THE DAWN WITHIN

The Unattainable One

Parvathy Baul – Wikimedia (https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parvati_Baul.JPG)

“If you want to attain

the unattainable One,
Free yourself from all that is
Fragile and temporary.
Know yourself.”
~ Rasika Dasa
In the deepest villages of Bengal, there remains today a community of vagrant singers, both
mystical bards and wandering minstrels, the Bauls. For centuries they have been treading the dust
of the roads, with a firm and aerial step, at the rhythm of their daily needs and highest aspirations.
The term ‘baul’, derived from the Sanskrit ‘vatulā’, means ’he who is affected, or carried away by
the wind’. It might also refer to the term ‘vyakula’, meaning ‘impatient eagerness for god’, or
’auliyā’, a word of Arabic origin meaning ‘holy’, ‘ascetic’. But the asceticism of the Bauls is not lost
in penances and meditations, is not only about achieving the set goal. It is rather a kind of
refinement in the expression of the moment, a healthy ‘madness’ expressing through dance, music,
and songs, the love of the divine and the spontaneity of living. Coming from both Hindu and
Muslim religions, the Bauls retain nevertheless a fierce freedom of spirit and are rebellious to any
ideology, following no ritual, referring to no scriptures. They are ’outside’, offbeat, refreshing and
unique.

The Bauls draw on the source of all the great spiritual currents that have bathed Bengal since the
11th century (Tantric Buddhism, Sufism, Bhakti). Their songs, transmitted from parent to child, or
from guru to disciple (guru-shishya), are inspired by the great masters of the past such as the saint
and mystic Chaitanya (1486-1534), or the famous poet Lalon Fakir (1774-1890), a revolutionary and
holy man who composed thousands of songs and poems. The singers gather each year at
important festivals that are opportunities for creation and exchange, and a special moment in their
wandering.

“Everyone asks, ‘What religion does Lalon belong to in this world?’

Lalon answers, ‘What does religion look like?’
I’ve never laid eyes upon it.
Some use Malas (Hindu rosaries), others Tasbis (Muslim rosaries),
and so people say they belong to a different religion.
But do you bear the sign of your religion
when you come (to this world) or when you leave (this world)?”
~ Lalon Fakir (Wikipedia (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalon))

The Bauls live in small houses (akhras) that serve as a family ashram where any visitor, even
unknown, is welcome. Not being suspicious of women, they often live together as a couple,
considering each other as spiritual partners. They sometimes have children, and are also inclined
to adopt orphans. For their living, they go from village to village, singing for a little food. More
than a simple means of survival, this practice constitutes for them a spiritual mission and an
asceticism. This is what they call the ‘madhukori’, the ‘honey harvest’, the honey of devotion that
they collect from heart to heart, from house to house. They accompany themselves on their
ektara, that one-stringed instrument they proudly hold above their heads, a symbol of their singing
and wandering. They make their own instruments, such as the duggi, this small terracotta timpani
covered with a skin, or the Khamak — also called ananda lahari (waves of joy), an instrument with
an amazing sound and whose notes break through the hearts in successive waves. They wear
clothes sometimes saffron-coloured, sometimes multicoloured patchworks, except for Muslim
fakirs who wear a long white dress.
 “Guru, I am all bereft,
No path for me awaits,
nothing for me in this world
except for some shelter
at your feet.”
~ Monimohan Das (MDPI (https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/5/335/htm))

The Bauls sing everywhere, at home, on the roads and the paths, in the boat that helps them cross
the river, in trains and buses, in festivals and concert halls. The songs speak of simple things,
material problems, suffering and love, moral or spiritual dilemmas, which everyone can know and
identify with. But behind this apparent simplicity, there are often complex parables about the
difficulties of the inner life and the spiritual quest, or scholarly doctrines (tattwas) that are not
accessible to the uninitiated. Similarly, musical compositions are easy but can at times reach the
pinnacle of the most difficult Indian ragas. Akkas Fakir explains: “Music is the medium through
which we meditate, our music is very introspective. Our songs are about humanity. … [They] essentially
question our ego, pride and attachments, which are hindrances to our ways of realizations.” Songs are such
a central part of the Baul tradition and path that they have been named by a great variety of terms,
like ‘spoken truth’, ‘living wisdom’, ‘sound knowledge’ (Shabd Jnana). For the Bauls, singing is
sadhana. The great contemporary Baul singer Parvathy Baul said: “Baul singing is meditation in
motion.”

