Chapter 3

The Kartabhaja Sect And Its Organisation

The Background

During the seventeenth and eighteenth century numerous

offshoots of Vaisnavism or minor religious sects emerged in Bengal. The
development of these sects could be explained as a reaction against
Brahmanical dominance during the period. Now to understand the
proliferation of dissenting sects the political situation during the seventeenth
century must be taken into consideration. The downfall of the Mughals after
1709 and the slow consolidation of the British in Bengal before 1757 made
the life and society in Bengal highly hazardous. The Nawabs of Bengal failed
to tackle the various problems of this period of transition. As a consequence
of such political scenario, economy of Bengal also suffered during this
period. Again with the gradual penetration of British mercantile capital into
the traditional Bengali industries the old economic order was totally upset.
Both the Bengali peasants and the weavers were badly affected by the work
of the foreign monopolists (Chakraborty 1985).

42

The social situation, on the other, was also reflective of such

political as well as economic turmoil of the period. The supremacy of
Brahmanism almost shattered the economic and social life of all people
belonging to the lower order of the society. Vaisnavism in the earlier society
provided a space for all these lower order people, both from Hindu and
Muslim community as also for those large number of people who converted
from lower caste Hindus and Buddhists into Islam during the Mughal period.
But soon, Vaisnavism was diverted from its original philosophy to treat
people equally irrespective of their caste or religion. The caste rules were
strictly applied after the historic festival of K.heturi (Rajshahi), held sometime
between1576 and 1582, which was attended by representatives of nearly a
hundred vaisnava groups from all over Bengal (Ibid). Chatterjee (1989: 187)
wrote, "the Kheturi council laid down the doctrinal and ritual framework of
what was to become the dominant orthodoxy of Gaudiya vaisnavism, based
on canons prescribed by the 'goswamis' of Vrindavan." There emerged
differentiated forms of social identity and distinction appeared in the body of
the vaisnava sampraday. The earlier practices of non-Brahman vaisnava
gurus such as Narahari Sarkar or Narottam Datta having Brahman Disciples,
or in the later period the practice of wearing sacred thread irrespective of
caste, from now on, were not accepted by the new orthodoxy. The emphasis
now was against indiscriminate proselytization, and the highest status was
accorded among vaisnavas to the Brahman 'kulaguru' who acted as initiator

43

and spiritual guide to a small number of respectable upper-caste families.

Gradually there emerged social distinctions between high-caste Gaudiya
vaisnava householders and the low-castejat-vaisnava (i.e. vaisnava by caste)
who were considered by the former as outcastes (Ibid). Thus with the
development of orthodox Gaudiya Vaisnavism the lower order Hindus and
Muslims again lost the respectable place they had achieved through
vaisnavism. This led to the emergence of a number of smaller sects among
the lower order population of Bengal. These sects challenged the great
tradition of Hinduism, Islam and Christianity where these people found no
respectable position for themselves and sought for a new identity in order to
live a better life.
Chakrabarty (1985) provides a list of fifty-six Vaisnava or semtVaisnava heterodox sects including Au!, Baul, Balarami, Darbesh,

Jaganmohini, Kartabhaja, Kishoribhajana, Khusivisvasi, Sain, Sahebdhani

and so on. These sects were mainly the offshoots of vaisnavism and were
called Sahajiya sects as they adopted simple way of practicing their religion
that emphasized the human body and body centred practices. They had no
caste bias. Most of these sects were broadly classified as Vaisnava or semiVaisnava, but it is heterodoxy, which is the hallmark of their status as 'minor
sects'.
All these sects evolved in opposition to caste society and thus rejected
caste hierarchy as well as the dominance of the upper castes. Louis Dumont

44

held that caste in Indian society is a hierarchical system based on religious

ideas of purity and pollution. The system, according to him, is contradictory
to the egalitarian Western society where Christianity stressed upon the
individual, and the political system on the fom1al equality of individuals.
Dumont noted that the individual is given greater importance in many Hindu
sects and cults and these could be considered as egalitarian formations. The
present chapter attempts to examine whether the Kartabhaja sect follows a
true egalitarian structure at all.

Foundation of the Kartabhaja sect

The Kartabhajas were among the most prominent sects which emerged
during the seventeenth and eighteenth century and continue their existence
even today. The sect was founded by Aulchand or Aulechand whose identity
remains shrouded in mystery. Various legends are available which recounts
the deeds of Aulchand. Myths have been created to attach supernatural power
to him. Chakrabarty ( 1985) mentioned seven such legends describing his
emergence and development into a personality with extraordinary power.
According to a common legend Mahadeva Barui, a betel grower of village
Ula of Nadia district found an eight-year-old boy in his betel field on the first
Friday of the month of Phalgun in 1694 or 95. This boy of unknown
antecedents later came to be known as Aulchand. Mahadeva took him home

45

and he lived with Mahadeva for twelve years. Later he lived with different
persons in both West and East Bengal till he was twenty-seven. He then
renounced the world and became a fakir mendicant. It is not clear whether
Aulchand was a Muslim by birth or whether he was a Mohammedan
proselyte. Later Aulchand came to Bejra village where Ramsaran Pal, Hatu
Ghosh and others became his disciples and the Kartabhaja sect was formed.
Aulchand while visiting East Bengal probably became a mendicant of the
Aul sect. In one song of the Bhaber Geet (the code book of the Kartabhajas
and which is a compilation of over 500 songs composed by the most
prominent leader of the sect, Dulalchand) there is a reference to a brilliant
gem preserved in Dacca city who was possibly the preceptor of Aulchand.
There is also reference of Aulchand's visit to Sylhet in Bhaber Geet. Sylhet
was the centre of the Jaganmohini sect, the members of which along with
other sects such as Khusivisvasi, Sahebdhani, Balarami etc. also attended the
fair of the Kartabhajas at Ghoshpara. Possibly Aulchand was influenced by
Jaganmohini theism and guru-worship, and also by the contemporary Sufi
Fakirs of both East and West Bengal.
According to the Kartabhaja accounts Aulchand was no one else but
Sri Chaitanya himself in disguise. The myth goes like this - Sri Chaitanya
decided to disappear from Puri. Since he was believed to be immortal, he did
not die and reappeared sometime between 1760 and 1770 as the young and
handsome Fakir Aulchand in Triveni. He then miraculously crossed the
46

Ganges and came to Jagadishpur village where Ramsaran Pal found him and
became his disciple. The identification of Aulchand with Sri Chaitanya by
the Kartabhajas was obviously to lend respectability to the Kartabhaja sect.
Ambiguity in Aulchand's identity makes him acceptable to both Hindus and
Muslims. Thus the foundation of the sect was laid in such a way that it soon
spread among the lower orders of both the Hindus and the Muslims who
needed to come out of the control of Brahmans and Mullahs.
A number of stories are also prevalent that describes the meeting of
Aulchand and his most important disciple Ramsaran Pal and his wife
Sarasvati Devi (who became famous as Satima in later years). All these tales
in some way or the other depicted the supernatural powers of Aulchand.
Some stories describe how Aulchand cured Sarasvati, who was suffering
from a severe colic pain, by sprinkling water from his kamandalu (small
container of water). According to another other version, Aulchand told
Ramsaran to bring some water from the nearby pond (which, afterwards,
became known as Himsagar) and after infusing some magical power into the
water Aulchand sprinkled it over Sarasvati. Some water fell on the ground
under a pomegranate tree (now popular as Dalimtala) and Aulchand took the
mud and spread it over her body and Sarasvati was completely cured this
way. However the nature of illness of Sarasvati Devi was not mentioned in
available sources.

47

Aulchand stayed at Ramsaran's house in Ghoshpara in Nadia district

where he initiated Ramsaran and twenty-one other persons to form the
Kartabhaja sect. They are popularly known as 'Baish Fakir' (twenty-two
Fakirs). The names of these twenty-two persons are mentioned in different
books, namely:
(A) Bhaber Geet, (B) Bharatbarsiya Upasak Sampraday by Aksay
Kumar Dutta, (C) Bhaber Geeter Vyakhya by Manulal Misra (a
follower of the Kartabhaja sect) and (D) Kartabhaja Dharmer Adi

Vrittanta by Manulal Misra. Chakrabarty (1985:356-57) provides a

list of these twenty-two fakirs as mentioned in the lists of these four
books in the following way:

Disciple

Mentioned

Village

Incarnation

In lists

according to List C

according to List A

I.

Andirama

AD

2.

Becu Ghosa

ABCD

Ramananda Basu

Jagadishpur

3.

Shima Raya Rajput

ACD

Jiva Gosvamin

Dudhkumar

48

Yasada

Disciple

4. "Dedo" Krsna

Village according to

Incarnation

Mentioned
In lists

according to List C

List A

ACD

Damodara Pandita

Yasada

5.

"Goda" Krsna

ACD

Vakresvara

Yasada

6.

Hatu Ghosa

ABCD

Govindananda

Yasada

7.

Hari Ghosa

AB

8.

Kanai Ghosa

ABCD

Madhavacarya

Jagadishpur

9.

