Baul Spirituality to the West

Lalon Shah’s songs and philosophy are not deeply influential in the mainstream intellectual or cultural landscape. In fact, his impact is real but very limited, primarily within niche academic circles, spiritual and musical communities in the West.

Lalon remarkably influenced Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who first translated some of Lalon’s poems into English in 1925. It is considered the first initiative to present Lalon’s poetic philosophy to the West. Below is one of the translations of the myriad miracles of Lalon’s songs:
“Nobody can tell where the bird unknown
Comes into the cage and goes out
I would feign put round its feet
The fetters of my mind
Could I but capture it.”
Since the 1960s we find a new trend focusing on Lalon’s true poetic genius. Litterateur Abu Rushd in 1964, Muhammad Mansooruddin in 1974, Nanigopal Debdas in 1997 (Kolkata) and Samir Dasgupta in 2000 translated some poems and songs of Lalon for the world community.
Lalon’s contemporary literary period was the era of the epic and of pastoral and partly religious poems and ballads. Lalon is a fabulous poet and his poetry has a mesmerizing quality. A great change took place when Lalon’s overflowing omnipotent poetry was rendered into German, Italian, French, Japanese and Hindi.

 Lalon Shah’s Influence on Beat Alice

Works of individual artists like Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg are seen to reflect Lalon Shah’s teaching of spirituality and breaking social dogmas of a suffocating and crippling society. 

In an interview with Jack Foley on October 4, 1996, Allen Ginsberg discusses how he came to read the translated works of Lalon Shah, which were sent to him by his friend, Sunil Ganguly, in Calcutta. He was so inspired by the spiritual freedom expressed in Lalon’s song that he published a poem named “After Lalon” in his Selected Poems 1947-1995 (Foley & Ginsberg, 158). The stanza’s like,

                     I

It’s true I got caught in

the world

When I was young Blake

tipped me off

Other teachers followed:

Better prepare for Death

Don’t get entangled with

possessions

That was when I was young,

I was warned

            … IV
and my chance and lost it,

many chances & didn’t

Take them seriously enuf.

Oh yes I was impressed, almost

went mad with fear

I’d lose the immortal chance,

One lost it.

Allen Ginsberg warns you

dont follow my path

to extinction.

These stanzas reflect Allen Ginsberg’s distaste and anger towards the social restraints surrounding sexuality and gender normativity. Like the songs of Lalon Shah, Allen Ginsberg critiques the fallacy of social norms that not only restrict people in marginalised roles but also discriminate and ostracise individuals who do not conform to the mainstream system of beliefs and practices. He first encountered the “god-intoxicated” Bauls while travelling in Kolkata, India, in 1962. After spending more than a year travelling and observing every nuance, he was entranced by the folk traditions and spiritual music of the Bauls of Bengal, whose songs are a legacy of Lalon Shah. Ginsberg’s writing also bears the legacy of Lalon Shah, as observed in his Indian Journals and later published poems. He had incorporated the mythical and spiritual elements of Hinduism and Buddhism into his writing as a means to reject and challenge American capitalism. It helped him explore the themes of mysticism and transcendence within his writings and poetry.  His interaction with Baul singers on his journeys to Bengal profoundly influenced how this city dweller viewed the human condition and spiritualism, which was intertwined with both love and suffering in Bengali culture. Ginsberg was inspired by the translated writings of Lalon Shah, which his friend, Sunil Ganguly, had sent him. He was enamoured by the ways Lalon Shah dealt with his relationship with God, which eventually eased into mysticism, as if it were an everyday, humane routine, alongside frustration, confusion, and chaos.

