The Esoteric Belief of the Bauls of Bengal Author(s): Charles H.

Capwell Reviewed work(s): Source: The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 33, No. 2 (Feb., 1974), pp. 255-264 Published by: Association for Asian Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2052187 . Accessed: 30/11/2011 08:44
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VOL. XXXIII, No. 2

JOURNAL OF ASIAN

STUDIES

FEBRUARY

1974

The Esoteric Beliefof the Bauls of Bengal

CHARLES H. CAPWELL MONG theirfellow Bengalis,the Bauls, who constitute a religioussect,are I esteemedbecause theiriconoclasm, disregard of caste,and mergerof Hindu and Islamictraditions givestheman enviablefreedom to confront lifeas individuals outside the prevailingsocial and religiousconfines. They are loved, too, because theydo not preach but ratherwoo with charming poems set to irresistible tunes that may compel them to dance. Even the hide-boundbigot may find himself thinking his rigid customsa bit pretentious when he hears a Baul sing the ironic of Lalon Fakir: questions If youcircumcise a Muslim, him,he becomes Thenwhatis theruleforwomen? I recognize theBrahman byhissacred thread, Thenhowdo I recognize theBrahmani? That thisheterodox spirit is not unique to the Bauls was shownby Kshitimohan Sen's comparison of theirideas with Vedic, Upanishadic, Jain,and Buddhisttexts, and withthe poetry of the mediaevalsaintsof NorthIndia as well as with thatof theirSikh and Vaisnava contemporaries.1 To Sen this sharedtraitof contrariness is the most valuable secrettruthof the Bauls, for it enables them to see without illusionthatceaselessyearning forreunification withthe Divine is the real purpose of life. Ossifiedreligiousand social customsare of no use in this quest for each man is alone and mustfindhis own way. To be a Baul, accordingto Sen, is a matterof inward truthand does not necessarily depend upon formalinitiation or adherenceto a particular group of beliefs.2 What is requiredinsteadis an adherence to the path of Love and a belief thatMan is the ultimate as a superficial of measure.This is acceptable description the prerequisites for becominga Baul, but it does not go beyond the mystical and humanistic aspectsof the Baul religion.Other aspectsof the religionhaving more to do with ritualthan with belief,Sen saw as more or less regrettable distortions of thefaith. like Shashibhusan Later writers Dasgupta discussedat lengththe long history of yogic sexual practiseassociatedwith cults like the Sahajiya and mentionits influence, along with that of Vaisnavism and Islam, upon the Bauls.8 Edward in Dimock, his The Place of the Hidden Moon (Chicago, i966) also admitsthe relationof sexual practises in the beliefsof a limitednumberof Bauls. tangential on mostdescriptions influence But the opinionsof Sen have retained a wide-spread of the Bauls and have gained authority if not by substantiation. by repetition,
Charles H. Capwell is a graduate studentin trans.Lila Ray, The Bauls of Bengal, reprinted from Visvabharati Quarterly, n.d. Musicology at HarvardUniversity. 1 See bdai2ldr 2 Ibid., (Eng.) p. 55. baul (Calcutta, I954); English 3 See ObscureReligiousCults (Calcutta,I969).

