Today I would like to reflect on a poem/song of Gagan Harkara, who was a postman by profession and a bāul singer from Bengal (See about Gagan in Banglapedia). This song is referred to by the first line ‘āmi kothāy pābo tāre, maner mānuṣ ze re’ (where will I find Him, the person of my heart). This particular song is very significant not only because it represents the longing, love, and desperation, so characteristic of the bāul , for the ‘Person of the heart’ (maner mānuṣ ) but also because the tune of this song was used by the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore for one of his songs that became the national anthem of Bangladesh. Gagan was a follower of Lālan Phakīr, the most influential of bāuls, and used to deliver mails to Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore himself never met Lālan, although his elder brother did a couple of times. Rabindranath played active role in popularizing songs of Lālan and Gagan among the literate Bengali speakers, taking initiatives to collect and publish some of the songs for the first time and mentioning them in his talks. This particular song is one of the most popular ones and representative of the bāul songs. You may hear a version of this song first and see the following translation. I must say the poet’s deep longing, lyricism, urgency, and agitation in this song is hard to translate.
…..
Where will I find Him-
the Person of my heart?
Loosing Him,
alas, I wander around
in so many countries and regions,
seeking for the Person.
I remain constantly listless
for that moon of my heart,
had I met Him once-
my mind would have been so pleased
I would keep gazing …
I am burning in the fire of love,
how would I extinguish that fire?
dying, alas, alas, alas,
If you want to see –
the state of your heart in separation,
You’d have to tear it apart.
How would I compare Him,
The world sinks into bliss in his love,
The eyes feel fully content to see Him
You’d not see Him in a mere glimpse.
Whoever saw Him was immersed in Him
turning their back to the world,
dying alas, alas, alas,
I don’t know what magic he knows,
He steals my heart in the blink of an eye
I have lost my family and honour
I have not found Him yet.
….
This is only part of the actual song. As you can see there is much to reflect in this song. For example, what does he mean by seeking, remaining listless, the moon of the heart, dying, separation, loosing family and honour and so on. Has he ever seen or met or had a glimpse of this Person? Who is he seeking for? These questions ignite our creative imagination and help to feel and engage with the poet/singer in this search or quest for the Person of the heart. I believe that these questions are not merely for intellectual satisfaction, they do help in the refinement of one’s creative sensitivity and have moralizing effect on the seeker. More than the actual answers to these questions, asking the questions and the very quest for the Person of the heart seem to be very important for the bāuls. In each of the songs, the longing is very personal, intimate, and deep.
……….
As you read this very imperfect translation, I want to draw attention to an important problem in translating this, which is also very much related to understanding this song. Personally, I think that the actual Person (mānuṣ ) that the bāuls are seeking is genderless. I have used the capitalized masculine pronoun He to indicate that it is not a romantic seeking for a member of opposite sex and also to emphasize on the genderlessness of the the Person (Mānuṣ ). In a popular song Lālan Phakīr, the greatest of the bāuls, for example says ei mānuṣe sei mānuṣ āche (that Person lives in this person). So, a distinction here is made between (i) the individual person who lives and moves around in the world in flesh and blood and (ii.) the Other, the Person (with capital P), that the individual seeker is longing to meet and experience. I think translating mānuṣ as ‘man’, as many translators do, is misleading. It gives an impression of the Person being masculine. I also don’t think the bāuls are referring to the God, Brahman, or ātman; neither that the Mānuṣ is an inanimate object.
I don’t deny that the bāuls may have been influenced by the language of sacred Other such as in terms of God, Brahman, ātman etc. extent in the common religious vocabulary. But, if we instantly make these connections and comparisons, we don’t allow ourselves to feel the distinctness of each person seeking and the longing expressed in their songs.
Is that mānuṣ completely a mystery?I am not sure if the mānuṣ is a complete mystery for the bāuls themselves. But, I do think the bāuls do allow some mystery in the very manner of asking the question. Once one has solved the mystery then there is no more further quest, no more progress. Therefore, the joys and grief in this quest and longing, the continuous wandering to witness and experience the Person of the heart fully, feature prominently in the bāul songs. In the English language, however the third person pronouns are distinguished by genders. If one were to use the feminine gender ‘she’ the song may sound sublunary, like a man lamenting to unite with a woman. The love for the Person in the bāul songs definitely has the same longing and somewhat romantic overtones like that of a man for a woman and vice-a-versa. However, this quest for the ‘Person of the heart’ seems to be different.
…..
A lot of bāuls renounce their household life, becoming wanderers and dedicating their lives to music and seeking for the Person of the heart. Many bāuls also do remain as householders with their wives. I think the bāuls do contemplate on the relationships they have with their partners, with the people, and above all the nature in a very contemplative manner to meditate on the ‘Person of the heart’. Love for their partners, the human others, help the bāuls to meditate upon the Person of the heart. In the same manner, meditations upon the Person of the heart also changes their relationship to the human others. We know that from the many songs that prominent bāul Abdul Karim Shah dedicated to his wife. I may have occasion to reflect on the bāul songs later too. So this is reflection is incomplete as of now!
…..
vūpasamāya 