Arup Saikia
(arupsaikia07@gmail.com)
The original conditions of the Bhakti movement are the same in Tamil Nadu and Assam. The non-aryans-turned-aryanized kings sponsored the cult. It’s a very crucial period in Hinduism. The downtrodden Hindus were searching for an alternative path of salvation. The “Bhakti movement” is a revolution against casteist persecution and religious equality. The matter, like the simplified way of worshipping, is relative only. It was started in the sixth century. The freedom of the downtrodden is the only motive, irrespective of the supreme deity. The religio-social reformation developed in the meantime around Lord Vishnu, or Shiva. The Alvars and Nayanars, champions of the Bhakti movement, were devoted to Lord Vishnu and Shiva. The saints of this movement are from different Vedantic schools—monism, dualism, etc.
EXTENT OF SUCCESS:
Are the Hindu religious reformers from the sixth century successful in their mission?
Casteless society: a dream or reality? Kerala Excise Minister M.B. Rajesh once said, “Adi Shankaracharya is an advocate and spokesperson of a cruel caste system and Manusmriti. Shankaracharya glorified and upheld caste, colour, and creed.” Shankaracharya, on the other hand, advocated absolute monism.
So far, as we know from historical studies, no renowned religious preacher of mediaeval India has unwavering revolutionary zeal. Saint Ramanuja has very consciously opened the path to qualified monism. But he stopped his reformative wheel at the threshold of Shankaracharya. The persona of Ramanuja’s stature acted very carefully within the periphery of conservative Vedic scriptures. As if the rules of Manusmriti or Bhagawat are their constitution. They permit themselves to swim within the pool. The only difference is that they changed the pool from a small one to a big one. The earthen boundary of a pool may fall in parts naturally. The religious reformers, including Ramanuja, also obey the conservative social setup.
(1) Casteism is the perennial environment.
(2) The Bhakti movement is a social compulsion.
(3) The literal execution of the Bhakti ideals is deemed to be a law-breaking exercise in a very dogmatic society. The above-mentioned three lines are an irony of the Vaishnavite revolution. The manumission of mankind in the Bhakti movement remains a far cry.
Religion is an integral part of socio-economic growth. Commerce and industry can change a society entirely. The capitalists are work-oriented realists. The feudalists are orthodox. India is an agrarian economy with a vast population. So western-type reformation can’t be expected. So the reformation is uneven, and we won’t discuss here the allegorical meaning of Bhagawat. But the translated portion of Mahapurush Sankardeva is full of praise for the Brahmins. It’s oddly noticeable. The beliefs of religion are abstract or intangible. The people couldn’t taste the tangible democratic traits of society as expected. But the people’s ceaseless effort to establish a democratic society of equal rights will only emanate from the Bhakti movement. The Bhagawat was a motivational book of that era in some perspective. The people consider the pain and agony inflicted on them by the rulers as inevitable act of providence. The Bhagawat isn’t a magical lamp to enlighten everyone at a glance. The Bhakti saint Sankardeva just translated and endorsed it. The think-tanks are privileged Aryans in all the states which have tribal monarchy. The stature of medieval Bhakti saints could not afford to propound a new religion of humanism. The Lord Buddha of Buddhism is postulated as incarnation of Lord Vishnu. This is one reasons that Buddhism could not flourish significantly in India and even unable to pose a challenge to Hinduism. B.R. Ambedkar, an architect of Indian constitution, converted to Buddhism for social persecution at the later part of his life.
Buddhism and Jainism are alarmingly projected as the heterodox ascetic movement by orthodox Brahmanic tradition.
The dominance of the earliest treatise remains throughout the period.
(Numerous “Dharma Sashtras” were composed, the earliest of which was the “Manava Dharma Sashtra or the Manu Smrti, usually called the Laws of Manu, dating from around the second century B.E.C. to the first century C.E. Being a collection of ancient and irrefutably valid precepts, Manu’s was far and away the most important of the textbooks on “dharma.” Others, however, included the law books of Yajnavalkya, Visnu, and Narada, which date from the early centuries C.E. In the mediaeval period (eighth to twelfth centuries), “dharma” texts were composed in great numbers, all claiming to have the authority of the ancient treatise. Although the “Dharma Sashtras” offered only a model of a perfectly ordered society, they provided the basis of cohesion that helped to unite the orthodox Brahmanic tradition in the face of the growing threat from the heterodox ascetic movements of Buddhism, Jainism, and Ajivikism, among others.”)
(The Origin and Development of Classical Hinduism. Page-101. By A.L.BASHAM)
The magnanimity of the Bhakti cult already crossed the other theme of religious sects very early. The fundamental Brahmins and their protector totally disapproved of the humanistic deeds of the Bhakti religion. The frequent conflict of the Pan-Indian Bhakti movement with the priestly class or rulers is a very common social incident in India. Although the common masses are the base of the Bhakti movement, Sankardeva, the main preacher of Assam, was from a non-brahmanical, privileged class. The founder of the Bhakti cult of qualified monism, Ramanuja, is also a Brahmin from Sriperumbudur (Tamil Nadu). Another follower of Ramanuja, Ramananda, was also born in Gaur Brahmin family. The main Bhakti exponent of Maharashtra — Gyandeva is also outcast Brahmin. So it’s exaggerated to classify all the Brahmins and privileged classes are apathetic to the Vaishnavism.