“If you fail to recognize

your own heart,
can you ever come to know
the great unknown?
The farthest away
will be nearest to you,
and the unknown
within your knowing.
Fill up your home
with the world,
and you will attain
the unattainable man.”
~ Kālāchānd (Hohm Press (https://hohmpress.com/books-hohm-press/mirror-of-sky-
book.html))

This astonishing fusion between the material and the spiritual, between the worldly and the
devotional, the simple and the complex is very revealing of Baul philosophy, of their way of life
which mixes, without rejecting anything, the pleasures of living with the divine aspiration. For the
Bauls, all acts of daily life can lead to happiness. They are in perpetual quest for the Adhar Manush,
‘the Essential Man’, that heart in which resides the universal consciousness, that elusive part of
each being that they honour through their songs and which summarizes the object of their
asceticism. This search for Man in man is the very foundation of the Baul spirituality. They have
many names for it, like the ‘unattainable man’, the ‘primeval man’, the ‘spontaneous man’, or the
‘Man of the heart’. Parvathy Baul gives a beautiful account of the nature of this quest: “This path is
of complete love and surrender. Unless a complete surrender of the ego is made, one cannot be called a true
Baul. Once you start singing, you abandon yourself in the complete bliss of the moment, you merge with the
song, which is a vehicle to reach the Beloved.”

“Will the day ever dawn

when the treasured man of my heart
will become my own?
Though not cast in any shape,
he is seen
in the ways of love.“
~ Haridās (Hohm Press (https://hohmpress.com/books-hohm-press/mirror-of-sky-book.html))

The Bauls attach great importance to the physical body, for they believe that it is the temple in
which the Supreme resides, and indeed the only place they need to seek God. “Do not forget that
your body contains the whole of existence.” sings Gosāiñ Gopāl. It is therefore quite naturally that the
baul path is full of sensuality. The songs offer infinite variations in the descriptions of feelings and
emotions, from sadness to joy, from doubt to bliss. In turn, the Bauls are imploring, fatalistic,
quarrelling with their minds, shouting at God himself. Crazy with love and ecstasy, they become
admirers, peddlers of joy, admonishing us unceasingly to join the path of quest and devotion. It is
therefore not surprising that they are inspired by the devotional practice of the vaisnavas, who
worship the couple of Radha and Krishna. With their long hair, their buns, their sensual dances,
the Bauls alternately play the beloved and the lover, living through them the feelings of devotion
and love, but also the expectations, the suffering, the uncertainty and exaltation. All these many
expressions can coexist in the same song, and then only its spontaneity, its truth prevails.
 Photo by lorises (https://foter.co/a3/788971) on Foter.com
(https://foter.com/re5/7b9a08) / CC BY-NC-SA
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/)

“Human is the eternal treasure,

search for that ‘Human’
(the man of the Heart).
To search for the man of the heart
is the destination by itself.”
~ Unknown (MDPI (https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/5/335/htm))

Baul poetry knows no conventions. It comes out raw and plain from their daily concerns,
sometimes songs of wisdom or quest, sometimes songs of protest. Often illiterate, the Bauls are
nevertheless the guardians of an immense oral tradition whose richness and variety are matched
only with the spiritual intensity and spontaneity of their message. Parvathy Baul mentions: “These
metaphorical songs, based on mundane life experiences, are composed mostly in simple, colloquial Bengali.
Their special language is called ‘sandhya bhasha’, ‘twilight language’, and is loaded with cryptic mystical
meaning.” For example, the ‘sixteen gangsters’ are the forces of the body and mind; the ‘five
wealthy ones’ are conscience, wisdom, restraint, renunciation, and devotion; the ‘room’ or the
‘boat’ are symbols for the body; and the ‘river’ is a symbol for life itself. The songs being
essentially an individual expression, the variety of metaphors is proportional with the creativity of
the authors.

