Copyright 2008 - 2040
All Rights Reserved
No Poaching, taking the names off, No name dropping
Baul poets have names. A Baul knows all the names to the poets.
There are Cultural Appropriators collecting donations using everything from this lineage, even making up lineages that never existed.
Baul singers sing the songs from this lineage, never give credit, they copy Nabani Das Khyapa Baul style Ektara, Baya (waist drum), Nupoor ( metal ankle bells) never giving credit and if they did not know only Nabani danced and sang this way that is all the more reason they should not be representing and indigenous culture, like they invented it?
They take the poets names off the songs and then have the audacity to say Baul does not care who the poets are?
This lineage has already been preserved by Babu Kishan since the 1960's
It is an Oral Sanskrit lineage, vernacular Birbhum Bengali, there is only one Baul Lineage of Baul?
Stop the Cultural Appropriation of this Lineage!
The watering down and reductionism.
Sri Nabani Das Khyappa Baul, Babu kishan's Grandfather & Guru was a Lineage Vaishnava Baul of Bengal. Nabani was a Baul Avadhuta. The great Vaishnava Saint, Nityananada from Ekachakra Birbhum Bengal was a Baul Avadhut.
Vaishnava Tantric Baul of Birbhum Bengal India
Before Baulguru Sri Nabani Das Kyapa Baul, sent his 2 sons oversea’s nobody outside of India had ever met a Baul from Bengal.
Rabindranath Tagore the great poet, novelist, musician, playwright, and artist from Santiniketan, Birbhum, West Bengal, India, knew Sri Nabani Das personally, Nabani Das was the Baul who inspired Rabindranath.
Nabani is the only Baul to initiate Tagore in Baul giving him the name Robi (Ravi) Baul and Tagore gave Nabani the name "Mirror of the Sky".
They were great friends, Rabindranath built Nabani a place for Nabani to do his sadhana on his land, Tagore commisioned a statue of Nabani Das by Ram Kinkar Baj.
Tagore took pictures of Nabani that you can see at the Royal British Museum in London. There was a long history between the two, and many stories to be told.
There are articles out there that claim Rabindranath was inspired by Lalon Fakir, however, Lalon Fakir was a Baul, he was not a Baul, he did not include music or a tune to his poetry, Lalon Fakir did not do Baul Sadhana?
There are many misconceptions and wrong writings repeated over and over by people who do not know what Baul is? Nabani Das Khyapa Baul is the only Baul to have a long and close association with Tagore.
Lalon Shah Fakir was a hindu who was adopted by a muslim family, and became, a muslim Fakir, and great poet, he also is a very respected Baul of Bangladesh, who spent time with Rabindranth Tagore during Tagore. Babu respects Lalon Shah Fakir, and has done much in assisting in preserving his legacy also. We will write about this in a seperate article.
Fakir Aul Sai Devish or Shah are NOT Baul, they are Muslim, Bauls accepted all they did not become all. Muslims Sufi or Islam does not accept Hindu Sanatan Dharma which is what Baul is.? Baul is not them, but they accept them.
Baul is an oral Sanskrit tradition, not Urdu or from Persia, that is a complete lie. This shows the importance of keeping the authority of any tradition within the lineage, authority does not lie with writers or scholars, now in 2022 they are just starting to see the huge mess they have made speculating on other Cultures traditions.
https://indiafolkheritageofbengal.weebly.com/cultural-misappropriation.html
Howerever, it was Sri Nabani Das Khyappa Baul, Babukishan's grandfather, who spent many years in close contact with Rabindranath Tagore. Nabani shared his living lineage in the oral tradition of Vaishnava Baul with Rabindranath.
Rabindranath gave Nabani the name Kyappa Baul, there was no kyappa Baul before Nabani Das, and today the title still belongs to him. Rabindranath also gave him the name Robi Baul, there are songs that Rabindranath wrote about Nabani Das. Rabindranath Tagore used the tune from a Nabani Das Baul song, and used it for his famous song.."Amare paraye paraye khepia berai".... this song Rabindranath Tagore wrote was dedicated to Nabani Das Khyapa Baul.. " and that is Nabani Das Baul.
Nabani was a very intense simple sadhaka, and to the eye he may have appeared like a wild, mad man, he was not mad in the regular sense, he was God/dess intoxicated mad. He was a mystic, and had a magical smile, he was wild and ecstatic with love, mad for God, he was a true Baul, and a great Poet, he knew everything in the oral tradition, all the stories, all the songs.
Through this association, and over time Rabindranath became Baul. Nabani gave Rabindranath the name Ravi(Robi) Baul, and gave him a guduri (dress) . Many top poets from around the world would travel to see them, they were all intringued, thus Rabindranath started the Poush Mela in honour of Sri Nabani Das Kyappa Baul. Most people do not know this or the history because has not been written about.. and everything that is written is just repeated over and over.. the same story half of it not true.
Rabindranath named the bridge at the Pous Mela Nabani Das Setu. Nabani Das's name has not been preserved the way it should have been, not is the time to start to tell his story. At Tagore University outside the prayer room there is a tree where Nabani Das used to sit, it it preserved there to this day.
