Kartabbhaja

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Chapter

The

Kartabhaja Sect nd

Its

Organisation

The ackground

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 awabs 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 .

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

political as well as economic turmoil

o

the period. The supremacy o

Brahmanism almost shattered the economic and social life o all people

belonging to the lower order o 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 o 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

o

their caste or religion. The caste rules were

strictly applied after the historic festival o K.heturi (Rajshahi), held sometime

between1576 and 1582, which was attended by representatives

o

nearly a

hundred vaisnava groups from all over Bengal (Ibid). Chatterjee (1989: 187)

wrote, the Kheturi council laid down the doctrinal and ritual framework o

what was to become the dominant orthodoxy o Gaudiya vaisnavism, based

on canons prescribed by the

goswamis

o Vrindavan. There emerged

differentiated forms o social identity and distinction appeared in the body o

the vaisnava

sampraday.

The earlier practices o non-Brahman vaisnava

gurus such as Narahari Sarkar or Narottam Datta having Brahman Disciples,

or in the later period the practice

o

wearing sacred thread irrespective o

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

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and spiritual guide

to

a small number o 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 o orthodox Gaudiya Vaisnavism the lower order Hindus and

Muslims again lost the respectable place they had achieved through

vaisnavism. This led to the emergence o a number o smaller sects among

the lower order population

o

Bengal. These sects challenged the great

tradition

o

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 o fifty-six Vaisnava or semt

Vaisnava heterodox sects including

Au , Baul, Balarami, Darbesh,

Jaganmohini, Kartabhaja, Kishoribhajana, Khusivisvasi, Sain, Sahebdhani

and so on. These sects were mainly the offshoots

o

vaisnavism and were

called Sahajiya sects as they adopted simple way o practicing their religion

that emphasized the human body and body centred practices. They had

no

caste bias. Most o these sects were broadly classified as Vaisnava or semi

Vaisnava, but it

is

heterodoxy, which

is

the hallmark

o

their status

s

minor

sects .

All these sects evolved

in

opposition to caste society and thus rejected

caste hierarchy as well as the dominance

o

the upper castes. Louis Dumont

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held that caste in Indian society

is

a hierarchical system based on religious

ideas

o

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 o 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 t all.

oundation o 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 o 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

o

village

Ula

o

Nadia district found an eight-year-old boy in his betel field on the first

Friday

o

the month

o halgun

in 1694 or 95. This boy

o

unknown

antecedents later came to be known as Aulchand. Mahadeva took him home

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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. t

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 o the

Aul

sect.

In

one song of

the

Bhaber Geet

the code book

o

the

Kartabhajas

and which

is a compilation of over

500

songs composed

by the most

prominent leader

o

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

o

the

Jaganmohini

sect,

the

members

o which along

with

other

sects such

as

Khusivisvasi,

Sahebdhani,

Balarami etc. also attended

the

fair o 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

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Ganges

and

came

to

Jagadishpur village where Ramsaran Pal found him and

became his

disciple.

The

identification

o

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

o

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

o

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 o Sarasvati Devi

was

not mentioned in

available sources.

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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 Incarnation

Village

n lists according to List C according to List A

I.

Andirama

D

Yasada

2

Becu

Ghosa BCD Ramananda

Basu

Jagadishpur

3

Shima

Raya

Rajput CD Jiva Gosvamin Dudhkumar

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isciple

Mentioned

Incarnation

Village

according

to

In lists

according to

List C

List

4

Dedo Krsna

CD

Damodara Pandita

Yasada

5.

Goda Krsna

CD

Vakresvara

Yasada

6

Hatu Ghosa

BCD

Govindananda

Yasada

7 Hari

Ghosa

B

Jagadishpur

8

Kanai Ghosa

BCD

Madhavacarya

Jagadishpur

9

Kinu

Govinda

C

Raghunatha Bhatta

Yasada

10

Laksmikanta

BCD

Kamalakar

Piplai

Yasada

II.

Manohara Dasa

BCD

Gopala Bhatta

Yasada

12 Nitai

CD

Vasu

Ghosa

Jagadishpur

\3.