“Look, look for him

in the temple of your limbs.
He is there
as the lord of the world,
speaking,
singing
in enchanting tunes.
He is an expert at hide-and-seek,
no one can see him.
He is the universe
with no form of his own.
Do not try to catch him,
O my heart,
he can never be caught.
You can only hope for him
in faith,
in complete faith.”
~ Jādubindu (Hohm Press (https://hohmpress.com/books-hohm-press/mirror-of-sky-
book.html))

To be a true Baul is not about folklore or tradition. It is an individual quest, a mystic approach to
living. It is an example of a people living amongst the Indian traditional frame, and yet being truly
and spontaneously alone and independent, not bound by mainstream beliefs, traditions, or
conventional usages. It is the spiritual quest that puts them to fire. This is the true aim of the Baul
tradition, and it is deep. This is the true Baul’s madness that can be related to the madness of
Rumi’s tavern when he says: “In this gathering there is no high, no low, no smart, no ignorant, no special
assembly, no grand discourse, no proper schooling required. … This gathering is more like a drunken party,
full of tricksters, fools, mad men and mad women. This is a gathering of Lovers.” The Bauls call their path
‘ultā’, the ’reverse’ path, because they believe that to advance spiritually is to advance against the
current of society — (or the current towards objective experience?) Ultimately, in Parvathy Baul’s
words, silence and effortlessness (Sahaja) are all important. And they are to be felt both while
singing and not singing. This is true Sadhana. It has ceased to come and go. This is what the Bauls
give their mind and heart to.
 “The man who breathes
lives on air
and the other, unseen,
lies beyond reach.
Between the two
moves another man
as a secret link.
Worship knowingly.
There is sport amongst
the three of them.
My searching heart,
whom do you seek?
Between the doors
of birth and death
stands yet another door,
wholly inexplicable.
He who is able
to be born
at the door of death
is devoted eternally.
Die before dying,
die living.”
~ Gosāiñ Gopāl (Hohm Press (https://hohmpress.com/books-hohm-press/mirror-of-sky-
book.html))

Although their Sadhana is expressed throughout, the Bauls’ songs are not used for propaganda, or
to convert people to the baul tradition. They are a means of preserving and teaching the baul path
by the guru, and are considered to be the intermediary between God and man. However, even if
the Bauls attach great importance to the guru, seeing him as the form of the divine in man, and in
some cases the Supreme itself, the disciple has no responsibility towards the master and remains
free from any commitment. The Bauls believe above all in man. The castes, the particular deities,
the sacred places, play no role in their lives. Nowadays, the Bauls are more and more led to settle
down, and with their families growing, they must work to support themselves, and submit to
modern life rules that undermine their tradition. In the countryside, the villagers’ interest is
declining because their habits and musical tastes have been disrupted by the arrival of television
and mobile devices. Some Bauls become ‘mere musicians’, giving recitals and gaining a new
status, with the risk of emptying their practice of its spiritual content. But let us bet that they will
be able to face these challenges, thanks to their big heart and astonishing spontaneity. Let us bet
that they will continue, as they have done for centuries, to preserve in Bengal and on the world’s
stages, their mad singularity.

“Where shall I meet him, the Man of my Heart?