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Dasgupta, for example,ends his chapteron the Bauls by asserting that Tagore was greatest among them because many of his poems expressmost perfectly the Baul-likeyearningof the individualpersonality for the Divine. The undeniable truth of this appraisalas a literary concepthas been well documented by Dimock, who has shown the importance of Baul poetryin the forming of Tagore's own poetic dictionand imagery.4 But as a statement descriptive of Tagore's religious orientation, it mustbe viewedonly as an honorary title;no evidencehas everbeen given thatthe Bauls consider Tagore one of theirnumber. The factthatit takesmorethaninwardtruth acquiredwithout formal initiation to become a Baul was firstconsistently stated and supportedby Upendranath Bhattacarya whose life-long researchamong the Bauls led him to alter the view of them popularisedby Sen and Tagore.5 Accordingto Bhattacarya, sexual yoga is the sine qua non of the Bauls' religiouspath. A ritualizedcoitus reservatus performed on threesuccessivedays while the woman is menstruating is at the to receiveinstruction core of theirbelief.To become a Baul, it is necessary from a guru who, first seeing that the discipleis worthy of full initiation, teachesby word and by examplehow one acquiresthe control of breath and sphincters needed to perform theritual properly. Little attention has been payed to Bhattacarya's discoveries, and the Bauls are stillgenerally thought to acquire theirhumanistic convictions by a vaguelydefined grace,while theirsongsare thought chiefly to consist of lyrical, plaintive expressions of man's griefat separation fromthe Divine, with no further meaningthan this universally understood one. As part of a musicological project,I recordedabout seventy-five songs from about twenty-five Bauls duringa fifteen-month a yearof learning periodsucceeding Bengali in Calcutta,and in casual, unrecorded conversation with fiveamong these Bauls, I discussedsome elements of theirsecret sadhana. Of the latterfive,at least threehad disciples, withotherBauls threelived in two separate small communities and theirfamilies, and all seemedgenerally respectable to otherBauls, suggesting theirideas were not alien or repugnant. This limitedpersonalcontactwith the Bauls supported exclusively Bhattacarya's description of them. with the physiological and psychological methods The Bauls' preoccupation invalidate thoseends. The Bauls, on ends does not necessarily forgainingspiritual believetheirhumanismis all the more firmly the contrary, groundedfor having the bliss in theirown bodiesand thattheirdesireto experience perceptible support in their of non-phenomenal realityhas the means of practicalaccomplishment on which the Bauls formsome of physicalritual.To a large part of the society means would be thought the idea of using the sexual act as a spiritual the fringe, For thisreason,the Bauls do not publicize if not degenerate. of as at leasteccentric but keep it hidden.The public aspectof the Bauls' the sexualpartof theirpractise belief,namely the democraticregard for all classes of men and the intensely withthe Divine,are also eccentric emotional relationship enoughby generalsocietal of as the "secret truths" the Bauls are known to forthemto be thought standards but this termought perhapsto be reservedfor the esotericpart of the profess, Bauls' belief.
4"Rabindranath Tagore-The Greatestof the Bauls of Bengal,"thisjournal,Nov. '59 (XIX, no.
I).

5 In baimldr I97I). bdzl o bdulgdn (Calcutta,

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to underof the Bauls' songs which do not include an attempt Interpretations are incomplete. stand the esotericmeaning (if present),as well as the exoteric, book had Dasgupta seems to have become more aware of this afterBhattacarya's he wrotefora collection been published, as may be deducedfromthe introduction of songs by Lalon Fakir,6the most famousBaul. There he wrotethatthe editors had discussedonly the exotericmeaning of Lalon's songs but that symbolslike the "unknownbird" and the "Man of the Heart", made so popular by Tagore by U. Bhatexplainedelsewhere and Sen, had a basis in secretreligiouspractices tacarya.7 glossingover their As the Baul songs still continueto receiveinterpretations this tendency, I would like, as a startat correcting ritualand sexual implications, below. The to considermainly the esotericmeanings of the poems I translate Bauls, of course,compose and sing typesof songs otherthan theirown peculiar of Lalon's songs,forexample,putsthree collection mentioned type-the previously under the hundredunder the heading "Baul songs" and anotherseventy-three heading"In the Vaisnava Manner".The songs given below have been selectedas or anotherof the Baul type.This is not an in one particular being indicative, typesof songsmay act meant to support an argument since the different arbitrary sung by one or another be sung by individual Bauls; they are not exclusively of Bauls accordingto the typeof the song. subsect and Baul song which struckhis imagination that the first Tagore has written I find "Where shall was the now well-known seemedto speak to him so directly him, the Man of my Heart?" (kothaypabo tdreamdr maner manus ye re),8 to the words"My Golden Bengal" (dmdr whosetunehe had alreadyin 1905 published The lonely, search melancholy sondrbdamla),now the nationalsong of Bangladesh.9 of the individualfor the loverof his soul, sung to a hauntingBaul melody,still and experienced can arouse in the hearerthe feelingswhich Tagore undoubtedly which has of bereftness, him to the Baul idiom. This experience which attracted of the Sufi devotionalconceptof the individual to the influence been attributed Beloved,is theelementary, as mad loverand the Divine Being as the unnattainable that may lead into the Baul path of the novice. initiation spontaneous about the separation fromhis Beloved, to do something When a Baul attempts
6 Ldlan-gitikd, ed. Motilal Das and P;yiiskanti (Calcutta,I958). Mahapatra Four yearslater,in the revisededitionof his Dasgupta, after Obscure Religion Cults (I962), attemptsto creditingBhattacarya's hesistatingly of the religion feature thatthedistinctive "establish and by the doctrines of the Bauls is represented relasexo-yogic cult involving of a secret practices of those tions,"goes on to qualifythe significance "But it seemsthatout of theirdoctrines attempts: theirsearchfor the 'unknownbird' and practices comes in and goes out of this that mysteriously as themoststrikcage of thehumanbodyemerged searchforthe 'unknown This life-long ing feature. bird' got itselfmingledwith the Vaisnaviteand devotionalapproach to the divinity;" Sfifi-istic Sahajiyavad discussed Vaisnavaand Buddhist having earlierin the book, Dasgupta decides that, "We deal in the presentcontext, shall not, therefore,

