'To whom I 've not seen
How could I worship her'
The singer was in trance..his melodious songs were heard off the Akhra.. He was surrounded by his fellows. I sat for a while and listened to him. I asked one of the connoisseurs ' who is the Baul?'
- no he is not the so called Baul. He is Mahasay..
-Mahasay??- yea.. He is our mentor ..we worship Karta (lord).. We 're Kartabhaja sect--Mahasay kindles the path.. All Kartabhajas present here are called Barati.
I was very inquisitive to his words. I wanted more about Kartabhaja.. their customs etc. With a smile the Barati said " Apan Bhajan katha..na kohio jatha tatha"--" don't say your rituals here and there".
Kartabhaja community strictly follows the codes of Satyadharma. The founder of this religion is Aul Chand Fakir. His philosophy of religion practices has been flowing orally from one generation to next. Aul Chand rejected Vedas & Brahminical rituals. He denied the Gurubad. To him,Lord(Karta) is the ultimate goal of ritual practices. There is no need of any mediator to reach him. An individual can attain the state of meeting Karta in right way without any intermediary.
During 14th century there was social crisis. There were always conflicts between upper castes and low orders in Hindu society. Brahmical cult oppressed the lower castes. UN-touchibility , prohibition to temple by the lower strata and other forms of restriction to them became social rules.This caste division and lordship by elites to weaker groups gradually transmitted to the the Muslim society. Likewise, Baisams in Bengal also dipped into the same water. Vasnabs originating from higher castes showed supremacy over others belonging to lower strata. Mahaprabhu wanted to bring all human beings under a classless umbrella but followers in due course began to disobey the egalitarian concepts propagated by Mahaprabhu.
Oppressed lower strata of both Hindus& Muslims wanted religion and social freedom. Under this juncture Aul Chand appeared as a Savior. His simple philosophy attracted both Hindus & Muslims.His path may be called as Sahajia path.
However, the followers of Aul Chand are called Kartabhaja. They are distinguished from Brahminical society as they do not worship idols. Again they follow 10 commandants similar to Christianity. Friday is kept for special worship ,fasting etc. The date is as much as pious day of Muslims. Kartabhajas have no mantras in Sanskrit/Arbi. Their codes are narrated in Bengali songs-easily understood by common followers.
Dulal Chand the successor of the cult composed & codified those songs and published it as Bhaber Giti..This is the only religious scripture and religion book of Kartabhajas. The cult was named as Satya Dharma.
Aul Chand used to meet his disciples on the day of DolYatra for Satya Dharma discourse which gradually turned to Sati Mayer Mela.
In earlier Khusivisvasi,Sahebdhani, Balamai etc sects thronged to the mela..now I see Shaktas, Nagas,Aghori sampradya etc assemble here. The space is now enlarged, Hindu deities are seen in Akhras during the Dol festival and being worshiped.
Evolution and transformation of religion faith is a continuous process.
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