This module begins with an immersive journey into the yoga worlds of the Bengali Bāuls and Fakirs, and how music informs the diverse expression of these worlds. We explore the unique emphasis within their oral literatures on the transformative power of musical moods (bhāva, and how these inspired poets like Rabindranath Tagore, who along with others helped preserve, disseminate, and transform Bāul and Fakiri songs among the Bengali-speaking public. Beyond mere cultural preservation, however, we emphasize how Bāul and Fakiri songs were integrated into a living initiatory practice (sādhana) of yoga for both individuals and couples. Throughout this module we do not just rely on oral verse but integrate the study of written sources in translation and examine how their deeply resonant songs are often preserved within diaries and published sources, inviting textual-critical methods of evaluation.

This module meticulously unpacks the Buddhist, Hindu, and broader Sanskritic worlds that Bāuls seamlessly integrated into their music across the two Bengals. Explore the idiosyncratic yet profound ways in which the philosophies and practices of yoga and tantra found new life within their lyrical expressions. We will especially examine their direct relevance to contemporary discourses in yoga studies and practice, including foundational elements like posture (āsana), restraint of the vital breath (prāṇāyāma), and meditation (dhyāna). Special attention is paid to the probable links between Bāul songs and Buddhist Tantra, especially around the concept of the co-emergent (sahaja), and more definitively to Vaiṣṇava and Śaiva ritual worlds. We will also examine Bāul theories on the "Four Moons" in the context of the Middle Bengali text Ādya Paricaẏa "Acquaintance with the Primal" on procreation and embryology. We also here emphasize the enduring importance of the Bāul genre of Bengali songs called dehatattva "doctrine of the body," which connects these songs to the wider Indic yoga worlds inside and outside of the Bengals.

Here we shift our focus to the profound integration of Sufi symbolism by Fakirs (phakir) and Dervishes (darbeś) into a wide variety of songs and associated practices. In this module we see how this was not just superficially layered onto pre-existent Sanskritic yoga terminology, but rather how it reflects a deep, transformative integration of Islamic esoteric practices, often mediated by influential Sufi groups originating from Persian- and Arabic-speaking contexts. To this end, we see how Sufi yoga texts composed in Middle Bengali, such as the Yoga Kalandar, reflect earlier stages of this process that also finds expression in Bāul and Fakiri songs. The module also examines the importance of the Light of the Prophet Muhammad (nūr mohāmmad) and how Tantric cosmogony and the idea of the divine feminine "power" (Śakti) finds new modes of expression in these songs.

The culminating module synthesizes the insights from the Modules Two and Three, revealing how Bāul and Fakiri music formed a transcendent bridge between these divergent expressions of yoga that to many religious practitioners would at first appear irreconcilable. We examine how Bāul and Fakiri music came to openly embrace and welcome people of any gender, religious background, socio-economic class, or jāt (caste, birth-group), demonstrating a tendency towards inclusivity. The module focuses on how these humanistic expressions of yoga are masterfully reformulated into a uniquely South Asian vocabularly intended to promote "pure love" (śuddha prem) and the "praise of human beings" (māṇuṣ bhajan). We close by considering how this expression culminates in one of the most famous ideas from Bāul and Fakiri music, the "person of the heart" (maner mānuṣ), and how it relates to "pair practices" (yugal sādhan) and the identification of practitioners with Kṛṣṇa (Kānāi) and Rādhā (Rāi).