Damodardev

Damodardev (1488–1598) was sixteenth century Ekasarana preceptor from Nalaca, Nagaon. Damodardev was a follower of Sankardeva's Ekasarana dharma order.[2] He started his own order after the death of Sankardeva that came to be called the Brahmasamhati, which admitted Brahmanical rituals and greater adherence to the caste system alongside the namadharma of Sankardev.[3] He was succeeded by Bhattadeva.[4]

Damodardev
Sri Sri Damordadeva Ata
Sri Sri Damordadeva Ata
BornJanuary 1488
Nalaca, Nagaon[1]
Died1598 (aged 109–110)
Vaikunthapur Sattra
OccupationEkasarana preceptor
LanguageAssamese, Sanskrit
Periodmedieval period

Early life

Damodardev was born in a village called Nalaca in (in present-day Nagaon) in the 1488, the third and youngest son of Sushila and Satananda a Brahmin couple.[5] Nalaca was close to Bordowa than, Sankardev's native place, and Satananda was Sankardev's friend.[6] Damodardev and his family moved from the Ahom territories after Sankardev moved from Dhuwahat to Barpeta in 1546 and settled, after some wandering close to Patbausi, or Chandravatipura[7] near Sankardev's sattra.[8] Damodardev received his education along with his two brothers under Kalpacandra of Navadwip in Bengal, where they studied detailed grammar, derivations and usage of words, four Vedas, fourteen scriptures, Gita, Bhagavata Purana and other religious books.

Time with Sankardev and Sattra

Early biographers of Damodardev are unanimous that he was inspired and influenced by Sankardev in his religious practice and he began proselytising in Barpeta.[9] After meeting Damodar, Sankardev asked him to recite Bhagavata in his Sattra for which Damodar replied "Yours is the land where tree of Bhakti can grow", and this marked the beginning of friendship between them. Sankara requested him to initiate Brahmin disciples. Sankardev also initiated Damodardev to the Mahapurushiya cult.

See also

Notes
  1. (Neog 1980, p. 128)
  2. "(At Patbausi) Damodara was attracted towards Sankara's bhakti movement with its musical charm, and he was soon found joining the Vaishnava Order." (Neog 1980:129)
  3. "This sect admitted brahmanical rites together with general devotional practices and took a rigid view of caste distinction. Some of Brahma satras like the Dakhinpat satra went so far as to administer tantric diksa (initiation)."(Shin 2017:248)
  4. Chaitanya, Bhattacharyya, Narendra Nath (1989). Medieval bhakti movements in India:Śrī Caitanya quincentenary commemoration volume. Munshiram Manoharlal. p. 274.
  5. (Neog 1980:128)
  6. (Neog 1980:128)
  7. Sarma, Anjali (1990). Among the Luminaries in Assam: A Study of Assamese Biography. Mittal Publications. p. 62.
  8. (Neog 1980:128–129)
  9. "Here in Barpeta, the religious life of Damodaradeva began. It has unanimously been admitted by the earlier biographers of Damodaradeva that he was inspired and influenced by that great Kayastha reformer. It was from Sankaradeva that he first received the impetus for adopting the life of a proscelytiser." (Sarma 1966, p. 72)

References
  • Neog, Maheshwar (1980). Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Assam. Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass.
  • Sarma, S N (1966). The Neo-Vaisnavite Movement and the Satra Institution of Assam. Gauhati University.
  • Shin, Jae-Eun (2017), "Transition of Satra from a Venue of Bhakti Movement to the Orthodox Brahmanical Institution", in Ota, Nobuhiro (ed.), Clustering and Connections in Pre-Modern South Asian Society, Tokyo: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, pp. 237–257
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