The difference between a paṇḍit and a wise man: a study of Bengali songs as literature against literature Carola Erika Lorea IIAS Research Fellow, Netherlands [email protected] ABSTRACT From the 18th century until present, Bauls and Fakirs of Bengal composed a rich and variegated literary corpus that has fascinated and inspired several Bengali novelists, poets and intellectuals. Nevertheless, Baul and Fakir practitioners hold written literature in very low esteem: written texts are 'just for paṇḍits', while songs represent the only authoritative transmission of knowledge, together with the gurus' speech. Both Baul songs and their gurus' teachings share a similar language, highly polysemic, humorous and paradoxical, characterized by the literary device known in Tantric literature as sandhyā bhāṣā. How to study religious texts, when these are represented by a fluctuating repertoire of oral literature, composed by ecstatic saint-songwriters and performed by itinerant musicians? In this paper I discuss my methodological contribution to the study of esoteric literature within and beyond the borders of Bengal, based upon a contextual study of the songs' lyrics implemented through an ethnography of oral exegesis. Adopting a performance- centered approach, by which sacred songs are seen as 'events' rather than 'texts', this perspective integrates within the study of South Asian literatures the dimensions of reception and oral literary criticism. The motionless reality of a printed text is thus brought into life, where it interacts with the dynamism of a living culture, the vibrant rhythm of the performers' ankle-bells and the diverging interpretations of the listeners. Introduction From pre-modern Bengal, a number of unorthodox and non-institutionalized religious movements arose out of the encounter between Buddhist Sahajiya, Nath, Vaishnava Sahajiya and Sufi practitioners.www.culturalstudies.in The so-called 'Tantric minstrels' and 'mystic troubadours' of contemporary Bengal emerged from this religious substratum, which is antinomian, esoteric, and essentially Tantric. They are commonly known under the umbrella name of Bauls or Fakirs and their religious beliefs as well as body-centered practices provoke scandal and scorn among the conservative Hindu and Muslim establishments. For instance, Bauls do not recognize any artificial discrimination among men, such as caste and religious identity, and they do not apply the rules of pollution and ritual purity prescribed by the orthodoxy. Their practices involve ritualized sexual intercourse, the intake of bodily fluids for both spiritual and medical reasons and the consumption of marijuana. From the 20th century, the enormous corpus of literature produced by Bauls became extremely representative of the Bengali culture within and beyond the Bengal borders. The Nobel prize Rabindranath Tagore took inspiration for several of his songs from Baul images, metaphors, tunes; in one of his plays – Phālgun - he represented himself in the role of an old wise Baul (the artist Abanindranath Tagore made a portrait of Tagore dressed up as a Baul during his performance). The famous novelist Sunil Ganguly, who passed away in 2012, centered one of his most popular novels (Maner Ṃanuṣ, 2008) around the character of Lalon Fakir, the famous composer who is known as the “emperor of Bauls”. As a result of his journeys through West Bengal, also the American Beat poet Allen Ginsberg has been heavily influenced by Bauls and their lyrics.1 Despite the privileged position of honour of Baul literature among writers and scholars, Bauls themselves have a very merciless opinion about printed literature. A verse of the saint-songwriter Bhaba Pagla (1902-1984) who was a Guru to many Bauls and a composer of Baul songs that are still extremely popular among Bauls says: “Yata khuṃjbi hāriẏe yābi / bai pustak Caṇḍī Gīt”, lit. the more you search in books and texts, such as Caṇḍī and Gīta2, the more you lose (or you get lost). The texts he is referring to probably represent the most renowned 'sacred scriptures' among Bengali Hindus: Caṇḍī is the colloquial name of the Devi Mahatmiya and Gīta is the short form of Bhagavad Gīta. This verse is particularly emblematic because it reflects the common approach of Baul and Fakir texts and textreligiouspractitioners towards texts and textreligiouspractitioners - knowledge. In the contemporarybased repertoire of songs transmitted among Baul and Fakir practitioners, there are infinite examples of verses that contest the validity of sacred texts, particularly referring to the Veda and the Quran. Through those verses, the practitioners disseminate their belief in a search for divine knowledge that is attained through sādhanā, the body-centred practice for self- realization that one learns from the Guru and from other experienced disciples. Just to quote one more verse as an example, in a well-known song attributed to Lalon Fakir (?