Srimanta SankardevThe name is spelt variously as Sankardev, Sankardeva and Sankaradeva. Further discussion may be seen at relevant talk page. (, ; 1449 or 1483–1568; birth year disputedThe date 1449 is derived from later hagiographical traditions rather than contemporary sources. Early accounts record only the death of Sankardev, and the birth year appears to have been fixed in the 18th century. Baniprasanna Misra has argued that the traditional chronology contains inconsistencies and cumulative errors, proposing instead that Sankardev was likely born between 1479 and 1484 CE. ; Śaṅkaradeva) was a 15th–16th century Assamese Kayastha polymath; a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, dancer, actor, musician, artist social-religious reformer and a figure of importance in the cultural and religious history of the Bhakti movement in Assam. He is credited with building on past cultural relics and devising new forms of music (Borgeet), theatrical performance (Ankia Naat, Bhaona), dance (Sattriya), literary language (Brajavali). Besides, he has left a literary oeuvre of trans-created scriptures (Bhagavat of Sankardev), poetry and theological works written in Sanskrit, Assamese and Brajavali. The Bhagavatic religious movement he started, Ekasarana Dharma and also called Neo-Vaishnavite movement, influenced two medieval kingdoms – Koch and the Ahom kingdom – and the assembly of devotees he initiated evolved over time into monastic centers called Sattras, which continue to be important socio-religious institutions in Assam and to a lesser extent in North Bengal.
His literary and artistic contributions are living traditions in Assam today. The religion he preached is practised by a large population, and Sattras (monasteries) that he and his followers established continue to flourish and sustain his legacy.
After the death of Sankardev, Madhavdev incorporated narrations of his life in prayer services, a practice that his disciples followed, and in due course of time, a large body of biographical literature arose. These are generally classed in two groups: early (those by Daityari Thakur, Bhusan Dwija, Ramananda Dwija and Vaikuntha Dwija) and late (Guruvarnana by Aniruddha Das, the more than one anonymous Katha-guru-carits, Bardowa-carit, Sankardev caritra from Barpeta, the Saru-svarga-khanda and Bar-svarga-khanda by Sarvabhauma). The authorship of the biography credited to Ramcaran Thakur, Daityari Thakur's father, is doubted, and it is generally dated to the 17th century and classed with the late biographies.
In general, all biographies consider Sankardev as an incarnation of Vishnu, including that by Daityari Thakur, the earliest. The late biographies differ from the early group on the count that they ascribe supernatural feats to Sankardev, and describe miraculous events; and there is a tendency to read some events of the Bhagavata into his life. The biographies are full of contradictions; even though the earlier ones are considered more accurate, not all that they claim is true. Daityari Thakur's biography, the earliest one, claims Sankardev met with Chaitanya, which is now not accepted to be true.
Biography
Early life: Bordowa
Sankardev, then named Sankaravara, was born into the Shiromani (chief) Baro-Bhuyans family at Bordowa (Alipukhuri, Tembuani) in present-day Nagaon district in c. 1449The traditional date of Sankardev's birth, generally considered correct, is in the month of Ashwin-Kartika (October) 1449 or c. 1483.Some historians have proposed a later birth date around 1479–1484. Though 1449 is generally accepted in traditional accounts, more recent scholarship has questioned this date, noting that it is not attested in early contemporary sources and appears to have been fixed in later biographical traditions; Baniprasanna Misra has proposed a revised birth period between 1479 and 1484 CE. The Baro-Bhuyans were independent landlords in Assam, and Srimanta Sankardev belonged to the Kayastha caste and was born into a prominent Shiromani Bhuyan (landed gentry) family in 1449 at Alipukhuri near Bordowa in present-day Nagaon district, Assam. His family members, including parents Kusumvar Bhuyan and Satyasandhya Devi, were Saktas. Sankardev lost his father to smallpox when he was about 7 years old, and his mother died either soon after his birth, or soon after his father's death; and he was raised by his grandmother Khersuti.
He began attending Mahendra Kandali's tol or chatrasaal (school) at the age of 12 and soon wrote his first verses karatala . The complete poem was written before he was taught the vowels, except, of course, the first one, and is often cited as an example of the early flowering of his poetic genius. He stayed at the tol during his teens, and studied grammar and Indian scriptures. He practised yoga (which he gave up later) and was physically very able, and according to legend, he could swim across the Brahmaputra while it was in spate. It is generally believed that he wrote his first work, Harishchandra upakhyan, while at the tol. Mahendra Kandali changed his name to 'Sankardev' while he was at school.
Date of Birth Uncertainty
The traditional date of birth of Srimanta Sankardev (1449 CE) is generally derived from later hagiographical traditions and is not explicitly attested in contemporary sources. Early biographical accounts from the 17th century record only the date of his death, while the year 1449 appears to have been fixed in the 18th century through sectarian and devotional literature. The increasing elaboration of guru biographies in this period, often incorporating supernatural elements and claims of divine status, has been associated with the consolidation of a fixed chronology.
