WHY BABIES CRY AND SMILE IN THEIR ACTIVE SLEEP?

Mother with her toddler (Photo: Neeraj Mishra)

In my last constituency visit, my host family in a remote home of Ruebisa got a new born, a son. Their baby was just seven months old. As the mother was serving a welcome tea for me, her baby in his active sleep, cried suddenly as if a bug bit him. She quickly went to him, gently patted on his chest and whispered, "Cheychey, I'm right here. I did not die. Lhagay Dreypham (May the God win and the Devil lose)!" As if the baby had understood, he went back to sleep again. It worked like a nice lullaby.

After the tea, I congratulated my host family for the new born with some cash as dhar. Still in a deep sleep, the baby smirked as if he understood my congratulatory words. The mother said again, "Lhagay Dreypham (May the God win and the Devil lose)!"

The Orthodox-Buddhists claim that when humans are born, from birth till death, we are accompanied by an angel and a devil referred to as ལྷན་གཅིག་སྐྱེས་པའི་ལྷ་འདྲེ། Relating from this concept, our folks believe that when a baby is deep asleep, the devil would frighten the child whispering 'your mother has died' or other scary stuffs. This makes the baby cry suddenly. So to counter the devil, the angel would intervene and narrate beautiful story, often a joke to bring about a smile. So the baby smiles. Therefore, since it is a constant tussle between the angel and the devil, whenever babies cry or smile in their active sleep, the elders suggest that the parents say "Lhagay Dreypham! to cheer up the angel and put down the devil.

The Lord of the Death with Lha-Karchung (white god) and Drey-Nakchung (black demon). Photo: Bhutan Cultural Atlas

Lately I got this 'birth angel and devil' concept consulted with a learned monk, and he said, while Buddhists believe in the existence of the both, these divine beings wouldn't interfere in a baby's sleep. He said that these beings are there with us only to keep records of our merits and demerits. The angel called Lha-Karchung (white god) is an emanation of Chenrigzi (Sanskrit: Avalokitesvara) while the devil in wrathful appearance known as Drey-Nakchung (black demon) is an emanation of Chagna Dorje (Sanskrit: Vajrapani). In fact, both being emanations of Bodhisattva, except to perform their assigned duties, they would not perform anything adverse is what the monk believes.

He rather suspects that the culprits would be either spirits or semi divine beings (འབྱུང་པོ་མི་མ་ཡིན་པ). So, for a child to sleep peacefully and with less illnesses, he recommends that the newborns be taken to Ap Dhomsarp at Changangkha Lhakhang for those born in Thimphu and to Ap Radrap at Radra Nyekhang for those born in Wangdue for protections. They are referred to as Kaylha (natal-deity). Similarly, other Dzongkhags have their own principal deities for newborns to take refuge in.

As much as Bhutan boasts of our unique culture and traditions, we also have the abundance of these religious and non-religious beliefs to cherish.

Have a good read.

Pictures: Mother with baby from Exquisite Bhutan. My nephews from my archive.