-1890) we hear: “Tiriś pātā Kurānkhāni – lekhā āche Nabijir bāṇi / Ābār sei bāṇi ki mithyā hate pāre re ...” (tr. The Quran made of thirty pages - the message of the Prophet is written on it / again, this message can also be false …). This verse refers to the highly valued concept, among Bauls, that truth cannot be revealed from outside, but it should be experienced internally, hence sacred texts are of no help for the path towards self-realization. Secondly, it refers to the idea, transmitted among esoteric practitioners, that the Quran that is taught by the maulavis, the Islamic theologians, is made of 30000 words, although the real Quran in its entirety is made of 90000 words: the remaining 60000 are secret, they are not available on any written text and should be learned orally from a Guru, or Murśid.3 To this short selection of examples, I add an evidence that comes from my four year field-work experience in West Bengal, where I collected oral texts and oral exegeses from Baul and Fakir practitioners, particularly from the devotees and disciples of Bhaba Pagla. The Murśid from whom I was learning about Islamic esoteric teachings, seeing my propensity towards studying books and spending a lot of time reading, often used to warn me with a common saying among esoteric practitioners: through books, you can become very erudite (paṇḍit), but you cannot become a wise or knowledgeable person (jñānī). A paṇḍit is a high- caste expert in Sanskrit scriptures and doctrinal texts: he knows the mantras and the formulas needed to officiatewww.culturalstudies.in orthodox rituals. But this has nothing to do with wisdom. This attitude reflects a well-known tendency historically mirrored in the literary genres diffused among bhakti movements and in the Siddhas' literature. For instance, in the words of the Telugu poet Dhurjati: “I have recited the Vedas and the Shastras. But my doubts have not been answered, even as much as a mustard seed sat down next to a pumpkin!” (Shelling 2011: 63). If the attitude towards religious texts is so merciless, then which literature is accepted as an authoritative source of religious knowledge by Bauls?4 Regarding this matter, another Baul proverb comes in handy in order to understand the importance accorded to songs as opposed to sacred scriptures: gāne jñān, in songs there is wisdom, or, through songs wisdom is attained. They constitute the oral encyclopedia of Bauls' beliefs and inclinations, a rich assortment that works as a source of learning, teaching, amusing, entertaining, earning and propagating. They reflect a deeply rooted South Asian tradition by which sacred sound (be it the speculation on nāda, the soteriological efficacy of mantra, japā silent recitation or the singing of inspired verses) constitutes “the nucleic substance of salvific activity, and the vital yet inexplicable nexus between temporal life and eternal beatitude” (Beck 1995: 406). Some scholars on Bauls defined Baul songs as śāstras (Jha 1999: 397), because they validate, reiterate and transmit Bauls' principles about cosmology, soteriology, ethics, practice, psycho- physiology and much more. Whereas they do not recognize the authority of any fixed written canon, Bauls consider songs a legitimate source of knowledge (gāne jñān), and a kind of sādhanā in itself:5 equated with the achievements reached by other techniques of sādhanā, such as breath control and emptying of the mind through meditation, singing can lead to the highest degree of self-realization and ecstatic bliss (gāne siddha). In short, while the content of the songs brings the remembrance of the highest truths, the act of singing has a salvific value. I refer to Baul and Fakir songs as 'sacred' because they fulfill three basic requirements of sacred songs: 1) the music that accompanies the songs is a medium to attain ecstasy and bliss, through an intensification of pitch and rhythm that follows the patters of 'intensity'6 which characterizes religious music in India (Henry 2002). 2) The content of the songs reiterates religious tenets, beliefs and practices shared by a group.7 3) The interaction of sacred song performance and the complex realm of sacred ritual makes sacred songs 'religious' (Marini 2003: 7). In order for a song to be considered as a religious expression, this must be presented with sacred intentionality as part of effective ritual action: the song is presented as sacred activity (ibid). Baul songs, when performed in non commercial or 'staged' contexts, are subjected to regulations, religious conventions and taboos. For instance, a song is never interrupted or sang only partially: it has to be performed from the beginning to the end and it is an important requirement that the singer remembers all the lines of the song. Some songs can be performed only in a certain time of the day. Also song sequences follow particular patterns according to themes and successions of questions and answers. Instead of relying upon religious texts, Bauls' masters and preceptors encourage the practitioners to learn through śruti:8 the term conventionally refers to 'that which is heard', revealed texts, i.e. the Veda; but in the Baul speech, it is intended in the sense of listening to what the Gurus say, i.e.