Modern historians have questioned the reliability of this date, noting inconsistencies in the chronological reconstruction of his life and the use of unverifiable or late Sanskrit sources in later traditions. It has also been observed that important events described in the biographical narratives, such as Sankardev’s pilgrimages and major phases of his religious activity, are difficult to reconcile within the conventional framework without compression or omission of time spans.
Baniprasanna Misra argues that the conventional lifespan of approximately 120 years results from cumulative and possibly double-counted durations in the biographical accounts, particularly in the estimation of time spent in different phases of his early life and travels. He further notes that Sankardev’s own writings suggest a more typical human lifespan and do not support the idea of an unusually prolonged active life extending well beyond a century. On this basis, Misra proposes a revised birth period between 1479 and 1484 CE, with a date around 1483 considered plausible.
However, the traditional date of 1449 continues to be widely cited in standard biographies and popular accounts.
Bhuyan shiromaniship Sankardev soon mastered the major scriptures and thereafter left the tol in his late teens (c1465) to attend to his responsibilities as the Shiromani Bhuyan. He came to be known as the Dekagiri among his subjects and admirers. As Alipukhuri had become crowded, he moved his household from Alipukhuri to Bordowa. He married his first wife, Suryavati when he was in his early 20s and a daughter, Manu, was born about three years later, but his wife died about nine months after that.
First pilgrimage It is possible that the death of his wife increased his already existing spiritual inclination, and he left for a twelve-year-long pilgrimage, sometime after his daughter was married to Hari, a Bhuyan scion. He handed over the maintenance of his household to his son-in-law Hari; the Bhuyan Shiromaniship to his grand uncles Jayanta and Madhav; and began his journey in 1481. He was accompanied by seventeen others, including his friend and associate Ramaram and his teacher Mahendra Kandali. At this point of time, he was 32. The pilgrimage took him to Puri, Mathura, Dwaraka, Vrindavan, Gaya, Rameswaram, Ayodhya, Sitakunda and almost all the other major seats of the Vaishnavite religion in India. He seems to have spent many years at Jagannath-kshetra at Puri, where he read and explained the Brahma Purana to the priests and lay people. At Badrikashram in 1488, he composed his first borgeet—mana meri ram charanahi lagu—in Brajavali. According to Katha Gurucharit, the first Borgeet was "Rama meri hridaya pankaje baise" and he composed it in 1481 at the very outset of the pilgrimage at a place called Rowmari. He returned home to Alipukhuri after 12 years (his family had moved back from Bordowa in his absence). During his pilgrimage, he became a part of a pan-Indian Bhakti movement and helped it blossom.
Shiromaniship refusal On his return from his pilgrimage (c1493), Sankardev refused to take back the Shiromaniship, though on the insistence of his elders, he took responsibility of a hundred families (gomastha), but he soon handed over the responsibility to his son-in-law Hari. On his grandmother's insistence, he married Kalindi at the age of 54. Finally, he moved back to Bordowa and constructed a temple (devagriha) in c1498,After five years, Sankara had a temple built for him a little away from the abode of householder" possibly a thatched house, built on the original site of his father's house where he could meet with people, discuss religious matters and hold prayers, and preach. He wrote Bhakti pradipa and Rukmini harana. Soon after, he received a copy of the Bhagavata Purana from Jagadisa Mishra of Mithila, with Sridhara Swami's monistic commentary "Bhavartha-dipika". Mishra recited and explained the entire Bhagavata in the presence of Sankardev, and this event is considered critical in the development of Ekasarana. Datyari, an early biographer of Sankardev, writes: Sankardev listened with rapt attention to the exposition by Jagadish Mishra and realised that the Bhagavata was a scripture without parallel, a scripture that determined Krishna as the only God, naam as the real dharma, and aikantika-sarana and sat-sanga as the indispensable elements of the faith." He also began composing the Kirtana ghosha.
Cihna-yatra After his exposure to the detailed Bhagavata Purana and Sridhara Swami's commentary Bhavartha-dipika, Sankardev produced a dance-drama called Cihna yatra, for which he painted the Sapta vaikuntha (seven heavens), guided the making of musical instruments and played the instruments himself.The early biographers are silent on Cihna-yatra. Katha-guru-carita and Borduwa-carita, both late biographies, say Cihna-yatra was performed after Sankardev's first pilgrimage; only Ramcaran says Sankardev arranged it when he was 19 years old, which is unlikely according to Maheswar Neog. But Bhuban Chandra Bhuyan, Dr. Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti etc. have opined that Cihna yatra was enacted before the pilgrimage, to be precise in 1468 AD. According to other biographers, Sankardev produced Maha-nata in the presence of Jagdish Mishra in the temple he had constructed at Alipukhuri.
According to Neog, this was the point when Sankardev decided to preach a new religion. Some of the first to be initiated into this religion were the wife of Jayanta-dalai, a leper named Hariram (later Tulasiram), Ramaram, his associate and Mahendra Kandali, his tol teacher. The 13 years at Alipukhuri were the period during which he reflected on Vaishnavism and on the form that would suit the spiritual and ethical needs of the people. Ananta Kandali, a profound scholar of Sanskrit, became his disciple during this time; he translated the latter part of Canto X of the Bhagavata Purana after consulting Sankardev.