Lalon Fokir: Kabir of Bengal

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam

30 May 2024

People ask, what is Lalon’s caste?

Lalon says, my eyes fail to detect

The signs of caste. Don’t you see that

Some wear garlands, some rosaries

Around the neck? But does it make any

Difference brother? O, tell me,

What mark does one carry when

One is born, or when one dies?

A Muslim is marked by the sign

Of circumcision; but how should

You mark a woman? If a Brahmin male

Is known by the thread he wears,

How is a woman known? People of the world,

O brother, talk of marks and signs,

But Lalon says: I have only dissolved

The raft of signs, the marks of caste

In the deluge of the One!

Lalon Fokir,  Translated by Afzar Hussain, 'Reading About The World'

Everyone wonders, "What religion does Lalon belong to in this world?"

Lalon says, "What does religion look like?

I've never seen the true colour of religion."

Some wear beads as necklace (Hindu rosaries),

others count beads as Tasbih (Muslim rosaries),

and so people say

They belong to a different religion.

But do you bear the sign of your religion

when you come (to this world) or when you leave (this world)?

— Lalon Fokir (As Pronounced In Bengali)

 

Photo: eastindiastory.com

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Lalon's lofty philosophy of humanity rejects all distinctions of caste, class, and creed and takes stand against theological conflicts and racism. It denies all worldly affairs in search of the soul and embodies the socially transformative role of sub-continental Bhakti and Mysticism.

Though Lalon was mentored by Siraj Sain, a Baul saint, he (Lalon) later rejected even Bauls (refer to Lalon's Creed by Prabhat Kumar Mukherjee, published by The Presidency Press, 1963). Acharya Kshitimohan Sen, grandfather of the Nobel laureate Dr Amartya Sen, wrote in Anand Bazar Patrika in 1956, "Lalon Ek Byakti, Ek Swantra Abhimot Aar Bidrohi Chhilen. Kono Jaati, Dharmo, Baad, Bibaad, Boi, Somprodaay Ke Uni Maanen Ni. Lalon Ke Sufi O Bola Jaaye Na Keno Na Sufider O Ekta Bishisht Mot Aachhe. Oder Modhhe O Dhormeeyo Gondami Aacchhe. Baul Der O Ekta Borgo Aar Dharon Tori Hoye Giyechhilo. Lalon Kono Dhorener Biswas Ke Kono Dini Maanen Nee. Uni Prokrit Manobotabadi Chhilen " (Lalon was an individual; he was an independent idea in himself.

He was a rebel. He never believed in caste, creed, class, ism, doctrine, holy books. Lalon cannot be classified as a Sufi as Sufis also had a belief system and they too were hardcore at times. Nor can he be called a Baul as Bauls also had a clan and a pattern.

Lalon never encouraged any kind of sectarian belief or idea. He was a perfect humanist." Kshitimohan Sen further said in the same article that Lalon believed that Joto Gyaan, Toto Gondami (More the knowledge, more the zealotry). This is very important.

Lalon, like Kabir, was almost unlettered. Yet his thoughts and philosophy were so exalted. Education hardens you. It hardens your belief system. Fanatics aren't always uneducated people. 'Educated' people are also full to the brim with zealotry. Humanity doesn't need theists, apatheist, believers, non-believers and atheists.

World needs simple and guileless humanists like Lalon and Kabir who don't waste their 'erudition' in explaining the ever-ambiguous verses of Quran, equivocal shlokas of Gita, lacklustre chapters of Bible and hoary-old tenets of Avesta. Humans like Lalon cannot be pigeonholed into any category and cage. They're free birds (Parinda-e-Ahraar) flying high in the firmament of self-realization and enlightenment. Shouldn't we emulate such a sublime human who refused to follow what his fellow humans followed so blindly and sheepishly?

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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.

 

URL:     https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/lalon-fokir-kabir-bengal/d/132414

 

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