Nityananda

BCD

Gadadhara Pandita

Yasada

14 Nayana

BCD

Sundarananda

Yasada

15

Nidhirama

BCD

Gauridasa Pandita

Jagadishpur

16

Panckari

CD

Banamali Pandit

Jagadishpur

17. Ramsaran Pal

BCD

Jagadishpur

18

Ramanath Dasa

CD

Janhava Devi

Yasada

\9.

Shankara

BC

Sivananda Sena

Jagadishpur

20 Sisuram

BC

Jagadishpur

21

Syama

A

Dudhkumar

22

Visu Dasa

BCD

Sikhi Mahati

Yasada

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ADDITIONAL

N MES

Disciple

Mentioned

l carnation according

to

In lists

ListC

23

Anandarama

C

Ramananda Raya

24

Brahmahari[?]

D

25 Bhola Nyada

CD

Kasi

Misra

26 Govinda

D

27 Kinu

D

28

Khelarama

D

29

Krsnadasa

B

30

Pancu Ruidas

B

3I

Symadasa

Bairagi

C

Jagannatha Dasa

32 Syama

Kansari

B

33

Sitarama

c

Kala Krsnadasa

34

Vrajahari

c

Vasudeva Sarvabhauma

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

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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.

hilosophy of

th

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 p n bh j n k th n k hio j th t th (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

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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

s

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,

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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

a r t a b h ~ 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 Manusa (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

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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, j di 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, ...

)

it says,

Bhaber Geet, p.386; Translated

by

the present author)

Another song puts forth a question sawal) about what the sahaj

is

as

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

:

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Sahaj

j ti

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

p ti

sahaje, sadhya sadhak sanger sangi, abhed he

ardha anger

angi, suna he bidhan, manus pradhan, sandhan sasi swarase.

Sahaj

is

human

by

nature, inhabitant

o

the land

o

sahaj, you will have to

understand its nature

by

indication only, no fame can be attained, only your

taste organ will be content. t emerges

in

a special body. )

Bhaber Geet,

p.48; Translated by the present

author)

The second part o the song shakti purush swarase) points to the

intertwining

o

the male and female body to attain the state

o

sahaj.

Therefore it can be said that the body centric practices were at the core

o

this

sectarian philosophy at least in its initial stage.

Tusar Chattopadhyay (1981: 207-211) observed, The Sahajiya

Tantrik tradition o orgiasticisrn has been in practice among the Kartabhaja

sect all through. However Chakrabarty (1985) refused to accept the Tantrik

nature

o

the Kartabhaja sect on the ground that, according to him, the


15/60

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 s 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 s a microcosm of the universe or Bhanda

Brahmandabad is

n

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 ll 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

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(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 2 1 :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)

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

sahajiya Buddhism or the concept o 'Maner Manusa' o Bauls or other

Sahajiya sects the Kartabhajas, too, believe that

to

realise Maner Manus or

the supreme reality

is

the final aim o the sahaj sadhana. Urban describes the

Moner Manusa in the following way:

Dwelling within the innermost secret core o every human body, the

Supreme Reality o Sahaja takes the mysterious form o the Man o the

Heart or Moner Manus a (Urban

2 1

:68)

Rabindranath Tagore used the concept

o

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

o

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.

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What use is there in trying to bring that Man o 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

rup-svarup tattva, edes-sedes tattva etc. by different sects. However the main

theme

o

all these theories

is

nothing but the esoteric practices prescribed

by

Tantra. Dey 1968) describes the procedure

o

this body-centric sadhana -

the main concept

o

which

is as

follows:

n Tantra the spinal cord o our body is considered as polar axis meru

parvat) o earth. At the lowest portion o this polar axis there exists the latent

female power Shakti)

in

the root circle muladhar chakra)

in

sleeping

condition. The aim o the sadhana is· to awake this female power or Shakti

and to take it upward through the different stages

o

the polar axis like circles

o svadhisthan, manipur, anahata, bisuddha, ajna etc and finally to the seat

o

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 o 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 o life flowing through these two

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arteries toward the artery

o Susumna

within the body and finally send it to

seat o the soul sahasra - by this he will achieve the truth.

