Ramblings on Gauranga and Bhakti Yoga: Gauranga in texts from Assam

The Vaishnava saint Shri Shankardev

Shri Shankardev

At the time of Gauranga’s manifest lila, there was a great Vaishnava named Shankardev who was promoting Krishna Bhakti in the region of Assam. Shankardev was said to have been born in 1449 (or 1463 by some) and live until 1568 and Gaurahari appeared in 1486 and merged into Jagannath in 1534, therefore they were present at the same time and both propagating the path of Krishna Bhakti. Shankardev also accepted the Bhagavatam and the 9 fold process of bhakti (Navadha Bhakti) but there was no place for Radha in his schema of worship and he rather stressed the sole worship of Krishna in the mood of a servant (dasya bhava). His rejection or downplaying of Radha and the gopis in this regard may have been due to his rejection of the erotic vulgarities of the Assamese Sakta cult which he regarded as degraded in his time. He perhaps did not want people to misunderstand the love of Krishna and the gopis to be on this type of degraded level and therefore may have deemphasised it. His path is known as Ekasharan Dharma (the path of one pointed surrender). Shankardev and his followers established many beautiful temples called Satras (monasteries) and congregational meeting places called namghars (prayer houses). These are mainly seen in the region of Assam but there are namghars in other places such as Jagannath Puri too. There are other interesting things worth knowing regarding Shankardev’s movement and devotion and interested readers may research these for themselves lest we digress from the point of this article.

Throughout the Chaitanya Vaishnava literature, there seems to be only 2 personalities referred to as Shankar. Firstly we have the young brother of Damodar Pandit.

“Seeing Shankar, Prabhu (Chaitanya) turned to Damodar Pandit and said, "My love for you is mixed with reverence, whereas I love Shankar with all my heart. For this reason I am putting him under your care."
(Chaitanya Charitamrita 2.11.146-7)

Damodar answered, "Shankar is younger than me, but from this day on, by your grace, I will treat him as my elder." During Mahaprabhu’s later pastimes, Shankar stayed in his direct association and slept in the same room. The Lord would even sleep sometimes with his feet resting on Shankar’s body, as a result of which he received the nickname prabhu-padopadhana - "Mahaprabhu’s foot pillow".

This Shankara is definitely not the Assamese Shankardev. However, there is a possible reference to Shankardev of Assam in Narahari Chakravarti’s Bhakti Ratnakar.

advaitacharyera shaakha shankar namete

gyaanpakshe taar nishta hoila valo mate

advaita shankar prati kahe baar baar

manorath siddhi mui koilu ei prakaar

chaar chaar ore pagal nashta hoila

teho na chaare tare advaita tyaag koila

Shankar is a branch of Advaita Acharya

Who firmly holds onto the path of knowledge (gyaanpakshe)

Advaita Acharya had told Shankar again and again the path

Of his own spiritual fulfilment

Advaita advised him to give up his crazy ways

But Shankar is firm and hence Advaita renounces him (advaita tyaag koila)

Here Shankar is portrayed as a strong follower of Gyaan (Jnana), the path of knowledge. I can not say how much Shankardev tread on the path of knowledge but he did stress worshipping Krishna in the mood of a servant (dasya bhava) and it is mentioned by Dr Jibendranath Siddhanta that Shankardev worshipped Krishna with a tinge of the knowledge (Jnana) element. Shankardev’s Kirtan Ghosh begins with “Pay respects to the primeval Brahman, the first cause of all incarnations, Shri Narayan”.

In other works, Shankardev is also described as a rather grave and calm bhakta. We can not say conclusively whether this passage refers to Shankardev of Assam but it is certainly something to be considered.

The Mahapurushias and Bamunias

Shankardev had 2 leading disciples, Madhava and Damodar. The followers of Madhava are known as Mahapurushias and the followers of Damodar are called Bamunias. These two names identify the 2 communities.

The Mahapurushias do not have any special affection for Gauranga and he doesn’t appear in any of the works by Shankardev or Madhava specifically.

The followers of Damodar however, do mention Shri Chaitanya in their works and even consider him as an incarnation.