Kinu Govinda

AC

Raghunatha Bhatta

Yasada

10. Laksmikanta

ABCD

Kamalakar

II. Manohara Dasa

ABCD

Gopala Bhatta

Yasada

12. Nitai

ACD

Vasu Ghosa

Jagadishpur

\3. Nityananda

ABCD

Gadadhara Pandita

Yasada

14. Nayana

ABCD

Sundarananda

Yasada

15. Nidhirama

ABCD

Gauridasa Pandita

Jagadishpur

16. Panckari

ACD

Banamali Pandit

Jagadishpur

17. Ramsaran Pal

ABCD

18. Ramanath Dasa

ACD

Janhava Devi

Yasada

\9. Shankara

ABC

Sivananda Sena

Jagadishpur

20. Sisuram

ABC

21. Syama

22. Visu Dasa

ABCD

Jagadishpur

Sikhi Mahati

49

Piplai

Yasada

Jagadishpur

Jagadishpur
Dudhkumar
Yasada

ADDITIONAL NAMES

Disciple

l11carnation according to

Mentioned
In lists

ListC

23. Anandarama

BC

Ramananda Raya

24. Brahmahari[?]

25. Bhola Nyada

CD

26. Govinda

BD

27. Kinu

BD

28. Khelarama

BD

29. Krsnadasa

30. Pancu Ruidas

3 I. Symadasa Bairagi

BC

32. Syama Kansari

33. Sitarama

Kala Krsnadasa

34. Vrajahari

Vasudeva Sarvabhauma

Kasi Misra

Jagannatha Dasa
-

The names of the disciples mentioned in these lists are in certain cases
different. Still from the names it is quite clear that most of the disciples
belong to the backward castes. Interestingly, according to the list mentioned
in Manulal Misra's Bhaber Geeter Vyakhya most of these twenty-two

50

disciples are described as the incarnations of the famous Gaudiya Vaisnava

leaders like Jiva Goswami, Govindananda, Madhavacharya and others. This
was again obviously to generate a sense of respectability for the Kartabhaja
sect. Thus a minor order of the Gaudiya Vaisnavism in the form of
Kartabhaja sect was established through the notion of the lower caste
incarnations of leaders of Gaudiya Vaisnavism itself. Aksay Kumar Dutta
( 1870) held that in course of time eight disciples became more prominent
than the others, they were - Bhima Ray Rajput, Bechu Ghosh, Hatu Ghosh,
Kanai Ghosh, Nidhiram, Ramsaran Pal, and Syamadas. Aulchand had no
caste prejudice and a brass-smith named Syama Kansari and an untouchable
named Panchu Ruidas became his disciples.

Philosophy of the sect

The philosophy and the religious practices of the Kartabhaja sect was
never openly discussed or written by the members of the sect. The sect's
philosophy was passed on orally from the gurus to their disciples and they
were also directed not to discuss the sect philosophy amongst people outside
the sect by saying- apan bhajan katha na kahio jatha tatha (don't talk about
your religious practices everywhere). Thus they maintain strict secrecy of
their philosophy and the ritual practices and this tendency is still retained by
the sect. The only source of the detailed philosophy of the sect is the Bhaber

51

Geet or the compilation of the songs composed by Dulalchand. But again

these songs are composed in an enigmatic language (sandhya bhasa), which
is difficult to decipher by the laypeople outside the sect. However in later
period some of the sect members like Manulal Misra, Devendranath Dey,
Satyashib Pal Devmohanto, Harendranath Roy have attempted to elaborate
and explain these songs as well as the sect philosophy and all these works
have been the main source of understanding the philosophical notion and the
ritual practices of the Kartabhajas.
Aulchand derived the origin of the new religion (which was initially
called Satyadharma) from the syncretic personality cults and syncretic sects.
Like other contemporary sects the Kartabhajas attempted to reject the Vedas
and all Brahmanical rituals. According to them the orthodox rituals and
practices prescribed by the Shastras and Vedas were based on 'Anuman',
literally meaning inference and more colloquially 'guesswork'. Although
they have respect for the vedic Gods and Goddesses they believed that
worshipping imaginary Gods were not possible as also not worth doing, they
say- "Nayane dekhinijare/ Kemone bhajibo tare" (how can I worship whom
I have not seen) (Pal Devmohanto 1990:223). On the contrary, like the

Sahajiya theology the Kartabhaja sect, too, placed much importance on

'Bartaman', or the path of direct knowledge and extension of unorthodoxy,
which is evident in their song:

"Bartaman satyagnanjatha sambhab,

52

Anuman anarthak brtha he bhab ... ''

(Bhaber Geet)
"Bartaman is the true knowledge as far as possible
(Whereas) anuman is meaningless (and) useless idea ... "
All these Sahajiya groups were therefore, also called Bartamanpanthi,
(the followers of the path or philosophy of Bartaman, i.e., the knowledge
derived from the present) who are engaged in esoteric practices. They
developed a simple mode of worship that was centred on the human body.
The influences of Sahajiya Buddhism and Sufism are evident in the
Kartabhaja philosophy. The term Karla, which may mean the Prime Mover,
was used in Hevajra Tantra (Chakraborty 1985). Chakrabarty (Ibid) held that
"the Tantrika Buddhist Karta, after being thoroughly influenced by
Chaitanya movement, was transformed into the

Kartabh~a

messiah towards

the end of the eighteenth century." Moreover the traces of Sahajiya

Buddhism and Islamic Sufism could also be in certain concepts of the
Kartabhaja philosophy like the body as the microcosm of the universe, the
concept of Maner Manus a (the man of heart) or Sahaj Manus a (simple man)
etc. as found in a number of songs of the Bhaber Gee!. Different songs of the

Bhaber Gee! refer to the 'sadhana' to realise the Maner Manus a or the Sahaj
Manus a as the ultimate purpose of the sadhak. The sadhana includes certain
body centred secret practices like controlling breathing and others, which
could be learnt from the Guru (the 'pir' in Indian Sufism) or the spiritual

53

guide. Songs of Bhaber Geet like the following one express the desire to
achieve the Sahaj:
lchha hoi sahaj hobo )abo sei sahaj desete, sahajer bhab
Prasange ullase bhasi Bhaber gange, jadi pher dekhibo phiriye
dibo
Phirbo sadhur sangete, ki durlabh hoi udbhav sahaj rajyete, ...

(I wish to be sahaj and want to reach that realm of sahaj, with the reference
of the emotion of sahaj I shall be elated with joy and be floating in the river
of that emotion, if I find any obstacle I shall send back that (emotion), I shall
proceed in with the company of a pious man (to see) what a rare thing
emerges in the state of sahaj, ... )
(Bhaber Geet, p.386; Translated by
the present author)
Another song puts forth a question (sawal) about what the sahaj is as
it says,
Sahaj kemon jati, kon desete basati, kimati aakriti,
Prakriti gati }ana bisesan, keno agaman, punah gaman ki sthiti ...
(what is the nature of sahaj, in which land does it live, what type of
shape, nature, movements and attributes does it possesses, why it
comes and why does it return, how does it stay on ... )
Reply to the song is in the next song in an answer form (jawab ):

54

Sahaj jati manuse, basati sahaj dese, ki mali prakriti bujha

Abhase,jash asambhab, rasana sambhab, udbhab deha
bisese.

shakti purush ati rati upaje, kaje kaje dekhoto bujhe,

satir pati sahaje, sadhya sadhak sanger sangi, abhed he
ardha anger
angi, suna he bidhan, manus pradhan, sandhan sasi swarase.

(Sahaj is human by nature, inhabitant of the land of sahaj, you will have to
understand its nature by indication only, no fame can be attained, only your
taste organ will be content. It emerges in a special body. )
(Bhaber Geet, p.48; Translated by the present
author)
The second part of the song (shakti purush ... swarase) points to the
intertwining of the male and female body to attain the state of sahaj.
Therefore it can be said that the body centric practices were at the core of this
sectarian philosophy at least in its initial stage.
Tusar Chattopadhyay (1981: 207-211) observed, "The Sahajiya
Tantrik tradition of orgiasticisrn has been in practice among the Kartabhaja
sect all through." However Chakrabarty (1985) refused to accept the Tantrik
nature of the Kartabhaja sect on the ground that, according to him, the

55

technical terms of the left Tantras are not found in Bhaber Geet, which
constitute the most authoritative theological text of the sect. Now, to what
extent the Tantrik or any kind of body related sadhana was performed by the
sect people may not be ascertained, but definitely the sect was based upon the
anti-Vedic Sahajiya philosophy and as reflected in the Bhaber Geet the sect
did emphasise the difficult body-centric practices in order to understand the
meaning of Sahaj Manusa or Maner Manusa. The Kartabhajas believe that
ultimate knowledge exists within the human body itself and this knowledge is
directly achievable through some body-centric practices with the help of the

guru.
The concept of body as a microcosm of the universe or BhandaBrahmandabad is an important part of their philosophy. Like the Sahajiya
Buddhists or Sahajiya vaisnavas and Bauls the Kartabhajas believe that all
the features of the universe are present in the human body. Manulal Misra
(1962:92-93) while describing the importance of body wrote that"Seven oceans and seven island-earth, the mountain of the North Pole
and all rivers, mountains etc. land and landowners, all the saints and planets
and stars, holy pilgrimages, holy places and gods living in those places have
been inhabiting within the body".
Songs in Bhaber Geet also echo this concept as the following one:

"Je Brahmande seito bhande satya jodi hot'

56

(that which exists m the umverse (brahmanda) is also found m body

(bhanda)- if it is true only ... )

(quoted in Dey 1968:40)

By rejecting the complex and anuman based vedic way of reaching

God the Kartabhajas adopted "the most expedient, most natural, or innate
(sahaj) path to liberation. "(Urban 2001 :7) According to them this simple way
(sahaj path) will take them to a world of pleasure, as one of the Bhaber Geet

says"Ache Kartabhaja, ek maja, satya upasana,

Ved vidhite naiko tar thikana,
Esab chaturer karkhana

Ami apto khode meye marade karta bhajabo

Kartabhajar kache todike murkha banabo.
Era korbe maja, peye rasta soja
Ki maja svarga patalpure."