Dey 1968) opines that although some o the terms o the esoteric

tantric practices are used in the songs o the Kartabhajas, actually, these

esoteric practices have little impact on their religious practices. No detailed

description

o

such esoteric practices

is

available in the songs o 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

e

Kartabhaja.) and held that this saying restricts any body-centric or sexual

practices like those prescribed

y

the tantra. However, Nandy 1984) said

that although there have been changes in the religious practices or sadhana o

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 o

'Jiyante mara'

dead while yet alive)

propounded by the Kartabhajas also explains existence.

o

the final state or

maner manusa

concept in the sect.

mportance o uru

The Kartabhajas place great importance on their guru. They follow

their guru's teachings to perform the religions sadhana, which is outside the

6


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rituals prescribed in the shastras. In fact, all the Sahajiya sects or any

religions in India where esoteric practice are emphasized, the role o guru

becomes very important, because without a guru such practices cannot be

undertaken, understood or performed. Dasgupta (1969: 1 1-02) writes, It

will be seen that all the systems o 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

o

the preceptor, who has already realised it . Dey (1968) too says that

tantra

is performance-based and it cannot be practiced without the help

o

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 o the mind will be removed by the grace

o

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 o

emphasising too much on

guru.

The contemporary society ridiculed these

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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' t 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

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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

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own wife whereas

parakiya is

the type

o 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 o

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 o

sadhana

centred on sexual practices is being

discarded recently to have a better acceptance in the educated section o

society. Instead Satyashib emphasised the harmony

o

religions or the

equality

o

human beings

in

the philosophy

o

the sect. During the interaction

with Dr. Roy in the

mela, he

too stressed on the harmony

o

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

o

it, want to be recognised by upper caste society. For getting the acceptance

o

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

o

change in the

6


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sect philosophy indicates a shift from material aspect

o

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

o

the descendants

o Satima

said, They (mahasayas

o

the present generation) now do not have the time

to perform all the rituals, so they cannot be given the name and position o

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

o

the sect imply

that the body-centric sectarian practices,

i

performed at all, are confined to a

very limited number o 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

urus 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 o religions or

equality o 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

o

stages

o

attainment in

sadhana

in the

6


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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

o

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

o

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 o the sect

made them accept social rules and presently they are said to be maintaining

the caste rules in society.

t 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 o the sect

in

caste society.

There are the following stages o spiritual attainment for the

Kartabhaja:

a) Sthul or aik simple Kartabhaja);

b) Mul or Kangal main Kartabhaja):

i Pravarta,

ii)

Sadhaka,

iii)

Siddhi,

and iv)

Nivrtti.

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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 o eligibility, namely, Sadhu Sati Sura and Mahat

respectively.

The first stage Pravarta means the state o the neophyte, when he is

also called as Sadhu. The higher stage

is

that o the Sadhaka. At this stage the

disciple

is

permitted to be associated with a woman, who was to be his wife.

The female partner o the

Sadhaka

is called

Sati

(Chaste woman) and

Sadhaka

and

Sati form

a single word,

Sadhaka-Sati.

The third stage o

Siddhi

(Achievement) is that o the lesser Gods and

Sura

and

Siddhi

are combined

together. The highest stage

is

Nivrtti. In this stage man realizes the non

duality with the cosmic greatness o 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 o desires. The Kartabhaja guru belongs to the highest

category (Nandy 1984

.

However, this hierarchy o the Kartabhajas on the

basis

o

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.

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odeso conduct

The Kartabhaja religion prescribes at least ten codes

o

conduct for the

followers. The following activities are totally forbidden by the sect:

Three physical acts:

Three mental acts:

Four speech acts:

(1) Sexual intercourse with other people's

wife;

(2) Stealing people's things;

(3) Committing murder.

(

1

Thinking o sexual intercourse with

Other people's wife;

(2) Thinking o stealing people's things;

(3) Thinking

o Committing murder.

(1) Tell a lie;

(2) Uttering harsh words;

(3) Talking unnecessarily;

(4) Talking incoherently.

These ten codes

o

conducts definitely remind one

o

the Ten

Commandments

o

the Bible. The Kartabhajas themselves are aware o the

influence

o

Christianity in this regard as Das (undated) writes, these laws

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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

o

repentance

and

confession o sin or Dayika majlis.

The

word Dayika

means

an initiated

disciple, who is liable

to

perform a number

o

pious deeds. A

Dayika

is also a

responsible disciple who takes a

vow.