Mention of Gauranga in the Ekasharan Dharma’s books

A book named “Gurulila” written by Damodar’s disciple Ramakanta Dvija mentions an encounter between Shri Gauranga and Shankardev. On page no 4 of the printed edition, there is an illustration of Shri Gauranga seated in the picture with his face turned left (away from) whilst Shankar, Damodar, Madhava, Gopal, Baladev, Paramananda, Banamali and Mishra gaze at him with their full concentration (according to the Rangpur Sahitya Parishat Patrika magazine). This painting certainly seems to depict Shri Gauranga in a much higher position spiritually and as an object of reverence and fascination for the other Vaishnava saints of the Ekasharan Dharma. The same interpretation of the painting is also suggested in Biman Behari Majumdar’s “Lord Chaitanya, A biographical critique”.

Another one of Damodar’s disciples named Krishna Bharati also mentions different details of Shri Gauranga’s lila in his book “Santanirnaya”.

Other books such as Santabanghabali, Narsimha Kritya and Dipikachanda also mention Shri Chaitanya but the authenticity of these three works would require a longer discussion than necessary. I have just mentioned them for completeness.

Shankardev’s encounter with Shri Chaitanya

Three old books of the Mahapurushia (Madhava’s line) speak of an encounter between Shri Chaitanya and Shankar when Shankar visited Jagannath Puri for the second time. They did not speak to each other however. One Ramcharan Thakur has written in his book “Shankar Charit”

duiko dui muhurtek chaahi acchilanta

sambhashan na karia chalia goilanta

Each gazed at one another but speaking no words, the two greats departed

Bhushan Dwijkavi also mentions the speechless meeting of Shankardev with Gauranga.

Bejbarua in his book “Shankardev” adds some more detail to their meeting and adds several Sanskrit lines of rhyme whilst portraying that Shri Chaitanya and Shankardev had tears in their eyes for each other. - (Shankardev 578 – 579 Payar)

Bejbarua quotes a passage from another book named “Gurucharitra” by Bardoba which refers to a meeting between Shri Chaitanya and Shankar and also a discussion with Nityananda Prabhu.

Shri Chaitanya and Shankardev were supposedly witnessing a dance performed by a devadasi for the pleasure of Lord Jagannath. Shankar then discusses the subject of Jagannathdeva’s mercy with Shri Chaitanya. Thereafter Shankar gazed at Shri Chaitanya for some time and praised him profusely as a divine power.

Nityananda Prabhu also had a witty conversation with one of Shankar’s disciples and asked him two questions regarding the relationship of a disciple’s attitude towards his Guru.

Nityananda Prabhu was largely preaching in Bengal during this time and Shri Chatanya’s attendance of a dance show seems somewhat odd. Shri Chaitanya did spent a lot of time in Puri absorbed internally tasting Radha Bhava but we do know that he did spend time during the day performing other activities; therefore we can not rule it out completely.

Unlikely stories from Krishna Bharati’s “Santanirnaya”

There is a strange story wherein Shri Chaitanya allegedly refuses to meet a shudra and also a story in which Shri Chaitanya instructs Shankardev to write his regional variant of the Bhagavatam. Both of these seem untrue. As we know, Shri Chaitanya did not care for a person’s caste, if he did indeed refuse to meet the shudra, it would have been for another reason and not merely due to his birth in a shudra family, that we can say for certain. Premananda Das Thakur captures this truth in his pada whilst narrating the drama of Gauranga’s divine play on Earth “Gauranga Bina Nahi Aar” (There’s no one like Gauranga) very eloquently

hasiya kadiya, preme gadagadi,

pulake vyapila anga

candale-brahmane, kare kolakuli,

kabe va chila e ranga

Laughing and weeping, their voices choked with love and their hairs standing on end, even the candalas (untouchables/of lower birth) and brahmanas embrace one another [being freed from all material designations]. When has such a drama ever been seen before?”

It is also deemed doubtful by those such as Dr Biman Behari Majumdar that Shri Chaitanya ever instructed Shankardev to write an Assamese version of the Shrimad Bhagavat. For had this been true, Shankardev would have surely emphasised the worship of Radha. On one hand, this seems like a good reason to doubt the authenticity of the account but we must also remember that Shri Chaitanya had members of the Pancha Sakha school as followers in Jagannath Puri and their ideas are different to Rupa Goswami’s school of Vaishnava Dharma and what Shri Chaitanya himself advocated and practised.

Shrimad Bhagavatam decorated manuscript

Shri Chaitanya’s alleged tour to Assam

Map of India, Assam highlighted in red

In a book named “Santabangshabali” there is some account of Gauranga’s tour of Assam, but the year of the tour is not mentioned. In both “Santabangshabali” and the aforementioned “Santanirnaya” there is reference to Gauranga giving mercy to a person named Ratneshwar, giving of advice to Kantabhushan to study the Bhagavatam and mercy given to Kanthahar Kandali. It also mentions that Shri Chaitanya gave initiation to a devotee named Kavishekhara Brahma.