("There is one Kartabhaja, it is fun, it is the worship of the truth, there is no

reference of it in Vedas, all these are the creation of the ingenious ... Along
with the men and women I shall confidentially worship the Karta, I shall
prove you (followers of the Vedas) fool to the Kartabhajas. By getting the
simple path they will enjoy the pleasure in heaven and hell.")
(Quoted in Pal Devmohanto 1990:219, translated by the
present auther)

57

Like the goal of achieving the 'Mahasukha' (ultimate pleasure) in

sahajiya Buddhism or the concept of 'Maner Manusa' of Bauls or other
Sahajiya sects the Kartabhajas, too, believe that to realise Maner Manus or
the supreme reality is the final aim of the sahaj sadhana. Urban describes the
Moner Manusa in the following way:
"Dwelling within the innermost secret core of every human body, the
Supreme Reality of Sahaja takes the mysterious form of the "Man of the
Heart" or "Moner Manus a" (Urban 2001 :68)
Rabindranath Tagore used the concept of Maner Manusa, which he
took from Lalan and thus the concept was popularised through his songs.
However, Urban finds that the concept made "its first known literary
appearance in the Kartabhaja songs"

(2001 :68) Pal Devmohanto (1990)

mentioned how Tagore was impressed by the Maner Manusa theory

developed by the minor sects. This indicates Satyashib's attempt to highlight
the intellectual part of the sect, which was criticised constantly by the great
Indian religions traditions as not having intellectuality.
Maner Manusa or Sahaj Manusa, however, according to them, was
very much difficult to achieve or even express it in words as the following
song in Bhaber Geet advises it is better not to express it:
"Kaj ki tor maner manus baire bar kore,
sada sukhi hoye atmay misaye
Basaiya rakhore hiyar majhare."

58

(What use is there in trying to bring that Man of the Heart outside?
Always eternally happy, united with the Self, he
Remains seated within the heart.)
(Translated by Urban 2001 :69)
In order to realise the Sahaj or Maner Manusa the Kartabhajas like
other Sahaj iya sects adopts the body centric practice, which is referred to a~

rup-svarup tattva, edes-sedes tattva etc. by different sects. However the main
theme of all these theories is nothing but the esoteric practices prescribed by
Tantra. Dey (1968) describes the procedure of this body-centric sadhana the main concept of which is as follows:
In Tantra the spinal cord of our body is considered as polar axis (meru

parvat) of earth. At the lowest portion of this polar axis there exists the latent
female power (Shakti) in the root circle (muladhar chakra) in sleeping
condition. The aim of the sadhana is to awake this female power or Shakti
and to take it upward through the different stages of the polar axis like circles
of svadhisthan, manipur, anahata, bisuddha, ajna etc and finally to the seat
of the soul in the north pole and there to unite Shakti with Siva symbolizing
abstention. According to the Hathayoga (the practices to control breathing)
the two main arteries of the human body, namely Ida on the left and Pingala
on the right side are considered as Shakti and Siva or female and male
respectively. One has to direct the breath of life flowing through these two

59

arteries toward the artery of Susumna within the body and finally send it to
seat of the soul (sahasra)- by this he will achieve the truth.
Dey ( 1968) opines that although some of the terms of the esoteric
tantric practices are used in the songs of the Kartabhajas, actually, these
esoteric practices have little impact on their religious practices. No detailed
description of such esoteric practices is available in the songs of the
Kartabhajas. Dey, who himself was a Kartabhaja, also wrote that even the
sect members also do not know about all these tantric ritual practices. He
mentioned the saying "meye hijre purus khoja - to be hobe Kartabhaja" (only
when the female and male become eunuch - they are eligible to be
Kartabhaja.) and held that this saying restricts any body-centric or sexual
practices like those prescribed by the tantra. However, Nandy (1984) said
that although there have been changes in the religious practices or sadhana of
the Kartabhajas due to changing social environment field surveys shows that
such esoteric practices are still followed by some sect members - although
small in number. Again the concept of 'Jiyante mara' (dead while yet alive)
propounded by the Kartabhajas also explains existence. of the final state or

maner manusa concept in the sect.

Importance of Guru
The Kartabhajas place great importance on their guru. They follow
their guru's teachings to perform the religions sadhana, which is outside the

60

rituals prescribed in the shastras. In fact, all the Sahajiya sects or any
religions in India where esoteric practice are emphasized, the role of guru
becomes very important, because without a guru such practices cannot be
undertaken, understood or performed. Dasgupta (1969: 10 1-02) writes, "It
will be seen that all the systems of Indian Philosophy and religions are
mystic, for according to all the systems truth always transcend, intellectual
apprehension or discursive speculation, it is to be intuited within through the
help of the preceptor, who has already realised it". Dey (1968) too says that
tantra is performance-based and it cannot be practiced without the help of
guru, Hindu tantric religion, Buddhist tantric religion, Sahajiya vaisnavism or
Baul all are established on esoteric practices and therefore guru is placed at
the highest position in these religions.
Kartabhajas too follow their guru in religious performances and also
worship him as God. They say -

Man, guru Brahmo guru Visnu bhajo hridayete

Moner bhram sakal dure }abe,
Bholamon srigurur kripate.
(oh mind, guru is Brahmo, guru is Visnu, worship him in heart, all the
confusions of the mind will be removed by the grace of the great guru.)
(Bhaber Geet quoted in Dey 1968:37, translate by the present author)
In fact all the sahajiya sects including the Kartabhajas were accused of
emphasising too much on guru. The contemporary society ridiculed these

61

sects to be gurubadi and sycophantic, which conducted all kinds of occult

and nefarious activities with the help of these gurus. Also at one period of
time the sect was even blamed for limiting their religious practices to please
only the guru. Sen (1895) felt that Kartabhaja is a form of the guru puja of
the Hindus.
However, one of the previous Kartas Gopal Krishna Pal rejected this
comment and wrote, "Ours is not a guruworshipping sect as some have taken
it to be. In fact as a safeguard against any possible misconception as to the
rights and obligations of a religious preceptor and the consequent misuse of
his privileges, the terms 'guru' and 'sishya' are never employed among us;
on the contrary the words used are 'mahasaya' and 'varati' .... ........ It will
thus be seen that the 'mahasaya' is merely teacher and has no right to exact
any divine homage from his his varatis" (Quoted in Dey 1968:38). However,
Dey (ibid) as a sect member believed that it is very much true that the
Kartabhajas worship their gurus and it is not at all defamatory, because this
guru-worship is the feature of almost all Indian religions and Kartabhajas are
no exception. The disciples or the baratis are found to show great reverence
towards their mahasayas. Baratis salute their gurus by falling prostrate and
listen to every word of the gurus with great respect. This way of saluting is
actually paying obeisance to god and adopting this procedure or way surely
indicates that the baratis believe them to be like god. However when all the

mahasaya including the most influential ones were observed to accept such

62

salutation, a mahasaya was observed to have refused a barati to accept

salutation as he said, "Adhikar nei bhai" (I do not have the right, brother). So
this means that Gopal Krishna's statement was true in the philosophical level
and was practiced by very few gurus.
The sect thus incorporated the notion of body as a receptacle of divine
truth and challenged the intellectual doctrines of religions of the great
tradition. Primarily lacking the intellectual part, the sect members of the
backward castes resorted to the materialistic world of body and its different
organs to express their religiosity. The body and different bodily secretions,
which are considered polluting by the upper castes, were taken as most
valuable substances by the Sahajiya sects like the Kartabhaja. Jha (1995: 88)
mentioned the use of four moons (four types of body secretions- menstrual
fluid, semen, urine and faeces) by the Kartabhajas. Undoubtedly such type of
religious protest by the peseant-shudra castes was not accepted at all by the
upper caste society. This made the sects maintain their sect practices only
secretly - outside the mainstream society. Though the sect started off with
this form of body-centric religious beliefs and practices, later with the
emergence of some formally educated kartas like Satyashib and mahasayas
like Dr. Roy, the sect philosophy is being reshaped to gain acceptance of the
upper caste as also the elite society. Satyashib rejected the notion of svakiya
and parakiya sadhana as a part of Kartabhaja philosophy. The notion of
svakiya conveys the concept of performing sadhana with the help of one's

63

own wife whereas parakiya is the type of sadhana with woman other than
one'.s own wife (Chakraborty 1989).

