- Ekasarana Dharma is a neo-Vaishnavite religion founded in the 15th-16th centuries in the Indian state of Assam by Srimanta Sankardeva.
- It focuses on devotion (bhakti) to Krishna in the form of congregational listening (sravan) and singing his name and deeds rather than vedic ritualism.
- The major sacred text of this religion is the Bhagavat of Sankardeva, which was translated from the Sanskrit Bhagavata Purana by Srimanta Sankardeva and other early Eka Sarana school members.
- The Ekasarana religion emphasized religious practices of bhakti rather than systematically expounding philosophical viewpoints.
- Though Ekasarana recognizes the impersonal (nirguna) god, it recognizes the personal (saguna) one as worshipful.
- Krishna, the supreme entity himself, is the target of adoration in Ekasarana, according to the Bhagavata Purana.
Literary works
- His major literary creations include the ‘Kirtan Ghosa,’ ‘Gunamala,’ and others.
- His holy songs are referred to as ‘Borgeet.’
- His plays are known as ‘Ankia Naat,‘ and Sattriya Dance was a feature of them at the time.
- Srimanta Sankardev adopted the art of tale-telling through drama in the ‘Ankhiya Naats,’ largely illustrating the lives of Lord Krishna and Lord Rama.
- ‘China Jatra’ was his debut dramatic piece. Among his ‘Ankia Naats’ are ‘Kaliya Daman,’ ‘Patni Prasad,’ ‘Keli Gopal,’ ‘Rukmini Haran,’ ‘Parijat Haran,’ and ‘Rambijay.’
- When he started school at the age of twelve, he wrote a poem in praise of Lord Vishnu called ‘Karatala Kamala Kamala Dala Nayana’ without using any vowels because he had only learned consonants up to that point.
Sankardev left an indelible imprint on Assam’s religious and cultural life. Through his teachings, he united various castes and groups of people into a single cultural unit.
He established monasteries in even the most remote villages, bringing Bhakti to the common people.
When all of our nationalist leaders and scholars claim Assam to be an indivisible part of the Indian nation, they rarely mention this great nationalist saint, both during the freedom movement and today.