Sahajiya Vaishnav and Colonial Morality: A Study on Minor Religion and Sexual Practices/ সহজিয়া বৈষ্ণব এবং ঔপনিবেশিক নৈতিকতা : গৌণধর্ম এবং যৌনতার একটি অধ্যয়ন

Abstract

Vaishnavism gained new momentum in Bengal during Chaitanyadeva's period (1486 - 1534 A.D). Vaishnava ideology descends from the place of devotion of the elite and enters the cottages of the poor and untouchables. Vaishnavism, from the grip of Brahmanism, established a new society among the poor people of Bengal under the Sultanate's rule through only devotion and namsankirtan. Untouchables continued to enter Vaishnavism freely. However, after the death of Chaitanya, the dominance of Brahmins in this religion started to increase again. Henceforth, to initiate the Vaishnava religion, obedience to a Brahmin Guru or Gonsai became necessary. Untouchables were again subjected to humiliation. People from the lower strata of society adopted the Vaishnava religion as their own beliefs and practices outside of the dominance of the Brahmins which led to create many popular beliefs. As many Lokayat or popular sects preached bhakti rasa distinct from the original Vaishnava religion, the upper-caste Vaishnava sect took a skewed view towards them. The Sahajiya Vaishnava was one of the sects which was most attacked. The elite Gaudiya Vaishnav continued to preach that the religious practices of the Sahajiyas were similar to those of the tantric or sexo-cult sect. During the colonial period, with the spread of the printing presses, Western education, and the ideas of the capitalist society, the attitude toward Sahajiya Vaishnav began to be discussed through the new lens of colonial morality in Bengal. Sahajiya Vaishnavas like the Kartabhajas and the Bauls as well as other minor sects, also came under harsh criticism in society for their illicit sexual rituals. The beliefs and practices of the Sahajiyas in contemporary news outlets became obscene and promiscuous, caught in the net of rigorous arguments. Therefore, this essay tried to discuss why and how sexuality entered into the religious beliefs of these communities and how they became a barbaric and uncivilized culture, during colonial Bengal with a special reference of Sahajiya Vaishnav.