Rabindranath Tagore became a Vaishnava Baul in Sri Nabani Das’s Baul’s lineage, after years of traveling the world, and writing, he became a Baul, Nabani’s infuence was used throught Rabindranath's poetry, there were many reference to Nabani Das Baul. Rabindranath used to say to Nabani Das are you a mad maker machine, you have completely changed me with your song, dance, and your smile.
George Harrison (Beatles), and Allen Ginsberg (The American Beat Poet), were some of the first famous foreigners to arrive in Santinekitan, they started to learn about the Vaishnava Bauls. Both becoming great friends, and supporters of this lineage.
Allen Ginsberg went back to America, and told Albert B Grossman about Nabani Das Baul and his ecstatic, blissful, magical, mystical song, and dance from Bengal. Albert B Grossman, (Bob Dylan’s manager at the time) was searching for different kinds ethnic musicians, as The Woodstock Committee had appointed him in change of the first Woodstock ethnic department.
When Alen Ginsberg shared his recording of Nabani Das, and showed his pictures, Albert Grossman was impressed, and intrigued, he said it would be great to present have Nabani Das at Woodstock.
Ravi Shankar, was slected as Indian’s first insturmentalist to come, and Nabani Das Baul was selected a Indian vocalist. Albert B Grossman came to Kolkata and stayed at the Grand Hotel, and from the American Embassy he got a interperter Ashok Sarkar and they left to Santiniketan, Sur, Brbhum, to meet Nabani Das. Nabani said no way, I will not go, if you really want to present Baul to the world, you can take my son’s Purna Das Baul, and Laxman Das Baul.
Suddenly Ashok Sarkar thought oh my, this is a great way for me to get out of India and go to America, he ended up going, as the manager as their interpreter, as Purna, and Laxman at the time they did not understand english, only Bengali, and sanskrit. Interestingly enough Ashok Sarkar ended up living in Vancouver, B.C. Canada, and passed away about a year ago.
The first time Purna Das Baul, and Lakshman Das Baul, met Bob Dylan, and his musicians, “The Band”, Bob Dylan had never heard of Baul before, for him this was a new kind of music.
Purna Das Baul, and Laxman Das Baul became really close friends with Bob Dylan,and” The Band”, jamming for 2 and half months. That is how Baul is related to Bob Dylan, it is through this family that Bob Dylan learned about Baul. He respected Purna Das, but was more friendly with Lakshman Das Baul, perhaps because they were closer in age.
Babu kishan traveled, and preformed with Bob Dylan, and became really good friends hanging around every year, and exchanging music. Vaishnava Bauls are poets, musicians, sanskrit sholars, they have and hold their knowledge in an oral tradition. Baul songs are not Folk songs..many today are singing Bangleshi and Bengali folk songs, or they are singing only the very simple songs, and shortening down the songs to make them simplier.
Baul is more than dressing like one, holding an ektara in one hand, and singing folk songs. It certainly has nothing to do with smoking ganga. Baul women do not have jata or dread locks, this does not mean they can not. It all sounds like a paradox. Sri Nabani Das Baul was an avadhuta Baul, these types of Bauls are rare, yes he did smoke ganga like any other wandering sadhu, or shiva baba, but this is rare, the ganga did not smoke him.. He did constant sadhana... The regular villiage Bauls did not smoke ganga.
There lineage is not about ganja or tantric sex as stated by many writers in which many imposters, or Baul singers have aligned themselves with, however, they accept all, and do not reject any. They keep their knowledge inside. They keep there sadhana inside, what is on the outside was mostly to keep people away. They are lovers of Hari, if there is no love Hari is not there. They are the mystics, they lived in a different world than ordinary people.
This is the short real true story of how Baul is known in the modern world outside of India. It is this family, this lineage that has travelled all over the world since 1966 trying to preserve this ancient oral tradition of Vaishnava Baul…otherwise who would know what Baul is???
Babukishan has been preserving, and traveling Baul for 50 years, he has been a Baul for 50 years.
Actually Purna Das Baul went to Russia in the 1950's. He has been traveling for more than 70 years, and Babukishan has been traveling for more that 40 years, preserving, educating about the Baul of Bengal.
This is the beginning of the story of the first Bauls to travel to North America. Purna Das Baul had already been to Russia, and won a Gold medal in IPTI musical youth festival for his singing.
Bob Dylan became really good friend of Purna Das Baul, Laxman Das Baul and, Babukishan.
to be continued……jaiguru! We will be adding more to this story stayed tuned... there are so many stories...and this is a 5000 year old lineage so we can go on forever...
All rights reserved, copyright material by Babu Kishan
Meaning this is Not your story to name drop or tell, there is way more to the story than this and it will be in print very soon.
We are not telling these story so FAKE Bauls can tell them as in Name Dropping on YOUTUBE, you already have done enough watering down and reductionism, you have used this lineage enough, Stop your name dropping and telling people there are 20,000 Bauls in Bengal, trying to collect people and donations?
Baul is extinct, it has already been preserved since the 1960's by Babu Kishan aka Krishnendu Das Baul.