to such secretpractices; with Baul songs referring our studyto we, on the otherhand, shall restrict the Baul songs that celebratethe 'Man of the Heart' and speak of the mysticlove these Bauls forthis'Man of theHeart'." (all quotespp. cherish by Bhatprefacethatthe secretsadhana discussed tacaryaunderliesthe conceptsof the 'unknown bird' and the 'Man of the Heart',yetin not revisto thisview, on theBauls according ing his chapter in thatit is not significant he givesthe impression devotionalbasis to the Siifi/Vaisnava comparison forthe Bauls' songs. 8 See introduction of K. Sen's to Ray'stranslation from of an excerpt This is a translation monograph. loksahgit santo hairamani: Tagore's introduction graha, ed. Mahammad Mansur Uddin (Calcutta,
1942). I6I-2).

saysin theLdlan-gitikd himself Dasgupta

9 In bdul(Calcutta,1905), p. 9.

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CHARLES H. CAPWELL

he leaves behindthe influence Sufiismwhich views the gap of orthodox however, with the beloved as unbridgeable; to become a Baul siddha he must be reunited object. 0 forgetful mind, in this man,Man'splayis taking place. moment? If youcan,whydon'tyoutakeholdofHim at this Man is outside, Man is intheentire Manis inthehouse, creation. I sought for buthaven't gotten theMan oftheHeart. I suffered! Whatburning voice-ifanother He becomes deaf. He hears everyone's calls, then natural andhellthere man. Beneath is mortal, heaven, earth, with in water. Man hasmixed man-Khir dissolved at thelasthour, Kubirsays, "Havingworshipped MayI getthedustofHis feet." this is within The Man oftheheart man: ofknowledge with theeyes andknowHim. lookat Him,mind, know? willknow;howwilltheunenlightened The enlightened mixed in one place; and khir Water stay theenlightened onegetsthekhir, ifonebecomes swan, removing thewater. Butjustas thejackaldoesn't eattheripemangoes, look!themindkeepsup itsworthless eating. The sea is filled with gems; an enlightened ifonebecomes diver, he takes thegems up. Butlikethefisherman whohasthrown a netintothewater, themind remains concerned onlywith catching fish. Withthis syrup, brother, somemakemolasses; ifonebecomes an enlightened confectioner, to set. he causes rockcandy "If onebecomes KhapaMadansays, enlightened, all aboutthepair-principle."10 he knows The stateof separation need not be permanent-"Ifyou can, why apparently don't you take hold of Him at this moment?"The Man is present in man after all; but He is inseparably mixed with him like khir dissolvedin water.In the second song,however, we are reminded of the traditional story about the capacity of theswan to drinkonlythemilkpouredintowaterand to leave the waterbehind. If we becomeenlightened like the swan, we can thenseparate the khirfromwater and derivenourishment fromit; i.e., we will capturethe Man of the Heart and be sustained by Him. All the images in thissong implythatan effort must be made isolate who to the Man is inseparably mixed with man and thatthereis much to be gained by doing so. If we do not isolate Him, it is like beitng satisfied with getting onlyfishfrom thepond when precious gems are to be had, or beingcontent
10Songs #5I9, p. 9I5 and #5i8, pp. 9I4-I5 in Bhattacarya, op cit. Khir is a milk-based sweet.

