Principles of Eksarana Naam Dharma/Sankardeva

 Principles of Eksarana Naam Dharma

In15^th-16^thcentury there was lots of changes in people or society reforming. Form traditional religious practice to a new form of practice came forward to unite people and reforming the society.Those practices known as “Bhakti Movements”.In Assam Srimanta Sankardeva started a new creed of faith which is officially known as Ekasarana-Nama-Dharma as a part of Bhakti Movement like other part of India. The greatest name in early Assamese literature is that of Sankaradeva, and he has left his stamp on Assamese literature and culture, on Assamese religion and way of life. He was a poet and saint, religious teacher and social reformer all in one, and his influence on Assamese life and literature.

Srimanta Sankardeva(1449-1569) was a 15^th-16^thcentury Assamese polymath: a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, social-religious reformer and a figure of importance in the cultural and religious history of Assam, India an immensely gifted genius, blessed this pristine land of Assam.with his theological teachings, blended with various colours of social and cultural elements. The new religious doctrin started by Sankardeva known as Ekasarana-Nama-Dharma which preached devotion to a single God(Vishnu or Krishna) who can be worshipped solely by uttering His various names (Namm). Associated with the greater Bhakti movement in other parts of India, it rejected Vedic and other established rites of worship by simplified the form just by uttering the name of the one God.

The main Principles of Eksarana naam dharma is very Unique which is propagated by Srimanta Sankardeva .  “Eka Saran Naam Dharma” this means that the devotees of this order submit themselves to the one and only God and that the name of God is considered as the main instrument of spiritual exercises.

 

Srimanta Sankardeva said that one could cut asunder the binding of Maya by submitting oneself to lord Krishna.He enjoined upon everybody to sing the name and attributes of the one and only God.

Srimant Sankardeva always stressed that devotion to God should be pure and absolute. One should submit oneself only to the supreme entity who is the Lord of all god and goddesses.

Sankardeva maintained bhaktimarga to be the supreme way to realise God. He mentioned in Balichalan that in the bhakti process, a devotee sees God in everything in the world, and finds him revealed in the form of love. Bhakti is the stage of meditation (sadhana) and salvation (mukti) is the goal, yet Sankaradeva recommends that people stay in meditation rather than seeking salvation.

Sankaradeva propagated Eksarana naama dharma as a practical method of bhakti, which consists of chanting the name of the almighty God with undeviating devotion, being pure in heart, thought and action.

Sankardeva renounced that „Nahi Bhakatit jati ajati bichar,hari bhaktit samastare adhikar‟. According to him, one should not have to be from privileged class for reciting Krishna Nama, because everyone can set Krishna nama in his heart and consciousness.

The concept of maya plays an important role in Sankardeva‟s religious philosophy. Maya is the inseparable power of god and is responsible for this manifold universe of world appearance. He describes Maya as a part of God and similarly all living beings are but parts of God.

 “Eka deva, eka seva, eka vine nai keva” i.e. one God, one shelter, there is none but the one, is the moto of Eksarana Naam Dharma.

Sankardeva also announced that “As the branches, leaves and foliage of a tree are nourished when water is poured only at the root of the tree, as the limbs of the body are nourished when food is put only in the stomach, so all gods and goddesses are propitiated by the worship of only Krishna.”

Sankaradeva’s Eka-sarana faith concentrated on the dasya aspect of devotion to God, which conceived of man’s relationship to God as that of a faithful slave to his Master.

The cari vast:-

The cari vastu or the Four Reals (Four Fundamental Elements) defined this religious system. They are:

1.          Guru — reverence of a Guru, or Spiritual Preceptor.
2.          Deva — worship of a single God.
3.           Naam — the chanting and singing the name and the qualities of God.
4.         Bhakat — the association or the congregation of devotees (bhaktas).