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| The Socio Philosophical Foundation of Sankardeva’s Eka Sarana Hari Naam Dharma | |||||||
| Paper Id :
15742 Submission Date :
19/02/2022 Acceptance Date :
22/02/2022 Publication Date :
24/02/2022
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| Abstract | Philosophy of religion tries to examine the central themes and concepts involved in religious tradition, philosophically. Almost all the major religion had a philosophical learning and diversity as well. Philosophy of religion believes in diversity and views the world as a manifestation. Diversity is nothing but expression of unity; similarly the multiplicity is nothing but the manifestation of the one-the absolute. Srimanta Sankardeva a saint, scholar, a philosopher is an immense figure in the socio-philosophical and religious history of Assam. The philosophy propounded by Sankardeva through Eka sarana hari naam dharma is really unique. The glorification of unity is the essence of it. From establishing unity among the people, to giving them social justice this religion tried to propagate knowledge and wisdom in the society. The enlightened and socially conscious disciples of Eka sarana hari naam dharma helped to uproot the social evils like the difference between the high and low, caste, and shown the principle of democratic socialism. Sankardeva’s Eka sarana hari naam dharma will remain as the lighting force for time immemorial among contemporary Assamese society, through his preaching of socio-philosophical movement. | ||||||
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| Keywords | Unity, Bhakti, Religion, diversity, Philosophy. | ||||||
| Introduction |
The philosophy of religion is an integral part of philosophy and embraces central issues regarding the nature and extent of human knowledge , the ultimate character of reality , and the foundations of morality . It also enquires in to the nature, functions, value, and truth of religious experience. Philosophy of religion is rational thought about religious issues and concerns without a presumption of the existence of a deity or reliance on acts of faith. Here an attempt will be made to reflect on the thoughts of Sankardeva’s Eka sarana hari naam dharma with special emphasis on social and philosophical foundation of it. It will specifically consider his philosophy concerning social status of man, its significance and value. |
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| Aim of study | The Aim of this paper the socio philosophical foundation of Sankardeva’s Eka sarana hari naam dharma. | ||||||
| Review of Literature |
To understand the socio philosophical foundation of Sankardeva’s Eka sarana hari naam dharma one should know the background of the society of Srimanta Sankardeva at that time. The religious environment of the whole country had been too disastrous for centuries (up to the mid 19th century). Before the arrival of the Mughal invaders, and to some extent up to the British India, the priests were the most powerful class of people; some of the priests could impose their sway over the kings also. They married hundreds of teen girls up to the age of seventy five (75) and these unfortunate girls when they become widows were burnt alive in the name of a nefarious religious cult called suttee – burning. Those who could escape from being burnt alive were thrown to the brothel. The non – Aryans were considered as untouchables and half – human beings were worthy to be killed like rats, dogs etc. Women were considered as consumable goods of the market. Human sacrifice was rampant in all the major temples in India.[1] The religious situation of Assam of that time was worse. In such a situation what Srimanta Sankardeva did, was quite beyond imagination |
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| Main Text | Srimanta Sankardeva
Srimanta Sankardeva, the great Vaishnava
saint of Assam, is remembered as a unique personality. He is one of the most
renowned religious philosophers of the world. Sankardeva, the creator of
renaissance in every aspect of Assamese society i.e. religion, society, art,
language, literature etc. gave Assamese society a new identity. Sankardeva was
a multi-dimensional genius having the qualities of an expounder, religious
teacher, saint and a great philosopher.
As a religious reformer, he was quite alone in this region and the
problems he had to encounter here was quite different to other parts of the
country2. But the change brought about by this towering personality
had left a far-reaching impact in the society, not only in Assam but also in
India. He launched a reformative movement in medieval Assam which was the part
of the great Bhakti movement in India.
Srimanta Sankardeva preached a unique philosophy. His teachings were in the line of Upanisadic
philosophy of enlightenment by knowledge of the self, together with pure
devotion to the supreme God as preached in Bhagavata. Eka sarana hari naam dharma
It is generally accepted that no
religion of the world was initiated for any particular section of people. Only
the followers have made it so. Philosophy of religion can play an important
role in helping persons understand and evaluate different religious traditions
and their alternatives. Concerning the issue of fragmentism Sankardeva
introduce a religion which had discipline for almost all the ethnic groups of
Assam at that time. The word ‘sarana’
means taking shelter. It implies supplication to Eka sarana hari naam dharma, that is, to lord Krishna by taking a
solemn vow that the initiated will never worship any other deity but lord
Krishna. Any person irrespective of caste, sex, age or any social status and
economic situation can be initiated to Eka
sarana hari naam dharma. Even the poorest of the poor, even the most
detested class of people and even the worst sinner are also not barred3.
After initiation, any such person can upgrade oneself to the highest status
without reading much, without any pilgrimage, without offering any material at
the altar of Lord Krishna. One requires only to recite the names of Lord
Krishna and offer his/her whole body, mind and soul to Him and at the same time
avoid worshiping all other deities and discard all other material wishes too.
Here the great emphasis is given on Eka
sarana or surrender to one Lord only. Here the Supreme Being is identified
as Krishna or Vishnu and addressed Him as Mahapurus.
Therefore this religion is also known as Mahapurusiya
dharma. The Bhagavata is the essence of Vedanta and this religion is based on
the Bhagavata Purana. The Bhagavata Purana considers God to be the
ultimate essence of the universe and calls Him the Brahma or Paramatma. Through bhakti, when one
acquires the knowledge of the supreme, he then becomes free from sorrow and
fear; consequently, all doubts of mind disappear4. As he become free
from maya, he has his soul merged in
the soul supreme. The concept of God is simplified and the path has become
easier. Analyzing Eka sarana hari naam dharma from socio-philosophical perspective
Analyzing Srimanta
Sankardeva’s Eka sarana hari naam dharma gives us a unique perspective about it.
