Babukishan - Osho - & The Bauls of Bengal
Babu kishan aka Krishnendu Das Baul is a Vaishnava Tantric Baul from birth born in the village of Suri Birbhum, W Bengal given at birth to his grandparents Nabani Das Kheppa Baul and Brajabala Dasi who named him Krishnendu now KD Babu kishan.
Babu Kishan is his Bollywood name, there is a long story of how he became known as Babu Kishan one reason is he did not want to use his fame in Bengal and he did not want to use his Dad's Purna Das Bauls fame, he did everything on his own merit, that is why most people in Bengal do not even know Krishnendu Das is Babu Kishan.
Osho knew Babu kishan personally since the 1980's Babu had been composing music in Bombay. He worked for CBS in Bombay and Osho wanted all his talks recorded on to tape. Really Babu is the only one who can talk about Baul and Osho all the rest who do are full of hot air. How would they know, other than reading this blog? It amazes me all the so called experts and they do not have a clue, they just name drop and that goes for Baul too, all are name droppers, speaking about something they know absolutely nothing about?
Along came Babukishan the first Baul Osho had met other than Nabani Das Khyapa Baul many decades ago when he was a student traveling to Bengal. Osho never knew any other Bauls. Osho was deeply inspired by the Bauls of Bengal only because he met Nabani. Babu Kishan is the only Baul that can accurately speak on this subject as he is the only one alive who knows and Babu was a great friend of Osho's college friend who went with Osho to Bengal all those years ago, not only did Babu know Osho he knew his best friend a famed cartoonist in Bombay for decades and her all the stories.
Osho wrote 2 books on Bauls that are not completely accurate, but still in print today. In one of their many converstations Babu kishan had with Osho, Babu asked Osho to change the books to make them more accurate, Osho agreed he said he would but he passed away in 1990 at age of 58, before these books could be changed. Thus many things he wrote about the Baul's are inaccurate and were made to attract people.
Babukishan spent many, many hours with OSHO talking about the 'Bauls of Bengal' and of course his Grandfather Guru Nabani Das Khyapa Baul and his lineage of Baul. Babu Kishan through CBS composed and produced most of the music and tapes that are selling today.
The books on Baul that Osho wrote are way too simplistic with many assumptions made about who and what the Baul's of Birbhum Bengal are, please note: Osho is not a Baul he is not from Bengal as are all the scholars of yesterday and today, not from Bengal and making huge assumptions, cherry picking, copying and pasting, translating not being accurate on who wrote the songs.
They give a few rupee's to random or poor lineage Bauls from this family and take advantage in the name of preserving Baul rather than helping they are stealing information for their own benefit, and probably mistranslating making association with other poets who are not actual Baul in some ways creating a cultural genocide but thinking they are do gooders? That is why Babu Kishan gives very little information out, he has been used by so many over the decades. He has almost 60 years experience world wide with scholars of Baul, never trust the scholars as you are just a means to a career for them?
Osho said Bauls were not philosophers, WRONG; they are the biggest of philosophers of all Indian Philosophies, dual and non-dual.
Baul's are poets but not only poets, no Baul without the inner essence of Baul. The name of the Poets is a Must, there is no generic Baul, or saying Baul's do not care, no true Baul would ever say that, only someone stealing on the outside would?
Only the fake Baul's do not care because they do not know and are fundraising to preserve Baul? This is really an crime against indigenous peoples and there is no integrity is saying, Baul's do not care or putting other generic poets names on this lineages songs.
Bauls are singing the poetry from this lineage the Lineage of Nabani Das Khyappa Baul and his lineage, you would not even know the name Baul if it were not for Nabani Das Khyapa Baul, Purna Das Baul or Babu Kishan? They are the ones who took Baul outside of Bengal to India and the World, others followed shamelessly not even mentioning where they got Baul from. I have many great stories of the others that followed, mostly refugee's to Calcutta from Bangladesh either partition or 1971 war time when all you could hear on India radio was Purna Das Baul.
When Babu brought many to his home, where they either were servants or were his disciples, he taught many, but his name completely erased because it became survival of the fittest in the 'fake it til you make it' Baul. All sang and followed Purna Das Baul wanting to be a great singer, but not necessarily a Baul.
Lalon Fakir's poetry which nobody knew until this family went back to Bangladesh in the 1970's and recorded it thus Baul became associated with Lalon Fakir. Babu Kishan is the first to bring Bangladeshi singers to Calcutta, he composed music to Lalon Songs back in the 1970's, before that Lalon poetry did not have music to the songs. Lalon Fakir or Shah is not a Baul but he is a poet, he never practiced Baul sadhana?
Manju Das, (Babu's birth mother) was from Bangladesh, her fatherJogesh Das was a Sanskrit Professor (With 3 Masters Degree's) at Dhakha University, in 1952 they had to flee for their lives because Jogesh Das spoke Bengali and Sanskrit and at the time Bangladesh was being Islamised by the Pakistani's and if you didn't speak Urdu you were either dead or you had to flee for your life.
There were no Bauls in Bangladesh in those day or very few, there however, Dervish, Fakir, Sai and Shah which somehow got lumped in as Baul, but they are not Baul, dervish fakir sai shah are all Muslim Sufi.
