Md. Monirul
Haque: Folk-religion Baul is deeply based on songs, of which most of
the familiar songs are composed by Fakir Lalon Shah and his followers. Those
songs which are composed by Lalon Shah are known as ‘Lalon Geeti’. As Lalon used
to stay at a hermitage of a rural area of Bengal, he was well concerned about
“Dube dakh
dekhi mone kirup lilamay.
Akash-patal
khujish jare ai dehe se roy.”
This means if we think deeply the
existence of the God or the source of eternal bliss, we need not to roam here
and there, it resides in our body. This reminds us Vasavanna’s comment that
rich people build temple and poor people make their body as temple;
“Eki jole ea hoi goo
shuchi
Dekhe shune hoi na
ruchi
Johm ea ta kauke charbe
na…”
Through this song Lalon is expressing that he is
becoming puzzled by the word religion which is uttered everywhere by everyone
while very few are agreed to do for the truth. Lalon asks when men take birth,
are they remain aware in which religion they are taking birth. And they know at
time of their last ride which religion they would have then. He is also
confused in thinking that as the same holy water makes Brahmin and the outcaste
pure and sacred, then why this differences between them in the society.
At Lalon’s contemporary era, which is
marked as Bengal Renaissance, The Hindu intellectuals ignored both the Hindu
and the Muslim masses. In the agrarian sphere this separation from the masses
created a very disturbing situation to the Zamindars who were mostly Hindus.
The socio-economic interests of the peasants later came to acquire a somewhat
religious tone, with the emergence of the Faraizi and Wahabi movements. The
Faraizi movement started in 1818. The objectives of these movements were to
keep Islam in Bengal beyond the pale of un-Islamic influence. The
politico-religious movement of the Faraizi-Wahabie aders was the
“reactions, not remedies, to the situation the existing." Thus Renaissance had fail to
gather maximum mass from different community under one shade and it was not the
fruit of the joint venture of Hindu and Muslim and it had failed to bring the
both community come close rather these differences, hatred, opposition and
negligence’s had increased day by day. In Baul songs, particularly in songs of
Lalon we can see a triumph to bring all the community together. The main
concern of Renaissance, that is communal harmony, finds its way and becomes
prominent into the illiterate but self-learned people’s songs. Rural Bengal’s
this humanitarian revolution’s main breath was Fakir Lalon Shah. He has seen
that this religious conflict even putting barrier in his way of preaching
peace, so annoyed Lalon utters:
“Fakiri
korbi khyapa kon raga,
Ache
Hindu-Musalman dui vagh ea….”
Which means how he will be able to preach peace here
as the Hindu and Muslim, two major religious groups, are keeping themselves on
the two separate poles? Lalon also says:
“Je ja bhabe sei rupa
se hoy,
Ram-Rahim-Karim-Kala ek
atma jogatmoy.”
This means if men want to see God then they can see
Him by any way which they follow, to him Ram, Rahim, Karim, Kala are the same
name of the God.
Observing communal tension at his contemporary society
Lalon sings:
“Keu
mala keu tashbi golai,
Taite
ki jaat bhinno bolai;
Jaua
kimba ashar belai
Jeter
chinho roy kar re.”
This means, for paying homage to the Almighty,
different people performs different rituals that don’t suggest that man’s main
concern i.e. humanity is different. When men take birth in this earth, they
don’t come with a particular religious mark with them. And it is at the time of
their death and it is the nature which controls these. So differentiations
between men to men by the name of religions have no humanitarian value.
Women have too many images in the
society, every religion and society admits that but no religion and society in
this patriarchal society may have not given their full respect and their exact
position rather they have made some code of conduct to limit the sphere of
living. Liberation from their stage is now a well discussed topic which has
taken a name as ‘women studies’. But it is in the Baul tradition, far age
before the concept the ‘women studies’ they are advocating for the independence
of the women. In Baul tradition women have a special importance and value. They
consider women as ‘prakiti’(nature) and men as ‘purus’(man); without ‘purus’
and ‘prakiti’ any creation or well deed is not possible. To them men and women
possess the equal power as Lalon says:
“Adam bolo kon nure hoy
Ma houa ki sei nure nai…”
Means, if Adam is made of light (noor) and Eve is made
from Adam, then both share the same thing. Eve is also a mother, so through Eve
(woman), the power and love of God were spread all over the world.
Sometimes through his sharp allegory, sometimes directly
in his songs, Lalon advocates for the independence and the independent thinking
of women. Lalon utters-
“Kuler
bou hoye mone r kotodin thakbi ghore,
Ghomta
fele chol na re mone sadh-bazare.”
This means how long you will stay at home as
house-wife, now leave your feminine code and come to your land of your own
will. This is still at some of places of our country cannot overtly express.
To be continue…….