 FURTHER
PROOFS OF ADMISSION OF SANKARDEW'S SCHOLARSHIP There are several specific
examples to show that Sankardew's so-called pilgrimage was
in fact a tour of universal conquest by scholarship. Sarvabhauma
Bhattacarya, a great contemporary and discipline of Sankardew,
in his colophon of Svarga Khanda Padma Puran records:
"Brahmanar karunyaka sunia Sankar:
Manata harise pache dilanta uttar. 2174.
Kali arambhiba Maha grantha Bhagawat:
Git pad kari mai achoho purvat. 2176.
Etahante bhaktasawa asia milila:
Dewa-grhe pasi maha nat arambhila.2177.
Jisawa arthaka kahe Gita Bhagawate:
Sawe artha byakta huya achaya gitate. 2178.
Anantare nama dharilanta bhaktagane:
Amrta barise yena Brahmanara mane. 2179.
Prathama skandhara para dvadas paryanta:
Padhilanta Vipre byakhya kari Bhagawata. 2181
Parama harisa mane padhe Viprabar:
Dosana siddhanta denta apuni Sankar.
Maha grantha Bhagawata tattvaka bicari:
Sankare kariche pad maha yatna kari. 2182.
Jagannatha ajna Vipre kari sirogot:
Padhila harise bahra skandha Bhagawat.
Daivaki Nandane Sankaraka amsa mani:
Pathailanta Vipraka sunila sawe prani. 2183."
'Sankardew, having
heard the entreaties of the Brahmana, now made reply with
joy in mind: 'Do start ( reading ) the great work of Bhagawat
tomorrow. I have made songs and verses (of it) long before.'
Meanwhile the devotees came and gathered, (and) entering the
temple, started the great drama (of God's glory). Purports
of Gita and the Bhagawat are all revealed in the songs themselves.
Then the devotees began singing the name of God (and) it appears
in the mind of the Brahmana as showering of nectar. From Canto
i till Canto xii, the Brahmanas read making interpretations
of the Bhagawata. The Vipra use to read with a mind full of
joy (and) Sankara himself offered correction and findings.
Having searched the truth of the great Bhagawat, Sankara (-dew)
already made verses with extreme care. By taking command of
Jagannath on his head, the Brahman gladly read the twelve
Cantos of the Bhagawat. The son of Daivaki, admitting Sankar(-dew)
as a part of Himself, dispatched the Brahman (and) all people
have heard (him read the Bhagawat).'
Besides the gists,
as in like the Kisttan, Sankardew rendered about eight books
of the Bhagawat including the last four. He also rendered
the Ramayan Uttar Kanda. But none of these renderings were
entire translations, literal or word for word. Snakardew picked
up only such things from them as were found suitable for his
aims and objectives.
This proves his vast
erudition and original judgement. Besides the Bhagawat Sankardew
used all important Puranas for his purpose and utilized them
one with the other, and non exclusively. His Hariscandra Upakhyan,
one of the earliest and extremely popular epic, was taken
mainly from the Markandewa Purana, as hi Uddhwa Sambad was
from the Bhagawat in main. His Rukmini Haran Kabya also early
and highly populer, was mainly from the Harivamsa, but Bhagawat
was also brought in as he himself informs us at the outset:
"Eke Harivamsa katha amrt saksat:
Aro Bhagawata katha misra dilo tat.
Duyo katha padabandhe karicho milai:
Yena madhu misra dugdhe ati svad pay". 5.
'Harivamsa by itself
is nectar sure. And I have mixed matter of Bhagawat in it.
I have made the verses by mixing the two, as milk becomes
more tasteful when mixed with honey.' His Bhakti Pradip is
taken from Garuda Puran for preaching his faith. His Anadi
Patan tells its own story:
"Maha Bhagawat pad amrt saksat:
Baman Puran kichu misra dilo tat.
Dui katha nivandhilo ekatre misale:
Madhu same dugdha yena ati svad bole." 6.
'The verse of the
great Bhagawat is nectar itself. I have mixed a little of
Baman Puran. I have utilized both of them in a mixture; for
milk mixed with honey is considered very tasteful.'
Any one who would dub Sankardew as 'a mere translator' should
take a note of the above mentioned facts and yet another.
Ramananda, an early biographer of Sankardew, makes a categorical
statement about Bhagawat, by saying:
"Tini skandha cai / bicaria pay
/ ek skandhe sehi katha:
Bacak-bania / sadagere yen /ek thai kari tatha." 3417.
'What is to be found
by searching as many as three skandhas (of the Bhagawat) has
been put in one skandha (by Sankardew), just as the most skilful
merchant would gather (the selected gems) together.' Thus
it is that though Sankardew's Anadi Patan, complete in 300
verse, originally belongs to the Book Three of the Bhagawat,
different poems of it ends with such lines in prose: "Iti
Sri Bhagawata Maha Purana Caturtha Skandha prathama (dvitiuyah,
trtiyah aru Chaturthah) adhyayah."