Lalon Shah’s Influence on the Baul of America:

Similarly, we could also see that Lalon Shah’s influence on Bob Dylan’s songs. The Bauls, renowned for their beliefs, struck a chord of familiarity with Bob Dylan’s perspective on life. Purna Das Baul, the son of the legendary Baul singer Nabani Das, is said to have introduced Bob Dylan to the sounds of rural Bengal during his US tour in the late 1960s. Purna Das’s friendship with Bob Dylan began in 1965 when Albert Grossman, Dylan’s manager, invited him to sing at a music festival in San Francisco. Purna Das is also featured on the cover of Bob Dylan’s 1967 album, John Wesley Harding, and thus became an entry into the modern music industry, immortalised through the album as the “Bob Dylan of the Baul of America.” He might have found spiritual peace while he was recuperating and recovering from the injury of an accident in 1966. Then Dylan began to learn to play baul instruments like the ektara and khamak, trying to understand the mysticism of Baul music that resonated the deepest parts of his soul. He attempted to recognise the Baul’s way of life as his own, and went on a spiritual journey, in search of something that was beyond tangible reach and defied both boundaries and definition. Bob Dylan’s music has always carried traces of mysticism, which transcended the Western ideology of the mainstream singer-songwriter tradition, resonating with something more spiritual and ancient, predating modern ideas, genres, and music structures. The songs that reflect Lalon Shah’s philosophy in Bob Dylan’s work include “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Mr. Tambourine Man,” and “The Times They Are a-Changin'” which show how integrated the ideology of freedom and life is. The search for God was within the human spectrum. 

Another scholar, Dr. Carol Goldberg Salomon, a former senior lecturer in Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Washington, dedicated over three decades to studying, translating, and annotating a collection of songs by Lalon Shah. Her work, compiled posthumously as City of Mirrors: Songs of Lālan Sā̃i, is one of the first scholarly translations of Lalon into English. Her work introduced Lalon to Western academic circles as a figure of mystic philosophy, comparable to Bhakti poets like Kabir who emphasized inter-cultural amity and humanism. Dr. Salomon corresponded with Baul practitioners and spent time with sādhak-śilpī (spiritual-artists) in both Bangladesh and West Bengal, India for her research (Zakaria). Due to her fluency in colloquial Bengali and understanding of Baul beliefs, she was able to explore their esoteric doctrines in depth (“Posthumous Publication of Carol Salomon’s City of Mirrors”). Her book presents Lalon’s philosophy and Baul spirituality to a Western academic audience.

Hugh B. Urban: Lalon and Other Sects

Lalon’s appeal to Western scholars also lies in the philosophical content of his verses. Hugh B. Urban, Professor of Religious Studies at Ohio State University, views Lalon as a central figure in the Baul tradition, which he relates to other heterodox groups like the Kartabhajas in his book Songs of Ecstasy: Tantric and Devotional Songs from Colonial Bengal.

Urban approaches Lalon as both a mystic poet and a socio-religious reformer. He discusses the concept of the “Man of the Heart” (Maner Manush), a symbolic figure representing the innermost self and divine reality (Urban, 2001, p. 18–19). According to Urban, this figure reflects mystical aspiration as well as socio-political significance. He notes parallels between Lalon’s ideas and those of the Kartabhaja tradition, particularly their shared emphasis on inclusivity, transcendence of caste and religious identity, and a devotional practice grounded in bodily experience. Urban also interprets Lalon’s references to Kartabhaja gatherings, such as those at Ghoshpara, as signs of shared spaces of spiritual experimentation (Urban, 2001, p. 19).

Additionally, Urban highlights the use of sensual and Tantric imagery in Baul and Kartabhaja songs—such as references to bodily fluids, sexuality, and kundalini energy—as part of a theology that diverges from mainstream religious practices (Urban, 2001, 123). He portrays Lalon as representative of a broader tradition that offers alternative perspectives on spirituality.

Drew and Capwells Lalon

John Drew, a poet and scholar, references Lalon Shah in his book Bangla File: Essays and Verses. In the section “Sourav’s Song,” he describes Lalon as “dervish, sweeper, weaver, king / A friend to guide us, that you are, / saint and singer, Lalon Shah” (Drew, 2024, as cited in Alam, 2024, para.7). On the final page of his book, Drew returns to the figure of Lalon, reflecting on his continued relevance to poetic and creative expression. Apart from this, Charles H. Capwell who was a faculty member at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign works extensively on ethnomusicology. In his article titled “The Esoteric Belief of the Bauls of Bengal”, he identifies Lalon as a central and highly recognized figure of Baul tradition.  While referring to U. Bhattacariya, the author claims that key symbols in Lalon’s poetry (e.g., “unknown bird” and “Man of the Heart”) are often popularised and interpreted superficially, but they actually stem from esoteric or possibly from “secret religious practices” (Capwell, 1974, p. 257).

