinavagupta (Hindu philosopher of Akbar (the Great Mughal), – xix, 7-8, Kashmir), – 44 58, note 193, 66, 120, note 369 Abu Fazl Allami (Wazir of Akbar), xix, 8 Akbar II (Mughal emperor), – 6, note 43 Adam (A.S.) – 36, 114 Akbar, M.J., – xxvi (Šayḫ) ‘Abdu’l-Qādir Ğīlānī Ḥasaniu-‘l- Śrī Svāmī Samārth Akkalkoṭ Mahārāj (Hindu Ḥusainī, – 37, 117 sant of Maharashtra), – 112, 118 Shāh ‘Abdu’l Latīf of Bhiṭ, – xv and note Alam Khān (Muslim sant-kavi), – 21 11, xviii, 142 n 405 Allāh (s.w.t.), – ix, xi-xiv and note 10, ‘Abdu-l-Wāhid bin Zaid Kūfī, 49 n 169 xv-xix and note 11, 2, 9, note 49, 12, 15, 16, 17, 19, 47, note 157, 48, 86, Ahmad, Imtiaz, – 6 n 44 note 289, 92, note 303, 113 and note (Šayḫ) Ahmad (of Jam), – 12 357, 116, note 360, 133, 136, 142 and note 405, 145 (Sultan) Aḥmad Shāh of Gujarāt, – 132 Allāh ud-Dīn Ziyā (of Daulatābād), – 84 n Aḥmad Šāh Walī/Ālāma Prabhū, – 34 n 279

163 Well Articulated Better Paths

‘Allāmah Naṣīr al-Dīn Hunzāī, – 48 Besant, Annie, – 126 Ālāma Prabhū, see Aḥmad Šāh Walī Bhairava (‘the Terrible’; Hindu god), – 95 and note 309 Alfassa, Mira (‘The Mother’), 86, note 292 Bhandarkar, Ramakrishna Gopal, – 94 n 306 ‘Alī ibn Abi Tālib (R.), – 3 and note 35, 48 and note 166, 49 and note 169, 99 Bhatti, Shahbaz, –– xx-xxi

‘Alī ‘Ādīl Šāh (Sultan of Bijapur), – 66 Bhīmasvāmī Śirgāvkar (18th c. Maharash- trian hagiographer), – 10-11 and note 54 al-Badāonī, – xix and note 20 Bībī Šāh (royal milk-mother of Hunza) – 7 Amīr Khusrū (‘Parrot of Delhi’), – 118 Bhutto, Benazir, – xx-xxi Bennett, Clinton, – xi n 1 Rāmānanda Bīḍakar (saint of Puṇe), – 118 Mālik ibn Anas (Muslim doctor of law) – 118 Bir Singh Deo of Orcha, – 8 Asani, Ali, – xvii n 17 (Šayḫ) Abdurrazzāq Šāh Biyābānī, – xxvii, 7, 12-15 and note 61, 17 n 68, 18 n 71, 20, Assayag, Jackie, – 78 and note 265 28, 31, 107-118 and note 355, 124-129 and notes 373 and 377-382, 131 and note 383, Auraṅgzīb Ālamgīr (Mughal emperor), 188 – 5, 8 and note 48, 66, 99 (Šayḫ) Afzal Šāh Biyābānī, – 7, 130, 135- Aziz Miyan, – xviii 136, 138-140, 143 Bābur (Mughal emperor), – xviii-xix (Šayḫ) Azam Šāh Biyābānī, – 8, 191 and note 18 (Šayḫ) Maḥmūd Šāh Biyābānī – 31, 130, 188 Bahādur Šāh I (Mughal emperor), 80 (Šayḫ) Sarwar Šāh Biyābānī, 135-136, 138, Bahādur Šāh II (Mughal emperor), – 6, 140 note 45 Blackburn, Stuart, – 77 n 260 Bahiram Bhaṭ (mad seeker of God), – 16 and note 64, 55 n 189, 58 and note 194, Cānd Bodhale, – xxviii, 44-45, 179 59-60 and note 197, 61-62 and notes 198 and 199, 64 Böwering, Gerhard, – 77 n 261 Banu Mā (Muslim holy woman), – 92 Brückner, Heidrun, – 13 n 57, 82 n 275 Basava (saint of the Liṅgāyats), – 16, 118 Buddruss, Georg, – 131 n 383 Bayly, Susan, – 78 and note 265 Bulhe Šāh (18th c. Muslim mystic of the Panjab), – xvi-xviii Belvalkar, Shripad Krishna, – 45 n 140 Burckhardt, Titus, – 108 n 349, 109 n 350 Bendre, Vāsudeva Sītārāma, – 17 and note 66, 30 n 93, 45 n 140, 121 n 370 (Šayḫ) Burhān ud-Dīn Ġarīb (of Burhānpūr), – 84 n 279 Berntsen, Maxine, – 77 n 260

