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Friday, May 24, 2013

Impact of Kalachand Vidyalankar upon Sahajia Bauls:


.’ The impact upon Sahajia Bauls:
সাহজিয়া বাউলদের ওপর কালাচাঁদের প্রভাব 
শান্তনু বন্দ্যপাধ্যায়   
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, for the sake of simplifications, 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 metaphysical Baul lyrics raise 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.

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