Sanakardew rendered
the first part of Book Six of the Bhagawat Brhat Ajamil Upakhyan,
and gave a gist of the Book Eight of the bhagawat as Bali
Chalan in 616 verses. But he has re-inforced it with Bamana
Purana:
"Maha Bhagawat katha suna sarva
jan:
Astam skandhar sar Balik Chalan. 4.
Bhagawat katha ito amrt saksat:
Baman Puran kichu misra dilo tat.
Duyo katha nivandhilo kari ek thai:
Yen mahdu misra dugdha svad badhi yay." 5.
Nimi Nawa Siddha Sambad, complete in
427 verses, is a similar rendering of the Bhagawat Book Eleven.
His Kirttan-Ghosa is really a Kavya-Kos consisting of about
30 epics, big and small. It is an original work with matters
related from the Bhagawat and other Puranas.
Sankardew leaves behind
the legacy of a vast and great literature himself besides
that of Madhawdew and a galaxy of other Mahapurusiya writers,
the like of which is not to be found anywhere else. Over the
above his contribution to Indian philosophy and literature
in general, his making of first prose and first drama in a
modern Indian language with the invention of the first stage
long before it was done even in England, his songs in general
and Bargits in particular, are really a contribution to the
Indian music of modern times, hardly paralleled by other Vaisnavite
singers of India. Even allowing that there may be other great
poets, great playwrights, great reformers, social and religious,
and anything else that Sankardew had been, it will certainly
be difficult to find another great personality in history
who had been great in every field of culture and whose influence
on literature and society continues unabated for half a millennium
years, so potent and so strong. So we may still join Madhawdew
in his right praise of sankardew's virtues which he correctly
assessed more than four hundred years ago:
"Jaya Guru Sankara / sarva-gunakara
/ yakeri nahi upam:
Tohari caranaka / renu satakoti / bareka karoho pranam.
Darasita sundara / gaura kalewara / jaichana sura parakas:
Sakala sabhasada / ranjana yakeri / darasane papa binas.
Bina anga-bhusana / pekhi susobhana / gahina gambhira dhirmati:
Ayata kamala / nayana bara sundara / bayana candakohu jyoti.
Tribhubana bandana / Daivaki nandana / yo Hari marala Kamsa:
Jagajana tarana / Dewa Narayana / Sankara takeri amsa.
Maya nara-tanu / dhari Hari-bhakati / kayali bahu paracar:
Sava nara papa / payodhi majjala / tahe kayali uddhar.
Ava nisa cari / Veda bicari / bekata karu Hari-nam:
Yakeri bayane / milai gai / pay manoratha kam.
Pandita mani / Veda byakhani / garaba kayali sava cur:
Gita-kavitva guna / Sankara Dewara / kiriti gayu bahu dur.
Sri yasa dana / mana bhuta daya / sava guna sampanna thika:
Bhakataka bhakati / dane karu guru / daya tanaya adhika.
Nija kula tari / bhakati bistari / bandhala Hari-guna setu:
Kali yuge papa / payodhita sava nara / tarana karana hetu.
Bhakati bhandara / dvara sava chudi / mukuti kayali udas:
Eka Sarana Hari / Nama-Dharamakahu / raja karu parakas.
Ki kahaba sankara / Dewara mahima / jani anta napay:
Yakeri caranaka / renu sire parasi /mukuti-sukha sukhe pay."
'Glory of Guru Sankar(-dew), the mine
of all virtues, who bears no comparison. I bow down a hundred
crores of times at the dust of his lotus feet. Majestic to
look at, he is with a body reddish white, as though the Sun-god
has emerged into view. The attraction is he of a whole assemblage,
at whose sight sins are destroyed. He looks so attractive
even without any ornament; grave; majestic; sober. His eyes
are very beautiful like lotuses in bloom; his face sheds the
luster of the moon…Sankar(-dew) is the counterpart of the
God Narayana who came for deliverance of the people on earth,
worshipped by the three worlds, son of Daivaki, the killer
of Kamsa. He assumed a false human body to have spread devotion
to God, so vast. All people immerged in the seas of sins (and)
he has rescued them. He has searched the four Vedas thoroughly
and have found out (the gem of) God's name (for purification).
(Any body) singing it with his mouth can get his wished-for
object. A venerable scholar, he crushed the pride of all by
(re-) interpreting the Vedas. The songs and poetic genius
of Sankardew with accompanying fame have spread far and wide.
He had beauty, fame, gifts, rank, kindness for all life, all
in-tact. As the Guru he taught devotion to devotee, and loved
them better than his sons. By delivering his line of people
spreading bhakti, he built the bridge of God's name so that
in the Iron Age all people can cross the sea of sin. He has
opened all avenues for the store of bhakti and has made people
indifferent (even) to salvation. He has brought into light
the Eka-Saran (self-surrender to the One) Nam-Dharma (the
religion of reciting the name of God) which is the kink (of
religions). What should I speak of the greatness of Sankardew,
for I found no end of that knowledge. Only by touching the
dust of his lotus-feet with the head one can feel the bliss
that salvation alone may give.'###
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