164 Index of Proper Names

Burnell, Arthur C., – 76 Dolā and Marū (legendary lovers of Ra- jasthan), – 131 Caesar, Gaius Julius, – 91 Cāngdev Vaṭeśvar (legendary yogī), – 15, Dumont, Louis, – xxv-xxvi and note 29, xx- 28, 32 n 104 viii, xxix, 85 and note 282 Doña Isabel de Carom (Portuguese noble- Domki, Mir Bakhtiar, – xxi woman of 16th c. Goa), – 4 n 38 Duncan, Ian Richard, – xxiv-xxv and note Chaudhary, Iftikar Muhammad (Chief Jus- 28, 3 n 35, 28, 77-78 and note 266, 82 tice of Pakistan), – xxi notes 275 and 276, 89 notes 296 and 297, 104 and note 337 (Šayḫ) Salāuddīn Čištī, –18 Durgāvā/ Durgvā (Hindu folk goddess), – (Šayḫ) Selīm Čištī, – 7-8 71, 72, note 224 Jesus Christ (A.S.), – xii, 3 n 35 Durrani, Ahmad Shah, - 125 Claus, Peter, – 1, 91 n 300 Eaton, Richard Maxwell, – 9 n 50, 14 n 59, 77 n 261 Clothey, Fred W., - 109 n 351 (Śrī Sant) Ekanāth, – 3 n 34, 10-11 and note Crooke, William, – 5 n 41 54, 19 n 74, 28, 34 n 110, 44 and note 134, Daftary, Farhad, – vii, 66, 151 45 and note 140, 46, 48 n 166, 50, 52 n 181, 83, 93 and note 305, 94 and note 307, 95 n Dallapiccola, Anna Libera, – 53 n 183 312, 96-97 and note 321, 98, 102-103, 107 b 347, 109 and notes 351 and 352, 112, 121 Dandekar, R. N., – 44 n 133 and note 370, 185 Dārā Šikūh (Mughal prince), – 120 n 367 Eliade, Mircea, – 3 n 36, 33 notes 105 and Darlap, Elisabeth, – 3 n 36 106, 37 n 116, 39 n 121 Das, Veena, – 78 and note 264 Elphinston, John, – 79 Dattātreya (Hindu god), – xxvii, 112, 118 Engineer, Ali, – xvi n 14, xvii n 17 Degener, Almuth, – 131 n 383 Entwistle, Alan W., – 29 n 90 Deming, Wilbur S. (Rev.) – 105- 106 Ernst, Carl W., – 8 n 48, 12 n 56, 18 n 71, 77 n 261, 84 n 279, 85 n 283, 131 and note Deśmukh, Gopāḷ Hari (a.k.a. Lokahitavādī), 385, 141 n 404 – 65 Essera and Canessera, – 2 Devendranāth (Vijayakumar Sule), – 86 and note 290 (Šayḫ) Farīd ud Dīn Ganj-i-Šakar (Pākpattan), – xiii-xiv, xviii, 84 n 279, 141 Ḑhere, Rāmacandra Ciṃtāmana, – 29 and note 92, 30 notes 94 and 97, 54 n 187, 81 Farooq, Muhammad, – xx-xxi notes 269, 270, 271, 121 n 371, 125 n 376 Fātima̤ Kubrā (daughter of Ḥusain ibn ‘Alī), Diamond, Sara, – 91 and note 300 – 100

165 Well Articulated Better Paths

Fātima̤ bint Muḥammad (R.), – 66, 191 (Šayḫ) Ḥasan of Basra, – 116 n 362

Feldhaus, Anne, – 72 n 224, 84 n 280, 97 Ḥasan Sijzī Dihlawī, – xiv n 10, 12 n 56, n 321 13 n 58, 28 n 89

Gaborieau, Marc, – 78 n 263 Hayden, Robert M., – 104 n 338, 105 and Gaeffke, Peter, – 44 and note 134 note 340 Heesterman, J.C., – 63 n 201 Gahinī Nāth/Gaibī Pīr, – 15, 80-82 and note 275 Hegras-svāmī, – 14, 16-21, 30-32 and notes 94 and 97, 60 n 197, 178 Indira Gandhi, – 7 Herklots, Gerhard Andreas, – 5 n 41, 99, Mahātmā Gāndhī (Mohandas Karamch and 117 Gandhi), – 6 Hīr and Ranjhā (legendary lovers of the Gardi, Ibrahim Khan, – 125 Punjab), – xvii, 131 Ghose, Aurobindo, – 86 Horstmann, Monika, – 43 n 129 Gilmartin, David, – 131 and note 386 Huble, S.K, – 78 and note 265 Godbole, N.R., – 55 n 189 (Šayḫ) Husain Bābā Kādrī, – xxvii, 121-124 Goldziher, Ignaz, – 68 and note 213 (Šayḫ) Husām al-Dīn Tigh Barahna, – 9 and Gonda, Jan, – 94 n 306 note 50, 181 Gorakh Nāth, – 15, 80, 82 n 275, 88 n 294 Husain, Ed, – xxvi Guru Nānak, – 112, 118 Sayyid Muḥammad al-Ḥusaynī-i-Gīsūdirāz (Šayḫ Bandā Nawāz Gīsūdirāz), – xiii n 4, xv, Ḥabīb ‘Ajamī, – 49 n 169 xviii, 9, 18 n 71, 109 n 352, 118, 130 Hacker, Paul, 43 and notes 130 and 132, 44- Hussaini, Syed Shah Khusro, – xiii n 4, 2 n 45, 85 and note 284 32, 18 n 71, 109 n 352 Ḥājī`Abdu´l Raḥmān (Hājī Malaṅg of Iqbal, Allamah Muhammad, – xxiii Kalyāṇ), – 81-82 and note 275, 137-138, 143 Islām ud-Dīn (guardian of dargāh), – 6 n 45 Halbfass, Wilhelm, – 43 and notes 130-132 ‘Ismā’īl ‘Ādīl Šāh (Sultan of Bijapur), – 66 Hӓmmerlein, Thomas (Thomas à Kempis), – 112, 118 Israel, Milton, – 53 n 184