Satyashib (1990) held that the

Kartabhajas do not perform any ritual, which may need woman, either one's
own wife or any other women. According to him, the sect has a different
philosophy, where one's own body is ample to carry on the sectarian
practices. However, Das an older sect member wrote about the need of
female body for the sectarian practices and he commented, "one should take
one's own wife as his religious consort" (Das Undated: 49). Therefore it
definitely means the notion of sadhana centred on sexual practices is being
discarded recently to have a better acceptance in the educated section of
society. Instead Satyashib emphasised the harmony of religions or the
equality of human beings in the philosophy of the sect. During the interaction
with Dr. Roy in the mela, he too stressed on the harmony of the religions.
Moreover he directly told, "we want elite people to join the sect." Again,
more surprisingly, he asked me, "are you a Brahmin? Then you must join our
sect, because Brahmins must provide the religious leadership, which they are
avoiding presently." This signifies that the sect, at least the educated leaders
of it, want to be recognised by upper caste society. For getting the acceptance
of the elite they are now even restructuring their philosophy, making it more
liberal regarding brahmanical norms. Perhaps it has been easier for them, as
the sect since its initial stage advised the members to perform social norms
(lok madhye /okachar, sadguru madhye ekachar). This kind of change in the

64

sect philosophy indicates a shift from material aspect of body toward more
and more ideological aspect.
Moreover, the new generation gurus also are not said to have attained
the requisite spiritual enlightenment. SbP, one of the descendants of Satima
said, "They (mahasayas of the present generation) now do not have the time
to perform all the rituals, so they cannot be given the name and position of

'Mahasaya', but still I have allowed them to maintain their old baratis whom
they have inherited from their fathers or forefathers."
Such attitudes as well as philosophical presentations of the sect imply
that the body-centric sectarian practices, if performed at all, are confined to a
very limited number of committed and older members. Moreover at the
grassroot level the sect members or baratis even practise all the social
conventions and caste rules along with worshipping Satima and the present

gurus- especially during Satimar me/a.

Again as the sect members do not have any social or legal recognition
as the Kartabhajas, they perhaps are getting absorbed in caste society. Pal
( 1990) himself commented that perhaps someday the Kartabhaja religion will
not exist at all, but the themes propounded by it like harmony of religions or
equality of human beings will prevail.
Although, it is hard to find out how far the Kartabhaja sect was
engaged in such esoteric practices, we find, like in other Bartamanpanthi
Sahajiya groups, the categorisation of stages of attainment in sadhana in the

65

Kartabhaja sect too.

Aulchand emphasised the distinction between

Vyavahara or social behaviour and Paramartha or the supreme spiritual

interest. The Kartabhajas were advised to assert their individual freedom in
matters concerning faith, but at the same time they were also instructed to
respect the social norms as it was said, "Lok-madhye lokachar, sadguru-

madhye ekachar" (observe existing customs and norms in public and follow
the sect norms in the company of their guru) In fact the Kartabhaja had to
promise to their gurus during the initiation that excepting the caste rule, they
would violate no other Hindu convention, or conventional morality. Since the
Kartabhaja (worship of Karta) itself was Paramartha, it could be cultivated

by people whose Vyavahara compelled them to worship different Gods and

Goddesses (Misra 1911 ). This direction by the very philosophy of the sect
made them accept social rules and presently they are said to be maintaining
the caste rules in society. It is only the annual fair where they are given the
opportunity to discard caste rules. Perhaps such integration with society may
be leading to the dissolution of the sect in caste society.
There are the following stages of spiritual attainment for the
Kartabhaja:
a)

Sthul or Daik (simple Kartabhaja);

b)

Mul or Kangal (main Kartabhaja):

i) Pravarta, ii) Sadhaka, iii) Siddhi, and iv) Nivrtti.

66

Sthul, which means gross, signifies the stage before the esoteric practice

begins. The Mul or main stages are for those Kartabhajas who undertake
esoteric practices. The four stages under the Mul category are again linked
with four types of eligibility, namely, Sadhu, Sati, Sura, and Mahat
respectively.
The first stage Pravarta means the state of the neophyte, when he is
also called as Sadhu. The higher stage is that of the Sadhaka. At this stage the
disciple is permitted to be associated with a woman, who was to be his wife.
The female partner of the Sadhaka is called Sati (Chaste woman) and
Sadhaka and Sati form a single word, Sadhaka-Sati. The third stage of Siddhi

(Achievement) is that of the lesser Gods and Sura and Siddhi are combined
together. The highest stage is Nivrtti. In this stage man realizes the nonduality with the cosmic greatness of God and he is now called Mahat. At this
stage the Kartabhaja is jiyente mara or "un-living", because now he is free
from the shackles of desires. The Kartabhaja guru belongs to the highest
category (Nandy 1984 ). However, this hierarchy of the Kartabhajas on the
basis of spiritual achievement is not easy to observe and to identify clear
distinctions between people achieving different stages is obviously hard for
an outsider. Moreover, these esoteric sadhana are conducted privately and is
never expressed publicly.

67

Codes of conduct
The Kartabhaja religion prescribes at least ten codes of conduct for the
followers. The following activities are totally forbidden by the sect:

Three physical acts:

(1) Sexual intercourse with other people's

wife;
(2) Stealing people's things;
(3) Committing murder.

Three mental acts:

( 1) Thinking of sexual intercourse with

Other people's wife;
(2) Thinking of stealing people's things;
(3) Thinking of Committing murder.

Four speech acts:

(1) Tell a lie;

(2) Uttering harsh words;
(3) Talking unnecessarily;
(4) Talking incoherently.

These ten codes of conducts definitely remind one of the Ten

Commandments of the Bible. The Kartabhajas themselves are aware of the
influence of Christianity in this regard as Das (undated) writes, "these laws

68

are written in close similarity to the Bible's Ten Commandments. Thus, the
Christian preachers could also respect the newly founded Kartabhaja
religion."
An important ritual of the Kartabhajas is the practice of repentance
and confession of sin or Dayika majlis. The word Dayika means an initiated
disciple, who is liable to perform a number of pious deeds. A Dayika is also a
responsible disciple who takes a vow. He has to confess before his guru. The
ritual of confession is performed in a majlis or gathering of many Dayikas.
Also the Dayika have to pay the guru ajarimana (fine).
Another important and more common ritual of the Kartabhajas is to
observe the Fridays as the most sacred day. The sect members spend the
whole day with a pious feeling and all the family members gather together in
the evening to sing songs from Bhaber Geet. At the end they shout victory to
Aulchand, Satima, Ramsaran, Dulalchand and their respective gurus and thus
conclude the event. Later they take some prasad of food other than rice. The
Kartabhajas are advised to take vegetarian food on the Fridays and some
even observe fast on that day. The sect members are also directed to gather at
the place of the mahasaya to worship and sing Bhaber Geets collectively and
then return home with the blessings of the mahasaya. Choosing Friday as the
sacred day obviously indicates the Islamic influence on the sect. Dey (1968)
maintained that perhaps the purpose behind fixing Friday as a sacred day for

69

the sect was to harmonise the Hinduism and Islam and thus developed a
syncretic sect philosophy.
The Islamic influence on the sect, in fact, is evident in many aspects
of the Kartabhaja sect. Aulchand, the founder of the sect himself was called a
fakir and it is not known whether he was a Hindu or a Muslim. Moreover,

when Aulchand created the sect, it was again done with twenty-two 'fakirs'.
Thus applying the Islamic term of fakir definitely implies Muslim influence
on the sect. In the later period the burial of Satima also indicates the
incorporation of Islamic ideas into the sect. All these elements of Islamic
philosophy integrated with the Kartabhaja sect's ideology obviously helped
the sect spread among both the Hindus and Muslims.

~Organisational

Structure

As mentioned earlier the sect rejected the hierarchy of the caste

system. There was a firm commitment to the upholding of equality of all
human beings irrespective of caste, religion and sex. Thus developed on a
non-hierarchical basis, the Kartabhaja sect provided a more or less secure
social space for those large numbers of people, who remained at the lowest
rungs of both Hindu and Muslim religion.
Kartabhaja sect has a typical organisational structure based on three
strata or levels, namely, Karta > Mahasaya > Barati.

70

Before going into details about the sect let us discuss about a few
concepts, necessary to understand the sect.

1. Gadi:
Religious hermitages in Bengali are generally called ashrams, and
vaisnavites describe their monasteries as akhara, but Kartabhajas term their
religious centre at Ghoshpara as Gadi, occupied by successive Kartas and
often disputing over it. The term gadi is literally derived from Hindi 'Gaddi'
meaning a cushion originally used to refer to the comfortable seat of the local
trader and gradually in the cosmopolitan world of 19th century Calcutta

Gaddi meant the trading houses operating in the metropolis in those days.
Banerjee (2002:38) says "The choice of the word 'gadi' to describe the
Ghoshpara hermitage by its kartas could therefore reflect their desire to
establish their headquarters as a religious ally of the Bengali commercial
society that was developing in Calcutta and other trading centres under the
colonial regime."

Gadi, however, does not always remain a single centre, rather there
have been more than one Gadi, each occupied by different existing
descendants of Satima at Ghoshpara. The tendency or trend of multiple Gadi
began after the death of Ramdulal. As Manik Sarkar (197 5: 07) saw three

Gadis during the period when Iswarchandra, son of Ramdulal was the Karla
of the sect. Sarkar observed, " Now at the fair of Ghoshpara there are three

71

Gadis of three co sharers setting up three institutions. The three co- sharers
no longer possess one single mind, which was claimed to be possessed
initially by the 'twenty two fakirs'. Moreover there is another one private

Gadi at Ghoshpara. Poor homeless peasants or the baratis bring their savings
throughout the year to pay tax at these four Gadis through mahasayas."
At present there are three Gadis at Ghoshpara occupied by three
groups of descendants of Satima, they are a)

the descendants of Late Gopal Krishna Pal,

b)

the descendants of Late Surendranath Pal, and

c)

Sarasvati Trust.
The gadi of Late Gopal Krishna Pal holds fifty percent share of the

property of the house of Satima. Since the time of Gopal Krishna this gadi
has been more prominent in Ghoshpara. The position of the formal karta of
the sect is also being retained by the inheritants of this gadi only. However
some mahasayas in the other two gadis are also prominent and play
important roles in conducting the sect activities. Moreover, when asked about
the followings of each of these gadis, though no exact number could be
ascertained, it was understood that each gadi has a few thousands of

mahasayas and more than a lakh of baratis.

