IN THE 15th Century AD, many parts of India witnessed decadence of religion and malpractices in various forms in the name of religion. This led to the emergence of saints and seers in several parts of India, which brought about a religious upheaval. This ultimately led to the rise of Vaishnavism. A few among those saints and seers were Ramananda (1360-1450), Kabir (1398-1518), Vallabhacharya (1479-1531), Chaitanya of Bengal (1485-1533) and Tulsidas of Uttar Pradesh (1523-1623).
Sankardeva was born in 1449, in a village called Bardowa (Batadrava), about 17 km from Nagaon town. His father, Kusumbar, belonged to the Bhuyan family, which was a respectable community with high social status. He lost his mother just after his birth and was brought up by his grandmother Khersuti. Sankardeva, under his grandma’s loving care, did not feel the necessity to go to school and roamed around up to 12 years of age. But later, Sankardeva, under the tutelage of a Sanskrit scholar, Mahendra Kandali, proved his genius by composing a poem textured in consonantal words without any vowel except the first.
This was, of course, on his grandma’s persuasion, who one day took the opportunity of reminding Sankara that his forefathers were all renowned scholars and it was now up to him to continue the glorious tradition of the family. Mahendra Kandali, one day, found Sankara sleeping in school after his class and was surprised at what he saw! A serpent was holding its hood over his head, in order to protect him from the burning rays of the sun. On seeing others, the serpent glided away. It seemed the Pandit saw the vision of his young pupil’s future greatness. So, he asked all other schoolboys to call him Sankardeva instead of ‘Sankara’ and an exemption was also granted to him from the ordinary student’s chores of sweeping and cleaning of the school precincts.
In Assamese, Vaishnavism synthesis between the worshipping of Vishnu and the propitiation of other gods is differently established. Bhattadeva, a Brahmin Eka-saraniya, has enjoined that a Brahmin should not make the customary offering to the five-gods (pancha-yajna) at the time of his meal as prescribed by the smritis. An offering like that would spoil his Eka-sarana bhakti to Vishnu. He should instead make an offering to Vishnu and that will satisfy all other Gods. For, has it not been said in the Bhagavad-purana, that if water is poured at the foot of a tree, then all the branches and leaves of the tree suck up nourishment? Another Brahmin Eka-saraniya, Vanamalideva, when casually confronted with the phallic image god Siva saluted it by uttering the mantra, namo Lakshmipati Bhagavanta, (salute to thee, God, Lord of Lakshmi).
All other gods and goddesses were mere manifestations of Vishnu and the recognition of their status as independent divinities was uncalled for. Before Sankardeva’s time, the religious life of Assam was far from satisfactory. It was an age of tantricism, which is characterised by the worship of Divine Energy in the female form called by many names such as Kali, Durga, etc. It combined many magical practices. Sankardeva was not at all happy to find the general mentality of the people as hopelessly degraded, and suffused with selfishness. In short, the atmosphere of Kamarupa was surcharged with worldliness.
Sankardeva was a monotheist and he preached a religion of supreme surrender to the One and therefore, his doctrine is known as eka-sarana nama-dharma. In eka-sarana dharma, there is only one God, Vasudeva Krishna and there is none else other than the One. The worship of other gods and goddesses is strictly prohibited. According to Sankardeva, the Supreme God is Krishna, who is the savior of all.
This religion knows no caste, creed or colour and a universal spirit is the main principle of this faith. Sankardeva knew that brahmanical pretensions have raised a barrier between man and God and so both by pen and from the pulpit, he endeavored to break down all prejudices of caste, creed and rank. His teaching embraces the lowliest of the lowly.
Apart from the religious principles of his eka-sarana nama-dharma, which he has bestowed to the people of Assam and the world at large, his principles can also be applied to present day, which can help in bringing about unity and brotherhood in the world.