Abū Hanīfa (Muslim doctor of law), – 118 Jacobsen, Knut, – 65 n 203 Ḥasan ibn ‘Alī ibn Abi Tālib (R.), – xiv Jakvā (Hindu folk goddess), – 71 and note 10, 48 n 166, 58 n 193, 69, (Maulānā) Jalāl ud Dīn Rūmī, – xvii, xxii and 71, 74, 76, 101, 184 note 27, 9, 12, 47 n 155, 114, 117, 126

166 Index of Proper Names

Jahānārā (Šah Jehān‘s beloved daughter), Kulke, Hermann, - 78 n 265, 85 n 287, 96 n –8 320, 101 n 332 Jalandar Šāh (prince of Hunza), – 7 Gorā Kumbhār (Maharashtrian saint), – 112 Janārdana-svāmī (guru of Ekanāth), – 28, Kunte, B. G., – 68 n 216, 70-71 and note 44, 45 n 138, 93 n 305, 179 220, 92 n 304, 101 and note 330 Jehāngīr (Mughal emperor), – 7-8 Nāganātha Guṇḍubuvā Kuruḍe, – 21 n 79, 30 Jettmar, Karl, – 5 notes 39 and 40, 137 n 397 Laddu, S.D., 44 n 133 Jinnah, Muhammad Ali, – xix and note 21 Lakṣmaṇ (brother of Rāma), – 94 Śrī Sant Jnāneśvar, – xxviii, 15, 28, 32 n 104, (Šayḫ) La’l Šāhbāz Qalandar, – 32 n 101 80-82, 88 n 294, 92, 96-97, 111-112, 134 Laila and Majnūn (legendary lovers in Mus- Kabīr (Hindu-Muslim saint), – 10, 31, 33 n lim tradition), 52 and note 181 107, 37 n 116, 112, 161 Lanman, Charles Rockwell, – 94 n 306 Kalaburg, M.M., – 67 n 210 Lassy, Ivar, – 68 n 213, 99 n 323 Kāniph Nāth / Śāh Ramzān / Kānhoba, – xx- viii, 10, 22 n 81, 23-28 and notes 86 and 88, Lawrence, Bruce B., – 12 n 56 78-79, 82-90 and notes 275, 279, 281, and Lederle, Matthew R. (Rev.), – 65 n 204 298, 97-105 and notes 321 and 327 Leonard, Karen, – 119 n 366 Keith, Arthur Berriedale, –94 n 306 Locke, John, – 105 Thomas à Kempis, see Thomas Hämmerlein Lutze, Lothar, – 13 n 57 Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali, – xvii-xviii Madhvācārya, – 89 Khaṇḍobā (Hindu folk deity), – 72 n 224, 104 and note 336, 112, 118 Mahādev (Śiva; Hindu god), – 20 n 76, 72- 73 and notes 231, 235, and 240 Kolhāpūrkar, Śadāśivarāva Śeṭe, – 17 n 67 Mahīpati, – xxvii, 11, 16 n 64, 19 n 74, 30 Kṛṣṇa (Hindu god), – 27 n 88, 80-81, 102, n 97, 32 n 102, 53-64 and notes 186, 189, 120 n 367, 131, 134 192, 194, 197, 199, and 202 Kṛṣṇa Caitanya (Hindu saint), – 53-54 Mahmood, Tahir, – 6 n 44 Khome, Sudhakar, – 78 and note 265 Majnūn and Laila (legendary lovers in Mus- Khẉāja Khidr/Khiẓr, – 27 n 86, 133 lim tradition), see Laila and Majnūn

Kulkarni, A.R., - 112 n 356, 119 n 366, 120 Makhdūm Faqī Alī Parū (patron saint of n 368 Mumbai police), 130, 132 and note 388, Kulkarni, V.D., – 41 133-134, 142

