Incredible Mystic Chain That Made India Spiritually Rich
By
Aftab Ahmad, New Age Islam
18
September, 2014
India
is a spiritually and culturally rich multi-religious and multi lingual society.
This richness and diversity was a result of different religions and cultures
mixing together to produce a wonderful harmonious blend of spiritual values. At
the core of the values has been the mystic tradition of India bridged by
Islamic Sufism and Bhakti mysticism spanning over more than 5oo years. India
was the land and centre for spiritual pursuits for a number of great mystics
and Sufis that existed right from the 8th century till sixteenth
century. Sufis and Bhaktivadi saints together formed a wonderful chain of
mysticism throughout India. When we study their writings and ideology, we are
overwhelmed by the fact that they were not isolated in time and place. They
were not only aware of the poetic and spiritual ideas of their predecessors but
also influenced by them, sometimes borrowing their ideas and sometimes
extending their ideas with the help of their own spiritual ideas. Most of the
teachings of the Sufis and Bhaktivadi saints are in the form of their spiritual
poetry; mostly in the literary form doha, shabad, kafi or chaupai. Some of the
Sufis did not render poetry like Hadhrat Khwaja Nizamudddin but his disciple
Amir Khusrau wrote poetry to express his ideas in dohas, ghazals and other
forms of poetry. Thus in his poetry, Amir Khusrau conveyed the teachings of
Hadhrat Nizamuddin through his poetry.
When
we look at these Sufis and Bhaktivadi saints and their poetry chronologically,
we are surprised that each Sufi or saint was fully aware of the ideas and
teachings of other Sufis and poets, not only of his own time but of his
predecessors though they lived in far off places of the Indian subcontinent.
For example, the poetic ideas, similes, metaphors used in the poetry of Nath Panth
founder Gorakhnath resonates and reverberates in the poetry of Baba Farid or
Amir Khusrau, the following generation Sufi poets. Similarly, the poetic ideas
and themes found in the poetry of Amir Khusrau and Baba Farid are echoed in the
poetry of Kabir which in turn influenced the poetry of Guru Nanak. Baba Farid
lived in Punjab (now Pakistan) while Kabir lived in the northern India (modern
day UP). Secondly, Baba Farid’s poetry was in Punjabi while the mother tongue
of Kabir was either Maithili or Braj Bhasha.
Guru Nanak was impressed and influenced by the poetry of Kabir, Baba
Farid and other Bhakti poets like Ravid Das and incorporated their hymns and
Dohas in the Adi Granth.
This
makes it all the more surprising that the Sufis and mystics transcended borders
and broke language barriers to reach out to others to learn about the poetic
ideas in an age communication was not as easy as it is now and books and
journals were also not available so freely. Poetry was spread through word of
mouth. There is a doha of Baba Farid
Rukhi
sukhi khai ke thanda pani piu
Dekh
parai chopdi, na lalchayen jiu
Kabir’s
doha echoes the same idea with slight variation
Rukha
sukha khai ke thanda pani pi
Dekh
parai chopdi mat lalchae ji
This
can be construed as plagiarism on the part of Kabir but Kabir himself admits in
one of his doha that he takes words and ideas from here and there to compose
his poetry. This was his humility because this reflects his simplicity and
honesty. He composed the doha in his own language because he liked the theme of
Baba Farid’s doha produced above. Kabir is known for his originality of ideas
and force of his style. That is why he influenced later generation Bhakti poets
and influences the poets of today.
Similarly,
Kabir was also influenced by Amir Khusrau’s poetic ideas. One of the major and
distinctive feature of Sufi poetry and Bhaktivadi saints is Ulat Bansi (upside
down language) in which ideas apparently absurd are produced but they has a
deep inner meaning. In this type of poetry, blanket rains and water is
drenched. Amir Khusrau’s doha has the following ulat Bansi:
Khusrau
darya prem ka, ulti wa ki dhar
Jo
utra so doob gaya, jo duba so paar
In
this doha, the one who drowns is believed to have actually crossed the river
which apparently is an absurd idea. This ulat Bansi is not the invention of
Amir Khusrau but Amir Khusrau borrowed it from Nath Panthis. Later Kabir also
wrote such ulat bansi.