In a Sanskrit book named “Shri Krishna Chaitanya Doyabali” by one Pradymuna Mishra, it speaks of Gauranga going to Shrihatta (modern day Sylhet in Bangladesh) right after he took the vows of Sanyasa. However those who had witnessed him at Shantipur after his taking of Sanyasa spoke of his going directly to Nilachal Puri instead.

One writer Achyuta Tattvanidhi believes in the Shrihatta hypothesis but clarifies in his own book “Chaitanyera Purvanchal Parivraman” that Shri Chaitanya visited Shrihatta as a professor and made a copy of the Chandi in his own handwriting. This is however, before he took Sanyasa.

Regarding the visit to Assam, Dr Majumdar is himself sure that Shri Chaitanya visited Assam whilst going to Orissa since the details of his travel when leaving Benaras and reaching Puri are unknown.

It is possible that during that middle period, he visited Assam as it is difficult to dismiss so many accounts of Gauranga being present in Assam, if even he was there for a short period only.

A verse strikingly familiar to that attributed to Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

There is a Sanskrit verse attributed to Shri Chaitanya that most of you are probably familiar with

naham vipro na ca nara-patir napi vaishyo na shudro

naham varni na ca griha-patir no vanastho yatir va

kintu prodyan-nikhila-paramananda-purnamritabdher

gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah

I am not a brahmana, I am not a kshatriya, I am not a vaishya or a shudra. Nor am I a brahmacari, a householder, a vanapratha or a sannyasi. Krishna is like an ocean of nectar, and he is the cause of universal transcendental bliss. He is always existing with brilliance. I identify myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Shri Krishna, the maintainer of the gopis.

Now this verse appears in both Chaitanya Charitamrita Madhya 13.80 and Rupa Goswami’s Padyavali

In the book edition of “Kirtan Ghosha Aru Nama Ghosha” which is a 2 in 1 version of the respective books of Shankardev and his disciple Madhava we practically find a translation of Mahaprabhu’s Sanskrit verse

Noho jana ami cari jati caruia ashram noho ati

Noho dharmasila daan brat tirtha gami

Kintu purnananda samudrar gopi varta pada kamalar

Dasar das tan das bhailo ami

I do not consider myself as part of the 4 jatis (like varnas), nor am I linked to any of the ashrams. I’m not interested in pilgrimage, charity, fasting or anything like that.

Krishna is like an ocean of nectar, and he is the cause of universal transcendental bliss. He is always existing with brilliance. I identify myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Shri Krishna, the maintainer of the gopis. - Page 824, verse 670 of Kirtan Ghosha and Nama Ghosha.

A.N. Chaterjee in his “SriKrsnaCaitanya: A historical study on Gaudiya Vaisnavism” says

“Thus in many respects, the Vaisnava movement led by Sankaradeva in Assam was similar to that initiated and shaped by Caitanya in Bengal and Orissa earlier. A study of the Vaisnava movement of Assam amply substantiates that Sankaradeva had drawn inspiration, mainly from Caitanya. The Vaisnava movement of Assam and its social impact can thus be taken as an extension of the Caitanya movement.” – on page 177

It is hard for me to say without further research exactly how true A.N Chaterjee’s statement really is. Shankardev seems to have begun his Vaishnava revolution some time before Gauranga begun his sankirtan pastimes. Of course, the spread and success of Gauranga’s prema dharma is many times more over than that thus far achieved by Shankardev’s movement but exactly to what extent Shankardev was influenced is not easy to say.

If we are to believe some or all of the accounts of Shankardev’s meeting with Shri Chaitanya, then there may indeed be some truth to A.N. Chaterjee’s statement.

Furthermore a detailed study of Shankardev’s life and chronological events would help better determine whether Gauranga really influenced Shankardev’s movement. He may have changed the course and activities of his preaching after hearing news of the revolution that Gauranga was igniting in Bengal and Orissa respectively, but I can not say much more on the matter without due research.

A.N. Chaterjee’s statement can however be further strengthened by the level of reverence that both the books of the aforementioned Mahapurushias of Madhava and Bamunias of Damodar give to Shri Chaitanya. These references could then imply a powerful influence on their movement and activities.