167 Well Articulated Better Paths

Malik, Aditya, – 13 n 57 Muhammad, The Prophet (S.), – xi, xii, xiv n 10, 3 n 35, 66 Malik, Fateh Muhammad, xxiii (Šayḫ) Muḥammad Ġaus of Gwalior, – Mallison, Françoise, – 29 n 90 xviii-xix, 4, 121 and note 370 Malinowski, Bronislav, – 91 Muhammad, Ghulam, 137 n 397 Māne, Narāyaṇ Koṇḍibā, – 76, 182 (Śekh) Mahaṃmadbābā Śrīgondekar, – 44- Manwaring, Alfred (Rev.), – 73 45 and note 140, 47, 50 Margvā (Hindu folk goddess), – 71 Rāje Mahaṃmad, – 44 Marriott, McKim, – 85 and note 285 Muḥammad Šah Rāṅgīlā (dissipated Mu- ghal emperor), – 8 Maulavi, ‘Abdu’l Walī, – 120 n 367 Muhammad bin Tughlug, – 18 McLeod, W. H., – 10 n 52 (Khwājah) Mu’īn’ud-dīn Čišti (Ajmer), – xiii, Cokhā Meḷā (Maharashtrian bhakti saint), 112, 117, 141 – 112 Mujeeb, Muhammad, – xv n 12, 13 n 58, 14 Mhākvā (Hindu folk goddess), – 71 n 60, 28 n 89, 29 n 90 Mills, Margaret, – 91 and note 300 Müller-Stellrecht, Irmtraud, – 5 n 39, 7 n 47 Mines, Diana – 91 and note 300 Musharraf, Pervez (General), – xxi, xxii Mirābāī (Rajasthan woman saint), – 112 Nādir Šāh (emperor of Iran), – 8 (Šayḫ) Mīr Dard (Sufi of Delhi), – 142 Nādirā Begum (wife of Dārā Šikūh) – 8 Mirīkar, N. Y., – 81 and note 273 Naeemi, Sarfraz (Mufti Dr.), – xx-xxi (Šayḫ) Mirza Janjanan Mazhar (Sufi of Del- Nāmdev (Maharashtrian bhakti saint), –15, hi), – 120 n 367 112 (Šayḫ) Miyāñ Mīr (Lahore), 8, 132 n 389 Nandimath, S.C., – 57 n 192, 118 Moholkar, V. S., – 18 (Šayḫ) Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i Delhī/Nāgnāth, – Moholkar, Śaṅkar Nānābuvā, – 30 14-21, and notes 71, 73, 76, 30 and notes 93 and 95, 31, 33, 38, 39, note 120, 40, 112, Molesworth, James Thomas, – 49 n 171 118, 178 Moses (the Prophet, A.S.), – xii, 127, 129, Seṇṭ Nikolas (Saint Nicholas), – 112, 118 133 Nicholson, Reynold Alleyne, – 107 n 347, Mṛtyunjaya-svāmī/Śānta Bāhmaṇī, – 30 n 113 n 358 197, 32 n 102, 54-58 and notes 187-190 and 192-193, 62 n 199, 64 (Šayḫ) Ni’mat-Ullah Abdallah of Kirmān, – 34 Tānsen,– xix (Šayḫ) Nizā̤m ud-Dīn Awaliyā Maḥbūb-i-

168 Index of Proper Names

Ilāhī (Delhi), xiv, note 10, xviii, 7, 8, 13, note Rama Rao, N.T., – 91 58, 14, 22, 23, 25, note 85, 40, 66, 84, note 279, 112, 118, 141 Rām Dās (guru of Śivājī), – 104-106 Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, – see Khan, Nusrat Ramsey, Charles, – xi n 1 Fateh Ali Śāh Ramzān / Kāniph Nāth / Kānhoba, – xvi, Oberhammer, Gerhard, – 85 n 284 97-98, 101-103, 184-185 O’Connell, J.T., – 53-54 and note 184 Rathod, Motiraj, – 104 n 339 Pagaḍī, Setu Mādhavrāv, – 22 and note 82, Rāvaṇa (enemy of god Rāma), – 92, 94 23 and notes 83 and 84, 27 and notes 87 Rayanna, P. (S.J.), – 4 n 38 and 88, 68 n 216, 71 and note 221, 87 n 293, 88-89, 100-101 and notes 327 and Reṇukā (Hindu folk goddess), – 20 328, 122 n 372, 125 n 373 Paul Ricoeur, – 85 and note 283 Paraśurāma (Hindu god), – 73 Rizvi, Sayid Athar Abbas, – 3 n 35, 12 n 56 Paṭhāṇa, Yusufakhāna Mahaṃmadakhāna, Rudra (Vedic storm god), – 94 – 17 and note 65, 29 and notes 90 and 91, 30 n 93 Sabri, Ghulam Farid, – xviii Pinault, David, – 66 n 207, 68-69 and notes Sabri, Maqbul Ahmad, – xviii 215 and 217, 91 n 302, 100 n 325 Safdar ‘Alī (prince of Hunza), – 7 Pocock, David, – xxv, xxviii Sālār Masūd Ghāzī Miyāñ (Sufi saint of Bah- (Sant) Puṇḍalīk (Paṇḍharpūr), 131-132 raich), – 6 and note 44 Qāsim ibn Ḥasan, – 67-71 and note 219, 99- Šāh Jehān (Mughal emperor), – xv, 8”; 101 and note 329 Sahasrabuddhe (Hindu saint of Puṇe), – (Šayḫ) Quṭb ud-Dīn Bakhtiyār-i-Kākī, – xiii, 6 112, 118 and note 45, 12, 84 n 279, 141 Sant Sakhū (woman saint of Maharashtra), Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa (the divine lovers of Hin- – 135 duism), – 131 Śamanā Mirā (Maharashtrian saint), – 112, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, – 43 118 Rāghavendrasvāmī (Hindu saint), – 87-89 (Šayḫ) Shamsu’d-dīn Tabrizī, – 117 and note 293 Šams-i-Tālib (Sufi saint of upper Hunza), – 7 Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahaṃsa (guru of Svāmī Vivekānanda), - 112 Jagūḷ Satyavā (‘Sweet Jaggery, Speaker of Truth’), – 75-76 Rāmānuja (Hindu philosopher), – 39 n 124, 44 Sayyid Šāh Walī’ (Sufi saint of Nager), – 5 Ramanujan, A. K., – 77 n 260, 85 and note Sayyid us-Sādāt Sayyid Nizām̤ ud-Dīn Idrīs 286, 101-102 and note 333 al-Ḥusainī (Muslim saint of Paiṭhaṇ), – 84