2.

Khajna:

According to the sect's philosophy Karta is the proprietor of every

disciple's body, as the zamindar is to the agricultural land. Just as zamindars
72

were paid tax for agricultural land Karta should also receive pranami which
is termed as Khajna by the Kartabhajas, because they believe that allowing
the souls of human beings to occupy his body. The Khajna is to be paid to

Karta annually during the occasion of Do/me/a at Ghoshpara. Baratis pay

their Khajna through their respective mahasayas who submit the tax at the

gadi of the Karla. The amount of Khajna thus collected is the major source
of income for the Kartas. However, there are also other sources of income for
the Karla. Chakraborty (1985 :361) pointed out the following sources of
income of the Kartabhaja guru:

Yearly tax collected from the bailiffs and agents, who collected
them from disciples living in different villages and towns. The
rate of commission is not known.

Half of the annual earnings of the lesser gurus, some of whom

were 'commissioned' agents of the Kartabhaja guru.

Initiation fee of Re. 11-.

Pranami or salutation fee.

Dayika fee (confession fee)

These taxes are still prevalent, obviously at a higher rate. Such taxes
are also collected in a similar fashion as we saw in earlier descriptions. The
annual tax is collected by the karta during the fair in the month of March at
Ghoshpara. The amount of the tax paid along with the name and address of
the payee are noted down in a huge register book by a trusted disciple of the
73

Karla in the same way even today. During the study the amount of money

paid by each party ranged between Rs.6/- to Rs.lOO/-. According to one Mr.
Mal from North 24 Parganas, an old Barali of the sect (under Sarasvati Trust)
the amount of Khajna for one human body was three and half annas per year
previously, but now it is Rs.5/-. Another Mahasaya Mr. Mandai from Andhra
Pradesh says that he pays Rs.l 00/- as annual tax to the karla (now, Sarasvati
Trust) and if he fails to come to the fair he sends the amount by post.
However, the karlas state that there is no fixed amount of Khajna for
the disciples, it is up to them- they give as they please.

3. Asana:
Literally asana means seat, m fact a thin seat (not thick like a
'Gaddi'). For the Kartabhaja sect asana refers to the seat of Salima placed by

the Mahasayas at their houses with the permission of the Karta. The asana
may contain the picture of Salima, copy of Bhaber Geel or other items
considered sacred by the sect and the pictures of the deceased Mahasayas etc.
During Dolmela Mahasayas are also allowed to set up their asanas at a fixed
position under a fixed tree in the orchard of Ghoshpara. The Baralis put abir
on the asana before putting abir on the feet of their respective Mahasaya or
guru as a part of rituals of Dol ulsab. Baralis also pay their annual Khajna or

other pranamis at the asana of their Mahasaya. Mahasaya submits it to the

gadi of the karla. However, more generally asana also refers to the akhara of

the Mahasaya as a whole.

74

4. Bhaber Geet:
Bhaber Geet is a collection of songs composed by Ramdulal Pal, son
of Satima and Ramsaran Pal, at the age of only eighteen. Ramdulal or
Dulalchand used to utter the songs spontaneously, while one of his close
associate Ramcharan Chattopadhyay of Belur noted them down (Das
Undated). Dulalchand also took the pseudonym of Lalsasi, meaning red
moon, derived 'from his own name: -(Du) lal(red)+ chand(moon)=
Ial+sasi(moon) or Lalsasi. This name is often mentioned in almost all the
songs to indicate the creator of them. As Dulalchand is also called "Srijuta"
by the sect members, the songs of Bhaber Geet are also termed as "Srijuter
Pad''(verses of Srijuta). The book is considered the sacred book by the sect
members. Perhaps, since most of the members were non-literate peasants, it
was the best way to communicate the ideas of the sect through songs.
The language of these verses is not clear to the common people, as
they are written in an ambiguous way. This language is known as sandhya
bhasa or coded language and can be understood by the knowledgeable sect
members only. The language is also called as Tyakshali bot or the language
of the mint as many words of the contemporary newly emerged mint
technology were used in these songs.
There is much confusion even among the sect members about the
number of the songs composed by Dulalchand. The number of songs varies

75

from 573 to 650 in the different publications by the sect members, like
Bhubanmohon Gangopadhyay, Ramesh Ghosh and Manulal Misra.
The songs in Bhaber Geet are set in question-answer (sawal-jawab)
mode. Some philosophical questions are put forward in the part of sawal and
its answer is given in jawab. The songs include prarthana-sangeet, (prayers),
gurubandana (worshipping of guru), sadhana-sangeet (practice as well as
philosophical ideas of the sect) etc.
The songs are performed by the sect members during any of their
sacred occasion. Das (Undated) wrote that Dulalchand along with his
followers used to sing these songs accompanied by esraj (a traditional
musical instrument). However, at present esraj has become more or less an
obsolete instrument and now the songs are mostly accompanied by
harmonium, khol and khanjani. The change in the accompanying instruments
also indicates change of style of singing. Moreover instruments like
harmonium, khol and khanjani are used in Kirtans sung by the Vaisnavas.
This obviously implies the vaisnava influence on the sect and incorporation
of Vaisnava elements by the sect. Often these songs are sung only by some of
the expert singers within the sect and such gahaks (singers) are invited to
perform at religious gatherings by the gurus. Therefore though the songs are
not of great musical value the ordinary sect members are not able to perform
those songs by themselves.

76

Let us now discuss in detail about the three organisational levels in the
sect - their original fonns as found in different literature and changes in those
fonns as experienced by the present researcher through field investigation.

Kart a
Karta is the chief religious guide and occupies the highest position
within the sect. Aulchand, the founder of the sect did not himself become a
karta. He, however, is above all and is considered as 'Adiguru' or the main
preceptor of the sect. Ramsaran Pal, sadgope by caste and one of the twentytwo main disciples (Baish fakir) of Aulchand, was the first to be worshipped
as karta by the sect members after the death of Aulchand. He was called
'kartababa' and this chief position is inherited by the descendants of
Ramsaran till today. Now the question arises that why Ramsaran and not any
other disciple of Aulchand attained the position of the Karta? The possible
answer may be sought in the caste background of Ramsaran. Sadgope is a
caste, which is commensurate with the Goala or Gope. They are the
cultivating section of the Gope caste. Sanyal (1987), while analyzing the
history of Mallabhum, the autonomous, semi-independent principality that
existed along with few other similar principalities like Gopbhum,
Sikharbhum, Manbhum etc. in the Gangetic delta in Bengal between the 16th
and 18th centuries discussed the caste structure of the area. He held that the
cultivating Gopes (from whom emerged the Sadgopes) in Mallabhum were
originally migrants from Gopbhum and the area around the Bardhaman town.

77

They were, according to Sanyal, enterprising and adventurous people and due
to their initiative the cultivating Gapes (or Sadgapes) had acquired better
lands and the position of mandai, i.e., the headman and the spokesman of the
villages in which they lived. Usually they held the finest lands and added to
their prosperity by trading in grains. These enterprising and adventurous
characteristics of the cultivating section of the Gapes, i.e., Sadgapes perhaps
made them prominent also in the district of Nadia where they were the
dominant peasant caste. Probably because of this local dominance the

Sadgapes, who were otherwise an intermediate caste, desired to have a better

position in society According to Aksay kumar Dutta, a person usually a
descendant of the Pals whom the present or existing karla chooses to inherit
the position can become a karla. However, the whereabouts of other main
disciples of Aulchand are not clearly known.
After Ramsaran's death his descendants like his son Ramdulal and
grandson Iswarchandra became kartas successively. In between them
Saraswati Devi, wife of Ramsaran became 'kartama '. She was reputed to
have had a strong personality, and to disciples and devotees came to
represent the 'Adyashakti' or the Universal Female Principle. As her fame
spread, Saraswati soon came to be known as 'Satima'.

Karta is worshipped by the sect members as God. For them, karta is

the only truth others are untrue, they follow their karta in every step of their
life, as is evident in their saying "I speak what karta speaks, I do what karta

78

makes me do, I eat what karla feeds me, I go where karla takes me"(Sarkar
197 5:04 ). Sarkar (Ibid) opined that the hereditary nature of the karta and his
absolute power reflects the influence of feudalism rather than democratic
ideology.

Some Important Kartas

1)

Ramsaran Pal (1720-1783)

Ramsaran was born sometime around 1720 and died in 1783 or

thereabouts. Ramsaran a sadgope by caste, was originally a resident of a
village named Jagadishpur near Chakdaha in the district of Nadia. He left his
father's house as he had some conflict regarding family matters with his
brothers and reached Ghoshpara. Ramsaran settled down here with the help
of one of his relatives who was a local resident.Later he married Sarasvati
Devi, daughter of one Gobinda Ghosh of a nearby village called Gvindapur
(Nandy 1984). They met Aulchand, a fakir with supernatural power at
Ghoshpara during this period. There are several popular stories about their
meeting and about how Aulchand cured Sarasvati Devi or Ramsaran by his
power. However, the fact is that Ramsaran became a disciple of Aulchand,
who along with twenty-one disciples (twenty-two in all) comprised the
Kartabhaja sect. After the death of Aulchand in around 1779 Ramsaran,
being the most important among his disciples, took over his mantle and
79

became the first karta of the sect. According to some sources, Aulchand
himself desired Ramsaran to succeed him (Dey 1968), whereas others believe
that differences arose between Ramsaran and Aulchand and the latter left
Ghoshpara as the former took over his guru's office. According to this
second view there was actually no duality between Aulchand and Ramsaran.
But as both were wonder-workers, they could not co-exist in the same house
(Chakraborty 1985).

