The Sexual Thought of the Bauls (18+)

Rough babri hair. The bravado of the moustache. In hand the ektara and the ting-tang sound of the dugdugi. On the feet a pair of wooden kharams. Of late, sandals; on the body at times a punjabi of coarse white or ochre-threaded cloth, and on the lower body an unsewn lungi. They carry a touch of the strange about them, a little more than ordinary people. Their mind and thought, life, world and household, movement and conduct are somewhat different from the others'. Hearing a somewhat differently patterned song, one can know them — they are the Bauls. That is, ba-ul, or the yearning quest into the wind — the human being of that quest is the Baul.

The Baul doctrine is not an inherited religion. It may be taken that the source of discovering this doctrine lies in the protestant religions and social movements of India and the Middle East. Carried along in an ancient tradition through the guru-lineage and in transmission, the Baul tatta has borne itself forward. The Baul is the collective form of protestant currents against the various this-worldly, inhuman philosophies of different countries, against the superstitions entangled in religious sayings, or against socially immoral customs. The Baul doctrine was not born in the sadhana of Buddhist, Vedic, Sufi or Bamachari sages, in tantra, or in Vaishnavism or the meditation and knowledge of Vaishnava sahajiya sages. Essentially, it was born of the protest of the folk society. Even after the protest it is protest that nourishes it and keeps it alive. Charuchandra Bandyopadhyay takes the Nath pandit of the tenth century and his wife Nathi to be the earliest exponents of the Baul doctrine.

However the Bauls' origin or unfolding took place, the Bauls of Bangladesh preach philosophy in two streams: first, the Vaishnava sahajiya doctrine, and second, the Sufi doctrine. But the belief of the Bauls of these two streams arrives at one place: "All that is in the Brahma-anda is in this vessel of the body." That is, all the implications of the mysteries of nature and creation exist in our body. Again, the Bauls' way of living is of two kinds: one is the grihi (householder), two is the yogi or sannyasi (renunciant). Whatever other characteristics they may have, all Bauls practise song. The yogi or sannyasi Bauls are now rarely seen in this country. For this, the dire state of our social security is largely to blame. In our country the number of grihi Bauls is greater. They live mostly in the northern and southern regions of the country. Hindu or Muslim, whatever religion the Bauls belong to, there is no religious rift among them. Both are clean and calm, and they keep together. They avoid any social quarrel. They prefer a simple and easy life. They hold to reasonableness, but not to disputation or argument. Religious-fanatic maulanas are the Bauls' enemies. In the thirties of the thirteenth century of the Bengali era, the Bauls faced strong opposition from them. In Jessore, Rajshahi and Kushtia, the practice of Baul sadhana gained momentum because of Rabindranath Tagore, Bijoy Sarkar, Pagla Kanai, Gagan Harkara, the great-souled Lalon and Kangal Harinath Majumdar. Yet it would not be right to belittle the influence of Sufism here either. The influence of Sufism came to this region through the pirs and mashayeks.

Some hold that the Baul stream's source has come from bindu sadhana. That is, the Baul doctrine has come transformed from bindu sadhana. Bindu, hawa, niranjan, pran-pakhi — that one little pouch has many such names. And to control ira, pingala-nari and susumna, and thereby hold the power of virya, is the chief aim and object of Baul sadhana. But along with this bindu, four more things must be kept in restrained order. Yet they cannot be abandoned at will. They are: rajas, mala, mutra and virya. In the Bauls' view these are, in their language, the chari chandra (four moons). These are reckoned as symbols of air, water and fire. The Bauls believe that the human body is built of these things. So as the subject matter of sadhana these are indeed important. The Baul stream holds further that long life and release from illness can be attained if the things created by the body are returned to the body. From the sum of the four moons — rajas, mala, mutra and virya — the Bauls make a kind of little pill looking like papaya seeds, named prem bhanga, and keep it regularly in the mouth. The Bauls believe that because of this pill they do not suffer complicated ailments. They believe further that to gain release from long-lasting and complicated diseases, drinking women's breast milk brings good results. Indeed, by drinking this milk one can hold on to youth for a long time. But whatever else, the Bauls' life runs on their bhakti-faith and the performance of the songs of deha-tatta (body philosophy). Hidden in the words and tunes of their songs lie their religious knowledge, beliefs and duties. The words of the Bauls' songs are quite unfathomable. Successful in guru-sadhana, they can realize the sadhana-tatta of these songs. Through guru-sadhana the disciple's formation is possible. When this formation occurs, it is reckoned as the way of the soul's release from the body.

