NEO-VAISHNAVITE LITERATURE AND DEVOTION

Arup Saikia 

(arupsaikia07@gmail.com)

The Neo-Vaishnavite literature and devotional lyrics are interchangeable. Nobody can imagine a society above religion during the mediaeval period. The rules and customs of a society emanate from an inner belief of mind. That inner belief is socially called religion. To function or practice the particular religion, some norms have to be followed. The first literature of the world was born out to write down initial and fundamental behavioural rules.

Principle of Devotion: Sankardeva followed the rules of devotion from Sanskrit literature. So, he wrote “Bhakti Pradeepa,” “Nimi-Nabasiddha-Samvada,” “Anadi Patana, and “Bhakti  Ratnakar.”  These aren’t included in the descriptive story category. To evaluate religion is the main feature of it. The theme of Bhakti Pradeepa is conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, like in the Bhagawat Geeta. The religious theories are discussed among king Nimi and nine sages in Nimi Nabasiddha Samvada. The “Anadi Patana” is a blended write-up of the Bhagawat and Bamon Purana. 

But today’s available “Anadi Patana” has no much similarities with the Bamon Purana.

This book considers the theory of creation and the origin of nature. 

The development of animals, the seven islands, the seven seas, the new year, the astronomical cycle, the hell, the theory of the body are perceivably elaborated.

The simple exposition of the esoteric theories reflects the talent and acumen of Sankardeva. The “Anadi Patana” in later times became a pillar of the philosophy of the Gupta community and “Deh Bichar Geet” (body judgement song).

The scholarly reply of the nine sages is beautifully described in “Nimi-Nabasiddha-Samvada.”.

In answer to the king’s nine questions, they say: excessive benevolence, the characteristics of a great devotee, the illusory nature of Vishnu, the way to escape from illusion, devotion to the supreme soul, karma yoga, the incarnation of God, the movement of the unbeliever, and the worship of the Lord. Sankardeva only emphasised the incarnation part in his poetic verses.

The brilliance and spiritual craftsmanship of Sankardeva are clearly depicted here. Sankardeva engineers the beautiful presentation of melodies. The pearls and gems that Borgeets habitually accrue appear here also.

Review of Literature: It’s not exaggerated to say that the Vaishnavite period of Assamese literature is the golden period of poetry. Prose only seldom appears in the scenario. Poetic lyrics are engaged or utilised as catalysts to accelerate the literary chariot. Besides songs, dance is also a strong tool of depiction.The effects of Ankiya dramas are undoubtedly paramount. The dance is a dramatic manoeuvre for the Vaishnavite playwrights. Sometimes it’s more performance-orientated than expressing literary genre. To uplift everyone to a spiritualised state is the main feature or motive of classical dramas. The characters have no independent identity. They have to toe the religious parameters where Vaishnavism or monotheism exists. The nine flavours (Rasa) of drama are also restricted, or some feelings are considered taboo. The romantic attraction of characters is presented as devotional allegiance. So the aesthetic beauty of the dramas is insipid to some extent. But the efficiency of Sankardeva and Madhavdeva superseded many limitations to convert it to mass appeal. The “victory of good over evil” is the motto of Vaishnavite drama. Some extraordinary measures are taken to orchestrate the victory of pious characters. This may go against due dramatic justification or mar the natural shifting of the drama. Author of “Natya Shastra” dramatist Bharat Muni says, “A hero should strive for some worthy or noble object in life, and its fulfilment should be the play’s purpose.” But the technical writing of the Vaishnavite drama is plausible. All are not prototypes of Sanskrit.

(Vaishnava dramas are noted for their lyricism. The “slokas” with which the dramas open are an indication, and the lyrics that follow in sequence are an expansion of this thematic ideal. These songs are of three types:

(i) Bhatimas; these songs are philosophical in intent and inspiration.

(ii) Emotive lyrics; the purpose of these lyrics is to evoke an atmosphere and deepen its intensity.

