Nine Lives

by William Dalrymple

  “We used to be ordinary householders,” said Lalita. “Only after I had finished rearing my four sons did we become Bauls together—some twenty-five or thirty years back.”

  “Even before then we used to sing,” said Subhol, “but after we became Bauls we were welcomed everywhere, with love and warmth and respect. It has made our life complete.”

  “For eighteen years we walked the roads of this country,” said Lalita, “until we were too old to walk any more. This temple was my guru’s ashram. Now we cannot wander, we live here following the Baul way, protecting our bodies and keeping our hearts alive.”

  “But I thought Bauls didn’t believe in temples?”

  “This temple is just to attract people,” explained Subhol.

  “For us Bauls it is just a building,” said Kanai. “It has nothing to do with God.”

  “But people come here and tell us about their problems,” said Subhol, “and then we can give them solutions.”

  “God resides in everything,” said Lalita, looking out over the river.

  “You have to learn to recognise God everywhere,” said Kanai. “We have a song about this. You would like to hear it?”

  “Very much,” I said.

  The old people went inside a room to one side of the shrine and returned a few minutes later, with Lalita carrying a harmonium and Subhol an ektara. Lalita squatted in front of the harmonium and Subhol plucked a few notes on the ektara, then began to sing, while Kanai provided a high, reedy descant.

  My soul cries out,

  Caught in the snare of beauty,

  Of the formless one.

  As I cry by myself,

  Night and day,

  Beauty amassed before my eyes,

  Surpasses moons and suns.

  If I look at the clouds in the sky,

  I see his beauty afloat.

  And I see him walk on the stars,

  Blazing within my heart.

  Before long, despite his age and fragility, Subhol was rocking backwards and forwards, hopping from one leg to another, transported by the music he was singing. Kanai and Lalita sat cross-legged, swaying to the music, lost in its beauty. When he had finished, the three settled together on the ledge of the temple, looking out in silence over the river. It was getting late now, and the sun was setting over the Ajoy—the time Bengalis call godhuli bela, cow dust time.

  “When I hear this music,” said Lalita after a few minutes, breaking the silence, “I don’t care if I die tomorrow. It makes everything in life seem sweet.”

  “It’s true,” said Subhol. “Thanks to this music, we live out our old age in great peace.”

  “It makes us so happy,” said Kanai, “that we don’t remember what sadness is.”

  GLOSSARY

  Aarti Ceremonial waving of a lamp in front of an effigy of a god as an offering of light during a puja.

  Agarbatti Incense sticks.

  Ahimsa Non-violence, from the Sanskrit for “do no harm.”

  Akhara A community or monastery of holy men (lit. “wrestling arena”).

  Alkhalla The coloured patchwork robe worn by the Bauls of Bengal.

  Amavashya A night with no moon.

  Aparigraha A Jain term meaning to limit possessions to what is necessary or important. A Jain monk does not have any possessions except a brush, a water pot and a robe.

  Appam A hopper or South Indian rice pancake.

  Artha The creation of wealth.

  Arthav Explanatory declamatory recitation sung in front of a phad as part of the epic performance.

  Ashram A place of religious retreat; hermitage.

  Asthabhole Blood sacrifice.

  Atta Flour.

  Avatar An incarnation.

  Azazeel Satan.

  Ba Tibetan yurt. A round tent made of skins.

  Babaji A respectful name for a sadhu.

  Bairagi A Vaishnavite ascetic.

  Bakri A goat.

  Bansuri Wooden flute.

  Barat A procession bringing the groom to a wedding.

  Barelvi Sunni Muslims in South Asia who reject the more puritanical reformed Islam of the Wahhabis, Salafis and Deobandis and who embrace the popular Islam of the Sufi cult of saints. The name derives from Maulana Raza Khan of Bareilly, who espoused a liberal form of Sufi Islam.

  Baul A wandering Bengali minstrel, ascetic and holy man.

  Beedi A thin hand-rolled Indian cigarette wrapped in a leaf.

  Bel Wood apple tree (in Bengali).

  Bhajan A Hindu devotional song.

  Bhakti Devotion, or the practice of focussing worship upon a much loved deity.

  Bhang Marijuana.

  Bhomiyas Rajasthani warrior martyr-heroes who die attempting to rescue stolen cattle and are sometimes later deified.

  Bhopa A shaman, bard and singer of epics.