Baul for thousand of years has been based on Indian Philosophy Vaishnava which is Hindu, they accepted all people who rejected by other groups including Sufi and Buddhist of that particular time. This lineage even accepted Bangladeshi (East Pakistani refugee's) encouraging and helping but that does make a person a Baul. Babu Kishan helped many of them.
However, in these modern times with the demise of the 'Lineage Baul' many of the Bangaldeshi refugee's had to survive and when one needs to survive they will do whatever is necessary to survive including making up stories and cutting the name of the lineage Bauls off, many were jealous and started to become jealous of Purna Das Bauls success. Even poisoning him and trying to kill him at the Joy Dev Mela. This story will come out and so will names.
The new Bangladeshi refugees, through no fault of their own, thought it was a good way to make money and survive and thus the demise of the Baul's watering down, reductionism.
As Sufi flowed into Bengal, Islamists who rejected any Sufi came to the Bauls, the Bauls learned the juice of Sufi but that does not mean they became Sufi.
Buddhist's as they flowed into Bengal, were only given shelter because Brahmins rejected these Buddhists, the Bauls accepted them but they did not become Buddhist.
Babu considers her his mother as he did not know his mother was his mother until the early 70's after Nabani whom he only knew as his father until 1969 when he found out Purna Das Baul actually was his father..
Not realizing the fate of the "riding on the coat tail, new Baul who have created fake lineages and fake Baul Guru's.
Bauls are based on the ancient Sanatan Dhrama of India, Baul is a Dharma not a religion nor a cult. They are only one Sampradaya, now extinct, there are only a few who know the real story and the inside information. Do not use the Baul's.
Bauls are Tantric Bhakti Yogi's and this lineage is based on Vaishnava.
A Vaishnava based on pure love and respect not the kind that has incarnated to the West of abuse and name calling as the new Vaishnava of the West has done.
Vaishnava Bauls are sweet and humbler that an blade of grass, they have survived the British, the Muslim invaders, disease, famine and now in '2012' are almost extinct because of modern society. I wrote this in 2012 it is now 2021 and things have only gotten worse.
Bauls talk and accept all religions and people, they visit temples, mosques, churches this is but only one thing that what makes them different.
You will not find that with Sufi or other groups, they only talk about themselves or talk about Allah or their own God. This may be one of the reason most people consider Lalon Fakir a Baul because his poetry talked about all but without Baul sadhana and the inner secrets of Baul, poetry does not make one a Baul, there is so much more.
The Bauls always accepted all, they are the original Peacemakers of the planet and have something to teach the world at this time. In 2005 UNESCO said, The Bauls are an Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible History of Humanity, unfortunately this is a farce because the Bangladeshi official who did this received millions of dollars and went into hiding, he used the Bauls with false teachings making them muslim and the money to preserve Baul songs of Bangladesh which do not exist, he said Baul is from Persia? Just one of many who use Baul for their own cause.
Baul is simple if you grew up with the Guru and spoke sanskrit, learning all the philosophy from birth it is really easy if you are from the lineage. It is a Guru parampara tradition, too many people write inaccuracies about he Bauls because Bauls do not give out information easily.
Babu Kishan personally knew all of the scholars who have written books about the Baul's including all the American scholars, he has argued their writings are inaccurate since the late 1970's meeting all of them, and lecturing at their Universities around the world because he was qualified both academically and from inside the tradition.
Scholars pay anybody a few rupee's to any poor person, they then claim and make up stories for books and a career as an academic with no repercussions as to another humans family lineage. It is just a game for name and fame, using the poor for their own interest and career.
Babu Kishan has written 3 books about the Bauls back in the 1980's, the real Bauls are basically extinct they need accurate preservation not speculation and a rewriting of what is already inaccurately written.
This below statement made by Osho is accurate is some ways and in some ways if you take this literally it is totally inaccurate and over simplified.
What Osho said regarding the Bauls of Bengal is just fluff he never knew any Bauls other than Babukishan and he met his Grandfather Nabani Das Baul once? Osho had written the books on Baul before he met Babu and passed away before he could fulfill his promise to Babu Kishan to change the books.
There is one new Baul who has gone to Delhi representing the Baul connection with Osho, but he is singing Babu Kishan's Baul poetry LOL.... Nobody knows the truth, people who follow Baul need to start to be honest and saying whose songs they are singing, who the poets are instead of using and pretending they are lineage Baul. I mean this guy too says he is from a lineage but singing Babu Kishan's songs, he has a good voice but really?? There is only ONE lineage of Baul.
Worldwide Copyright all rights reserved 2012 - 2040 as this is all being written about and will be in our book "Baul Unplugged. This book is late but better late than never.
The true story of The Bauls of Bengal written by a living lineage holder. by Babukishan aka Krishnendu Das Baul
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"To be a Baul nothing is needed. In fact, the moment you need nothing, you become a Baul. The moment you are unburdened and you don't possess anything, any past, you are a Baul. No, things like that are never originated. Nobody creates them; they happen. They are part of nature.
Source - Osho Book "The Beloved, Vol 1" .
This quote from Osho's book is wrong in many ways, but right in many ways, Baul is a paradox. There is a very long discourse that goes with Osho is trying to say and may be misinterpreted in many ways. It is NOT so easy to be a Baul but many want it to be so, so that they can easily grow dread locks and dress up, making up lineages and follow Baul. Not so easy!!