DIVINE SONGS OF THE

HUMAN BODY
from Buddhist dohas and caryas to Baul-
music

PRONOY CHAKRABORTY
MVA-I, DEPARTMENT OF ART HISTORY AND AESTHETICS
Abstract
My primary research interest is in the domain of Buddhist tantra (and its dialogue with ancient
Hindu tantras); its impact on Sahajiya Vaishnavism in Bengal and much later the vernacularization of
Tantra in the mystic cultural praxis of the Bauls, the minstrels of Bengal singing profound songs of
deha-tattvai, often using colloquial analogies to explain classical complex Tantric terminologies. My
efforts would be directed at blending the existing art-historical tradition in the form of
archaeological remains, sculptures and folios with an anthropological study of the living traditions of
different mystic sects and cults existing today in the greater Bengal region, centred around the
aesthetic domain of visual arts and performance.

Introduction
As early as the second council of Buddhism, the radical non-conformist Buddhist thinkers had
formed the Mahasanghikaii. Nagarjuna’s theory of Sunya or “Absolute Nothingness” comes from a
sense of anatta or selfless-ness. The implicated meditation procedures as embodied in the
Mahayana sutras of Prajnaparamita, Manjusrimulalkalpa find their roots in the Madhyamikakarikaiii
of Nagarjuna. The Yogacara tradition of Asanga developed the concept of Mahasukhavadiv by uniting
the male and the female principles- Prajna and Karuna.

Vajrayana or the Adamantine Vehicle of Buddhism flourished from the seventh century onwards on
these ideals, bringing into practice- the theoretical treatises of Mahayana Buddhism. Sincere
discipline, dedication and devotion to the guru were required from the initiates in the mandalas of
Cakrasamvara or Hevajrav to reach Buddhahood in a single life-time. Thriving in Eastern India under
the rule of the Palas and thereon spreading to Tibet via Nepal and Bhutan after the Islamic invasions
in the twelfth century, the art of Vajrayana Buddhism owes much to the tradition of the eighty-four
mahasiddhasvi, who have experienced a vision or sakshatvii of the deity in either its peaceful or
wrathful emanation. The yogi’s ritualistic process of visualization after initiation under a guru is
largely reflected in the prescribed iconography for depicting the pantheon of Vajrayana Buddhist
Gods and the associated mandalas and drawings of yantras. These Buddhist Gods do not have any
real independent existence, but rather are manomayakaya or mind-made creations to cultivate
energy within the body in altered states of consciousness.

The land of greater Bengal or Varendra-bhumiviii in the medieval times was dotted with several
important Tantric monasteries- Nalanda and Vikramshila in present day Bihar, Jagjivanpur in
Murshidabad district of West Bengal, and a group of monasteries at Paharpur in Bangladesh. The
onslaught of Islamic invasions in the late twelfth century wreaked havoc to all of them; the monks
migrated through Nepal to Tibet along with their scriptures. The succeeding Sena dynasty in Bengal,
heavily Brahmanic in its outlook, tried to crush the residual Buddhist practice and image-worship;
doing so often appropriating the Buddhist icons in the Brahmanical pantheon. The earliest forms of
Bengali literature in the form of Buddhist dohas and caryas, paved the way for Vaisnavite poets like
Vidyapati, Gobindadasa and Chandidasa. As Islam gained a strong foothold in Bengal through the
Sultans, the fringes of the society became the breeding grounds for the interaction of heterodox
Sufis and the vyamachari tantrikas.
Divine Songs of the Human Body
from Buddhist dohas and caryas to Baul-music

Sharira or the human body comprises of two components: the physical body or sthula-sharira and
the subtle body or suksha-sharira. The latter is being addressed in these songs coming down from
the seventh century onwards and still thriving in the region of greater Bengal through the various
cults of the Bauls and the Fakirs. Tantra: Extending or elongating the tan vayu (the upward moving
breath impulse or spanda), whether Buddhist, Shaivite, Vaishnavite or of the Marfati Fakirs- sets
forth an elaborate set of texts, manuals and commentaries for cultivating the sexual energy, for
directing the bindu upwards in the shushumna, (the central of the three nadis)ix connecting the seat
of lowest consciousness- the muladhara chakra at the anus, to the highest centre of thousand
petalled lotus at the tip of the head- the Sahasrara. The ritualistic nature of Vajrayana aimed to see
the vision of Absolute Salvation or Nirvana in the mud and dust of samsara. x The vision would
operate through a subtle and delicate energy system of nadi, prana and bindu- the control of breath
in vital neural centres of the body or the chakras. The joy of this annihilation of self, which one can
enjoy in the state of the identity of enjoyment is when the sukra and the rajas remain immobile. xi

