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বলাহাড়ি সম্প্রদায় আর তাদের গান
A thoroughly researched book on the Balarami/Balahari Sect of Bengal.
It contains their history, origins, philosophy, and their philosophical songs.
It contains their history, origins, philosophy, and their philosophical songs.
230 pages, Hardcover
Published December 1, 1955
2 people want to read
About the author
Sudhir Chakraborty
26 books26 followersSudhir Chakravarti was born in 19 September 1934 at Shibpur. His father's name was Ramaprasad Chakravarti and his mother Beenapani Chakravarti. He was the youngest of the nine sons of Ramaprasad. Due to the fear of the Japanese bombardings in Calcutta Chakravarti's father had shifted to Dignagar, Nadia,(where they had ancestral lands as Zamindars) from Shibpur, Howrah in his childhood. After that his family came to Krishnanagar, Nadia. Chakravarti completed his studies in Calcutta University and in 1966 married Nivedita Chakravarti. Chakravarti is known for his research works on Folk religion, Lalan Fakir and Cultural Anthropology in Bengal. He spent 30 years researching the folk culture by traveling to different villages all over the West Bengal. He was a professor of Bengali literature since 1958 to 1994,but even after retirement kept on teaching until 2011. Chakravarti worked in Krishnagar Government College, guest lecturer of Jadavpur University and also associated with the Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata. He wrote and edited more than 85 books on various subjects like music, art, folk-religion, cultural anthropology. He was the editor of Bengali literary Magazine Dhrubapada.
He received the Ananda Purashkar in 2002 for his book Baul Fakir Katha and the Sahitya Akademi Award 2004. He got the awards of Eminent Teacher from Calcutta University in 2006, Narasimha Das award and the Dr. Sukumar Sen Gold Medal from the Asiatic Society. He has also been awarded by the Tagore research Institute the title of Rabindratatvacharya.
He received the Ananda Purashkar in 2002 for his book Baul Fakir Katha and the Sahitya Akademi Award 2004. He got the awards of Eminent Teacher from Calcutta University in 2006, Narasimha Das award and the Dr. Sukumar Sen Gold Medal from the Asiatic Society. He has also been awarded by the Tagore research Institute the title of Rabindratatvacharya.
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December 1, 2021
A fantastic and fascinating book. Prof. Sudhir Chakraborty deserves high praise and countless thanks for this work of his.
I was not much aware of this side of Bengal.
Of course, I was aware of the Fakirs, Vaishnavas, and Bauls of Bengals. Because they get much of the spotlight.
I was completely ignorant of the deep distinction of the sub-sects of Bengal, their original philosophy, promoted lifestyle, and history.
I came to know of them through Prof. Chakroborty's bquite famous book "গভীর নির্জন পথে".
That book have had a very deep impact on me, which I am still assessing and measuring. I am not done yet!
But, when I was reading the book, one particular sect caught my eye. That sect is the that of the Balaramis.
What a fascinating sub-religion!
-> They completely rejected the authority of Vedas and other Hindu texts.
-> They created the concept of a Divya Yuga, that came before Hindu Satya Yuga, and where Hariram, the proponent of this sect created the deities revered by Hinduism.
-> Completely rejected the leadership and privilege of Brahmins, and not only that, they were shown as being lowborns.
-> Just like Krishna declared that he is the creator of the universe, Hariram does the same. What a fascinating amount of confidence and courage! For some, this is not unlike Advaita.
-> Balaram tries his hand in social engineering by trying to control the population through the creation of classes like Eotan, Nityan, Bodhitan, and Khastan. And also by saying that the offspring born as a result of the lovemaking in dawn, and that progenies born as a result of sex in other times will become thieves and bandits. (These are pseudoscience of course, but "people get the leader they deserve")
-> Balarami songs, although when read or sun, address to men, there is no discrimination against women. There were women in prominent positions of this sect in all ages.
