Which of the following statements about the Vaishnava saint of Assam, Shankardeva, is/are correct? 1. His teachings are often known as the Bhagavati dharma. 2. He encouraged the establishment of satras or monasteries and namghars or prayer halls for the transmission of spiritual knowledge. 3. His major compositions include the Kirtana-ghosha. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a)1 and 2 only
- (b)2 and 3 only
- (c)1, 2 and 3
- (d)3 only
Correct — C, 1, 2 and 3. Every statement is a straight restatement of the standard textbook account of Shankardeva, who emerged in the late fifteenth century as the leading proponent of Vaishnavism in Assam. His teachings are indeed known as the Bhagavati dharma, so named because they rested on the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata Purana; their centre was absolute surrender to the supreme deity, here Vishnu, and the practice he emphasised was naam kirtan, the recitation of the names of the lord in congregations of devotees. He also encouraged the two institutions statement 2 names — the satra, a monastery for the transmission of spiritual knowledge, and the namghar, the prayer hall in which the congregation gathered. Both continue to flourish in Assam, the satras of Majuli being the best known of them. And the Kirtana-ghosha is exactly what statement 3 says it is, his major composition, a body of narrative verse on Krishna meant for community singing and still found in households across the state.
- (a)1 and 2 only — Leaves out the Kirtana-ghosha, which is the work Shankardeva is most identified with and is named in the standard account of him as his major composition.
- (b)2 and 3 only — Discards the name of his teaching. The Bhagavati dharma is precisely what those teachings are called, and the name comes from the texts they were founded on.
- (d)3 only — Keeps only the composition and rejects both the doctrine and the institutions, when all three are attested in the same paragraph of the standard treatment.
Shankardeva founded the Assamese Vaishnava movement usually called Ekasarana dharma, single-refuge devotion, in which Krishna alone is worshipped and the path is hearing and singing of his deeds rather than image worship or elaborate ritual. Its institutional achievement was unusual for a bhakti movement: the satra, a monastery that also organised village religious life, and the namghar, a village prayer hall that became a civic as well as a devotional space. Together they gave Assam a religious infrastructure that outlived its founder by centuries.
Where a question offers three statements drawn from one paragraph of a familiar account, the reasonable expectation is that all three are true, and the useful check is whether any of them contains a claim of a different kind — a date, a founder, a first. None of these does. The claim most worth being able to defend independently is the first, because Bhagavati dharma sounds like a term that might have been attached to some other movement; the anchor is that the name comes from the Bhagavata Purana on which the teaching was based. A distinction worth carrying separately: Shankardeva founded the Assamese tradition, not Gaudiya Vaishnavism, which is Chaitanya's movement in Bengal, and examiners have used that swap as a distractor elsewhere.
- Shankardeva emerged in the late fifteenth century as a leading proponent of Vaishnavism in Assam.
- His teachings are known as the Bhagavati dharma, named from the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata Purana on which they were based.
- He emphasised naam kirtan, the recitation of the names of the lord in congregations of devotees.
- He encouraged the founding of satras, monasteries for transmitting spiritual knowledge, and namghars, prayer halls.
- His major composition is the Kirtana-ghosha; he also composed Borgeet devotional songs and wrote dramas such as Rukmini haran.
- Attributing Gaudiya Vaishnavism to Shankardeva. That movement belongs to Chaitanya in Bengal.
- Treating the satra and the namghar as the same institution — the first is a monastery, the second a village prayer hall.
- Assuming the Kirtana-ghosha is a translation of the Bhagavata Purana; it is his own narrative verse for community singing, though he did render parts of the Purana separately.
As a statements item on Shankardeva's teachings and institutions, or through Sattriya dance and its Vaishnava origins.
With reference to Sattriya, consider the following statements: 1. It is a combination of music, dance and drama. 2. It is a centuries-old living tradition of the Vaishnavites of Assam. 3. It is based on classical Ragas and Talas of devotional songs composed by Tulsidas, Kabir and Mirabai. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 1 and 2 only
- (c) 2 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer(b) 1 and 2 only
The performing-art side of the same movement. Sattriya takes its name and its repertoire from the satras Shankardeva founded, and its music comes from his own compositions rather than from the northern bhakti poets.
Which of the following statements about Srimanta Shankardeva is/are correct? 1. In the late fifteenth century Shankardeva emerged as one of the leading proponents of Vaishnavism in Assam. 2. He was the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. 3. His teachings are known as Bhagavati Dharma. 4. He encouraged the establishment of satra and naam ghar.
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1, 3 and 4 only
- (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Answer(c) 1, 3 and 4 only
The same three claims with one addition — that he founded Gaudiya Vaishnavism, which is Chaitanya's Bengal movement and not his. Reading the pair together shows exactly where this topic is usually made to trip candidates up.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The village prayer halls encouraged by Shankardeva in Assam are known as
- (a)satras
- (b)namghars
- (c)mathas
- (d)akharas
Answer(b) namghars — the prayer halls, as distinct from the satras, which are the monasteries.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which classical dance form of India grew out of the Vaishnava monasteries founded in Assam?
- (a)Odissi
- (b)Manipuri
- (c)Sattriya
- (d)Chhau
Answer(c) Sattriya — it takes its name from the satra and remains a living tradition of the Assamese Vaishnavites.