An excerpt from the almost ready to be released book, Historical Autobiography of Mystic Baul, Reclaiming the Indigenous Ancestral Heritage of the Vaishnava Sahajiya Tantric Bauls of Birbhum, W Bengal India, (Sandra A Hirschkorn 'Trishula' Das) - As told by Babu Kishan aka Krishnendu Das Baul regarding my husbands one and only (parampara) of Baul.
NOTE, no one would know anything about Baul without the pioneering history and work of this one and only lineage or ancestral indigenous parampara of Baul.
When "Baul" Becomes a Masterclass in Deceit
Baul has, for far too long, become a masterclass in emotional theater. What we see today is a carefully orchestrated spectacle of inauthenticity—fueled by polished photos, meticulously crafted YouTube videos, and well-funded marketing campaigns disguised as reverence. Behind the facade of fake humility and all-knowing wisdom, opportunistic individuals are overstating their importance and brazenly claiming the "firsts and lasts" of a heritage they never lived.
Armed with self-created "fake Baul Gurus" and fabricated lineages, these claimants can be easily exposed. KD Babu Kishan, for instance, has met and has stories about most of the very people being paraded as gurus. His firsthand knowledge serves as a critical check on these false narratives.
There is a disturbing lack of accountability in who gets to speak for Baul, leading to a simple and insidious exchange: they are replacing us by faking us.
The Problem with Pretenders, "inauthentic practitioners" or "opportunistic claimants"
Anyone, it seems, can claim to be a Baul, taking what they want from the indigenous intellectual property of this one and only parampara (lineage). This must stop. Individuals seeking global recognition in the "guru business" need to be rigorously qualified. They must prove their ancestry, and every false narrative they spread must be checked.
The simple truth is that there is no expert on the Baul tradition other than a trained, indigenous Baul. There is no such thing as a "Baul Master" or "Baul Artist"—these are completely made-up terms designed to legitimize fake Bauls. We are not talking about the street performers of Birbhum; we are talking about a far more cunning, deliberate form of exploitation. It always leads back to a fundraising scheme or a grab for donations, often under the guise of "preserving Baul," a task that has already been accomplished by KD Babu Kishan.
Over the next few years, Babu Kishan, a qualified and experienced indigenous spiritual warrior, will bring this all to light. Having created the modern template of Baul and taught the tradition worldwide since the 1970s, he is uniquely positioned to speak the truth.
Indigenous Rights and Intellectual Property
Regardless of where you are in the world, the struggle of indigenous people is a shared experience. Their ancient ways of life are being erased and co-opted, and they are fighting to survive in a modern world that often uses them as a commodity. Indigenous practices are meant for the world, but it should be the indigenous people who self-determine their destiny and benefit from their own intellectual property.
If you practice Baul, you have no right to exploit its intellectual property by faking a lineage or misleading people into believing you are a Baul Avadhuta. The term "Baul Avadhuta" was popularized by my own writings and has since been appropriated. My work on Nabani Das Khyapa Baul as an Avadhuta was copied and superimposed onto any "dread locked pretendian Baul," creating a false assumption that all Bauls are Avadhutas. As Babu Kishan warned me, everything he has ever written has been poached and his name erased, a theft we have allowed for far too long.
The Dangers of Superimposing Narratives
When a "Baul Artist"—an opportunistic false claimant—comes to the West, people often superimpose my writings onto this fakery. This is a mistake. Great that you like this person's performance, but please do not connect them to the indigenous Baul lineage you read about in our blogs or books. They have copied the songs, the style of dance, and even the history of a lineage they have nothing to do with.
If a performer is self-titled as a "Baul Artist" or "Baul Master," they are not a Baul. Do not superimpose our intellectual property onto them. If they are stealing the songs and the style of this lineage—such as the specific way Nabani Das Khyapa Baul used the Ektara, Baya drum, or Nuppor ankle bells—you must know they have no connection to us. They are not Vaishnava Sahajiya Bauls; they are actors. Using the term "Baul Avadhuta" in this context is a great disrespect to the actual Avadhutas who no longer walk this earth.
A Lesson from Canadian First Nations
The plight of the indigenous Bauls mirrors the experience of indigenous First Nations in Canada, where "Pretendians" have stolen identities to profit from grants, awards, and opportunities reserved for indigenous people. The documentary "The Pretendians" gives a clear picture of this issue, which is essentially an indigenous intellectual fraud.
As the film states, "When people steal from our culture, they end up distorting our culture; they turn it into something we do not even recognize, erasing us by replacing us."
This is precisely what has been happening to the indigenous Baul tradition, a problem that has significantly worsened since the 1970s. The essence of the tradition is being extinguished, replaced by a distorted, unrecognizably fake version. It is a game of Chinese whispers, where the original meaning and purpose of Baul are lost with each passing hand.
Copyright, no poaching, Sandra Trishula Das and KD Babu Kishan
Baul Tantra: Tantra, Mantra, Gopi Yantra © is 'Vaishnava Sahajiya'!
The Sahajiya of Dattatreya and Krishna © Nobody has ever said Krishna and Dattatreya Sahaja before or even Baul Avadhuta. Fake Baul Artists have been saying Baul is Buddhist Sahaja .
KD Babu Kishan has kept many things secret, just to see the next intellectual property theft, we have proof and will present each indigenous theft one by one. This is not a joke anymore.
Copyright is only to prevent the relentless poaching, cherry picking and remaking of this lineages firsts and lasts. It is not meant to prevent people from learning about Baul. Copyright it is to prevent "Pretendian (fake) Bauls" "inauthentic practitioners" or "opportunistic claimants" who steal indigenous identities to capture lucrative grants, prestige, funding, awards. While riding on the coattails of this indigenous paramara lineages songs, style, intellectual property, where they go and what they have already accomplished displaying self-created indigenous Baul identities, that are fake always for a benefit and taking away opportunities of this pioneering indigenous lineage, and the Baul (with names) indigenous Bauls who did all the hard work pioneering Baul only to be copied and faked.
Copyright is to stop the Poaching & Cherry Picking of the intellectual property of this one and only Baul lineage. As insane as that may sound.
Baul Tantra is Vaishnava Sahajiya Tantra. There is no other Baul parampara or ancient indigenous ancestral lineage or parampara. Baul Tantra is only related to this lineage as is Baul Vaishnavism.
'Baul Tantra' and 'Tantra Mantra Gopi Yantra' (only belong to this one and only Baul Parampara or ancestral indigenous Lineage.
Baul Tattvas have only be brought to the light of Day through KD Babu Kishan who has categorized the Tattva's of Baul holding back many of them, because of the relentless poaching of Baul by inauthentic claimants, who then make self-promotional youtube videos laying claim in a generic, random, no name manner to claim Baul for their jackpot hunting and international travel self-promotions.
This blog and this one and only parampara is not related to any other Bauls (period) if they are using any talking points from this blog, or copying this lineage, they are no way related. Do not use the information from this lineage to super impose the intellectual property of this lineage. They are different and if they are acting, that is what they are doing acting. Babu Kishan did not spend a lifetime preserving Baul to have it stolen anymore, that time is up.