  Bi-shar Outside Sharia law.

  Cenda A large goat hide drum used in Keralan for ritual performances.

  Chakra A sacred wheel or disc.

  Charpoy A rope-strung bed on which the population of rural India spend much of their lives (lit. “four feet”).

  Charvaka A system of Indian philosophy within Hinduism which rejected a transcendental deity and assumed various forms of philosophical scepticism and religious indifference while embracing the search for wealth and pleasure in this life.

  Chaturmasa The four-month monsoon break, when Buddhist, Hindu and Jain ascetics cease their wanderings and gather in one place.

  Chela A disciple or pupil.

  Chelo Let’s go!

  Chowkidar A guard or gatekeeper.

  Chuba An ankle-length Tibetan coat.

  Chu-zhi Gang-drung Lit. “Four Rivers, Six Ranges”—The Tibetan Resistance.

  Crore Ten million (or 100 lakh).

  Dacoit An outlaw; a member of a robber gang.

  Dakini A Tantric deity, or attendant on a deity, embodying energy. Lit. (from the Sanskrit) “sky dancer.”

  Dal A lentil dish; eaten with rice or chapatis, it is an Indian staple.

  Dalits Lit. “the oppressed.” Below the base of the caste pyramid, formerly known as “untouchables.”

  Damaru Small, double-sided drum shaped like an hour glass and associated with Shiva as Nataraja. It symbolises the primaeval sound of the manifesting universe.

  Danda A club.

  Dargah A Sufi shrine, usually built over the grave of a saint.

  Darshan A sighting, a glimpse, or view, especially of an idol of a deity in a temple, or of a holy or eminent personage.

  Dastan An oral epic, story or history in North India and Central Asia, told by dastan-go performers.

  Deccan The plateau covering most of central and southern India, framed on the north by the Vindhyas, and bounded on either side by the Eastern and Western Ghats.

  Deobandis Sunni Muslims influenced by the reformed and somewhat puritanical form of Islam propagated by the madrasa at Deoband, north of Delhi. In Pakistan, many Deobandis have embraced an extreme form of Deobandism influenced by Saudi Wahhabi Islam.

  Devadasi Lit. “Slave girls of the Gods” temple dancers, prostitutes and courtesans who were given to the great Hindu temples, usually in infancy, by their parents.

  Devi The great goddess. Synonymous with Shakti, the female aspect of the divine.

  Dhammal An ecstatic Sufi dance to the sound of drums.

  Dhanda Lit. “work,” but as used by the devadasis, prostitution or sex work.

  Dharma Duty, religion, virtue.

  Dharamsala Pilgrim‘s rest house.

  Dholak A long tubular wooden north Indian drum.

  Dhoti The traditional loin-wrap of Hindu males.

  Digambara The “Sky-Clad” or naked Jains—one of the two great sects of the Jain faith.

  Diksha A ritual of initiation.

  Doms Untouchable funeral attendants who man the pyres in cremation grounds.

  Dosham Marital misfortune.

  Dotara A small, two-stringed instrument resembling a guitar or lute an
d popular among the Bauls.

  Dravidian A speaker of the South Indian Dravidian family of languages, often contrasted with the North Indian Indo-Aryan language group.

  Dremong Brown Tibetan mountain bears.

  Dri Female yak.

  Dubki Small rustic tambourine-like drum used by the Bauls of Bengal.

  Dugi Small Bengali hand drum.

  Durree A rug or carpet.

  Ektara A single-stringed instrument, popular among the Bauls.

  Fakir Lit. “poor.” Sufi holy man, dervish or wandering Muslim ascetic.

  Fana Total immersion in the absolute.

  Firangi A foreigner.

  Gagra-choli A long skirt and blouse popular in northern India, especially rural Rajasthan.

  Gali Abuse.

  Gandharva A spirit being or lower male deity, often a musician. The male equivalent of the apsaras.

  Ganja Marijuana.

  Gharwalli Landlady.

  Ghat Steps leading to a bathing place or river.

  Ghee Clarified butter.

  Gindi A rustic form of hockey played with sticks and balls.

  Gompa A Buddhist monastery.

  Gopura A Ceremonial South Indian temple gateway, usually pyramidal in shape.

  Gowkari “To graze”: the phrase used by Jains for the search for food by Jain monks and nuns.

