The myth of Saint Gazi and Manasa

8/11/2019 The myth of Saint Gazi and Manasa

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Gazir Gan songs to a legendary saint popularly known as Gazi Pir. Gazi songs were

particularly popular in the districts of FARIDPUR,!A"#A$I,%#I&&AG!G and '($#)&.

&hey were perfor*ed for +oons receied or wished for, such as for a child, after a cure,for the fertility of the soil, for the well-+eing of cattle, for success in +usiness, etc. Gazi

songs would +e presented while unfurling a scroll depicting different eents in the life of

Gazi Pir. !n the scroll would also +e depicted the field of "ar+ala, the "aa+a, #indute*ples, etc. 'o*eti*es these paintings were also done on earthenware pots.

&he lead singer orgain,wearing a long ro+e and a tur+an, would twirl an A'A and *oe

a+out in the perfor*ance area and sing. #e would +e acco*panied +y dru**ers, flautists

and four or fie doharsor choral singers, who would sing the refrain.

Gazi songs were preceded +y a bandanaor hy*n, sung +y the *ain singer. #e would

sing/ I turn to the east in reerence to 0hanushar 1sun2 whose rise +rightens the world.

&hen I adore Gazi, the kind-hearted, who is saluted +y #indus and 3ussal*ans. &hen he

would narrate the story of Gazis +irth, his wars with the de*ons and the eil spirits, as

well as his rescue of a *erchant at sea.

Although Gazi Pir was a 3usli*, his followers included people fro* other religious

co**unities as well. 3any Gazi songs point out how people who did not respect hi*

were punished. At least one song narrates how Gazi Pir saed the peasantry fro* theoppression of a za*indar. Another song descri+es how a deotee won a court case. In

Gazi songs spiritual and *aterial interests are often intertwined. &he audience gie

*oney in charity in the na*e of Gazi Pir. &his genre of songs is al*ost e4tinct in0angladesh today. 5Ashraf 'iddi6ui7

Manasa the goddess of snakes, also known as the goddess of agriculture. 0asically a

folk goddess, 3anasa was later incorporated into the 8edic pantheon. According to thePURAAs, the her*it "ashyap, co**anded +y 0RA#3A, co*posed the snake *antrasand out of it was +orn 3anasa. 'he is the sister of the snake king 0asuki9 her hus+and is

:aratkaru and her son Astik. 'he is also known as :agatgauri, 'haii, 8aishnai,

ageshwari, 'iddhayogini etc. 'he is pictured as a fair-co*ple4ioned goddess, whowears a red dress. #er face is round, cal* and serene. 3ounted on a swan, 3anasa is

flanked +y snakes. 3anasa Pu;a is o+sered on the nagpanchami tithi1the fifth day of the

lunar *onth2 in Asadh.


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to worship 3anasa +y offering *ilk and +anana in a pot or at the foot of a tree calledsij

1euphorbia nerrifolia2. In so*e places, Asta*angala is sung for eight days after the pu;a.

3usical plays +ased on 3anasa are also held at other ti*es of the year.

3anasa has had a profound influence on the #indu co**unity. &here are *any legends

a+out her stressing that worshipping the snake goddess will keep people safe fro*snake+ites. %onersely, disrespect to her +rings catastrophe, usually in the for* of the

disrespectful person +eing killed +y a snake. &he story of 0ehula-$akhindar is one suchpopular legend, narrating how $akhindar was killed +ecause his father refused to

acknowledge 3anasas power. &he *ediealMANASAMANGAL epics, eulogising 3anasa

constitute an i*portant genre of 0AG$A$I&)RA&UR). Fa*ousManasamangalpoetsinclude8I:A(GUP&A and 0IPRADA'PIPI$AI. Decorated 3anasa pots, depicting the snake

goddess, are a colourful for* of folk art. 53onoran;an Ghosh7

Mangalkavya 1literally, poe*s of well-+eing2 a genre of 0angla epic poe*s written

appro4i*ately +etween the =>th-=?th centuries, depicting the greatness of popular,indigenous deities as well as the social scenario. &he poe*s are known as mangalkavya

+ecause it was +elieed that listening to these poe*s a+out the deities +rought +othspiritual and *aterial +enefits. &he poe*s used to +e rendered as *usical plays +ut with

*ore e*phasis on the story than on the *usic.

3angalkaya descri+e the greatness of a particular deity, usually one indigenous to

0engal or an indigenous deity fused with an Aryan god. &hey also depict the conflict

+etween the indigenous deities and the alien deities which ended with the ictory of theindigenous gods. &he word mangalalso *eans vijayor ictory, and indicates that thepoe*s were written to cele+rate the ictory of the local gods oer the Aryan gods. 'o*e

of these poe*s hae the word vijayas part of their na*es, such asManasavijay+y

0ipradas Pipilai.