He has

to

confess before his guru. The

ritual

o

confession

is

performed

in

a

majlis

or gathering

o

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 o 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 o the mahasaya to worship

and

sing Bhaber Geets collectively and

then return home with

the

blessings

o 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


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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

o the Kartabhaja sect. Aulchand, the founder o 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 o fakir definitely implies Muslim influence

on the sect. In the later period the burial

o

Satima also indicates the

incorporation

o

Islamic ideas into the sect. All these elements

o

Islamic

philosophy integrated with the Kartabhaja sect s ideology obviously helped

the sect spread among both the Hindus and Muslims.

~ r g a n i s a t i o n a l tructure

As mentioned earlier the sect rejected the hierarchy o the caste

system. There was a firm commitment to the upholding o equality o all

human beings irrespective o 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 o people, who remained at the lowest

rungs o both Hindu and Muslim religion.

Kartabhaja sect has a typical organisational structure based on three

strata or levels, namely, Karta Mahasaya Barati.

7


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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 o the local

trader and gradually in the cosmopolitan world

o 9th

century Calcutta

Gaddi

meant the trading houses operating

in

the metropolis

in

those days.

Banerjee (2002:38) says The choice

o

the word gadi to describe the

Ghoshpara hermitage

by

its

kartas

could therefore reflect their desire to

establish their headquarters as a religious ally

o

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 o Satima

at Ghoshpara. The tendency or trend

o

multiple

Gadi

began after the death

o

Ramdulal. As Manik Sarkar (197

5:

07) saw three

Gad s during the period when Iswarchandra, son

o

Ramdulal was the Karla

o

the sect. Sarkar observed, Now at the fair

o

Ghoshpara there are three

71


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Gadis o 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

Gad

s

through

mahasayas.

At present there are three Gadis

at

Ghoshpara occupied

by

three

groups

o

descendants

o

Satima,

they are

-

a

the descendants

o

Late Gopal Krishna Pal,

b

the descendants ofLate Surendranath Pal, and

c

Sarasvati Trust.

The

gadi o

Late Gopal Krishna Pal holds fifty percent share o

the

property

o

the house

o

Satima Since the time

o

Gopal Krishna

this

gadi

has been more prominent in Ghoshpara. The position o the

formal

karta o

the sect is also being retained

by

the inheritants o 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 o each o these gadis, though no exact number could be

ascertained,

it

was understood that each gadi has a few thousands o

mahasayas and

more than a

lakh

o

baratis.

2

Khajna

According

to

the sect s philosophy Karta is the proprietor o every

disciple s body,

as

the zamindar

is

to

the agricultural land. Just

as

zamindars

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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.

o alf of the annual earnings of the lesser

gurus

some of whom

were commissioned agents

of

the Kartabhaja guru.

• Initiation fee

of

Re. 11 .

o

Pranami

or salutation fee.

o 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

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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 as ana

also

refers to

the

akhara of

the

Mahasaya

as

a whole.

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4 haber Geet:

Bhaber Geet is a collection o songs composed by Ramdulal Pal, son

o

Satima and Ramsaran Pal, at the age

o

only eighteen. Ramdulal or

Dulalchand used to utter the songs spontaneously, while one

o

his close

associate Ramcharan Chattopadhyay o Belur noted them down (Das

Undated). Dulalchand also took the pseudonym

o

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

o

them. As Dulalchand

is

also called Srijuta

by the sect members, the songs o Bhaber Geet are also termed as Srijuter

Pad (verses

o

Srijuta). The book is considered the sacred book by the sect

members. Perhaps, since most

o

the members were non-literate peasants, it

was the best way to communicate the ideas

o

the sect through songs.

The language o 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

o

the mint as many words o the contemporary newly emerged mint

technology were used in these songs.

There is much confusion even among the sect members about the

number

o

the songs composed

by

Dulalchand. The number

o

songs varies

7


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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 o

sawal

and

its answer

is

given in jawab. The songs include prarthana-sangeet, prayers),

gurubandana

worshipping o guru),

sadhana-sangeet

practice as well as

philosophical ideas o the sect) etc.