  Gujar North Indian cattle-herding caste, once largely nomadic.

  Gulab jamun A sweet, syrupy rosewater-scented pudding.

  Gundas Thugs.

  Gungroo Dancer’s ankle-bells.

  Haveli A courtyard house or traditional mansion.

  Henna A tropical shrub whose leaves are used as a red dye. Much in demand in the North-West Frontier for dyeing the beards of Pathan tribesmen.

  Homa A sacrificial fire or the practice of making offerings in a consecrated fire.

  Hunkara The audience response during a performance of an epic.

  ’Ishq Love.

  Jadoo Magic.

  Jaggery Unrefined sugar.

  Jalebis Sweets made of fried sugar-syrup.

  Jamun A fruit tree.

  Jinas “The liberators.” Also known as Tirthankaras, or Ford-Makers, Jains believe these heroic ascetics have shown the way to Nirvana, making a spiritual ford through the rivers of suffering, and across the oceans of existence and rebirth, to create a crossing place between samsara—the illusory physical world—and liberation.

  Jivan Life, spirit.

  Jyot A lamp.

  Kalimah The Islamic Credo (lit. “the phrase”). Affirmation of the Kalimah is the first of the five pillars of Islam. Belief in the meaning of the Kalimah is the primary distinguising feature of a Muslim. The phrase means in English “There is no God but Allah, Muhammad is His Messenger.”

  Kama Sexual desire.

  Kar Sevak An RSS volunteer/activist.

  Kathakali A Keralan dance drama.

  Kavu A small, usually rural Hindu shrine in Kerala.

  Khadi A home-spun cotton cloth, once associated with followers of Mahatma Gandhi, now the garb of politicians.

  Khejri A desert tree, revered by the bishnoi.

  Khepi A female Baul, the partner of a male Baul.

  Khomok The tension drum of the Bauls of Bengal. It has a skin head pierced by a string, which passes through the wooden drum-shaped body to attach to a small brass handle. The khomok is played by placing the drum body under the arm and plucking the string while pulling on the brass handle, which applies tension to the string and drum head. Variations of tension on the string produce a twanging sound.

  Kikkar A desert tree whose fruit is used in Rajasthan as goat food.

  Kirtan Lit. “singing the praises of God,” usually in a devotional gathering.

  Kucha Informal, rough.

  Kufr Infidelity, disbelief.

  Kumari Sanskrit for “virgin.” Today the word often refers to the tradition of worshipping pre-pubescent girls as manifestations of the divine female energy or Devi in South Asian countries.

  Kumkum A red powder (vermilion) emblematic of the sexual power of goddesses, given to women at temples and during festivals.

  Kurta-dhoti A long shirt and cotton loin-cloth waist-wrap.

  Ladoo A milky sweet.

  Lathi A bamboo staff, normally used by police and chowkidars.

  Lingam The phallic symbol associated with Lord Shiva in his role as Divine Creator.

  Lota A small copper water pot used for ablutions.

  Lungar A free kitchen or distribution of food alms at a temple or during the religious festival.

  Lungi A sarong-style loin-wrap; simplification of the dhoti.

  Mahasiddhas Immortal perfected beings in Nath theology.

  Mahasukha The great bliss of the void.

  Mahayagna Great sacrifice.

  Mahayana Lit. “Great Vehicle.” One of the two principal branches of Buddhism.

  Malang A wandering fakir, dervish or qalander.

  Mandala A circle or circular diagram; symbolic depiction of, and instruction about, the way to Enlightenment.

  Mataji A white-clad Digambara nun (lit. “respected mother”).

  Math A monastery.

  Maulana A title for a respected religious leader—lit. “Our Lord.”

  Maya Illusion.

  Mazar Lit. (in Arabic) “tomb or mausoleum,” but usually in practice the tomb of a saint, and hence a Sufi shrine.

  Mehndi The application of henna patterns on the hands, usually at an Indian wedding.

  Mela A gathering, meeting, festival or fair.

  Mihrab A prayer niche indicating the direction of Mecca.

  Minar A small minarette on a Muslim shrine or mosque.

  Moksha Enlightenment or spiritual liberation.

  Momos Steamed Tibetan snacks, usually containing lamb or chicken.

  Mudra Symbolic or ritual gestures in Hinduism, Buddhism and Indian dance.

  Muni A Jain monk or nun.

