Gospel of the Great Monk

The Holy 'Paduka' of Kalachand Vidyalankar

Kalachand Vidyalankar Bandyopadhyay (Bengali: কালাচাঁদ বিদ্যালঙ্কার বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায় ) (24 May 1713– 11 May 1846) (his surname may also be transliterated as 'Banerjea' or as 'Bandyopadhyay') was one of the 17th-century Indian thinkers who attempted to rethink Hindu philosophy, religion and ethics in response to the stimulus of ‘Baishnab’ ideas. He himself became a ‘Baishnab’ from his family cult of ‘Sakta’ belief.

The Baishnab practitioners normally are vegetarian and do not eat fish. The Baishnabs are mostly Bengalese. The Bengalese people traditionally are fond of fish. Kalachand wanted to resolve the riddle and followed a ‘Majjhim Pantha’(Middle Way). He upheld the compulsion of the Baishnabs to be vegetarian. He left it up to their will. However he opined that it is better for a Baishnab to be vegetarian.

Due to this controversy, many Baishnab sects and radical practitioners of Baishnab faith who strongly believed in vegetarianism wanted to outcast the Kalachani Sampraday from the Baishnab cult. 

To the Spiritual Monk, Hinduism is not a religion; it is a social guideline – how to lead an ideal and spiritual life. It’s a culture which inspired the mankind for ages. He believed, it is knowledge (Vedas), not religion which can uplift mankind from narrowness of mind. To cross the domestic boundaries and superstitious bondages, he ordained the basic education is a must for all irrespective of cast, creed, sex and nationality.

There remains a primordial integrity between the gospel of Kalachand & the Spiritual ideology of Bauls and Fakirs. The comparison between the two form of spirituality and their humanistic aspects can be an elaborate exercise. In fact plenty of material and avenues does not exist to deliberate on the issue. However it can certainly be an intriguing and long research topic for the keen scholars of social anthropology. But, as is the practice of this site, for simplifications sake, we would like to shorten the issue by just comparing the essence of the Baul song with another which later Rabindranath Tagore described as Religion of Man. Ofcourse this will leave open a wide area of hitherto unexplored treasure trove. But these two lyrics by two spiritual institutions of Bengal will never the less shed ample light on difference of perceptions. Infact, the difference can be quite poignant with a vast shift of the basics on which the concept of spiritualism is built on.

The Baul lyric above, raises a basic question- that if there is a single creator then why so many religions exist? This is a pertinent problem in today’s world; we all know that the different ‘Gods’ have created acrimony between races and sects and as of today this concept of different ‘Gods’ remains the most decisive divisive force on planet Earth. In this context it would perhaps be appropriate to note that the Bauls in essence do not believe in the diktat of denizens of the Heaven; there is no world for the Bauls beyond which can be perceived by the direct human senses.

They just do not believe in the pious ‘other world’ and most of the times deny the presence of super powers. Looking from a different angle it can be said that according to the Bauls and Fakirs- ‘God’ resides in each human being and it is for the human being to realize this truth. This is the primary search the Bauls and Fakirs undertake, and according to them human beings are the best exponents of spirituality ever to tread on this Earth.