One
characteristic feature of the Sufi and Bhakti poetry is the secular language of
their spiritual poetry. In many of his dohas, Baba Farid calls God by the name
Sahab which is a neutral word for God. It does not denote any religious
affiliation. Since the Sufis were singing for all the communities and their
spiritual message was for the whole humanity, they did not confine their poetic
language to a particular religion. Later, the word ‘sahab’ for God was also
used by Kabir under evident influence of Baba Farid’s poetic style. As Baba
Farid also uses the word Khuda or Rabb in many other dohas, so Kabir too uses
the word Ram to mean the supreme God not the Hindu deity Ram.
The
actual founder of Nath Panth was Machhendra Nath (Matsyendra Nath). He was a
fisherman by birth. So his poetry revolved round river, fish, net, crossing the
river, storm, bait, swan, heron etc. In the course of time, these words and
phrases were adopted by the successive Nath Panth poets as similes and
metaphors. Later other Sufi and Bhaktivadi saints too adopted these similes,
metaphors and symbols in the mystic poetry as these words aptly expressed their
spiritual ideas and themes.
Lalan
Fakir, born in the far eastern part of India, now Bangladesh and having lived
for 118 years founded Baul sect that is based on Sufi and Bhakti traditions. He
wrote more than three thousand Baul poems. Going by his poetry, one is
surprised that he was well aware of the Bhakti poetry of Kabir and Bulhe Shah.
It is all the more surprising because Lalan Fakir’s mother language was Bangla
and he lived in the farthest eastern part of India while Bulhe Shah and Kabir
lived in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh respectively. Apart from that, Lalan’s
language was totally different from the language of either Bulhe Shah or Kabir.
This may perplex researchers as to how Lalan could have had access to the
poetry or poetic ideas or themes of Maithili or Punjabi or even Persian poetry
of Amir Khusrau. Lalan uses the ulat bansi, the river riding the boat which is
a common ulat bansi in Kabir’s or Nath Panthi poetry. Lalan also mentions the
human body as a building with eight chambers and nine doors. This analogy has
been used by his predecessor Kabir in his dohas and Shabad.
Yet
another characteristic of mystic poetry is that the poet considers himself the
wife and God his husband. The wife longs to meet the husband who is elusive and
the wife burns in the fire of love. This theme is common in the poetry of Baba
Farid, Amir Khusrau and later Kabir. Khusrau’s doha says:
Khusrau
raat suhag ki jagi pi ke sang
Man
mero tan piu ko dou bhaye ek rang
Lalan
also uses this Vaishnav idea where the poet’s heart is Radha and God is Krisna,
moner manush. In Baul ideology, Krisna or supreme God is the moner manush (Man
of the heart) who resides in man’s heart. The poet longs for a reunion of the
elusive God. In Kabir’s poetry too, this Radha-Krisna longing finds expression.
Thus,
it is perplexing and at the same time very surprising that all the Sufi and
Bhakti poets of India right from Gorakhnath, to Baba Farid, to Amir Khusrau to
Kabir to Lalan Fakir including the lesser known Sufis and Bhakti poets were
united by a common thread of spirituality though their languages were
different. But their ideas and teachings broke the barriers of language and
tied them together. That they were illiterate with no formal education of their
time proves that they were talameezur Rahman (Students of God). They had divine
knowledge which made them philosophers and intellectuals in their own right.
Their teachings and poetry spread the message of love, harmony and brotherhood
among the common masses contributing to the formation of Indian nationality.
Aftab Ahmad is a columnist for New Age
Islam. He has been studying the Holy
Quran for some time