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with makingonly gooey molassesfromsyrupwhen, if we only knew how, we could make the more daintyand palatablerock-candy. Among present-day Bauls, Vaisnavism has had the greatestinfluence on the imagery of theirpoetry and the language theyuse in discussing theirideas. The kernelof the Bauls' beliefsseems,chameleon-like, to be able to adapt itselfto its religious so thatit has acquiredexternal surroundings resemblances to otherbeliefs like Sufiistic Islam and GauriyaVaisnavism. A Baul can say now, forexample, that all mankindis femaleand represents Radha in her relationship to the only male principle in the universe, Krishna.In this way he is like many similarly believing Vaisnavas.Where he departs fromthe broaderstream of Vaisnavismin his private belief, and wherehe may perhapshave something in commonwith the Vaisnava is his belief that is Krishna in semen. Such a beliefexplain the need Sahajiyas, not to ejaculate during ritualcoition.To a Baul who acceptsthis esoterictruth, ordinary men carelessly allow themselves to be separated fromthe Divine element residingwithinthem and are misled into thinking it is to be found in external and idols,in temples ritual and mosques. In the two products of the human generative organs,the Divine is manifested in its two formsas the pair-principle, the activeand the passive.The activeform appearsduringa woman's monthly periodsto take part in the life of men, and it is forthis reason the ritualcoitusoccursthen.It is only in this formthat the Man of theHeart can be regainedand made to reunite withitspassiveformwithin the bodies of men and women. Like the confectioner and the fisherman of the previoussongs,the Baul must learnto be competent at what he is about or he will suffer loss. By following the instructions of the guru,he seeksto recognizethe "uhknownbird" or the "elusive Man" and to captureHim. The Divine in man residesin the highest yogiccenter of the body but regularly descendsand abandonsthose who are ignorantof the truth. esoteric of breathand sphincters, By yogiccontrol the Bauls seek to reunify and thusimmobilize thepair-principle in theirhighest yogiccenters, thereby obtaining reintegration in bliss with the non-phenomenal mode of existence.

O mymind, takethepart ofprakrti

Andturn upside-down that which is in thesix-petals. If that goesto thetwopetals, thelight willburst forth. willcease; Thenwrong desire willbecome devotion.

O thenthebody's desires willbe sublimated.

takeon thecharacter ofprakrti, practice,

is in themuilddhar which Take that to theone-thousand petals. You willgo to thebanks of theViroja; willbe union. with herthere Thatyouthful, wanton sportive, greatly image, to a being, suchsweet desire having given onegainKrishna's makes company.

260

CHARLES H. CAPWELL Rupcand has said,"First self, takeholdofthat Self. In that Selfyouwillgetto see thelikeness ofthelight ofa crore ofmoons."11

As thissongmakesexplicit, theBauls' use of sex is notforthephysical satisfaction of desirebut forits sublimation. By turning upside-down and takingalong the ulto path (reversepath) that which has descendedto the lowestpsycho/physical state or six petals) and raising (the muilddhar it to thehighest (the two petalsor thousand petals),enlightenment ensuesand desirebecomesdevotion. The physical act in this song is itselftransformed into a meditation since the singerasks his mind to take the part of the femalepartner(prakrti) in sadhana (religiouspractise).Once he has achievedself-recognition and reunification, the Baul no longerneeds to depend on external aids,but can maintainhis new statewitha purelyinternalized sadhana. This is notto saytheprocess of interiorization without maybe spontaneously achieved exthe sexual sadhana. The interiorized awarenessis based upon the previously perienced ritual. The Baul preoccupation with the body is derivednot fromsimple hedonism but froma wish to changeman's mode of perception fromone bound by the phenomenalto one cognizantof the noumenal.The onlymeans to effect thischangeis the body,which explains the Baul obsession.Even songs which seem devoid of any concernwith the cultivation of bodily means to enlightenment may reveal it whenexplainedby a Baul. O mymind-boatman, myfriend, return to ourcountryland. letus countrymen I left and I cameto a foreign home, land; I haveno friends in thiscountry. I cameto rowmyboatofdesires; I'm worn outwithrowing. ofmyreceipts andexpenditures I'vemadean account in thebalance. and seenothing "I didn't takecareoftheboatI rowed. DocileSaratsays, salt-rot. It hasgotten In this at all."'12 country there areno repairmen This song is easily interpreted along the lines of "Swing low, sweet chariot" fordeath.He is physically as an old man's yearning decrepit (the boat has salt-rot), fed up withthe daily round (I'm wornout withrowing),and feelshe has accomhe wants to returnto the plished nothing (nothingin the balance); therefore, return To to our countryland). Beyondfromwhencehe came (let us countrymen the essenon thissong after the Baul who commented hearingit sung by another, tial line was "I didn't take care of the boat I rowed,"i.e., "I didn't cultivate my body."For it is through knowledgeof the body and its propersadhana that one fordeath in orderto obtainsspiritual the song as a yearning goals. To understand of the materialworld and to unite with the Supreme sloughoffthe impedimenta
11 This song has been recorded forNonesuchin album H72035 entitled"Indian StreetSongs" by

LakshmanDas Baul. The translation given here is slightly revised. 12 Author's collection.