“And as in Hinduism, Buddhism has been led to count sexual union among such methods, texts which
are frankly Buddhistic teach the Sahaja Cult, like the Bengali poet Candidasa of the fourteenth
century and much later and right up to our days abundant Baishnabite literature…”1

To begin with the dohas and caryas, they are written in an eastern variety of Apabrhamsa or what
we can say Magadhi Apabhramsa.2. The songs use Sandhya-bhasha or a codified language speaking
about the guhya or secret practices of the order.

Kanha, Saraha and their songs:

The authors of our songs belong to the list of eighty-four mahasiddhas in the Vajrayana tradition.
One of the Dohakosas is signed under the name of Kanha in Apabhramsa. The Sanskrit, commentary
gives the classic form of Krisnhacharya or Krishnavajra; the Subhasita samgraha mentions him as
Kanhapada. In Bengali Natha literature he is known as Kanupa. According to varying
historiographies, the author can be from the early eighth century or as some scholars had directed
towards the twelfth century, I do not even deny the possibility of the songs being from two different
authors under the same name as it is common in Buddhist monastic traditions.

The second of the Dohakosa is signed in the name of Saraha. Again, there were several personages
bearing this name- according to Taranatha there were atleast two Sarahas, Saraha alias
Rahulabhadra, the elder and Saraha, the younger one, otherwise known as Sabari. The
commentator of the Dohakosa of Saraha is Advayavajra, of Saridesa origin in Bengal.

1
The Mystic Songs of Kanha and Saraha, The Asiatic Society, English translation: Pranabesh Sinha Roy, 2007,
Kolkata
2
The Mystic Songs of Kanha and Saraha, published by the Asiatic Society contain the original text in
Apabhramsa, with the Tibetan version translated to French by M.Shahidullah and into English by Pranabesh
Sinha Roy.2 Mahamahopadhyay Haraprasad Sastri’s Hajar Vacharer Purana Bangla Bhasay Gaan o Doha is
another important text on the subject.
As I have already given an introduction about the philosophical ideas of the song, I would like to
expound on them with one specific doha from Kanha’s text. (As an artist, I have immersed myself in
working a book of paintings based on the dohas. One of the paintings is also the central design for
my curatorial mural project in the faculty-campus.)

Ahe na gamai na uhe jai

Benni rahia tasu niccala thai
Bhanai Kanha mana kahabi na phuttai
Niccala pabana-gharini ghare battai

It neither descends nor ascends

Hold the breath still as ever
Kanha says the spirit never withers
If the breath- the mistress of the house can be suppressed

I have tried translating it into modern Bengali as:

Na adha na urdha gaman
Bayu koro nischala shaman
Kanha bole, moner nei skhalan
Nischolo paban grihini ghorei daman.
The Songs of the Bauls and Fakirs of Bengal

The trajectory now shifts to Baul-sadhana, the vernacularized idiom of Tantric sadhana as practised
in different parts of West Bengal: Nadia and Birbhum districts in particular. I find the above
mentioned caryas and dohas when translated to Bengali, pre-cursors to the lyrics of Baul-music.
Thus, I would try to summarize the development of the cultural praxis of the Bauls. Their Islamic
counterparts- the Marfati Fakirs would be investigated in a case study of Gourbhanga village in
Nadia, West Bengal.