3AA'A,%#ADI and D#AR3AA"UR are the *ain deities of *angalkaya, with3anasa and %handi +eing regarded as superior to others. &he three *ain strains of

*angalkaya-Manasamangal, Chandimangalandharmamangal-were woen round

these three deities. In course of ti*e, the god '#I8A also +eca*e a su+;ect of*angalkaya and the poe*s eulogising hi* or narrating stories a+out hi* are known as

Shivayanor Shivamangal.

A *angalkaya has four *ain parts. &he first part is the vandana,a salutation to arious

deities and enera+le figures, irrespectie of their religion or caste-a testa*ent to the non-co**unal outlook of the co*posers of *angalkaya and to their efforts to synthesize

arious religions. In the second part, the poet e4plains the reason for co*posing the epic.

In this part the poet introduces hi*self and e4plains how he got the inspiration to writethe poe*-usually in a drea* or +y way of a diine co**and. &he third part, the
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there deeloped a *i4ed religious culture drawing fro* +oth the #indu Puranas and

0uddhist &antricis*, and this was reflected in the *angalkaya.

It is generally assu*ed that *angalkaya were co*posed during or i**ediately after theadent of 3usli* rule in 0engal in the =>th century and continued to +e co*posed till

the =?th century, that is, upto the co*position ofAnnadamangal+y 0#ARA&%#ADRA1=B=@-=BC2.Manasamangal is the oldest of the *angalkaya and narrates how the snake

goddess 3anasa esta+lished her worship in 0engal +y conerting a worshipper of 'hiato her own worship. 3anasa was a non-Aryan deity and her worship was an ancient one

in 0engal. It is +elieed she ca*e to 0engal with the Draidians who worshipped her in

the hope that she would protect the* against snakes. 3anasa is also known as !isahari,"anguli and#admavati.

&he story ofManasamangal+egins with the conflict of the *erchant %handradhar or

%hand 'adagar with 3anasa and ends with %handradhar +eco*ing an ardent deotee of

3anasa. %handradhar is a worshipper of 'hia, +ut 3anasa hopes that she can win oer

%hand to her worship. 0ut, far fro* worshipping her, %hand refuses to een recognizeher as a deity. 3anasa takes reenge upon %hand +y destroying seen of his ships at sea

and killing his seen sons. Finally,0)#U$A, the newly-wed wife of %hands youngest son$akhindar, *akes the goddess +ow to her loe for her hus+and through her strength of

character, li*itless courage and deep deotion. 0ehula succeeds in +ringing %hands

seen sons +ack to life and rescuing their ships. &hen only does 0ehula return ho*e.

Manasamangal is +asically the tale of oppressed hu*anity. %handradhar and 0ehula hae+een portrayed as two strong and deter*ined characters at a ti*e when ordinary hu*an

+eings were su+;ugated and hu*iliated. &he epic +rings out the caste diisions and the

conflicts +etween Aryans and non-Aryans. &he conflict +etween hu*an +eings and the

goddess +rings out the social discri*inations of society, as well as the conflict +etweenAryans and non-Aryans. 'hia, who* %hand worshipped, was originally not an Aryan

god, +ut oer ti*e was eleated to that position. 3anasas ictory oer %hand suggeststhe ictory of the indigenous or non-Aryan deity oer the Aryan god. #oweer, een

3anasa is defeated +y 0ehula. &he poe* thus suggests not only the ictory of the non-

Aryan deity oer the Aryan god, +ut also the ictory of the hu*an spirit oer the

powerful goddess.Manasamangalis also re*arka+le for its portrayal of 0ehula whoepito*ises the +est in Indian wo*anhood, especially the 0engali wo*ans deotion to

her hus+and.

&he firstManasamangalpoet was, perhaps, "ana #aridatta 1c =>th century2, +ut his work

is no longer e4tant. !ther poets who co*posed ersions ofManasamangal after hi*were Purusotta*, arayande 1c =th century2,8I:A(GUP&A and 0ipradas Pipilai. 8i;ay

GuptasManasamangal 1=EE2 is perhaps the *ost popular of these ersions +ecause of

its rich literary 6ualities. It is +elieed that 0ipradas PipilaisManasavijay was alsoco*posed during the *id-=th century.

Chandimangal is another i*portant strain of *angalkaya. It is +ased on the story of

%handidei, an indigenous goddess, whose status was su+se6uently eleated to that of an
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Aryan deity due to the influence of #indu and 0uddhist worship. Chandimangalis

woen round two stories/ the story of "alketu and Fullara, and the story of Dhanapati and

his wies, $ahana and "hullana. "alketu is a poor hunter who lies with his wife Fullara.%handi feels sorry for the pair and grants the* good fortune. "alketu and Fullara grow

enor*ously wealthy. #oweer, in the *idst of their good fortune, they forget %handi and

grow proud. &he goddess punishes the* for their arrogance and *akes the* poor again."alketu and Fullara soon realize their folly and +eg her forgieness. %handi forgies the

errant couple and returns the* their wealth.