Vl. Ward (1811) wrote about Ramsaran in the following words"Ram-Sharanu began from his time to give out the doctrine of a constant
incarnation, and that God then dwelt in him. He persuaded multitudes that he
could cure the leprosy and other diseases.... He also gave a new initiating
muntru to his followers .... Vast multitudes were joined to this man, both
Musalmans and Hindoos before his death."

By setting up the network of sub-gurus or mahasayas throughout

Bengal Ramsaran succeeded in raising the number of disciples, both

mahasayas and their baratis. Ramsaran also reinforced Aulchand's directive

that disciples had to deposit half of their annual income to Sarasvati
(Banerjee 2002). This increased the flow of funds to the establishment in
Ghoshpara, which became headquarter of the sect. W. Ward (1811) described
Ramsaran's rise to power in the following words - "from a state of deep
poverty he became rich, and his son now lives in affluence".

80

According to different reports and popular accounts, Ramsaran was a

simple person and a man of pure morality and possessed all qualities that a
religious preacher should have.

2)

Sarasvati Devi (1752-1839)

Sarasvati Devi was born sometime around 1752 and died in 1839. She
was the daughter of Gobinda Ghosh of Gobindapur village. Ramsaran
married Sarasvati after the death of his first wife. Sarasvati was believed to
be cured by Aulchand. This act of curing by Aulchand was emphasised,
certainly to highlight the supernatural power in him. This curative power then
passed on to Ramsaran and Satima, blessed by Aulchand. Then this continues
to be an important feature of the sacred space in Ghoshpara, where all these
events of miraculous cure occurred. According to one legend she once
begged Aulchand for a son and the fakir promised to be reborn as her son.
This is how she gave birth to Ramdulal in 1775 (six years after Aulchand's
death)- a reincarnation of the 'guru ' (Banerjee 2000). This desire for a son
by Satima echoes the desires of most of the peasant women and also reflects
the patriarchal values. Perhaps, the instance of Satima, increased the
expectation of a large number of women to fulfill such a popular desire of
begetting a son. For this reason Ghoshpara attracted a large number of people

81

and the me/a became a very popular event. Moreover, the Hindu belief in the
transmigration of soul is also reflected in the myth of the birth of Dulalchand:
When Ramsaran died Ramdulal was only eight years old and Sarasvati
Devi looked after the 'Gadi' and became the chief of the sect. She remained
chief or karta-ma till Ramdulal was 16 year old. Again after the premature
death of Ramdulal in 1833 she again had to take up the responsibility of chief
of the sect as the sect continued to flourish and a large number of people
flocked to Ghoshpara to take refuge in Satima 's philosophy. Satima set up a
temple of Goddess Kali (known as Rakshekalir Mandir) within the
compound of her house at Ghoshpara. Though there is no common form of
idol of Goddess Kali in this temple, the setting up of the temple means that
Satima reinstated Sakta worship. Besides this, Goddesses like Sarasvati,
Laksmi, Durga were also being worshipped at Ghoshpara. The exact year
when such worship began is not found in any source but the practice is still
continued by the descendants and disciples of Ramsaran and Satima. In fact
the people of Bengal, those belonging to the lower castes always respected
these Gods and Goddesses but they were denied access to these Gods and
their temples in Hindu caste society, now Ghoshpara provided them an
opportunity.
Sarasvati Devi had a strong personality and blessed by Aulchand she
was believed to possess miraculous healing power as also the power of
infallible speech. She was said to have cured the blind, the deaf and the

82

dumb, and made barren women bear children. One story of her miraculous
power may be mentioned here. A barren woman got the blessings of
Sarasvati Devi and gave birth to a son. But the child was born deformed and
the mother refused to take him and gifted him to Sarasvati Devi. Later on
Sarasvati Devi cured the child who became near normal. She then adopted
him as a son. He was called Bankachand, literally meaning the carved moon,
obviously hinting at his deformity. Sarasvati Devi brought up Bankachand,
arranged for his education and also built a house for him near the residence
of the Pals in Ghoshpara. In course of time Bankachand also became famous
for his application of supernatural power and his house became another
sacred spot for the pilgrims.
As Sarasvati Devi became famous for her strong personality and
magical power she soon came to be known as 'Satima'. As Banerjee wrote,
"this could have begun as an abbreviation of her name in popular usage.
Instead of calling her Sarasvati-Ma (Sarasvati, the mother), the common
people shortened her name by using the last two syllables 'svati'. Thus, what
was 'svati-ma' in oral usage was elevated to 'Satima' in the iconography of
the sect"(Ibid)
The role of Sarasvati Devi or Satima was obviously very much
important in spreading the glory of the Kartabhaja sect and transforming the
village Ghoshpara into a pilgrimage centre. Banerjee also emphasised

Satima 's contribution in the process of institutionalization of the sect. For

83

him, "the most interesting aspect of the institutionalisation of the

'Kartabhaja' sect is that over the years, popular interest in Ghoshpara has
shifted from the egalitarian messages of Aulchand to the 'curative' rituals
that had been associated with 'Satima'. It is not without significance that the
annual fair at Ghoshpara is known as 'Satima'r mela', and not by the name of
the founder of the sect, Aulchand, or even by the name of the sect itself'Karta-bhaja'. The mother -goddess had not only literally outlived her
'guru', her husband, and her son, but had also historically outshone all of
them in popular tradition." (Ibid: 42)

3)

Ramdulal

(1775- 1833)

Ramdulal or Dulalchand the son of Ramsaran pal was perhaps the most
important among the kartas. Born in 1775, Ramdulal was only eight years
old when Ramsaran died. Sarasvati Devi brought up her son with great care
and Ramdulal soon acquired an immense personality and at the young age of
sixteen he became the karta of the sect.
Dulalchand as he was popularly known contributed in many ways for
the expansion of the sect. He was apparently a talented person and known to
have learnt Persian and English along with Sanskrit. He added a theological
base to the sect's organizational structure to make it stronger and popular.
Dulalchand composed a large number (about 500) of verses, which codify,
for the first time, the philosophy of the Kartabhaja sect. The collection of

84

these songs is called 'Bhaber Geet' and it is considered the law book for the
sect members. The book provided the sect - its structural form and spiritual
practices with a strong ideological base. These songs, sung on all occasions,
are still instrumental in uniting and providing direction to the sect. Thus it
was also through his hands that the 'religious zamindary' was fully
established.
Under

Dulalchand's

leadership

Kartabhaja

became

powerful

movement. He was regarded as the incarnation of both Krishna and

Chaitanya. In the words of W. \Vard ( 1811: 264 ), "Dulal pretends that he has
4,00,000 disciples spread over Bengal."
It is interesting to note that Dulalchand was invited to the Parliament of
Religions held in Chicago in 1893 (where Vivekananda spoke), but he died
sixty years before the invitation for the conference came in 1893. The sect,
therefore could not be represented in the world conference. The letter of
invitation, appointing him a member of the advisory council of the Chicago
parliament, and requesting his attendance there, is still preserved by his
descendants (Nandy 1984).
Ramdulal got married four times each from the four vamas of
Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaidya, and Shudra and had five sons (Chakraborty
1989:66). After the early death of Ramdulal in 1833 or thereabout, Sarasvati
Devi again took the leadership in her hands and lived on till 1839. After her
death, lswarchandra (1813-1882), son of Ramdulal, became the karta. As

85

evident from different accounts Iswarchandra lived like a 'Rajah' (king). It

seems that during his time the 'religious zamindari' of Ghoshpara acquired
the typical characteristics of Bengali decadent feudal family. A correspondent
of a Bengali newspaper visiting Ghoshpara during Holi in 1864 described
Iswarchandra in these words,
"lswar Babu is lying on a bed. There are a number of women
surrounding him. Some are pressing his feet. .. some are applying sandalwood
paste on his limbs, while some are garlanding him with wreathes of
flowers"(Somprakash April 4, 1864).