Without a sangini the Baul stream is altogether empty. As husband and wife, or as chosen sangini, they perform the Baul philosophy and all their activities. In the folk religions children may be born. In the Baul stream there is no place for the birth of children. Childless sadhak Bauls are of the highest reverence in the Baul stream. If the Vaishnava-Vaishnavis have children, they have no right to dwell in the akhra. But while having children is not a sign of un-sainthood for the karta-bhaja adherents, the Bauls indeed worship the symbol, yet not the creation. For the flesh of animals brings blind, unjudging intense desire, anger, ferocity and the like. Eggs and meat increase desire in the human body and spread excitement. The Bauls say there is no happiness or sorrow beyond the world. There is no Allah beyond the body. Without the two, nothing is created. The Bauls remain at an intermediate position between householders and renunciants. Children, property, consumerism — they have no liking for them. Theirs is unstained sainthood and self-interest-free humanity.

The Bauls hold that if the breath can be controlled, life can be made the most enjoyable. Taking their own breath as the basis, the Bauls build their sexual life into something to be savoured. At the time of sexual union, at which side of the nasal passage the breath is flowing when and how, and at which side of the women the breath flows when the side used by the men is employed, or which side should be used — the technique and activities of this must be mastered. At the time of the discharge of the seed the flow of breath must be held back. Spending time this way, they engage again in the sexual act. Thereby they enjoy sexuality for a long while. In this, the male Bauls make the women enjoyable along with themselves.

Though the sexual life-pattern of Baul women is found similar to that of other Bengali women, in the case of the men the Baul stream shows a difference in sexual conduct. Theoretically the Bauls hold that a complete stoppage of the emission of the unchanging or fundamental substance is impossible, and that it harms the body. Without the man's fundamental substance, the women's bodies are ruined. The male Bauls think of women as a field of utmost joy. They think precisely that without women the men's Baul sadhana is altogether incomplete and useless. But in sexual pleasure the Bauls love to avoid creation. Failing to know the mystery of creation, if "unworthy" children are produced, blind, dumb, black, foolish children are created. The Bauls do not, "on opportunity", beget children at will. Their pre-planning of creation is not a blind impulse of caste-creed lust. In the Bauls' words, self-pleasure is adultery. Against the wish of self-organic satisfaction and ego-centric lust the Bauls stand. Renouncing self-pleasure, the gopi-sakhis are happy in Krishna's happiness alone. In the Bauls' sadhu-assemblies there are songs of intense attentiveness; they talk with people; this society is more attentive to bodily union and to nature. In their view there is objection to the increase of resources beyond need. The Bauls keep a watchful eye on food and intoxicants to keep their bodies in control.

In the Bauls' view, food that the human body cannot bear is haram. And food that is wholesome for the human body is halal. Food that increases the body's stimulating power is haram in Baul society. Beef is forbidden in Baul society. Because this meat is forbidden in both Hindu and Muslim Baul society, the relations between the two have deepened. Notwithstanding the prohibition, the unrestrained influence of ganjika has fallen on Baul society. To serve the sages with rice, oil and tobacco, and ganja, is necessary. The Bauls hold that drinking wine or tari is a moral objection in Baul society; this intoxication makes a person excited and undisciplined. But the intoxication of ganja or afing makes a person self-absorbed. Ganja is a natural intoxicant, from which ganja, bhang, ganjika and charas are made. It is made raw, dried, of root and with pulses. They hold that social indiscipline does not come from ganja intoxication. Though ganja is a toxic intoxicant, it inactivates the poison of the lust lodged in the body and lifts the mind upward. The desire for children is innate in humans. If any desire is repressed, physical and mental distortion follow from it. Those who have the desire for children may beget one or two children.

In the Bauls' view birth-life is enjoyable at all times. For which, to control the excitement of lust and keep the act of enjoyment long drawn out is befitting to them. In this way, through song after song, to keep self-realization awake they embrace song and make the mind joyful. But that is not by clutching at creation. To speak in the words of the great-souled Lalon,

Acknowledgement: Bastubadi Baul (The Materialist Bauls) by Shaktinath Jha, and the monthly Ganashasthya, Dhaka, Baishakh-Jyaishtha issue, Bengali year 1391.

The author: a researcher, innovator and environmental personality.