"Sankaradeva and Madhavadeva" (original) (raw)
Development of Saiva Cult in Koch KingdomUnder Maharaja Biswa Singha(1496-1540)
UTTAR PRASANGA, 2018
The Koches belong to the Indo-Mongoloid group and one of the aboriginal tribes of Kamata Koch Kingdom. They had a prominent role in the state formation of this region. The emergence of the Koch as a political power in the early part of the 16th century is an important chapter in the history of NorthEast India. Taking advantage of the invasion of Kamata, a remnant of the old Kamarupa kingdom in A.D. 1498 by Alaudin-Hussain Shah of Bengal, Bishu, a chieftain of his race established his authority over a number of Bhuyans in Western Brahmaputra valley and thus founded a kingdom. Khan Amanatullah Khan Chowdhury says that Maharaja Biswa Singha was ascended the throne of Western Kamarupa or Kamata Kochbehar Kingdom in 1496 C.E 1 and extended his kingdom to the river Karatoya in the West and to the river Baranadi in the East. Immediately after this, he was elevated by a section of Brahmanas to the position of a Kshatriya of the Varnasrama order and called him as Biswa Singha, meaning the lord of the world and even traced his descent from Siva of the Hindu Trinity. Eventually, the process of Aryanisation and the process of Hinduisation began in the valley since the beginning of the early Christian era. Hence, at the time of establishment of the Koch kingdom i.e. early in the 16 century A.D. in the lower Brahmaputra valley, most of the people in almost entire Brahmaputra valley were by and large either pure Hindu or Hinduised. In fact,Western Kamrup or Kamata-Kochbehar under Biswa Singha was one of the powerful Hindu Kingdom in North East India. Despite this, their tribal belief was also continued to exist side by side. Especially from Kamarupa to further west of the valley, the Hindu beliefs system and social custom predominated since long time past. He had not only established a powerful and prosperous Hindu Kingdom in the medieval period which not only consolidated its administrative capability but also set up a liberal social, economic and Hindu culture. In the present paper an attempt has been done to explore how Saivism had been established during the time of Islamic penetration in Medieval India particularly in Eastern India. (II) The Brahmaputra valley was inhabited since long ago by the aboriginal people who had their own culture and religious beliefs. According to Kalika Puran Naraka apolitical
THE SATRA : A SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION OF ASSAM
isara solutions, 2020
The Satra is a social and religious institution of Assam . This institution is the special feature of Assam Vaishnavism . The founder of Assam Vaishnavism was Srimanta Sankaradeva .The official name of Sankaradeva’s Vaishnavism is Ek-Sarana-Naam-Dharma, the religion of supreme surrender to one, and that one is Vishnu who is in the form of Narayana assumes incarnations from age to age. Sankaradeva was one of the greatest spiritual leaders of India in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. He was a versatile genius and he made outstanding contribution in the field of religion ,society ,art, culture ,literature and music.
Contextualising Sankaradeva and the Egalitarian Nature of Neo-Vaishnavism in Medieval Assam
International Journal of Scientific Research and Reviews, 2019
The Neo-Vaishnavite movement of Sankaradeva had played a very significant role in building the social and cultural life of the people of Assam. This new creed of Sankaradeva, adhering to main principles of Bhakti, revolutionized the entire face of the life of the people of Assam and led to the formation of broader civil society. This movement of Sankaradeva had cut deep into the fabrics of the Assamese society and transcending all barriers of caste and tribe. It united the diverse tribal communities of the region and gave it a culture, later to be identified as Assamese. Sankaradeva spread the ides of "EksaranaNam Dharma" which means taking shelter in one God and that is Krishna form of Vishnu, and dispelled the darkness of ignorance, superstition and irrational belief and practices. Moreover, religious institutions of the movement like Namghars (prayer hall) and Satras (monasteries) which were the product of the movement had a very influencing role in the social life of the people in the medieval period because these institutions worked both as a common platform and a democratic platform for the people. This paper is an attempt to study the Neo-Vaishnavite movement of Sankaradeva and its contribution in the formation of an egalitarian society.
IAEME PUBLICATION, 2020
The propagator of Neo-Vaishnavism was Srimanta Sankardeva (1449-1568). When he was born, the socio-cultural situations of Assam were too much lamentable. Around then different misbehaviours were submitted for the sake of religion, which vitiated the social structure. There were individuals who approximately clung to Saivism or Vaishnavism and other people who rehearsed Saktism. The supporters of these factions enjoyed malicious practices like animal and human sacrifices, mystical ceremonies and so forth. Furthermore, the outcomes were poor people and oppressed individuals became survivors of these horrendous practices. To spare this circumstance Sankardeva, established the Neo-Vaishnavism in Assam, which is normally known as the Eksarana-Nam-Dharma. Sankardeva's Neo-Vaishnavism has given birth of new a social and social life for Assamese individuals and zeroed in on a public character moulded by social conventions and language through Cultural Nationalism, which presented to the Indigenous individuals with the assistance of Sattras and Namghar. Sankardeva was not only a religious propagator, but also a great social reformer and the pioneer of the socio-religious or cultural movement of medieval Assam in the Sixteenth Century.
IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 22, Issue 12, Ver. 6 (December. 2017) PP 12-14 www.iosrjournals.org
" The devotional transformations of medieval Hinduism known as Bhakti movement, was a phenomenon of crucial importance in the history of Indian religion ". Srimanta Sankardeva is considered the pioneer of Bhakti movement in Assam. The new religion, " Ek Sarana Naam Dharma " , founded by Sri Sankardeva in fifteenth century in Assam marked the revival of Vaishnavite faith in Assam: it had a distinct reformist orientation and a social intent. Most importantly, it offered a respite to the largely uneducated and illiterate masses from animal-sacrifice-based rituals prevalent in all the existing religions of the times. Various aspects of the bhakti movement in Assam have been researched in recent times which have brought forth suggestions that counter the popular views regarding its nature and goals. Present article seeks to bring back into focus the fundamental tenets of Sri Sankardeva " s philosophy, its context and the element of " bhakti " that characterized it.
2017
Monasticism is a religious way of life in which the devotee renounces worldly pursuits to devote himself completely to the spiritual work. Monastic way of life is familiar to many Christian Churches especially in the Catholic and orthodox traditions and also to Buddhism, while exists in Hinduism and Jainism also. But monasticism in Hinduism is not popularly accepted way of attaining absolute religious goal as like that of the Buddhism. In Vaishnavaism also, monasticism is not encouraged and practiced in its fundamental codes. Monasticism in Vaishnavaism, according to some scholars like Romila Thapar, Peter Hervey, started in the 11 th to 12 th centuries A.D. when the Bairagi Movement first adopted it. In Neo-Vaishnavism, the most influential reform sect of medieval Assam, monastic way of religious life became a customary practice among a section of its followers. Monasticism developed in Neo-Vaishnavism after the development of its institutional outfit-the Satra institution. Monasticism is followed only in a few Satras of Assam for which these Satras are known as monastic Satra. Monasticism in Assam Vaishnavism got institutionalized from when Madhavdeva, the immediate follower of Sankardeva, the founder of the reform sect adopted it. The long standing ideas and customs of monastic Satras gradually lost its popularity and growth of its follower showed a decreasing trend. This paper is an attempt to analyze the tradition of monasticism and how and why monasticism in the Satras of Assam lost its popularity. Satra is the institutional outfit of Neo-Vaishnavaism in Assam. Sankardeva, the greatest socio-religious reformer of Assam started the Neo-Vaishnavite movement in the later part of the 15 th century with a view to create an 'egalitarian society' where people of all caste and creed stand in equal footing. Satra is a socio-religious and cultural institution uncommon to the people of other parts of the country. The word Satra is a corrupt from the Sanskrit word Sattra. In Sanskrit literature the word has been used in two senses, firstly, in the sense of an alms-house and secondly, in the sense of a sacrifice lasting from a few days to a year or more. In Assam, the Satra institution bears the features of an alms house where disciples of Neo-Vaishnavism gathered for listening and hearing the name of God. During the Vedic age the term Satra is used to mean the sacrificial house along with the time factor of the sacrifice. In later age, during the time of the development of 'Pancharatta dharma' and in the time of Upanishad, the term is used to mean the cultural centre where importance is given in knowledge and bhakti or devotion. It is not known for certain when did the term 'Satra' first became used in Assam for any purpose. It has been pointed out that there were Satras in the early kingdom of Kamarupa in the pre-Ahom time patronized by the kings of pala dynastry and people by the Tantrika-Buddhist monks. As known from extant epigraphic record, such a Satra with residential houses for the monks was at Guwahati itself maintained by King Samudrapala, one of the later Pala Kings of Kamarupa. Anantakandali, a contemporary of Sankardeva, has stated that his father Ratna Pathak had founded a satra. Similarly, Bhusan Dvija, one of the earliest biographers of Sankardeva, mentioned a satra-grihas where the saint used to hold religious discussion. Sankardeva maintained that tradition; and with the addition of his own innovations started the institution in its very embryonic form at Bardowa, his own place, itself, here he first started preaching. The full-fledged Satra as an institution as it is seen today developed at the hands of Damodardeva who built Satra at Patbausi and Madhavdeva, who built Satra at Barpeta. In Sankardeva's Neo-Vaishnavism the word Satra is used to mean what Panchartta dharma, and the Upanishads meant-to propagate spiritualistic knowledge and