“The priest turned their backs on the happiness and sorrow of the common people of society. Brahmanism preached a complex network of rituals and reforms. Human emotional needs were crushed by the insipid pomp of the rituals. The roles of the big religious are the same.”
Substances from Myth and Reality: Studies in the Formation of Indian Culture by D.D. Kosambhi.
On the other hand, the revolutionaries of the Bhakti movement always remain contrary to the interests of the ruling establishment. The lot of hardships Sankardeva has faced have even led him to lose his family members, including his son-in-law Hari, at the hands of Ahom. But there is no example of compromise.
The obsessiveness for the fundamental scriptures of Hinduism is very evident and embedded in the blood of non-Hindus as well. At the beginning of the modern age, the British India government took reference from “Manus Smriti” to implement Hindu law.
“The exemplary treatise on (dharma) is “Manu Smrti” considered such an important source of Hindu law and custom throughout the whole of the subcontinent that it was one of the earliest texts earmarked by the British for translation to be used in British courts in India. In 1794, the English rendering by Sir William Jones was published posthumously under the title “Institutes of Hindoo Law”.)
“The Origin and Development of Classical Hinduism” by A.L. BASHAM (P-69).
The southern part of India is less influenced by Aryan culture. They are Aryanized by North Indians.
“The description of Rama crossing the peninsula and conquering Ceylon is clearly a representation of Aryan penetration into the peninsula. As the southward movement of the Aryans is generally dated to about 800 B.C., the original Ramayana must have been composed at least fifty or hundred years later.”
(A History of India, by Romila Thapar, Vol. 1, p. 33)
The two dominant sects of Hinduism are the Vaishnavas and the Shaivas. The above-mentioned two groups are divided into many smaller groups. But their absolute Almighty is Lord Vishnu and Shiva, respectively. Many claim that Lord Shiva is the God of non-Aryan and existed before the coming of Aryan.
BHAKTI MOVEMENT AND SUFISM: Historians claim that the Bhakti movement is a social event wearing the attire of religion. The appearance of the Bhakti movement coincided with Islamic Sufism in mediaeval India. Both religions influenced each other to a greater extent. Like the Bhakti preachers, the exponents of Sufism also contradicted the ideals of conservative Ulemas. The principles of Sufism went against the rulers, and eventually their persecution started against Sufi preachers. Many Hindus converted to Islam, and vice versa, for the cordiality and liberalism expressed by Sufism.
“The Indian Sufis severed their ties with Islamic orthodoxy led by the Ulemas. They have contested the interpretation of the Islamic holy book, the Quran. The Quran is expounded to serve the purpose of the Sultan or rulers. Sufism has no difference with the Bhakti cult of Hinduism except the nomenclature of gods and goddesses. The Sufi saints like Azan Fakir of Assam are equally revered by Hindu devotees, and vice versa. The role of the economy and commodity products can’t be denied in such rapid assimilation.
“The fusion of Islamic culture with existing Indian culture achieved its most positive expression in the activities of the artisan classes of the town amongst the cultivators, as is evident from the socio-religious ideas of the time, and also in primarily artisan activities such as building monuments, the fusion being evident in the architecture of the period. The pattern of living in both of these classes came to be interrelated to a far greater degree than amongst the nobility. Domestic ceremonies and rituals, such as those connected with birth, marriage, and death, became mingled. The converted Muslims were also heirs to long-standing rituals practiced by the Hindus. New ceremonies, which had come with Islam and which were regarded as auspicious, crept into Hindu ritual.”
(“A History of India” by Romilla Thapar, P–300.)
PRESENT SCENARIO OF BHAKTI CULTURE:
The Bhakti movement in India and Assam has only been partially successful in abolishing the discrimination of the caste system.
The Bhakti preachers have never thought that so many sub-sects would be born out of one Bhakti movement. Now the Bhakti cult has transformed into Bhakti culture. The great Bhakti preachers—Shankaracharya, Ramanuja, Basava, Ramananda, Namdeva, Kabir, Dadu Dayal., etc.—have created many sects knowingly or unknowingly in their respective areas of activity. Mahapurush Sankardeva also has one sect, namely “Mahapurushiya” in Assam. The main matter of concern is that these sub-sects are also divided into many sects in Assam and other states. The followers of Sankardeva have more than fifty different organisations in a small state like Assam. They are fighting more among themselves than to counter the other non-Sankari sects. They don’t have any harmonious views about Sankardeva.
Moreover, the conflict between Sankari and Brahmanism is continuing as always. The procedures for animosity may be different, but the reason will remain the same. We think this will continue for a long time. Every moment is a challenge to sustain the legacy of Sankardeva across Assam and Assamese. But no factor can diminish his multifaceted personality.
(Author Arup Saikia is a noted cultural enthusiast, Bhaona artiste and writer)