&he second story shows how %handi *akes Dhanapati, a worshipper of 'hia,

acknowledge her power. Dhanapati is a wealthy *erchant, fond of the good things of life.Attracted +y the +eauty of his sister-in-law, "hullana, he *arries her. 'oon after their

*arriage, he sets forth on his traels, leaing "hullana in the care of his first wife

$ahana. 'oon forgetting his new wife, he starts isiting prostitutes. 3eanwhile, +ackho*e, $ahana, incited +y her *aid, starts torturing "hullana. It is only after "hullana

+ows to %handi that she is helped +y the goddess to regain her hus+ands loe. Dhanapati

again sets forth on a ;ourney, leaing "hullana at ho*e. During his ;ourney Dhanapati*eets with *isfortune and is i*prisoned. 3eanwhile, "hullana gies +irth to a son

who* she na*es 'ri*anta.


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harmamangal co*posers are Rupra* 1c =Cth century2 and 3anikra* Ganguly 1c *id-

=Bth century2. (et another co*poser ofharmamangal, 'itara* Das, *ay also hae

lied in the =Bth century. &he +est-known poet ofharmamangal is Ghanara*%hakraarti, whose ersion of the poe* *ay +e dated =B==. 'o*e others who co*posed

different ersions of the poe* are 'ahade 1=B>2, arasingha 1=B>B2, #rdayra* 1=BE2

and Goindara* 1=BCC2.

$ife of the co**on people of the Radha region depicted inharmamangalis uni6ue.Unlike other *angalkaya, it does not show the 0engalis as deoid of spine and

dependent on deities. #ere they are deter*ined and reengeful in the face of political

conflicts and threats to their rulers. InManasamangal and Chandimangal the storiescentre round deities, and hu*an +eings are incidental. 0ut inharmamangal the *ain

story focuses on hu*an +eings. #ere, social conflicts and political rialry do*inate,

while supernatural eents are rather incidental. &he depiction of the political scenario ofRadh of the ti*e and the patriotis* of the lowly people of the society distinguishes

harmamangal fro* other *angalkaya. It also possesses a high literary 6uality.

Shivayanor Shivamangalis not original, nor is its purpose to esta+lish the worship of any

deity. #oweer, it *ay +e noted that 'hia appears in all *angalkaya as an essentiallink. As if to reflect the *isera+le life of the 0engalis, the deakhandathatpreface the

*ain stories of all *angalkaya descri+e the fa*ily life of 'hia and Parati and the ups

and downs of their con;ugal life. &his only enhanced the popularity of the *angalkayaand inspired the co*pilation of arious tales a+out 'hia into a core +ook that later ca*e

to +e known as Shivayan or Shivamangal.&here is no atte*pt in it to install the worship

of 'hia. In fact, there was no need for it. &hough not an Aryan god, 'hia was one of the

*ost ancient deities and his worship was well esta+lished. It *ay well +e that Shivayanwas created to presere the pristine glory of this ancient god in the *elee of new deities

like 3anasa and %handi.

&he first Shivayanpoet, Ra*krishna Ray, co*posed his poe* early in the =Bth century. Itnarrated the greatness of 'hia, +ut also descri+ed the strain in his relationship with his

wife, Parati. &he poe* has +een praised for the ariety of its poetic *etres, the restraint

and dignity of its language, and its use of literary deices. Shivayan,co*posed +y

Ra*eshwar 0hattacharya towards the +eginning of the =?th century, is perhaps the *ostpopular of the Shivayanpoe*s. Ra*eswar depicts 'hia as a far*er, who is attracted to

other *ens wies, indifferent to do*estic duties and fond of eating. &his i*age of 'hia

*ade hi* ery close to H of the 0engalis who were far*ers. &he narration of 'hiase4perience as a far*er reeals *any pro+le*s faced +y the agricultural co**unity of the

ti*e.

&here were other *angalkaya written on a ariety of su+;ects. For instance, :ayananda

and $ochan Das wrote Chaitanyamangal in the =Cth century, depicting the life of%haitanya. In the =?th century different deities were portrayed in such works as

Suryamangal,Gangamangal,Shitalamangal,Laksmimangal,Sasthimangal,%A&MANGAL,

rarasvatimangal,'alikamangal,Saradamangal,Gaurimangal andurgamangal.&hese
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epics hae recorded the social and cultural life of 0engal during the 3iddle Ages. 5Dulal

0how*ik7

Documents

The myth of Saint Gazi and Manasa