The present day Bauls, mostly Vaishnavite devotees of Radha-Krishna trace the history of their cult
to Chaitanyadeva and Nityananda. The sect of Nityananda is to say keener to the idea of Sahaja or
the innate and forms a large section of the Bauls in West Bengal. The Vaishnava Sahajiyas were
engaged in theorizing the aesthetic development of the concept of Radha within the folds of the
Tantric practices of kaya-sadhanaxii, the cultivation of the mortal physical body, a ‘microcosm in
which the cosmic abode of the all-pervading Supreme Being is represented’.3 Amrtaratnavali of
Mukunda-dasa (c.1600 CE) and the Vivartana-Vilasa of Akinchana-dasa (c. 1650 CE) give a
theoretical insight into this “alternate” development of tradition.4 The very conceptualization of the
separate entity of Radha as Krishna’s hladini-shakti (pleasure potency), however has its seeds rooted
in the heavy Tantric backdrop (Shaivite, Shakta or Buddhist) in the pre-Chaitanya age of Jayadeva,
Chandidasa and Vidyapati, only to leave a great impact on the sahridaya- rasikaxiii, Chaitanya.

Chaitanya-leela had a different significance for the Sahajiyas altogether, adapting the classical
devotional interpretations of Radha and Krishna into the inner cosmic form (svarupa) of every human
male and female. In their ujaan-sroti sadhana (practice of cultivating the sexual fluids up against the
current), the conjugal couple would make the female sexual fluid or rati and the semen or rasa meet,
causing them through breath-regulation move upwards along the bank-nadi (the crooked river as
envisioned in the microcosmic human model) through four inner ponds or sarovaras, finally up to
Sahaja itself.5 The ardent consciousness of Chaitanya is manifested in the deep-seated urge to be born
as Radha in the next birth: Bonomali tumi poro jonome hoyo Radha…

The Marfati Fakirs believe, they have transcended the Shariya of orthodox Islam in their immense
faith in the murshid or pir. Lalan Fakir, disciple of Siraj Sai from the nineteenth century is the most
popular of Baul practitioners- much of his repute came with recognition from the famous Tagore
family at Jorasanko. The aspect of music and performance is central to the ritualistic practice of the
Bauls and Fakirs. The songs speak of complex Tantric terminologies as imageries of domestic rural
household. For example, the three nadis- ida, pingala and shushumna become Ganga, Yamuna and
Saraswati in the spontaneous and colloquial Baul argot.

These cults share a vital link to the earlier tradition of the Buddhist mahasiddhas, an area which has
been overlooked in academic research so far and becomes the focal point of enquiry for my
subsequent project. My efforts would be directed at creating a bridge between these two traditions,
looking from the vantage point of secular aesthetics rather than an orthodox religious lens. The
project majorly encompasses:

3
Appendix to Rabindranath’s The Religion of Man, Prof. Khsiti Mohun Sen; 1931
4
…Alternative View of Radha and Krishna in Sahajiya Vaishnavism, Glen Alexander Hayes in Alternative
Krishnas; 2005
5
Ibid.
 i. Field documentation of the remains of Vajrayana monastic sites in the Eastern Indian states
of Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal and Paharpur in Bangladesh; Documentation of Vajrayana
Buddhist art in regional, state and national museums. Sarika Kumari, a post-graduate
student doing her dissertation on Vikramshila and Pataliputra is to be credited for the same.

ii. Interaction and interviews with contemporary Vajrayana Buddhist monks in North Bengal
and Sikkim: the enquiry would delve into philosophical variations among the lineages and its
aesthetic reflection in art and music. I would primarily interview Kulavadhuta
Satpurananda, a Vajrayana monk of Bengali origin, a thangka painter and singer himself.
Documentation of archaic as well as contemporary metal sculptures and thangkas in curio-
shops in North Bengal and Sikkim.

iii. Completion of a self-initiated translation activity of dohas and caryas of Kanhapa and Saraha
belonging to the lineage of mahasiddhas in Vajrayana, from Magadhi Apabhramsa to
modern Bengali. As a visual artist myself, I have immersed myself in illustrating the dohas in
the format of a book in gouache and watercolour and would like to lead the on-going
process to a final publication within the research period.

iv. The trajectory then shifts to the vernacularized idiom of Baul- I would examine the mode of
vernacularization of complex Tantric imageries of the Kundalini to domestic metaphors from
rural life. The aesthetic aspect of performance which somehow replaces the iconic worship
of Buddhist icons is to be probed into through a series of documentation of performances
and interviews of Baul performers at Jaydeva Mela, Kenduli- the most prominent being Deen
Dayal, Sadhan das Bairagya, Parvathy Baul, Lakhan Das Baul and Paban das Baul.