169 Well Articulated Better Paths

Schimmel, Annemarie, – xiv n 10, xv n 11, 90 n 298, 97 n 321, 98 n 322, 100 n 327, 1 n 30, 9 n 49, 12 n 56, 32 n 101, 52 n 181, 104 n 337, 107, 115, 131 n 383 and 384 131 and note 384, 142 n 405 Somaṇa, G. R. “Bāpūrāva”, – 45 n 140, 94 Schmithausen, Lambert, – 43 n 132 n 307 Schömbucher, Elisabeth, – 1 n 30, 82 n 275 Sontheimer, Günther- Dietz, – xxviii, 67 notes 210-212, 72 n 224, 76, 78 n 265, 83 Schomer, Karin, – 10 n 52 and note 287, 96 and note 320, 161 n 332, Schröder, Christel Matthias, – 1 n 30, 94 n 102 and note 334, 103 and note 335, 104 306 n 336 Schwerin, Kerrin Gräfin von, – 6 n 44 Stietencron, Heinrich von, – 101 n 332 Settar, S., – 67 notes 210 and 211 Taseer, Salmaan, – xx-xxi Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfi’ī (Muslim Swynnerton, Charles (Rev.), – 2 doctor of law), – 118 Sir Richard Temple, – 69 Sharif, Ja’far (Šarīf, Ja’far) – 5 n 41, 67 n 209, Thackeray, Bal, – 105 99 notes 323 and 324, 117 Thapar Romila, – 88-89 Sherwani, Haroon Khan, – 119 n 366 Thompson, John B., – 85 n 283 Shyam, Radhey, – 119 n 366 Ṭiḷak, Bal Gangadhār, – 100 Siddhaliṅga-svāmī, – xxvii, 21 and note 79, 30-38 and notes 97, 108, 109, 116, 41 and Tīmūr Lane, – 67 note 127 Trimingham, J. Spencer, – 34 n 110, 125 n Siddhaliṅga, Viśvanātha Svāmī, - 21 n 79, 373 30-31 Troll, Christian W., – 6 n 44, 78 n 262 Yoginder Sikand, - xxvi-xxvii, xxix Sant Tukārām, – 16, 54, 96, 106 Singh, Rājā Mān, – 66 Tukvā (Hindu folk goddess), – 71 Sītā (wife of god Rāma), – 94 Tulpule, Shankar Gopal, – 16 n 64, 21 and Śiva (Hindu god), – 19-20 and note 73, 29- note 80, 30 n 97, 32 n 103, 41, 45 n 138, 55 31 and note 97, 31, 33 n 108, 48 n 162, 49 n 188, 58 n 194, 60 n 197, 88 n 294, 105 n and notes 171, 172, and 174, 56, 57 n 192, 342, 121 n 371, 134 n 392 67, 80, 82 n 275, 87, 90, 95 n 312, 118, 178, 182 Tulsīdās (north Indian bhakti saint), – 112 Śivājī (Bhonsle), – 104-106 Turner, Victor, – xxvii, 90 and note 298, 131-132 and note 387 Skyhawk, Hugh van, – xiv n 10, xx n 23, xxiv, xxvii-xxviii, 3 n 34, 44 notes 133-135, 45 n Uddhavacidgana, – 16 139, 48 n 166, 50 n 180, 52 n 181, 77-78 Unbescheid, Günter, – 104 n 336 and note 267, 82 n 275, 83 n 277, 86 n 288,

170 Index of Proper Names

Van der Veer, Peter, – 78 n 263 Yallamā (Hindu folk goddess), – 71-76 Vassanji, M. J., – xxvi, xxix Yazdani, Ghulam, – 34 n 110, 50 n 179, 52 n 182, 58 n 193, 120 n 369 Varma, Pavan K, – 6 n 45 Yekvā (Hindu folk goddess), – 71 Sādhu Vāsvānī (Hindu saint of Puṇe), – 112, 118 Yoga-Māyā (Hindu folk goddess), – 6 Vaudeville, Charlotte, – 10 n 52, 33 n 107, Henry Yule, – 76 37 n 116 Yusuf ‘Ādīl Šāh (Sultan of Bijapur), – 66 Vetāḷ (leader of the bāvan vīr, the malevo- lent ‘52 heroes’), – 83 Zardari, Asif Ali (President of Pakistan), – xx Index of Proper Names Vetschera, Traude, – 78 and note 265 Zardari, Bilalal, – xx Vidye, G.N., - 86 n 290, 87 (Šayḫ) Zayn al-Dīn Dā’ūd Shīrāzī, – 8 (Svāmī) Vivekānanda, – 112 Zelliot, Eleanor, – 77 n 260, 109 n 351 Viṭhṭhala (Hindu god), – 67, 135 Zingel Avé-Lallemant, Stephanie, – 53 Wagle, N.K., – 53 n 184, 78 and note 265 Zohrā Bībī (legendary blind girl), – 6 Wengoborski, Sonja, – 131 n 383 Zoller, Claus Peter, – 1 n 30, 82 n 275 Wezler, Albrecht, – 3 n 34 Zoroaster, – 127 Wink, André, – 119 n 365 Zuljanā (Ḥusain ibn ‘Alī’s [R.] noble steed), – 68, 100 (Saint) Francis Xavier, – 4 n 38