Jeanne Openshaw

In her book Seeking Bauls of Bengal (2002), Jeanne Openshaw examines how the Bauls attained their current social and cultural status. She offers ethnographic insights by linking Baul songs to the lives of their composers and performers. In her background discussion, Openshaw provides analysis of the historical and cultural contexts that shaped Baul traditions. She also discusses Rabindranath Tagore’s interest in the Bauls and his association with the Brahmo Samaj and bhadralok class. She writes: “Tagore’s early interest in Bauls, shared by others of the Tagore family, and his willingness to identify with them, is perhaps partly attributable to his Brahmo background. Indeed, resemblances between Lalan and the Brahmos had been discerned, as early as 1872 CE, in Harinath Majumdar’s journal Griimabiirttii, albeit consistently denied by Lalan himself” (Jha, 1995, as cited in Openshaw, 2005, p. 36). In fact, Openshaw critically examines how Lalon’s philosophy was sometimes interpreted through elite perspectives, raising questions about the representation of Baul traditions.

Carola Erika Lorea’s approach towards Lalon

Carola Erika Lorea, an assistant professor of Rethinking Global Religion at the University of Tübingen takes a critical approach towards Lalon Shah in her book Folklore, Religion and the Songs of a Bengali Madman: A Journey between Performance and the Politics of Cultural Representation (2016) written on Bhaba Pagla. She offers a thorough and detailed examination of how various ideas over time have shaped the image of the Baul in popular culture. Lorea observed that, compared to other Baul songwriters such as Bhaba Pagla, Lalon Fakir receives significantly more attention. In fact, Lalon has been celebrated as a symbol of “humanism and tolerance” and the credit goes to Rabindranath Tagore (Lorea, 2016, p. 44, 76). Because of him, both academics and the general public have shown great interest in him. In other words, Lalon probably wouldn’t have become so well-known outside his local area if Tagore hadn’t promoted his songs. She also adds the popularity of Lalon Fakir and the many books written about his songs show that the common idea of what a “Baul” is has largely been shaped by middle-class Bengali intellectuals (Lorea, 2016, p. 76). These intellectuals helped build the image of Bauls through printed books and writings.

Lalon and World Music

Lalon’s songs have reached international audiences, inspiring musicians globally and contributing to world music. In 2005, UNESCO declared Lalon’s works part of the “Oral Intangible Heritage of Mankind.” Western musicians have collaborated with Baul performers, contributing to the global dissemination of Lalon’s songs. Paban Das Baul, an Indian singer and musician, is one of the most recognized international exponents of Baul music. His debut solo studio album Inner Knowledge was released in the United Kingdom on November 4, 1997, by Real World Records and produced by Michael Brook. This album combined traditional Baul melodies with contemporary instrumentation. In his 2001 album Real Sugar, made with British guitarist Sam Mills, Paban included Baul-inspired lyrics reflecting Lalon’s philosophical ideas (Deha Tatta) and merged them with Western musical styles (Wiser, 2022). Other collaborations include Raju Das Baul and Farida Yesmin working with Scottish musician Simon Thacker. Their performances of songs such as “Dil Doriyar Majhe,” “Dhonyo Dhonyo Boli Tare,” and “Helay Helay” illustrate Lalon’s continued relevance in global experimental music. Thacker, during his 2018 visit to India, was introduced to Baul music through Raju Das Baul and developed an interest in Lalon Fakir (Sadhu, 2019).

Moreover, Bangladeshi musician Rob Fakir has also participated in international folk festivals, including WOMAD in the UK and Songlines Encounter, as well as events such as the Dhaka International Folk Festival and International Sufi Festival in Dhaka. Regarding Lalon’s songs, he states: “I think the most important aspect of Lalon’s songs is the verses, which the Baul singers call kalam. Tune is secondary when it comes to renditions of Lalon’s songs. To me, it is not important in which style or in which way people sing Lalon’s songs as long as the lyrics or messages are intact” (Fakir, as cited in Alom, 2016, para.3). Through such collaborations and performances, both Lalon’s music and his philosophical legacy are receiving recognition in the Western canon.