Damodardev (1488–1598) was sixteenth century

Ekasarana Ekasarana Dharma (literally: ''Shelter-in-One religion'') is a neo-Vaishnavite monolithic religion propagated by Srimanta Sankardeva in the 15th-16th century in the Indian state of Assam. It reduced focus on vedic ritualism and focuses on d ...

preceptor from Nalaca,

Nagaon Nagaon (previously Nowgong; Assamese নগাঁও), is a town and a municipal board in Nagaon district in the Indian state of Assam. It is situated east of Guwahati. History This division was organised on the both banks of Kalang river by ...

. Damodardev was a follower of

Sankardeva Srimanta Sankardev( শ্ৰীমন্ত শংকৰদেৱ )(; ; 1449–1568) was a 15th–16th century Assamese polymath; a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, dancer, actor, musician, artist social-religious reformer and a figure of im ...

Ekasarana dharma Ekasarana Dharma (literally: ''Shelter-in-One religion'') is a neo-Vaishnavite monolithic religion propagated by Srimanta Sankardeva in the 15th-16th century in the Indian state of Assam. It reduced focus on vedic ritualism and focuses on d ...

order. 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 Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

alongside the namadharma of Sankardev. He was succeeded by

Bhattadeva Bhattadeva (1558–1638)( অসমীয়া: বৈকুণ্ঠনাথ ভাগৱত ভট্টাচাৰ্য), (Baikunthanatha Bhagavata Bhattacharya) is acknowledged as the father of Assamese prose. Though ''Bhaktiratnakar-kat ...

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. Nalaca was close to

Bordowa than Batadrava than or bordowa than, bordowa for short is a holy pilgrimage site in Assam. Srimanta Sankardev was born in 1449 in Bordowa. Bordowa than is also a place of childhood, adolescence and career of Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva . The pilgr ...

Sankardev Srimanta Sankardev( শ্ৰীমন্ত শংকৰদেৱ )(; ; 1449–1568) was a 15th–16th century Assamese polymath; a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, dancer, actor, musician, artist social-religious reformer and a figure of im ...

's native place, and Satananda was Sankardev's friend. Damodardev and his family moved from the

Ahom Ahom may refer to: *Ahom people, an ethnic community in Assam * Ahom language, a language associated with the Ahom people *Ahom religion, an ethnic folk religion of Tai-Ahom people *Ahom alphabet, a script used to write the Ahom language * Ahom kin ...

territories after Sankardev moved from Dhuwahat to

Barpeta Barpeta (Pron: bə(r)ˈpeɪtə / bə(r)ˈpi:tə ) is a town in Barpeta district of the state of Assam in India and is district headquarters. The city is located north west of Guwahati and is one of the major cities in Western Assam. It is also ...

in 1546 and settled, after some wandering close to Patbausi, or Chandravatipura near Sankardev's ''sattra''. 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

Veda FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Co ...

s, fourteen scriptures,

Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' ( ...

Bhagavata Purana The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in Sa ...

and other religious books.

Time with Sankardev and Sattra

Early biographers of Damodardev are unanimous that he was inspired and influenced by

in his religious practice and he began proselytising in Barpeta."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." 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.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Damodardev 16th-century Hindu religious leaders 16th-century Indian scholars 1483 births 1598 deaths Ekasarana Dharma People from Nagaon district Scholars from Assam

Early life

Time with Sankardev and Sattra

See also

Notes

References