171

Index of Place Names

Index of Place Names

Ahmadnagar, Maharashtra, – 66, 68, 79, Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, – 6, 155 80-81, 88, 92 Básim, Hyderabad State, – 79 Ahmadnagar district, – 68, 79, 92, 162 Basra, Iraq, – 116 Ajmer, – 6, 84, 112, 117, 141 Bhiṭ, Punjab, – 142 Ajodhān, Punjab, – 13, 84, 141 Bīḍ district, Maharashtra, – 71 Akkalkoṭ, Maharashtra, – 112, 118 Bidar, Andhra Pradesh, – 50, 54, 58, 60, Āḷandī, Maharashtra, – xvi, 97 99, 120 Allāhābād, – 22 Bījāpūr, Karnataka, – 14, 16 Arabia, –129, 136 Bodhegaon, District Ahmadnagar, Taluka Aurangabad, Maharashtra, – 8, 68, 70, 92 Shevgaon, Maharashtra, – 92 Aurangabad district, – 70-71, 101, 162 Bolhegāv, suburb of Ahmadnagar, Maha- rashtra, – 88 Azerbeijan, – 68, 99, 155 Bombay (Mumbāī), – 20, 27, 55, 65, 81-82, Baghdad, – 116, 120, 138 100, 125, 132, 154, 162 Balkans, – 104-105 Burhānpūr, Madhya Pradesh, – 84 Bamman-vaḍī (near Kalyāṇ, Maharash- Cāḷisgāv, Dt. Ahmadnagar, Maharashtra, tra), – 138, 143 –121

Banaras/Vāraṇāsi, – 22, 65 Cāmbhārgond, Maharashtra, – 54

173 Well Articulated Better Paths

Chikmagalur, Karnataka, – xv Iran, – 22, 66, 99 Daulatābād, Maharashtra, – 18, 23, 44, 84 Kaḷvā near Ṭhāṇā, Maharashtra, – 87, 88

Deccan, – 14, 17, 19, 29, 55, 66, 100, 107, Kalyāṇ, Maharashtra, – 16, 81-82, 136 119, 120, 141, 165 Karbalā, Iraq, – 65, 67, 70-71, 76, 100 Degāv, Dt. Solāpūr, Maharashtra, –18 Karnataka, – xv, 78, 87, 100 Dehū, Maharashtra, – 96 Kargah Nulla near Gilgit, Karakoram, – 137 Delhi, – xvii, 1, 3, 5-6, 10, 12, 32, 38, 40, 57, 66-67, 82, 125, 155, 162 Kasbā Peṭh in Puṇe, – 18 Dhārvāḍ, Maharashtra, – 16 Kashmir, – 5 Dive Ghāṭ, near Haḍapsar, Puṇe, – 82 Kāṭguṇ, Sātārā District, Maharashtra, – 82 Ellore, Kistna District, Madras Kazi Peth (Qāẓī Peṭh), Andhra Pradesh, – 7, Presidency,–99 118, 130, 135, 140, 192 Euphrates (river), – 67-68 Kirmān, Iran, – 44-45, 50, 58, 99 Fatehpur Sikri, – 7 Kolába (south of Mumbai), – 80 Gaṅgā (river), – 33, 84, 105 Kolhāpūr, Maharashtra, – 7, 16, 18-19, 82 Garbhāgirī, Dt. Ahmadnagar, Koṅkaṇ, Maharashtra, – 136 Maharashtra, – 81 Lahore, – 8, 68, 148 Guruvār Peṭh, Puṇe, – 81 Madras state, – xiii Ghulmét, Nagér (Karakoram), – 5 Maḍhī, Maharashtra, – xvi, 10, 26-27, 81- Gilgit, – 4-5, 137, 153, 156 83, 98, 101, 103-104, 154, 181-185 Goa, – 4 Maharashtra state, – 68, 71, 79, 92, 100- 101, 122, 156 Godāvarī River, – 83 Mahīm, precinct of Mumbāī, – 130, 132 Gojal region of Hunza, – 7, 9 Makanpūr, Dt. Kānpūr, Uttar Pradesh, – 132 Gujarat, – xiv Malaṅggaḍ (`Fortress of the Fakir´; Gulbarga, – 9, 16, 18, 82, 112, 130, 141, 145 near Kalyāṇ, Maharashtra), – 136-137 Gwalior, – 4 Mānūr, Dt. Bīḍ, Maharashtra, – 16 Haiderābād, Deccan, – 22 Marāţhvāḍa, Maharashtra, –120 Heidelberg, Germany, – xxiii-xiv, 4 n 38, 41, 43 n 129, 78, 131 n 383 Mārḍī, Dt. Solāpūr, Maharashtra, – 18 Indūr, Madhya Pradesh, – 16 Mecca, – 19, 90