The saint Kabeer and Shri Chaitanya

Art depicting Kabir

In the Assamese text “Shankar Charit” written by Ramcharan Thakur, there is an account that describes Gauranga’s presence during the funeral of the saint Kabeer whom Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs all revere alike and whose songs are included also within the Sikh Scripture, “Guru Granth Sahib”.

According to the text, Shri Chaitanya took hold of Kabeer’s lifeless body in order to float it on the river Ganga. Kabeer had both Hindu and Muslim disciples and each group insisted on their own funeral rites being performed for their spiritual master. Floating the body downstream was sort of a midway agreement between both groups instead of burning or burying it although one would think that they could have put it into Samadhi or a tomb, which is practically a burial ceremony and should have been acceptable to all of the disciples. However, this is what some of the scholars say regarding the floating of the body.

The King is then said to have wondered how Shri Chaitanya could carry the lifeless body of a non-Brahmin. Shri Chaitanya then espoused how one’s spiritual prowess is important and not the caste to which one is born into. The King was most satisfied by Shri Chaitanya’s philosophy. The Sanskrit verses of Shri Chaitanya’s explanation are preserved by the Asiatic Society but it’s not known for certain whether these were actually uttered by him. Dr Majumdar himself does believe that the report regarding Shri Chaitanya’s presence during Kabeer’s funeral is possible.

Mentions of Rupa and Sanatan Goswamis in the Ekasharan Dharma books

Ramcharan Thakur has also mentioned Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami in his book “Shankar Charit”. It is mentioned that Shankardev met both Rupa and Sanatan Goswamis when he went for his first pilgrimage. He had set off from Jagannath Puri and travelled for 75 days when he happened to run across the two Goswami brothers. Both of the Goswamis carried musical instruments in their hands and Rupa is meant to have allegedly referred to Shankardev as the Lord of the world who had now disguised himself. Rupa also requested Shankardev to help free him (possibly from his royal duties).

As a sequel to their encounter, there is a rather strange account wherein the two brothers renounce their previous lives and set out for a life of austerity and worship. Shankardev kindly allows Rupa Goswami’s wife to follow her husband as they set out and there is mention of the two brothers accompanying Shankardev to Sitakunda.

Doubt regarding the authorship and date of Ramcharan Thakura’s biography

It should be mentioned that the authorship of the biography credited to Ramcharan Thakur, Daityari Thakur's father, is doubted and it is generally dated to the 17th-century and classed with the late biographies. This is mentioned in the book “Early History of the Vaiṣṇava Faith and Movement in Assam: Sankaradeva and his times” by Maheswar Neog.

In Bhushan’s early biography of Shankardev, there is also a mention of our two Goswami brothers but it is only in the form of a description given to Shankardev about the two brothers by a monk at Aligar.

As we know from the Goswamis writings and by the detailed accounts given in the Gaudiya Vaishnava literature, the Goswamis worshipped Shri Chaitanya and they have not mentioned Shankardev anywhere. What seems more likely is that the fame of Rupa and Sanatan Goswamis had spread wide and far and because of this, the late class of biography credited to Ramcharan Thakur has included an episode wherein Rupa Goswami specifically lavishes praise and confirms the divinity of Shankardev. The motive therefore becomes clearer. The confirmation of Shankardev’s divinity by the famed Goswami brothers would surely be advantageous if believed.

Final words

It is most wonderful that at such a crucial point in the Medieval history of India, three (in particular) luminaries arose to promote Krishna Bhakti. These three contemporaneous personalities were no other than Shri Shankardev, Shri Vallabha Acharya (Pushti Marga) and of course our very own Shri Gauranga, Madhuryamoy Krishna himself.

What is interesting to note is that Shankardev focused on Assam, Vallabha Acharya in Gujarat and Rajashtan and Shri Chaitanya in Bengal and Orissa. It could be asserted that this was no coincidence and all due to the desire of Shri Chaitanya/Krishna. Whatever the case, may my heart always honour the Vaishnavas and may they all bless me “Sabe mili koro doya” to increase on the path of Bhakti. Joy Gadhai Gaura!

Notable References:

A.N Chatterjee’s “SriKrsnaCaitanya: A Historical study on Gaudiya Vaisnavism”

Biman Behari Majumdar’s “Lord Chaitanya, A Biographical Critique”

Maheswar Neog’s “Early History of the Vaiṣṇava Faith and Movement in Assam: Sankaradeva and his times”