(iii) Payars or narrative songs that describe an incident and thus stimulate the progress of the story.

Quotes from Assamese literature by Hem Baruah.

Notwithstanding devotion, the songs have aesthetic musical undertones that dignify socioliterary value to stimulate people’s mindset. He says clearly, “Apart from creating a climate for religion, which was the principal inspiration behind them, the dramas helped the emergence of cultural legacy, song and dance, dramatic technique and stagecraft, prose, and verse.”

As long as Borgeets are concerned, they remain as divine songs of the two great saints. The Brajawali language of Borgeets is different from “Brajabhasha” of western Uttar Pradesh. But the same name “Braja” may be derived from the sanctified area of Mathura.

DRAMATIC PROSE: There’s no prose in the Assamese language during the pre Sankardeva period. It started in the Ankiya dramas of Sankardeva and Madhavdeva. Although these writings aren’t purely Assamese, they have heralded the first Assamese prose. It is in the same Brajawali language of drama. It has basically a preponderance of Sanskrit language also. But the use of some sort of vernacular sentence or style arises from the character of prose. Later in the second decade of the sixteenth century, Baikuntha Bhatta and Gopal Charan Dwija emerged as prose writers. The “Bhagawat kotha,” “Geeta kotha,”  and “Bhakti Ratnakar” by Gopal Dwija are the first full-fledged Assamese prose. But the language of Bhattadeva is different from that of Sankardeva. The prose of Sankardeva is in Brajawali tune. The literary practice of Sankardeva and Bhattadeva are not for similar purposes. Sankardeva used “Brajawali” as lingua franca for all the masses across languages. But Bhattadeva initiated creativity in Assamese language and literature, especially in prose. But he also couldn’t relinquish the completely metrical rhythm of poetry.

Likewise, the prose of Sankardeva is full of poetic rhythm. The Ankiya actors also deliver the prose dialogues in long tunes or occasional rhymes.

Dr. Maheswar Neog says in brief about the prose of Sankardeva in Asomiya Sahityar Ruprekha:

“Sometimes the  letters are matched in a row with the same suffix form of the verbs. There is also rhyme pressure in some places. Sanskrit has sufficient influence on vocabulary, sentences, and phrases. There is no shortage of long words in the prose of the play. In this cultural atmosphere, there’s occasional signs of the style of homely conversation. However, there is no abundance of homely words in Sankaradeva’s dramatic prose. The use of short sentences has made the language strong. These lines are comparable to the descriptions of Vidyapati Tagore’s ‘Kirtilata’. The wording of this prose is poetic, but it beautifully expresses the various states of love, such as,—union, separation, etc. On the other hand, heroism, war, war of words (such as Sachi-Satyabhama), and the doctrine of devotion are also enlightening.The past has given the language a unique sweetness with its abundance of broken words like Prakrit; the combination of self-containing words of self-devotion generates a unique linguistic sweetness.” 

MADHAVDEVA: There are two pillars of Vaishnavism in Assam. If the first one is Sankardeva, the other one is obviously Madhavdeva. His guru bhatima, “Joy Guru Sankara, Sarva Gunakara,” energetically expresses his mission. Madhavdeva’s literary persona is the finest complement to Sankardeva. It is like the spiritual and ethical flow of one river to other places to get renamed it. 