The songs are performed by the sect members during any

o

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 o style o 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

o

Vaisnava elements by the sect. Often these songs are sung only by some o

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 o great musical value the ordinary sect members are not able to perform

those songs by themselves.

7


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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.

art a

Karta is the hief 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 twenty

two 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 6th

and 8th 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.

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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

o

mandai i.e., the headman and the spokesman

o

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

o

the cultivating section o the Gapes i.e.,

Sadgapes

perhaps

made them prominent also

in

the district

o

Nadia where they were the

dominant peasant caste. Probably because

o

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 o the Pals whom the present or existing karla chooses to inherit

the position can become a karla. However, the whereabouts o other main

disciples o 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 o 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 .

Kart a

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

o

their

life, as

is

evident in their saying I speak what

karta

speaks, I do what

karta

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makes me do, I eat what

karla

feeds me, I go where

k rl

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 mportant

artas

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

f kir

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

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39/60

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

m h s y s

throughout

Bengal Ramsaran succeeded in raising the number of disciples, both

m h s y s

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 .

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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 y 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

y

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

8


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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

de f

and the

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dumb, and made barren women bear children. One story o her miraculous

power may be mentioned here. A barren woman got the blessings o

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

o the Pals in Ghoshpara. In course o time Bankachand also became famous

for his application o 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 o her name in popular usage.

Instead

o

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 o

the sect (Ibid)

The role

o

Sarasvati Devi or Satima was obviously very much

important in spreading the glory o the Kartabhaja sect and transforming the

village Ghoshpara into a pilgrimage centre. Banerjee also emphasised

Satima 's contribution in the process

o

institutionalization

o

the sect. For

8


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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'. t 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

k rt 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

8


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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 a powerful

movement. He was regarded

as

the incarnation

o

both Krishna and

Chaitanya. In the words o W. \Vard ( 1811: 264 , Dulal pretends that he has

4,00,000 disciples spread over Bengal.

t is interesting to note that Dulalchand was invited to the Parliament o

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 o

invitation, appointing him a member o the advisory council o 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

o

Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaidya, and Shudra and had five sons (Chakraborty

1989:66). After the early death o 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

o

Ramdulal, became the

karta.

As

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evident from different accounts Iswarchandra lived like a

'Rajah'

(king).

t

seems that during his time the 'religious zamindari'

o

Ghoshpara acquired

the typical characteristics o Bengali decadent feudal family. A correspondent

o 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 o women

surrounding

him. Some

are pressing his feet. .. some are applying sandalwood

paste on his

limbs, while

some

are

garlanding

him

with wreathes o

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 o

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 o Iswarchandra's). The sacred tank

'Himsagar' was in a bad shape, and the stagnant water had become a source

o

cholera. One rich female disciple was willing to spend Rs. 20,000 on the

renovation o 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

o

them are

such gems that once they are given the money, they will appropriate the bulk

86


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o it.' He then ruefully added: 'they have not yet reached the end o the third

generation. And yet, the descendants o Ramsaran Pal have fallen to such a

state ' (Dey 1968: 22).

Later on, however, the lineage

o

Iswarchandra has become extinct and

at the moment Sarasvati Trust Estate is looking after his portion in

Ghoshpara. The present

kartas

are the descendants o Indrachandra, brother

o Iswarchandra. These descendants are called as Devmohantos. Among the

next

kartas

Gopal Krishna Pal, grandson

o

Indrachandra and Satyashib Pal,

son

o

Gopal Krishna were significant. They tried to rejuvenate the sect with

their efficient leadership.

At present SsP I have not mentioned the full name o the living,

present generation members o the Pal family) has become the formal

karta

after the death o his father Satyashib Pal. SsP is the

karta

o the sect

according to the wish o the previous

karta

Satyashib. However, there is

difference

o

opinion within the sect about who is the karta

SsP is the grandson o Late Gopal Krishna and therefore inherited the

share o the gadi

o

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

o

Gopal Krishna are also prominent members

o 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

o

other two co-sharers and they are

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often engaged in disputes with each other regarding the share o the earnings

at their gadi.

On the matter o 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 o Gopal Krishna was only one

and earnings in the fonn o Khajna at the gadi was being shared

by

all the

descendants o 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 o at the main

gadi on the ground floor. Satyashib, later, refused to share that amount with

other descendants o Gopal Krishna. However, some old

sisyas

still pay some

little amount at the main gadi.