  Murid A disciple.

  Murti An image or statue.

  Muttu A devadasi’s necklace or red and white coral beads.

  Naan Bread cooked in a tandoor.

  Nadeswaram Giant oboe-like instrument used in Tamil temple rituals.

  Naga sadhus A sect of naked holy men.

  Namaaz Muslim prayers, traditionally offered five times a day.

  Namaskar Hindu words of greeting (lit. “I bow to thee”).

  Nath yogis A sect of ash-smeared Shaivite mystics who invented hatha yoga in the twelfth century, and who claimed that their exercises and breathing techniques gave them great supernatural powers.

  Navras The nine essences of classical Hindu aesthetics.

  Nirvana Enlightenment, state of spiritual revelation.

  Oran A protected sacred grove, dedicated to a deity in Rajasthan.

  Paan An Indian delicacy and digestive. It consists of a folded leaf containing (among other ingredients) betel nut, a mild stimulant.

  Padmasana The lotus position.

  Paramatma The Supreme soul, or absolute atman in Hindu Vedantic philosophy.

  Parathas Fried chapattis.

  Parikrama A pilgrimage circuit.

  Pashto The language of the Pashtun people of the North-West Frontier of Pakistan and southern Afghanistan.

  Pedha Milky sweetmeats.

  Phad A long narrative textile-painting, which serves both as an illustration of the highlights of The Epic of Pabuji and a portable temple of Pabuji the god.

  Pir A Muslim holy man or Sufi saint.

  Prasad The portion of consecrated offering—usually food or small white sweets—returned to the worshipper at a Hindu temple.

  Puja A religious devotions (“lit. adoration”).

  Pukka Good, proper, correct.

  Pukur A village pond in Bengal.

  Pundit Brahmin (lit. “a learned man”).

  Purohit A Brahmin priest.

  Qalander A Sufi mendicant or holy fool.

  Qawwali Rousing poems and hymns sung at Sufi shrines.
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  Rakhi A thread tied around the wrist, usually by brothers and sisters as a symbol of sisterly or fraternal love and protection, especially on the festival of raksha bandhan.

  Rangoli Decoration using coloured sand, paint or salt, usually on floors outside houses.

  Rani Queen.

  Rasa Lit. juice, flavour or essence: an essential concept in Hindu aesthetics, denoting an essential mental state, and the dominant emotional theme of a work of art. Hence navras: the nine essences.

  Rasgulla A sweet.

  Rath A chariot, esp. in Hindu temple festivals.

  Ravanhatta A Rajasthani zither or spike fiddle with eighteen strings and no frets.

  Rinpoche An honorific used for senior monks in Tibetan Buddhism. It means literally “precious one.”

  Rishi A poet-sage and scribe-ascetic through whom the ancient Hindu scriptures and Vedic hymns flowed.

  Roti Bread.

  Rudraksh A large evergreen broad-leaved tree whose hard, dried seed is traditionally used for prayer beads or rosaries in Hinduism, often on strings of 108 beads.

  Sadhana A spiritual, ritual or Tantric practice or discipline.

  Sadhu A Hindu holy man.

  Sahajiya A spontaneous or natural form of Indian spirituality. Vaishnava-Sahajiya was a Tantric Hindu cult that became popular in seventeenth-century Bengal. The Vaishnava-Sahajiya sought religious experience through the five senses, which included sexual love.

  Sajjada nasheens Hereditary guardians of Sufi shrines, usually descended from the founding saint.

  Salwar-kameez A long tunic and matching loose trousers favoured mainly by girls in North India and by both sexes in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

  Sallekhana The final renunciation for a Jain: the gradual, voluntary, intentional and ritualised giving up of all food and sustenance, until the monk or nun finally dies of starvation. Jains do not regard sallekhana as suicide so much as the ultimate form of detachment. Around 240 Jains embrace sallekhana each year.

  Samadhi Detachment from the body, through fasting or concentrated prayer. For Jains the word has a more specific meaning of gathering to pray around a monk or nun who is undergoing sallekhana—the deliberate and permanent separation of the soul from the body. The word is also used for a mausoleum or place of cremation.

  Samsara The illusory physical world and its cycle of rebirths. The word is derived from the Sanskrit for “to flow together,” to go or pass through states, to wander.

  Sangha A community or association, usually used today in the context of a Buddhist or Jain monastic community.