From some other accounts it is also learnt that lswarchandra was once put
into jail, the offence, however, is not known (Mallick 191 0).
The next generation of kartas were not competent enough and fought
over the 'gadi' among themselves. The poet Nabin Chandra Sen visited the
fair at Ghoshpara as an administrative officer in Nadia and he found that the
original 'gadi' was occupied by two descendants (probably Haridas Pal and
Birchand Pal, the two grandsons of Iswarchandra's). The sacred tank

'Himsagar' was in a bad shape, and the stagnant water had become a source
of cholera. One rich female disciple was willing to spend Rs. 20,000 on the
renovation of the tank, but the two 'Kartas' refused to give permission. After
failing to persuade them, Sen felt: 'Their intention was to get the money from
her in their own hands. But the 'Karta-bhajas' know that both of them are
such gems that once they are given the money, they will appropriate the bulk

86

of it.' He then ruefully added: 'they have not yet reached the end of the third
generation. And yet, the descendants of Ramsaran Pal have fallen to such a
state!' (Dey 1968: 22).
Later on, however, the lineage of Iswarchandra has become extinct and
at the moment Sarasvati Trust Estate is looking after his portion in
Ghoshpara. The present kartas are the descendants of Indrachandra, brother
of Iswarchandra. These descendants are called as Devmohantos. Among the
next kartas Gopal Krishna Pal, grandson of Indrachandra and Satyashib Pal,
son of Gopal Krishna were significant. They tried to rejuvenate the sect with
their efficient leadership.
At present SsP (I have not mentioned the full name of the living,
present generation members of the Pal family) has become the formal karta
after the death of his father Satyashib Pal. SsP is the karta of the sect
according to the wish of the previous karta Satyashib. However, there is
difference of opinion within the sect about who is the karta.
SsP is the grandson of Late Gopal Krishna and therefore inherited the
share of the gadi of Go pal Krishna Pal. Aged about forty- five he is unmarried
and lives at their joint house, constructed by his grandfather in Kolkata.
The other descendants of Gopal Krishna are also prominent members
of the Pal family who come to the fair every year, live in their ancestral
house for at least three days and meet their respective sisyas. Their number is
much more compared to the descendants of other two co-sharers and they are

87

often engaged in disputes with each other regarding the share of the earnings
at their gadi.
On the matter of karta some like BsP even refused to consider SsP as
the karla. According to her, karla is one and only one karlababa, i.e.
Ramsaran Pal. She said that earlier the gadi of Gopal Krishna was only one
and earnings in the fonn of Khajna at the gadi was being shared by all the
descendants of Gopal Krishna, but later Satyashib, a few years before his
death, put up a notice for the sisyas that he would be seated at his room in the
first floor due to illness and that they were asked to meet him there. His

sisyas then started paying their khajna at the said room instead of at the main
gadi on the ground floor. Satyashib, later, refused to share that amount with
other descendants of Gopal Krishna. However, some old sisyas still pay some
little amount at the main gadi. BsP also accuses the sons of Satyashib for
diverting the khajna from the main gadi or pranamis from Dalimtala. After
the death of Satyashib his sons continue to collect khajna separately in the
same first floor room and BsP says that they have never produced any
account of income and expenditure of the gadi. On this issue SbP, expresses
more or less similar views. However, he accepts SsP as the present karla,
because Late Satyashib made him karta of the sect, but SbP felt that SsP does
not perform his duties as karta. Karla must repair the house of Satima,
(which is also known as thakurbari), maintain all the family members,
entertain the guests from the earnings of the gadi and distribute the extra

88

amount equally among all the sharers of the gadi. But SsP, according to SbP
misappropriates all the earnings himself along with his siblings. To end this
situation the other descendants of Gopal Krishna filed a suit in the court
against SsP and his siblings. They actually, SbP said, wanted to frighten SsP.
Later although the court asked SsP to show all the accounts to his co-sharers
within one month, he did not show them any account of income and
expenditure till today. They ultimately withdrew the case.
The holders of the other two gadis in the house of Salima do not seem
to be too much bothered about the karla. SuP, a inheritant of the gadi of Late
Surendranath says SsP is the karta - he stays upstairs at lhakurbari during
the Dol-me/a to meet his disciples.
Answers are much more ambiguous when asked of mahasayas and

baralis about who they feel the karla is. By karla most of them refer to either
the person they feel is most powerful or the person (obviously a guru) nearest
to them. Mr. Mandai, a mahasaya from Sundarban and a sisya of Late
Vismadeb Mandai who was a sisya of Late Kalikrishna Pal (son of Late
Surendranath), believes that 'Karla-rna' or 'Salima' is the actual karla of the
sect. One disciple (bar ali) of Late Satyasundar named Mr. Baen from
Joynagar accepts Mejobabu (Late Satyashib) as karla and he feels that now
no one is competent enough to be called karla. Again disciples under
Sarasvati Trust like Mr. Mandai from Andhra Pradesh feel that their guru

89

Late Ranjit Kumar Pal (descendant of Late Iswarchandra) is the karla of this
sect.

It seems from the above discussion that for the disciples their
immediate guru is the most powerful as well as the most near and dear one
than the other descendants of Salima even if he is the fonnal karla of the sect
with whom their interaction is minimum. This is why disciples call their
respective guru the karla, whereas for some others the concept of karla is
more philosophical as they refer to Salima or Ramsaran Pal as the eternal
karla of the sect.

Although the karta is the chief of the whole of the sect the present
karta seems to interact with the disciples of his own family only. Again such

interaction is much less than earlier days. According to SoP, face-to-face

interaction is much less these days, however, disciples keep on interacting
over telephone and discuss about their problems every now and then. It is
during this auspicious occasion of Dol-me/a that all disciples - mahasayas
and baratis come to meet their gurus at the house of Salima in Ghoshpara.
But even the community feasts during Dol-me/a are conducted separately by
the holders of each of the three gadis. The important part of the interaction at
the mela is the submission of khajna by the mahasayas and the baratis to
their respective gurus.
For the disciples the karta or mahasayas is like a God. They touch the
feet of their gurus and receive 'ashirvad' (blessings) in the most respectful

90

way. As the sect is against caste prejudices even the upper caste disciples
touch their guru's feet without any hesitation. Mukherjees from Burdwan
even being brahmin by caste touch the feet of their guru and his descendants
- Late Satyashib, his wife (died in 2004) and sons. In fact the karta, all the
family members of the karta and mahasayas, i.e. all gurus are considered to
be above ordinary people in the eyes of their disciples, rather they are
extraordinary, having more or less extraordinary powers. As the worshippers
of Bartaman instead of Anumanthe Kartabhajas worship the live guru as
God, a God who can listen to and solve their problems. On the day of DolPurnima the disciples perform the ritual of Dev-Dol when all the past kartas
at the house of Satima are adored with avir and atar and then the disciples
pay their respects to the existing or living kartas, i.e. the descendants of
Satima by putting avir on their feet. The widows of the Pal family wear redbordered saris and sit to bless the disciples. The colour red is prohibited for
the Bengali Hindu widows, but the Kartabhaja sect is against such prescribed
norms and again these women are above ordinary women - they are
extraordinary, bearing the legacy of the supernatural powers of Satima- their
dress reflects their extraordinariness.

Mahasava
Mahasayas were the upper level Kartabhajas who took direct initiation
from the Karla and are also in a higher stage of the Kartabhaja sadhana.
91

Mahasayas are considered sub-gurus who initiate people at the grass-root

level with the permission of the kartas. Mahasayas convey the ideas and
sayings of the kartas to their disciples or baratis.

Karta sanctions the status of mahasaya to a person with higher level of

achievement in the sadhana (religious practice) as prescribed by the sect.
Obviously it is karta who decides the eligibility of the person to be a

mahasaya, however, the exact eligibility criteria were not elaborated by the
present kartas.
A mahasaya is allowed to set up asana of Satima in his house and he
can retain the as ana till his death if he maintains the rules. After his death his
position may be passed on to a person according to his wish with the
permission of the karta. Mahasaya is liable to submit the part of khajna taken
by him from the baratis to the karta during dol-mela. Aksay Kumar Dutta
(1870) wrote that the Mahasaya also received different kinds of gifts from
the Baratis and the Mahasaya always enjoyed excellent food, clothing and
many different types of goods sitting at home only. However, the mahasayas
might have received gifts from their disciples, but perhaps it was a bit of an
exaggeration to say that Mahasayas received so much expensive items
regularly from their disciples, who mostly belonged to poor lower caste
section of the society.
Dutta found some Muslim Mahasayas having Hindu disciples who
also secretly took food from their gurus. Muslim Mahasayas like Shibshekhar

92

Mandai from Murshidabad, Ismael Fakir from Nadia are still prominent
gurus and have large number of disciples from both Hindus and Muslims.
A mahasaya is supposed to test the person before giving them the

mantra for initiation into the sect. Before the initiation the following
conversation takes place between the mahasaya and the disciple:

"Mahasaya- will you be able to maintain Kartabhaja rules?

Barati - yes, I shall.
Mahasaya- you won't be allowed to tell a lie, can't be engage in theft, can't
have affairs with other's wives and can't have frequent sexual relation even
with your wife.

Barati- I shall not do all these things.

Mahasaya - say, you are true your words are true.
Barati- you are true your words are true."(Majumdar 1975: 19)
Only after this does the mahasaya give the 'Guru Satya' mantra to the
devotee and tells him not to disclose the mantra (which is also termed as bij

mantra or the core hymn) to anybody. The person is given the final initiation
only after he gets much knowledge about the sect and his respect toward the

guru is proved to be true.