This religion helps us to understand about brotherhood, social unity, justice
and so on. Eka sarana hari naam dharma
has a deep philosophical aspect. Through this religion Sankardeva thought about
universal love as God resides within all beings. Sankardeva made an appeal to
all people to remove mutual differences between different classes of people,
all of them having the same soul within. Thus he talked about universal
brotherhood and advocate for integration of different groups of people in the
society. God is an all pervading consciousness, which manifests itself in the
form of different creatures. Since all the creatures have same God within them
in the form of souls, they are all equals. So, he began to preach equality
among the people. Eka sarana hari naam dharma
gave equal status to all its disciples. It was a major departure from the
prevalent system in the society, where caste hierarchy was observed very
strictly. This religion spread the liberal humanistic doctrine of Bhakti for the first time in Assam. One
of the distinguishing features of the Eka
sarana hari naam dharma is its total disregard for casteism, polytheism and
idolatry5. This religion united and enlightened people of all class
and tribes and persuaded them to embrace monotheism. Sankardeva spread his
doctrine of ‘bhakti’ among different
ethnic groups of Assam, and brought about a social revolution against casteism
and sectarianism that led the people to remain divided and disintegrated. It
was through teaching of ‘bhakti’
together with propagation of ‘eka sarana
hari naam dharma’ that Sankardeva united the people of all castes and
tribes of Assam. According to Eka sarana
hari naam dharma the relation of the God and the devotee is the relation of
mind and soul. For this religion as God is soul and same soul resides within
every living being, so, the best form of worship is the worship of all living
beings. One of the main philosophical aspects of this religion is the concept
of love. For it, love is a common spontaneous feeling to all human being,
without love no one can survive and with the help of this love jiwa can attain jiwan mukti and finally he will be able to dissolve his soul into
Soul Supreme or the Brahma. |
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| Conclusion | From the above discussion one thing become noteworthy that Sankardeva’s vision and mission was highly socio-philosophical. By establishing Bhakti at the heart of people Eka sarana hari naam dharma tried to remove the evils from the society. In the present day society where atrocities of one man to other or others are going on there is an essential need to discuss the philosophy of religion. Here after analyzing the socio-philosophical ideas advocated by Sankardeva through Eka sarana hari naam dharma it becomes clears that he attempted to rescue the deprived people and establish unity in diversity in the form of a new socio-religious order. Irrespective of caste, social status, discrimination; the unity and rational thought among people, which this religion tried to establish is really relevant in present society. | ||||||
| References | 1. Neog Dr. Moheswar, ‘Early History of the Vaisnava Faith and Movement in Assam’ (1st Edition 1965, Delhi) p. 110
2. Medini Choudhary, Sarbabharatia Bhakti Andolon aru Sankardevar Mulyayana,p.76-80
3. Baruah, DR. Girish, Sankardeva : A Critical Appraisal of His Philosophy and Religion’s (Purbanchal prakash, 1st Edition, 2014) p.147
4. Borkakoti,Dr. Sanjib Kumar, Sarbagunakara Srimanta Sankardeva, Nagoan, 1st edition 2000 AD, P.78-79
5. Dutta Dr. Kalikinkar, A Social History of Modern India, 1975.p.237, quoted by Hemchandra Saikia in Lokasevak Haladhar Bhuyan Bakritamala,2016
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| Endnote | 1. Barman, Sibanath (1986). Srimanta Sankardeva: Kriti Aru Krititva. Guwahati: TRIMURTI 2. Baruah, DR. Girish, Sankardeva : A Critical Appraisal of His Philosophy and Religion’s (Purbanchal prakash, 1st Edition, 2014) 3. Bora Suresh Chandra and Kalita, Biswajit, ‘Sankardeva Studies’ Nogaon: Srimanta Sankardeva Sangha, 2013. 4. Borkakoti,Dr. Sanjib Kumar (2005), Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva: Life, philosophy and Works. Guwahati: Bani Mandir 5. Borkakoti,Dr. Sanjib Kumar, Sarbagunakara Srimanta Sankardeva, Nagoan, 1st edition 2000 AD, 6. Chakraborty, Dhirendra Nath (1998). Srimanta Sankardeva: Great Unifier of Eastern India, Sankardeva: Studies in Culture. Nagaon (Assam): Srimanta Sankardeva Sangha 7. Chutia, Dr. Dharmeswar. Ed. Srimanta Sankardeva Bakyamritra. Guwahati: Srimanta Sankardeva Sangha, 1998 8. Dutta Dr. Kalikinkar, A Social History of Modern India, 1975.p.237, quoted by Hemchandra Saikia in Lokasevak Haladhar Bhuyan Bakritamala,2016 9. Kakati Banikanta. Assamese: Its Formation and Development. Department of Historical and Antiquarian Studies, Narayani Handiqui Historical Institute. Gauhati. 1941. (Web) 10. Medini Choudhary, Sarbabharatia Bhakti Andolon aru Sankardevar Mulyayana, 11. Neog Dr. Moheswar, ‘Early History of the Vaisnava Faith and Movement in Assam’ (1st Edition 1965, Delhi) 12. https://kkhsou.ac.in 13. https://www.sentinelassam.com/north-east-india-news/assam-news/ sankardevas-spiritual-philosophy-aims-at-upgrade-of-moral-and-ethical-standards-559450 14. www.quora.com/What-was-the-philosophy-of-Sankardev-the-Assamese-polymath |
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