The final output would be in the form of a core paper focussing on specific themes in the aesthetic
domains of visual arts and music; co-ordination and compilation of already existing scholarship in
regional languages and digital multi-media content. Further, in collaboration I would like to film the
entire process of my documentation and research.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Ajit Mookherjee; Kali- The Feminine Force, Thames and Hudson; London; 1998

2. Benoytosh Bhattacharya; The Introduction to Buddhist Mysticism, Chowkhamba Sanskrit

Series Office, Varanasi, 1982

3. Cathleen A. Cummins; Tantra in India in The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art, edited
by J.C. Huntington and Dina Bangdell, The Ohio State University, Serindia Publications,
Chicago, 2001

4. David B. Grey; Cakrasamvara Tantra: Its history, interpretation and practice in India and
Tibet; Santa Clara University, 2007

5. Prof. Dinesh Chandra Sen; History of Bengali Language and Literature; University of Calcutta,
1954

6. Geetika Kaw Kher; Role of Buddhist Siddhacharyas in Expansion of Vajrayana Art and
Iconography; Journal of Indian Research; Volume 2, No. 1, 2014

7. Niru Kumar Chakma, Buddhism in Bengal: A Brief Survey; Journal of Sociology; Volume 8,
No.1; 2011

8. Pranshu Samadarshi; The Concept of Goddesses in Buddhist Tantric Traditions; Journal of the
Humanities and Social Sciences; Delhi University, 2014

9. R.C. Majumdar, History of Ancient Bengal; G. Bharadwaj Publications; Kolkata, 1971

10. Yogani, Tantra: Discovering the Power of Pre-orgasmic sex; AYP Publishing, 2006
i
Deha tattva- Tantric theorization of the human body, comprising of elaborate instruction manuals- the human
body is thought to be a microcosmic model of the macrocosmic universe.

ii
Mahasanghika- One of the early schools of Buddhism to part with Theravada; it emerged about a century
after the death of Siddhartha Gautama or the Buddha, during the Second Buddhist council held at Vaishali
criticising the ten rules of moral conduct expected of a Theravada monk.

iii
Madhyamikakarika or Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, is a key text of the Madhyamaka-school,
written by Nagarjuna, dealing with the ideas on non-duality and the void.

iv
Mahasukhavada-The idea of supreme bliss comes within Vajrayana deity yoga- when the male and the
female principles unite, this great orgasmic bliss is attained.

v
Cakrasamvara/ Hevajra- Cakrasamvara Tantra is of the mother class of Anuttarayoga in Vajrayana Buddhism.
Cakrasamvara and Heruka are two primary deities of tantric Buddhism visible in both peaceful and wrathful
manifestations.

vi
Mahasiddhas-They consist of eighty-four siddhacharyas, or masters of Tantric yoga. The list varies from
Shaivite to Buddhist orders with some names such as Matsyendranath, Gorakshanath and Chaurangi appearing
on both.

vii
Sakshat- Meaning Divine Vision, sakshat is the final aim of a sadhaka- as to Sri Ramakrishna, Goddess Kali is
supposed to have revealed herself.

viii
Varendrabhumi- Varendra (or Barind) was a region of Bengal, now in Bangladesh. According to
Cunningham the boundary of Varendra was the Ganges and the Mahananda on the west, the Karatoya on the
east, the Padma on the south and the land between Koochbihar and the Terai on the north.

ix
Nadis- The tantric subtle body comprises of three main channels Ida on the right, pingala on the left and
shushumna in the centre. The yogi’s practice is to exercise breath in the passage of these three.

x
Samsara- The endless cycle of birth and re-birth from which the individual is seeking Nirvana from, according
to Buddhism.

xi
Sukra, Rajas- The male and the female reproductive fluids respectively- Sukra is the sperm, whereas Rajas is
the ovum.

xii
Kaya-sadhana- The tantric practice of involving the mortal human body in reaching the ultimate stage of
realization, involving sexual practices aimed at controlling the eros or sexual desire.

xiii
Sahridaya- rasika- In Indian aesthetics, the spectator must be compassionated to partake the pleasure of a
performance or an art-work.