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As I mentioned before, phallus worship was the first step to the oldest form of religious thinking. The people of Ráŕh, who had heartily embraced Shaeva Dharma, started worshipping Shiva without crafting Shiva idols. They did, however, build Shiva temples. Though afterwards Jainism spread everywhere in Ráŕh, Shiva remained unaffected. His influence did not decrease at all. It was Digambara Jainism that Ráŕh was under the influence of. All the idols of the Tiirthauṋkaras that have been found so far in Ráŕh are naked. Under the influence of Digambar Jainism, Shiva became naked as well. But what is found in Shiva’s dhyána mantra(1) is:
Dhyáyennityaḿ Maheshaḿ rajatagirinibhaḿ cárucandrávataḿsam;
Ratnakalpojjvaláḿgaḿ parashu-mrga-barábhiitihastaḿ prasannam.
Padmásiinaḿ samantáḿ stutamamaragańae vyághrakrttiḿ vasánam;
Vishvádyaḿ vishvabiijaḿ nikhilabhayaharaḿ paiṋcavaktraḿ trinetram.
[One should constantly meditate on Maheshvara, who is like a silver mountain, whose ornament is the lovely moon –
Whose limbs are brightened with the splendour of jewels, with axe in hand, holding animals, bestowing boons, ever-blissful –
Seated in lotus posture, wearing a tiger-skin, worshipped by all the gods –
The seed, the cause of this vast world, who removes the boundless fears of the entire universe – the One with five faces and three eyes.]
In other words, Shiva was clad in tiger-skin. But the people of Ráŕh said about Shiva: Ádidev digambar bholánáth káshiishvar [“O original god, unclothed, ever-merciful, the Lord of Káshii (Varanasi)”]. So in Ráŕh Shiva was depicted as Nyáḿt́eshvara [Naked God]. A poet of Ráŕh has composed a song in this respect:
Buŕi tui gánjár yogáŕ kar,
Tor jámá-i elo digambar,
Śánŕat́á karche hoggá hoggá –
Dekhe sabár láge d́ar
Buŕi tor jámá-i ela digambar.
[Procure hemp, O old woman,(2)
Your son-in-law(3) unclothed has come,
The ox is bellowing,(4)
All scared are trembling,
Thus unclothed your son-in-law has come.]
It was all as a result of the nudistic Jain influence.
It has been said before that the idols of the Tiirthauṋkaras found in Ráŕh were all naked. Mahavir himself was nirgrantha [without clothes], or digambara. But the populace never did accept nudism. So the Jain gods imagined by them are all clothed and adorned with ornaments. In short, in the depths of their minds the people of Ráŕh were all followers of Shaeva Dharma. It was like an enamelled ornament; the gold underneath was Shaeva Dharma and the enamel was Digambara Jaena Dharma.
It was under the influence mainly of Jainism and secondarily of Buddhism that the festivals of Caŕaka and Shiva Gájan made their appearances in Ráŕh. Where the Buddhist influence is greater, Caŕaka and Gájan are observed on Vaeshákhii Púrńimá [the full-moon day in the Bengali month of Vaeshákh, i.e., Buddha’s birthday]. Where the influence of Shaeva Dharma is greater, they are observed on Caetra Saḿkránti [last day of the last month of the Bengali year]. Where the influence of Jainism is greater, they are celebrated on the Jain festival day. The word Bolán is widespread in Ráŕh. It is a special festival. Bolán has come from the [verb] balá [“speak”].
The devotees used to say aloud: Shiva balo [“Say ‘Shiva’”]. This balo turned into bolán in the same way as Caŕaka came from cakra and Gájan came from garjan [Caŕaka and Gájan were two other festivals related to Shiva.] The devotees of Shiva shook the air all around them, crying, Shiva he [“Hey Shiva!”]. This Bolán ritual is observed especially in those areas where Burdwan, Birbhum and Murshidabad Districts all meet. At one time all these areas – not only these areas, but the entire Ajay and Hingula river basins – were regarded as deep-dyed Shiva areas.
The enamel that covered the religious life of the people of Ráŕh disappeared under the influence of Gaoŕiiya Vaeśńava Dharma, while the innate Shaeva Dharma continued to remain like the subterranean flow of the Phalgu River. No village of Ráŕh is without a Shiva temple. A village without a Shiva temple is regarded as unholy. The people of Ráŕh accept Vaeśńava Dharma and act in accordance with Vaeśńava Dharma, yet intrinsically they are all Shaivites.
The Shákta(5) influence on Ráŕh is negligible. A hundred years ago, also, Durgá Pujá did not have much influence on Ráŕh. Durgá Pujá is a sensationalistic festival. It has little meaning for the common people. They simply don new clothes and hop the Pújá pandels.
The common people of Ráŕh do not follow the marriage and other systems dictated by the Brahmans. They are observed according to the simple Shaeva system. Besides, the sáuṋá [the uṋ here is pronounced “ng”], the wedding of a man who has somehow (through death or divorce) lost his wife, or a woman who has somehow lost her husband, is solemnized everywhere in Ráŕh without the participation of Brahmans.
It is Shiva who is the original god. He is called Buŕá Bábá(6) by the villagers. All the deities of Ráŕh are somehow or other related to Shiva. For example, Manasá is said to be Shiva’s daughter. Likewise, one goddess may be Shiva’s shakti (wife), others His daughters or His sisters. The priests of those deities of Ráŕh which have been denied the status of Paoráńika gods all belong to one or another original Bengalee community.
Footnotes
(1) A Sanskrit verse listing the attributes of a deity, to be used for visualizing that deity in meditation. –Trans.
(2) The mother of Shiva’s wife, Párvatii. –Trans.
(3) The son-in-law is Shiva himself. –Trans.
(4) The ox was the mount of Shiva. –Trans.
(5) Sháktácára, the Shakti Cult, a doctrine based on the might of the Supreme Operative Principle, was characterized by the judicious application of power. –Trans.
(6) “… vyúd́ha, that is, one who has married in a special way.… Shiva was the first man to marry in earnest so the people of that time called him vyúd́ha out of respect. This vyúd́ha Shiva in later times, and in modern Bengali, became buŕo Shiva. This word buŕo has not come from the word vrddha [old] – it has come from the word vyúd́ha. (Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Shabda Cayaniká Part 2, section on “Úd́ha”) –Trans.