174 Mehrauli, south Delhi, – 6 Ran of Kutch, – 8 Mīraj, Maharashtra, –118 Ruh, Afghanistan, – 25 Modīkhānā, Muslim precinct of Puṇe, – 15 Sarakhs, Punjab, – 28 Mohoḷ, Dt. Solāpūr, Maharashtra, – 16-20, Saundatti Hill, Karnataka, – 74, 76 38, 178 Savantwadi (near Ratnagiri), Maharashtra, Muḷgund, Maharashtra, – 16 – 55 Narenda, Dt. Kolhapur, Maharashtra, Šāh Ganj precinct of Aurangabad, – 138 – 9, 16, 18-19, 82 Shevgaon, Dt. Ahmadnagar, Maharashtra, Orcha, Bundelkhand, – 8 – 79 Paiṭhaṇ, Maharashtra, – xv, 16, 22, 24, 26, Siffin, Arabia, – 136 45, 61-62, 93, 96-98, 101-103, 185 Solāpūr, Maharashtra, – 15-17, 20, 28, 60 Palmerston North, New Zealand, – xiii, 82 Sistān (region of Iran), – 22 Paṇḍharpūr, Maharashtra, – xvi, 67, 97, 90, 106, 135, Surat, Gujarat, – 78, 161 Panīpāt, Haryana, – 125 Ṭhāṇa, near Mumbāī, – 121

Panna, Madhya Pradesh, – xiv Vaḍvaḷ, Dt. Solāpūr, Maharashtra, – 16, 18- 20, Páthardi, Dt. Ahmadnagar, Maharashtra, Vimān-ṭekaḍī – 79 (hillock in Mohoḷ, Dt. Solāpūr, Maharashtra), 19, note 73 Phond Ghat, Savantwadi (near Ratnagiri), Maharashtra, – 55 Wāī, Dt. Sātārā, Maharashtra, – 15 Pondichery (Tamil: Puducherry), – 86 Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, – 7, 118, 135- 136, 138, 192 Rājevāḍī, near Jejurī, Dt. Puṇe, - 82

175

Plates

A Note on Death and the Holy Man in South Asia

A.–C. Hindus and Muslims raising the cannon ball of Qamar Ali Derwish with their fingers; young devotee’s ‘leap to faith’; Muslim family at dargāh; Shivapur, Dt. Pune, May 1990.

177 Well Articulated Better Paths

178 Plates

Hindu-Muslim Syncretism in the Folk Literature of the Deccan A.–C. When pilgrims touch ‘Lord Horseshoe’ to the top of the temple devotees become possessed and some demand to be whipped; Maḍhī, Dt. Ahmadnagar, April 1990.

179 Well Articulated Better Paths

Pīr-Worship and Śiva-Bhakti in the Nāgeś Saṃpradāya A.– C. Vimān tekaḍī, boulder on which Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i-Delhī landed to rescue the Brahmin Hegras-svāmī; Nasīruddīn Čirāġ-i-Delhī’s grave in Mohoḷ; devotees of Nāgnāth in Vaḍvāḷ; Dt. Solapur, August 1983.

180 Plates

Ethical Implications of the Mahāvākyas in the Literature of the Cānd Bodhale Circle (Marāṭhvāḍā, 1550–1650) A.-D. The invincible fortress of Daulatabad; view from underneath the Cānd Minār; the sel- dom visited dargāh of Cānd Bodhale; the padukā (sacred foot impressions) of Janārdana– svāmī, Daulatabad, August 1986.

181 Well Articulated Better Paths

182 Plates

Vaiṣṇava Perceptions of Muslims in 18th Century Maharashtra A.-C. Lingāyat holy man (jaṅgam) blows traditional horn in veneration of Sufi pīr Tigh Barahna (Saiyid Husām al-Dīn Tigh Barahna, d. 1281 AD); malaṅg calls Tigh Barahna to come out of his grave (mazār) and show himself; women devotees of Āllāma Prabhū (Ah- mad Šāh Walī) gather for bhajans (devotional songs); Gulbarga, August 1986.

183 Well Articulated Better Paths

Muharram Processions and Heroes in the Pre-Modern Deccan A. Dhangar shepherd Narāyaṇ Koṇḍibā Māne (Dt. Kolhapur); B. and E. Shiite alams on roadside, August 1990 (10 Muharram 1411); C. Hero stone (vīra-gal) with apsaras carrying slain hero to Śiva’s heaven; D. Hero stone pasted golden with haldī.

184 Plates

185 Well Articulated Better Paths

Holding together the World: Lokasaṃgraha in the Cult of a Hindu/ Muslim Saint and Folk Deity of the Deccan A.-F. Fakirs portraying Husain (left) and Hasan (right) at Kāniph Nāth pañcāmī in Maḍhī; Muslim devotees of Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān; donkey bazaar of the Vardārī and Beldār castes (stone-splitters, rat-catchers); two nomadic Lambārī women at Kāniph Nāth pañcāmī; mazār (grave) of Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān; at the foot of the steps to Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān’s dargāh/temple; April 1990.

186 Plates

Cleansing and Renewing the Field for Another Year: Pro- cessions between Holy Places as Networks of Reflexivity A-K. Vārkarī diṇḍī on the road between Maḍhī and Paiṭhaṇ; leader of the Vārkarī diṇḍī; a descendent of Śrī Sant Ekanāth in the thirteenth generation on the doorstep of Ekanāth’s vāḍā; dargāh of Paiṭhaṇ’s Niẓām ud-Dīn, the guru of Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān; procession of devotees of Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān visit the dargāh of Paiṭhaṇ’s Niẓām ud-Dīn to obtain the hukm (order) of Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān’s guru before proceeding to Maḍhī for the Kāniph Nāth pañcāmī (Kāniph Nāth’s ‘Dark Fifth’); when devotees touch the ‘Lord Horseshoe’ on the tips of their jheṇḍe (flagpoles) to Niẓām ud-Dīn’s mazār they become possessed; Vārkarī diṇḍī arrives at Paiṭhaṇ for Ekanāth-ṣaṣṭī (Ekanāth’s ‘Dark Sixth’); in a sketch performed in Ekanāth’s house that night a devotee of Ekanāth pretends to be a possessed devotee of Kāniph Nāth/Śāh Ramzān while fellow devotees laugh and pretend to restrain him; April 1990.