-> Balaramis do away with the concept of human gurus. This is preferred, because creating power centers creates monsters that protects only the interest of themselves- financial and carnal.
-> Coupled with that, they do away with the idea of meditation, prayer, or any worship through sex. I am not against the theory of it. But practice of this way leads to much harm.
-> They don't promise to cure anyone's disease through any holy water or by being randomly blown by a guy. This checks the prevalence of pseudoscience, but still reduces their revenue.
It is a very deep, complete philosophy.
One, Balahari gives a complete opposing and parallel system to that propagated by Brahmins. It is complete in its protosciences, theory of genesis, theory of human creation. It has an opposing hierarchy of castes, as well. This provides the followers with a complete and full socio-spiritual system.
Two, Bala Hari does social engineering. He tries to bring prosperity through unconventional birth control and also orders his disciples to refrain from crimes.
Three, Balaram Hari does away with caste and other religions. Sometimes he is Hari Rama, sometimes Hari Allah. He did not believe in caste or other religions.
Thus, the system as propagated by Balaram Hari is a fully complete one. He was a man of high intelligence with all qualities of an ideal leader, who gave people of the edge, poor, tortured, repressed prople a shelter, a home, a high place to call their own.
I was not much aware of this side of Bengal.
Of course, I was aware of the Fakirs, Vaishnavas, and Bauls of Bengals. Because they get much of the spotlight.
I was completely ignorant of the deep distinction of the sub-sects of Bengal, their original philosophy, promoted lifestyle, and history.
I came to know of them through Prof. Chakroborty's bquite famous book "গভীর নির্জন পথে".
That book have had a very deep impact on me, which I am still assessing and measuring. I am not done yet!
But, when I was reading the book, one particular sect caught my eye. That sect is the that of the Balaramis.
What a fascinating sub-religion!
-> They completely rejected the authority of Vedas and other Hindu texts.
-> They created the concept of a Divya Yuga, that came before Hindu Satya Yuga, and where Hariram, the proponent of this sect created the deities revered by Hinduism.
-> Completely rejected the leadership and privilege of Brahmins, and not only that, they were shown as being lowborns.
-> Just like Krishna declared that he is the creator of the universe, Hariram does the same. What a fascinating amount of confidence and courage! For some, this is not unlike Advaita.
-> Balaram tries his hand in social engineering by trying to control the population through the creation of classes like Eotan, Nityan, Bodhitan, and Khastan. And also by saying that the offspring born as a result of the lovemaking in dawn, and that progenies born as a result of sex in other times will become thieves and bandits. (These are pseudoscience of course, but "people get the leader they deserve")
-> Balarami songs, although when read or sun, address to men, there is no discrimination against women. There were women in prominent positions of this sect in all ages.
-> Balaramis do away with the concept of human gurus. This is preferred, because creating power centers creates monsters that protects only the interest of themselves- financial and carnal.
-> Coupled with that, they do away with the idea of meditation, prayer, or any worship through sex. I am not against the theory of it. But practice of this way leads to much harm.
-> They don't promise to cure anyone's disease through any holy water or by being randomly blown by a guy. This checks the prevalence of pseudoscience, but still reduces their revenue.
It is a very deep, complete philosophy.
One, Balahari gives a complete opposing and parallel system to that propagated by Brahmins. It is complete in its protosciences, theory of genesis, theory of human creation. It has an opposing hierarchy of castes, as well. This provides the followers with a complete and full socio-spiritual system.
Two, Bala Hari does social engineering. He tries to bring prosperity through unconventional birth control and also orders his disciples to refrain from crimes.
Three, Balaram Hari does away with caste and other religions. Sometimes he is Hari Rama, sometimes Hari Allah. He did not believe in caste or other religions.
Thus, the system as propagated by Balaram Hari is a fully complete one. He was a man of high intelligence with all qualities of an ideal leader, who gave people of the edge, poor, tortured, repressed prople a shelter, a home, a high place to call their own.
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