Songs of Ecstasy : Tantric and Devotional Songs From Colonial Bengal

## Abstract This book is a companion volume to the author's The Economics of Ecstasy: Tantra, Secrecy, and Power in Colonial Bengal, but while The Economics of Ecstasy engages the theoretical issues of secrecy and concealment associated with the Kartābhajās — a Bengali sect devoted to Tantra, an Indian religious movement notorious for its alleged use of shocking sexual language and rituals, this book presents the first English translation of the sect's body of highly esoteric, mystical poetry and songs. The period from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth centuries, during which these lyrics were written, was an era of change, experimentation, and transition from the older medieval styles to the new literary forms of “modern” Bengal. The original songs presented are an important part of this transitional period, reflecting the search for new literary forms and experimentation in new poetic styles. Long disparaged as an inferior, low‐class, or corrupt form of Bengali literature, these songs are concerned with contemporary social life in colonial Calcutta and with the real lives of common lower‐class men and women. With their vision of a universal “religion of humanity,” open to men and women of all classes, the Kartābhajā songs offer an alternative model of community, which made a special appeal to the working classes of colonial Calcutta. They delight in ridiculing and satirizing the foppish British rulers and pretentious upper classes, although at the same time, however, the satirical urban imagery is mingled with older Tantric connotations and employed in ingenious new ways to express profoundly esoteric and mystical religious ideas. CONTENTS......Page 8 A NOTE (OR APOLOGY) ON TRANSLITERATION......Page 10 ABBREVIATIONS......Page 12 Translator's note: “The Secret Mastery of Difference”......Page 16 I: The Spirituality of the Subaltern: The Historical Context and Literary Significance of the Songs of Ecstasy......Page 19 II: From the Songs of Ecstasy: Select Translations from the Bhāver Gīta......Page 51 III: The Language of the Mint: Manulāl Misra's Collection of Mint Sayings......Page 124 IV: Songs from the Secret Marketplace: Other Kartābhajā Songs from Various Sources......Page 133 V: Kartābhajā: A Satirical Poem by Dāsarathī Rāy......Page 154 NOTES......Page 166 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 190 B......Page 196 H......Page 197 M......Page 198 S......Page 199 Z......Page 200 This Work Offers An English Translation Of A Body Of Highly Esoteric, Mystical Poetry And Songs Associated With The Khartabhajas, A Bengali Sect Devoted To Tantrism. The Spirituality Of The Subaltern: The Historical Context And Literary Significance Of The Songs Of Ecstasy -- From The Songs Of Ecstasy: Select Translations From The Bhāver Gita -- The Language Of The Mint: Manulāl Miśra's Collection Of Mint Sayings -- Songs From The Secret Marketplace: Other Kartābhajā Songs From Various Sources -- Kartābhajā: A Satirical Poem By Dāśarathī Rāy. Hugh B. Urban. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 177-181) And Index. This book offers the first English translation of a body of highly esoteric, mystical poetry and songs associated with the Khartabhajas, a Bengali sect devoted to Tantrism. The period from the late 18th to the early 19th century, during which these lyrics were written, was an era of change, experimentation, and transition from the older medieval styles to the new literary forms of "modern" Bengal. The highly original songs presented here are an important part of this transitional period, reflecting the search for new literary forms and experimentation in new poetic styles. This title offers an English translation of a body of highly esoteric, mystical poetry and songs associated with the Khartabhajas - a Bengali sect devoted to Tantrism, an Indian religious movement that employs deliberately shocking sexual language and rituals. As the title Bhaver Gita implies, the songs translated in this volume are a genre of deeply mystical, esoteric songs (gita), composed in the Bengali language, and centered around the experience of religious ecstasy (bhava).