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Being in the spiritualone would be to completely reverseits meaning for the Baul. Of course, it is just such a reversal of the commonsensical whichhas earned ofbeingultopathiks, theBauls thereputation followers of thereverse orderof things. It is only while one has a materialbody that spiritual is possible,but progress one has to cultivate it withthe help of a guru and a human partner and not let it Such a beliefis hardlynew,havingbeen the basis of the decaythrough ignorance. Sahajiya sects'aspirations in the now frequently as is intimated quoted coupletof Saraha: "I have visitedin my wanderings shrines and otherplaces of pilgrimage,/ like my own body."This faithof the But I have not seen anothershrineblissful BuddhistSahajiyas that the body constitutes of the true place and paraphernalia worshiphas been kept alive by the Bauls to the presentday. An extantsong of thissame Saraha in the oldestknown formof Bengali gives further reason to believe there is more than superficial continuity between the of fifty Sahajiyasand the Bauls. It is a typicalexample fromthe collection carydpadas stemming from thelateperiodof tantric Buddhism and uses,likecontemporary Baul songs,homelyimageryto conveyesotericprinciples. The bodyis a smallboat, themindis thepunting-pole. Hold thehelm oftheguru. bytheinstructions takeholdof theboat; Steadying thought, means doesonegetacross. Byno other a rope. The boatman towshisboatwith Merging againand againwiththeInnate, one maynotgo anyother way. On thewaythere arefearful, strong pirates. In thetornado ofexistence, thepossessions arelost. it goes upstream a strong Huggingtheshore, against current. "It enters Sarahasays, thesky."'13 The boat metaphor is foundin manyof thesecarydpadas as well as in contemporary Bengali songsof all sorts. The emphasisupon the guru'sinstructions as the rudderto a man's conductis a familiar conceptamong the Bauls who are guided of sadhana,and the yogicimplications by the guru in the performance of merging withthe Innateis equally familiar as the Baul conceptof capturing the Man of the of the sex act. The parallelsbetweenthe caryapadasand Heart by a yogicreversal the Baul songs (as well as the divergences) becomemoreevidentwith everycaryi but thereis not space to continuesuch an examination examined, here. as symbolized in theirpoems Althoughthe sadhana of the Buddhisttantrics, and explainedin the tantras, bearssome pointsof resemblance to thatof the Bauls, it is not possibleto my knowledge,to show that,like the Bauls', the Sahajiyas' sexual sadhana took place during menstruation. It is clear, however,that they as do the Bauls, a ritualingestion of menses, as well as of semen,faeces, performed, and urine.'4Of the two Bauls with whom I feltI could broachthis subject, both
13 Translation after SukumarSen's in "Old Bengali Texts: Caryagiti-Vajragiti-Prahelika", in reprintof Vol. III of Indian Linguistics published jointly by Centreof AdvancedStudyin Linguistics and the Linguistic of India (Poona, I965), Society 14 See for example,David L. Snellgrove, The Hevajra Tantra: A CriticalStudy, London OrientalSeries, Vol. 6 PartI, Introduction and Trans-

p. IIO, #36.

lation (London, I959), p. 99 where the term catuhsama, a potion of four ingredients is explained as a sandhyabhasa term forfaeces; kasturika, musk, is urine; sihlaka, frankincense, is blood; karpura, camphor, is semen. And then on p. IOI: "There we eat meat and drink wine in great quantity. . .we take the fourfoldpreparation and musk and frankincenseand camphor...."