187 Well Articulated Better Paths

188 Plates

189 Well Articulated Better Paths

The Heart of Religion: A Sufi’s Thoughts on the Relations between Religious Communities A.-G. Every evening at sunset the door of the astānāye Biyābānī was opened for devo- tees to enter the sacred space of the pīr; the gādī of Sayyid Maḥmūdśāh Biyābānī, Śekh Biyābānī’s guru; Baśīr Ahmadśāh Biyābānī, Śekh Biyābānī’s son, purifies thegādī of Sayyid Maḥmūdśāh Biyābānī; Śekh Biyābānī fans air to his guru, who, he believes, sits on the gādī to receive devotees; the first devotee supplicates himself before Sayyid Maḥmūdśāh Biyābānī; Hindu devotees listen intently to Śekh Biyābānī’s teachings; Sister Zainab, Śekh Biyābānī’s successor, always sat apart; women receive tabarūq/prasād from the gādī of Sayyid Maḥmūdśāh Biyābānī 1985-1986.

190 Plates

191 Well Articulated Better Paths

192 Plates

Songs of Women at Sufi Shrines in the Deccan A.-F. Women bring their babies for blessing to the dargāh of ‘Aẓam Šāh Biyābānī in the Šāh Ganj precinct of Aurangabad; women singing a cradle song (jhūlā) while showing a babies to the pīr; the young Bībī Fātima [sic] (standing), is possessed by Fātima̤ bint Muḥammad [R.] and is considered to be an oracle in Kazi Peth, Dt. Warangal, Andhra Pradesh; the mazār of Qamar Ali Derwish, Shivapur, Dt. Pune, with coloured threads tied by women on its posts (see detail) to remind the pīr to grant their appeals for help; woman takes refuge at the dargāh of Divān Šāh Walī outside the fort of Mysore.

193 Well Articulated Better Paths

194 Plates

195 About the author Hugh van Skyhawk’s From April 2007 to retrospective collection April 2013 Hugh van of articles is a reminder Skyhawk was profes- of the rich heritage of sor of comparative religion at the Taxila Hindu-Muslim, folk-lit- Institute of Asian Civ- erate, syncretism that ilizations, Quaid-i- still persists in the Sub- Azam University, continent, but is threat- Islamabad, and since July 2001, associate ened by religious professor of Indology (Privatdozent) at the Institute of Indology, Johannes Guten- hard-liners on both berg University, Mainz. sides and by monolithic H. van Skyhawk and shepherd at the top of Lohagad (fort), trends of modernisa- Dt. Pune, May 1990. In 2008 van Skyhawk was awarded the tion. Peace Prize of the Belgian-Pakistani NGO Institute of Peace and Development (IN- In a set of articles filled with extraordinarily rich ethnographic detail, van Sky- SPAD), in February 2012 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Rotary Club Inter- hawk has laid out the indisputable facts of a close and intimate relationship be- national for „Service to Humanity”, in De- tween Muslims and Hindus and, as well, between Sūfīs and yogis, revealing a cember 2012 the gold medal of the close and mutually fertilizing interchange between the followers of the two tra- National Defense University (NDU), Islam- ditions. This is a relationship dating well before the time of the famous six- abad, and again in December 2012 the teenth-century Marathi poet-saint Eknāth, whose spiritual affiliation to both “Special Recognition Award” of the Ro- Sūfī and Hindu traditions has been made more widely known by contemporary tary Club Islamabad, Metropolitan for contributions to the prosperity and stabil- Maharashtrian scholars. ity of Pakistan. In 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 he lectured in the parliament of Two figures from an earlier period than Eknāth’s, Siddhaliṅga-svāmī and the Federal Republic of Germany (Bun- Ajñānasiddha, are introduced early in the collection, who in their verses reveal destag) on the situation in Pakistan. Van a close relationship between Sūfī and yogic traditions, which van Skyhawk traces Skyhawk’s most recent major publication is Masters of Understanding: German meticulously. Furthermore, he has performed a great service is giving extensive Scholars in the Hindu Kush and Karako- translations of their verses. In these verses, and those from the eighteenth-cen- ram, 1955-2005, Islamabad [Quaid-i- tury biographer, Mahīpati, van Skyhawk discerns two themes underlying the Azam University], 2009. His most recent saint-poets’ depictions of the social harmony of the mediæval Deccan, namely, article is “A Garden amidst the Flames: “the perception of community as not being limited to one’s own religious com- The Categorical Imperative of Sufi Wis- munity ... [and] the belief that true spiritual experience transcends the empirical dom”, in: Bennett, Clinton, and Ramsey, Charles (eds.), South Asian Sufis. Devo- categories of 'Hindu' and 'Muslim'”, to which might be added, the categories tion, Deviation, Destiny, London [Contin- 'Liṅgāyat', 'yogī' etc. uum Books], 2012: 233-246.