NAM GHOSHA & RATNAVALI: Madhavdeva’s vigorous and pioneering advocacy of Sankari monotheism excels everyone. His captivating conviction for Vaishnavism prompted him to create two major Vaishnavite jewels—Nam Ghosha and Bhakti Ratnavali. The Vedantic philosophical base of Nam Ghosha imparts messages of grace and knowledge. It is a vibrant conclave of poetry celebrated at the core of Kirtana. The essence is diffused apprehension of reality beyond the intellect. Nam Ghosha contains almost one thousand one (1001) verses. Out of these, approximately four hundred verses are originally from Sanskrit. The transcreation resonates originality for the realisation and linguistic skill of Madhavdeva. The opening lines of Nam Ghosha are written by Vishnupuri Sannyasin in Sanskrit. Madhavdeva rendered it as a fundamental erudite creation. Some quotations of the Bhagawat Purana are considered the main hymns of Nam Ghosha. The other hymns are taken from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, Bhagawat Geeta, and the puranas, namely Padma/Brahma/Skandha/Brahmanda/Bishnu/Bamon/Masya, etc. The verses one each from Bhakti Ratnakar of Sankardeva, Vishnupuri’s Kantimala of Bhakti Ratnavali, and Muh Mudgar of Shankaracharya also have special importance in Ghosha. The verses from the Vaishnavamrit Lohori, Bhagawat Bhavartha Deepika by Sridhar Swamy and Subodhini of Geeta solemnly decorate the Nam Ghosha.

Nam Ghosha is a pure tribute to the Sankari religion and philosophy. The exuberant expression of verses and high spirited rhythmic motion of words are a product of the spiritual whirlpool of the poet’s heart.

The other prominent dimension of the Assamese Bhakti movement, Madhavdeva, is constructed in the name of Bhakti Ratnavali. This is the book that paved the way for popular mobilisation metaphors written related to Ratnavali.  of mass consciousness. Many Assamese metaphors are written related to Ratnavali. The level of devotional belief is so intense, many soldiers embrace in chest during war.The main Bhakti Ratnavali of Vishnupuri Sannyasi was bought from Varanasi by Dwija Kantabhushana of Hajo. It was later presented to Sankardeva. Seeing the importance of discipleship, Madhavdeva entrusted his principal disciple, Madhavdeva, to translate the book. But Madhavdeva started the translation of the book only after two years of Sankardeva’s demise. It was Sondora, the residence of Ram Charan Thakur of Sondora. He has skipped many verses for insulting Hathiyar Doloi, a family member of Sankardeva.

MISCELLANEOUS: Another noteworthy poetry book of Madhavdeva is “Janmya Rahasya.” It’s based on creation and destruction of the world. Madhavdeva describes Sankardeva as the incarnation of Lord Krishna. One of his popular rhythmical songs is “Guru Bhatima,” a verse praising his Guru Sankardeva. Generally, Vaishnavite saints emphasize more importance on Bhagawat Purana. But Nam Mallika of Madhavdeva has equal reference to Purana and other religion-based books: Tantra, Smriti, Sanghita, etc. Therefore, it’s less popular among the Vaishnavas. The works of Madhavdeva are deeply studied of existence and reality. The supremacy of Lord Krishna is portrayed in “Rajasuya Yajna.” The “Adi Kanda” is an Assamese rendering of Valmiki’s Ramayana.

Like Sankardeva, Madhavdeva also writes Ankiya drama. But except for the “Arjuna Bhanjana,” Madhavdeva hasn’t followed the rules of Sankardeva or Sanskrit drama. His dramas are mainly playful Krishna-centric. Even many verses of his dramas are borrowed from the “Sri Krishna Stotra of Saint Vilvamangala. Madhavdeva’s dramas are differentiated from Sankardeva and popularly called Jhumura. The Jhumuras are basically teenager-worthy. 

CONCLUSION: The literature of Sankardeva and Madhavdeva is in the same boat but utilises two oars. The writings of Sankardeva are quite philosophical and transcendental. On the other hand, Madhavdeva mystifies child Krishna into eternal being. Madhavdeva is formally the father of Assamese children’s literature. But Sankardeva and Madhavdeva are more social scientists than litterateurs. Poetry, drama, and spirituality are their impressive social media to accomplish mission. Dramatically, Madhavdeva appeals to the children, especially through child Krishna. The Nam Ghosha of Madhavdeva is like a second updated edition of the Kirtana. The philosophically justified monotheistic devotion of Nam Ghosha is a kind of tribute to Sankardeva.