He is lost to me and I seek him
wandering from land to land.
I am listless for that moonrise of beauty,
which is to light my life,
which I long to see in the fullness of vision
in gladness of heart.”
~ Gagan Harkara (Wikipedia (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baul))

“Dissolve into yourself

and you’ll become the realized one.
Sirāj Sāi says ‘Lālan, you’re blind —
See for a moment the true form in forms.’”
~ Lālan Fakir (Academia
(https://www.academia.edu/40409690/Islamic_Esotericism_in_the_Bengali_Bāul_Songs_of_Lāla
n_Fakir))

Touching the end of this journey in Baul territory and path, I would encourage you to listen to this
interview of Parvathy Baul: ‘Make your life into a prayer (https://youtu.be/tI54xXafefI)’ by
Science and Nonduality. It is a truly beautiful account and insight into the baul condition and
Sadhana. At the end of the interview, after having sung a song and translated it, Parvathy Baul
delivers this truly spontaneous and heartfelt piece of wisdom: “I feel that in the same way we want to
become very good musicians, very good singers, we need a certain discipline, so that our voice remains in the
correct note, that we don’t go out of the rhythm — so many disciplines are there. In the same way, the
aspiration should be for becoming a true devotee. And there is also a lot of notes we have to keep intact. And
lots of details we must take care in the practice. And it is continuous and it’s always. … Make your life into
a prayer.”

“What am ‘I’ — if that is known

then my striving will be complete.
The meaning of the word ‘I’ is profound.
In me there is no more ‘I’.
~ Lālan Fakir (Academia
(https://www.academia.edu/40409690/Islamic_Esotericism_in_the_Bengali_Bāul_Songs_of_Lāla
n_Fakir))

~~~

Songs by various Baul singers, past and present

Text by Alain Joly

~~~

Parvathy Baul sings ‘Aaye Kheyene (https://youtu.be/kKQmS_Lzf54)’ by poet Rajjab Fakir…

Thank you to Hohm Press (https://hohmpress.com/books-hohm-press/mirror-of-sky-book.html)
for letting me use some whole poems from the book ‘The Mirror of the Sky: Songs of the Baul’s of
Bengal’, by Deben Bhattacharya.

Read Keith Cantú’s research paper ‘Islamic Esotericism in the Bengali Bāul Songs of Lālan Fakir
(https://www.academia.edu/40409690/Islamic_Esotericism_in_the_Bengali_Bāul_Songs_of_Lāla
n_Fakir)’ and this article by Uttaran Dutta and Mohan Dutta: ’Songs of the Bauls: Voices from the
Margins as Transformative Infrastructures (https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/5/335/htm)’.

Listen to this interview of Parvathy Baul in YouTube: ‘Make your life into a prayer
(https://youtu.be/tI54xXafefI)’ by Science and Nonduality.

Baul singers on this page:

– Lālan Fakir (1774-1890)
– Gagan Harkara (1845-1910)
– Gosāiñ Gopāl (1869-1912)
– Jādubindu (1821-1916)
– Haridās
– Kālāchānd
– Monimohan Das
– Rasika Dasa
– Parvathy Baul

Bibliography:
– ‘The Mirror of the Sky: Songs of the Baul’s of Bengal’ – by Deben Bhattacharya – (Hohm Press, U.S.)

Websites:
– Hohm Press (https://hohmpress.com/)
– Baul (Wikipedia) (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baul)
– Parvathy Baul (https://parvathybaul.com/)
– Lalon Fakir (Wikipedia) (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalon)

– Back to Pages (https://thedawnwithin.com/pages/)

2 thoughts on “The Unattainable One”

Mystic Meandering says:

27 November 2019 at 17 05 46 114611
1. Fascinating! I appreciate all the work you put into this writing – to give us a glimpse of this
“spontaneous way of living.” Although I am not a scholar, it does remind me a little of what
Ramana Maharshi said – “Be as you are” – and what Krishnamurti called “Truth is a Pathless
Path” – always in a rhythm of Self Recognition of that which is within
(Pratyabhijnahrdayam)…

REPLY
Alain Joly says:
28 November 2019 at 21 09 57 115711
1. Thank you Christine! Yes, only the heart matters, ‘follow your bliss’ seems to be the
message of the Bauls. I think it’s St Augustine who said: “Love and do whatever you want.”

REPLY