BsP also accuses the sons o Satyashib for

diverting the khajna from the main gadi or pranamis from Dalimtala. After

the death

o

Satyashib his sons continue to collect khajna separately in the

same first floor room and BsP says that they have never produced any

account o income and expenditure o 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 o the sect, but SbP felt that SsP does

not perform his duties as karta. Karla must repair the house

o

Satima,

which

is

also known as thakurbari , maintain all the family members,

entertain the guests from the earnings

o

the

gadi

and distribute the extra


48/60

amount equally among all the sharers o the gadi. But SsP, according to SbP

misappropriates all the earnings himself along with his siblings. To end this

situation the other descendants o 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 o income and

expenditure till today. They ultimately withdrew the case.

The holders

o

the other two

gad

s

in the house

o

Salima

do not seem

to be too much bothered about the karla. SuP, a inheritant o the

gadi

o 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

o mahasayas

and

bar

a

is about who they feel the karla is. By

karla

most o 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

o Late

Vismadeb Mandai who was a

sisya

o Late Kalikrishna Pal son o Late

Surendranath), believes that

Karla-rna

or

Salima

is the actual

karla

o the

sect. One disciple

(bar

ali o 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

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Late Ranjit Kumar Pal descendant

o

Late Iswarchandra) is the karla o this

sect.

t

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 o Salima even i he is the fonnal karla o the sect

with whom their interaction is minimum. This

is

why disciples call their

respective guru the karla, whereas for some others the concept o karla is

more philosophical as they refer to

Salima

or Ramsaran Pal as the eternal

karla

o

the sect.

Although the karta is the chief o the whole o the sect the present

karta seems to interact with the disciples o 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 o Dol-me/a that all disciples - mahasayas

and baratis come to meet their gurus at the house o Salima in Ghoshpara.

But even the community feasts during Dol-me/a are conducted separately by

the holders o each o the three gadis. The important part o the interaction at

the mela is the submission o 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

o

their

gurus

and receive

ashirvad

blessings) in the most respectful

9


50/60

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

o

their guru and his descendants

- Late Satyashib, his wife died

n

2004) and sons. In fact the karta, all the

family members

o

the karta and mahasayas, i.e. all gurus are considered to

be above ordinary people in the eyes o their disciples, rather they are

extraordinary, having more or less extraordinary powers. As the worshippers

o

Bartaman instead

o Anumanthe

Kartabhajas worship the live guru as

God, a God who can listen to and solve their problems. On the day o Dol

Purnima the disciples perform the ritual

o

Dev-Dol when all the past kartas

at the house o Satima are adored with avir and atar and then the disciples

pay their respects to the existing or living kartas, i.e. the descendants o

Satima by putting avir on their feet. The widows

o

the Pal family wear red

bordered saris and sit to bless the disciples. The colour red s 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 o the supernatural powers o Satima their

dress reflects their extraordinariness.

ahasava

Mahasayas were the upper level Kartabhajas who took direct initiation

from the Karla and are also n a higher stage

o

the Kartabhaja sadhana.

9


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Mahasayas

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

level with the permission o the kartas.

Mahasayas

convey the ideas and

sayings

o

the

kartas

to their disciples or baratis.

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

o

achievement in the

sadhana

religious practice) as prescribed by the sect.

Obviously it

is

karta who decides the eligibility

o

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 o

Satima

in his house and he

can retain the as ana till his death i

he

maintains the rules. After his death his

position may be passed on to

a person according to his wish with the

permission

o

the

karta.

Mahasaya is liable to submit the part

o 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 o gifts from

the

aratis

and the Mahasaya always enjoyed excellent food, clothing and

many different types o goods sitting at home only. However, the

mahasayas

might have received gifts from their disciples, but perhaps it was a bit o an

exaggeration to say that Mahasayas received so much expensive items

regularly from their disciples, who mostly belonged to poor lower caste

section

o

the society.

Dutta found some Muslim Mahasayas having Hindu disciples who

also secretly took food from their gurus. Muslim Mahasayas like Shibshekhar

9


52

Kartabbhaja

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