Since the Kartabhaja Mahasayas are the local level gurus who
directly interact with the grass root level disciples or Baratis and spread the
ideas of the Kartabhaja sect throughout these mass people, their position is
very important within the sect. Most of the Mahasayas strictly maintain the

93

sectarian rules and even today these Mahasayas mostly follow the Kartabhaja
rituals only. However, some like Goswami from Berhampur, Murshidabad
district worship other Gods as Mr.Goswami has narayanshila in his home.
He worships it regularly because he claims that his predecessors were
originally the followers ofNityananda, the Vaisnava leader. But the Kartas at
Ghoshpara instructed him not to disclose the fact to others because this may
affect the sanctity of his identity as a Kartabhaja Mahasaya. Another female

Mahasaya Ms. Pal from Bali, Howrah district, who gives Rs.22/- as annual
Khajna to the Kartas, discloses that she herself is also a worshipper of
Krishna and along with Satima worships Bipadtarini and Lokenathbaba as
well. Daughter of an old Mahasaya Mr. Mukherjee from Katoa, Burdwan
claims that they are originally the descendants of Kesab Bharati, the Guru of
Sri Chaitanya and along with Kartabhaja rituals of singing of Bhaber Geet,
eating vegetarian food on Fridays they also worship Gods and Goddesses like
Krishna, Laksmi, Saraswati and others. Thus although the mahasayas or the
sub gurus of the Kartabhaja sect who are placed below the Pal Kartas follow
Kartabhaja rules and perhaps some even practice the sadhana prescribed by
the sect, sometimes they too (in most of the cases the female descendants of
them) worship other Hindu Gods and Goddesses. However, most of the

mahasayas today if not all, do not accept the worship of the Hindu Gods and
Goddesses as the part of their sectarian practices. However, some of them
admitted that their wives and children worshipped these Gods and

94

Goddesses. The lower orders of the sect, i.e., the Baratis have a greater
tendency to worship different Gods and Goddesses and more recently even
other popular gurus like Lokenathbaba, Balak Brahmachari, etc.
However, for the mahasayas, although in most of the cases the
descendants of the mahasayas get the position, but if the descendant is not
able to attain the desired stage of spiritual achievement, he may not be
considered a mahasaya.
The present Kartas, the descendants of Ramsaran and Satima do not
seem to be much active to spread the sect philosophy, they are more
concerned to collect the share of the earning of Thakurbari (House of

Satima). However, some old, knowledgeable and energetic middle aged

Mahasayas are presently trying to organise the sect in a better way. Dr. Roy
from Dhaka, Bangladesh and some others have initiated to form an
association of the Mahasayas called 'Satyaseba Sangha'. They meet
together, mainly during the Dol mela, to discuss about the strategies to
increase the number of sect followers. Dr. Roy and some other relatively
modern educated Mahasayas (mainly from Bangladesh) now want to
popularise the sect among the elite section of society.

Barati

A1ahasayas initiated enumerable disciples throughout Bengal and these

disciples at the grass-root level formed the third stratum, namely, Baratis.
95

Baratis constitute the largest section of the Kartabhaja sect. They belong to
the lowest level of the organizational structure of the sect. Baratis or the
grass root level disciples are first tested by the Mahasayas. Before the final
initiation a probationary or temporary initiation is provided, and they are
given the complete initiation (sholo-ana mantra) into the sect only if they
prove their honesty toward the Guru and the sect. Most of the Baratis belong
to the sthul or primary level of sectarian sadhana, which means they follow
the rules prescribed by the sect that they come to know from the teachings of
their Mahasayas as well as from the songs of Bhaber Geet. The sadhana,
which is not simple at all, is performed by the mul or main level of
Kartabhajas and probably hardly any mul Kartabhaja comes from the
category of Barati. Baratis maintain social rules and rituals in their own
community, either Hindu or Muslim, but carry out the sectarian rituals among
their fellow sect members and gurus. Almost all the Baratis at present
participate in the social ceremonies in their own community and also worship
Gods and Goddesses like Laksmi, Saraswati, Narayan and others in their
houses. Many of them even worship the popular gurus like Lokenathbaba
and Balakbrahmachari. Mr. Goswami a Mahasaya from Berhampur says that
many of his Baratis left the sect to be the disciples of these famous gurus.
Many Baratis like a woman Barati from Medinipur, worship Laksmi,
Saraswati, Lokenathbaba along with Satima. Some others like Mr.

Mand~l

from Cuttack come to Ghoshpara during different pujas like Durga puja,

96

Viswakarma puja etc. Mr. Mandai also performs Laksmi puja in his house
during the Bengali month of Baisakh and also visits Puri during Rathayatra.
Mr. Santra and Mr. Do lui from Howrah keep the photographs of both Satima
and Lokenathbaba in their houses.
Although Baratis constitute the largest category of the sect, they
are more or less a floating population. The large section of lower caste people
joined the sect where they received a respectable position, had the
opportunity to mix up with all castes - upper or lower and dine with them at
least during the annual fair at Ghoshpara as also they got their very own

Satima for redressing their sufferings. They learn about the sect philosophy
from their Mahasaya. In many places the local Baratis gather at their

Mahasaya's house on the Fridays and other sacred occasions and listen to
their guru and sing songs from Bhaber Geet. Such practices obviously renew
and confirm their identity as Kartabhaja. Many of the Baratis come to the
annual fair at Ghoshpara where they get chances to meet the Kartas,

Mahasayas, all other Baratis from different places as also visit the sacred
spots at Ghoshpara. But not all the baratis are fortunate enough to visit the
fair every year, as this is a quite expensive journey for the poor Baratis to
avail every year. Many of the Baratis, mostly poorer section of them attend
the fair with a gap of few years. One can even find Baratis who came for the
first time to the fair. Moreover when the local Mahasaya dies with no one to
continue his legacy the baratis lose the opportunity to meet the Guru every

97

now and then. In such cases they have to go to other Mahasayas in distant
villages or visit Ghoshpara to keep in touch with the gurus of the sect and
nurture the sectarian ideas. Since both the options often become inconvenient
for many baratis they perhaps take refuge of other popular available gurus.
Some leave the sect completely as Mr. Goswami of Berhampur opined, when
most of them adore different gurus along with Satima. Again many people
also take initiation every year into the sect and one can even see people
taking initiation at the fair. So at least a section of the category of Barati can
be considered floating. However, although in most of the cases the Baratis do
not enter the Mul stage of Kartabhaja sadhana and many of them may not be
strong or permanent adherents of the sect, this group of Baratis constitute the
main source of Khajna for the kartas at Ghoshpara. Thus the sect survives
mainly on the flow of fund from the lower most category of Barati.

Deviation in the structure

Presently some deviations in the organizational structure of the
sect can also be noticed. Some of the Kartabhajas who are not given the
status of Mahasaya are seen to be the direct disciples of the Pal Kartas. Even
initiation given by the Kartas to such people (who are not family members of

Mahasayas) can be seen during the Do/me/a at Ghoshpara. The explanation

98

for such exceptional practices given by the kartas is that they sometimes give
initiation to people who are of old acquaintance. By old acquaintance they,
perhaps, mean those people who are for long attached to the sect. Mrs. Sarkar
from Lake Town, Kolkata, Mr. Baen from Joynagar, 24 Parganas, Mr.
Mandai from Cuttack and many others are direct disciples of the Pal Kartas,
but are not considered Mahasayas and do not have the right to initiate others
as well. So they are the direct Baratis of the Kartas, not of any mahasaya.
Although such deviation in the organisational structure of the sect is not
mentioned in any previous work about the sect, the practice does not seem a
new one, rather it is an old practice as the Baratis mentioned earlier are quite
old disciples of the Pals.
The organizational structure of the sect, however, prevails with all
these exceptions and deviations. Of course the deviations on such a large
scale implies that the stratified organizational structure of the sect was never
too rigid, rather it welcomed people to be a member of the sect in every
possible way. Still, this differentiated structure, I feel, was the most important
advancement of the apparently egalitarian sect. The organized structure
became the backbone of the sect and is wenmaintained till today. Although
the sect initially had members from lower castes only, later some upper caste
people also joined the sect. As some of the prominent upper caste influential
persons like Jaynarain Ghosal, a zamindar of Bhukailash, were attracted to
the sect and joined it Perhaps others too were influenced by such events and

99

also joined the sect. Since Kartabhajas rejected the caste hierarchy, upper
caste disciples touched the feet of their lower caste gurus - the practice
continues to the present. But instead of showing respect to the upper caste the
sect members pay their respect to their gurus - Baratis to their Mahasayas
and Mahasayas in their turn to the Karta. Thus although the sect rejected the
exploitative hierarchical caste structure, they created an organisational
structure, which though not egalitarian was devoid of the exploitative nature
of the caste system. In this new structure the Kartas belonged to the topmost
position having authority over the sect. For the disciples, Baratis are liable to
pay Khajna (tax) to their immediate gurus, i.e., the mahasayas, who pay that
tax to the Karta. This confirmed flow of tax from below helps to sustain the
organisation within the sect.

It is now clear that the sect was never an egalitarian one as it is

constituted of three groups of people who are obviously not of equal status
within the sect. However, we cannot consider the differentiated structure of
the sect a hierarchal one like the caste society. This is because hierarchy in
India, according to Dumont (1970), though "certainly involves gradation, but
is neither power nor authority ... the original sense of the term concerned
religious ranking." Again the caste hierarchy is based on ritual purity and
impurity that separate each caste from the other in the hierarchy. The rules
governing contact and interaction pattern both commensal and connubial
ensure the separation of different castes in the hierarchy. This separateness or
100

"mutual repulsion" which is the characteristic feature of caste hierarchy is '

totally absent in the case of the Kartabhaja sect. The members of the different
strata within the sect interact freely with each other and everyone is
considered equally pure within the sect. Moreover organisational position
within the sect has to be attained and is not inherited like caste ranks. Thus
although there is differentiation there is no mutual separateness on the basis
of ritual purity among members of the sect - this means that the sect has not
formed the caste like hierarchy in its differentiated structure.

It can be said that the three categories, which were formed in the early
stage of the development of the sect may not have formed a caste like
hierarchy, but continued to exist as distinguishable groups throughout the
years. Therefore, the assertion made by Dumont regarding the Indian sects as
egalitarian is contradicted in this case of the Kartabhaja, one of the largest
and popular sects of Bengal. Perhaps, people, mostly belonging to lower
orders of rural areas are a helpless lot in all walks of life and are not prepared
enough to live independent individual life. They still need some group to the
common sufferings and some guidance to lead a better life. For this reason
the categories of gurus, i.e., the Kartas and the mahasayas of the Kartabhaja
sect are still necessary categories for the large number of baratis, and this in
tum strengthened the differentiated structure of the sect.

101