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CHARLES H. CAPWELL

admitted thattheseelements were known as the "fourmoons" but said that only the guru could explain theiruse. Bhattacarya gives the information that theyare ritually ingested."5 of mensesin the Baul ritualis, of course,anotherexampleof The importance theircontrary is generallyviewed as causing unfitness ways, since menstruation for many everyday acts,not to mentionceremonial ones. To Bauls, the presence of mensesconsecrates a woman who is only then able to achieve and to help her achieve union with that being which permeates partner menses as khir dissolves in water. In Vrindavan bloom three flowers ofthree colors: blue,yellow, white. is Sri Krishna, In which flower in which flower Srimati Radha? after The flower blooms twelve years, month after month that flower falls. To whomshallI speakaboutthat flower? it is forbidden to say. Exceptfortheenlightened, is thedesire forthefruit; Others' theenlightened immerses himself in theflower. In Madhuvan, Vraja'sBalai Dada is inebriated withdrinking honey. MylordGurucand says, "The flower bloomson thatqualityless branch; If youhearthestory ofthat flower, Radhasyam, youwill be puzzled."16 In Benigali, in the above "phul,""flower," may also mean "menses."The flower is certainly this latter song, which blooms aftertwelve years and falls monthly, with each of the typeof "phul." It is of threecolorsbecauseone coloris associated threedays duringwhich the sexual sadhana is performed. Only the enlightened, that is, the Baul instructed by his guru,knows the real worthof the flowerand A how it is to be used-the ignorantdesirethe fruit, perhapsmeaningchildren. of Baul familiesis theirsmallness;mally have no children, notablecharacteristic of imperfectly the results othershave themonlyas "accidents," performed sadhana, and still otherslimitthe numberof conceptions.'7 is used in the previoussonlg to disguisethe meaning,it is Althoughmetaphor nevertheless to secretaspectsof easilypenetrated. Usually the metaphors referring the Bauls' beliefare mortabstract and farther removedfromthe esoteric meaning, likethatin thefollowing song.

O mymind-fisherman,
L5pp, 57-8. 16 Author's collection.
1-7 Compare the statement of Melville T. Kennedy found on p. 215 of his T/2e Chaitanya lovement: A Study of the Vaisnavism of Bengal (Calcutta, I925): "Procreation is looked upon as evil,

in vainthrowing whydo youperish your net;

leadingto rebirth. By means of a revolting drink, of theexcreta of thecow,they seekthe compounded so-calledpower of Krsna, i.e., sex-unionwithout issue." This revolting drink is perhapsrelatedto the "fourmoons"dliscussed above.

THE BAULS OF BENGAL to catchdifficult is extremely love-fish The Krishna intothenet. fallsuddenly he doesn't with a netfornothingYou cameintotheworld seethat. youdidn't ofscriptures, netin theriver your Havingtorn in confusion. sitting thefishhas fled;and you remain netis torn; First ofall,your hasaccumulated. and in itonlyrubbish struck, The ill windofbad deedshaving thetimes areoutofjoint. outsnailsthenet, shaking turning Spreading, fate. thishasbeenyour to catch thefish, Thoughyouhavea desire learnto tossthenet. youdidn't up; thewater, youtossthenetall bunched Seeing out. spread itdoesn't thetossontotheshore; You aregiving water. in bottomless hasremained thefish thinks this: sitting, Ananta, "You haven't learned to tossthenet. thefish whocan recognize is wanted Sucha fisherman thewater. uponseeing areyou;where is themoon? "Where outyour If youstretch hand, youwillgetit?"'18

263

man who causes his own ruin by Here the ineptnessof the unenlightened by the act of sex,is impersonated performed not knowingthe worthof a properly forever will love-fish who has not learnedto use the net. The Krishna fisherman meaningof the song,but on anotherlevel,it elude his grasp.This is the essential and the may be pointedout thatthe net has been "tornin the riverof scriptures," with fetter themselves song may be viewed as a satireon those who needlessly in theirquest for the ultimate. Though this is undeniably to tradition adherence lies in the line "You haven'tlearnedto toss an aspectof the song,the importance the net,"thatis "You didn'tlearn the propersadhana frointhe guru." As for the the poet succinctly of attainingthe desiredgoal withoutthis training, possibility his opinion in the last couplet: "Where are you; where is the moon? expresses out yourhand,will youget it?" If youstretch what I was able to learn of the Bauls' beliefs As an outsider and musicologist, onto the "ulto path" and to reverse Bhattacarya has led me to followUpendranath of sectscharacof the Bauls as a conglomerate the commonly accepteddescription in whicha fewindividuals, creedfreefrom ritualobservance terized bya humanistic of anothersect. I sexual yoga,probablyunder the influence perform nevertheless, that the would suggestthat consideration ought to be given to the hypothesis of a ritual coitus by the performance sect characterized Bauls are a humanistic for the purposeof experiencing the bliss of nonreservatus duringmenstruation
18

Author's collection.

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CHARLES H. CAPWELL

phenomenal consciousness, in whichtheygreatly resemble theirprobableancestors in late tantric Buddhism;like the sectsof the latter, theyhave undergone varying degreesof change due to the influence of GauriyaVaisnavismand Sufiismwhich of the sexual sadhana by some of their may have resultedin the abandonment number.