Bhakti Ratnakara: As It Is by Mahapurush Shree Shree Sankardeva

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Mahapurush Shree Shree Sankardeva is a major saint of the medieval period of Assam. As a religious reformer Sankardeva's greatest achievement is of bringing his people from the polytheism of Shakti- Tantric worship to the monotheism of the Vaishnava faith. The works of Sankardeva form a large corpus. The Bhakti Ratnakara, the canon of Assamese Vaishnavism is a compilation of Sanskrit verses of marked theological and philosophical significance. It is among the most important works for understanding the religious tenets and doctrines of the Vaishnava cult. The verses are compiled from various Vaishnavite works, and Sankardeva adds a commentary of his own to the compilation. In this doctrinal work of his Bhakti Ratnakara-even while laying emphasis on the abstract, attribute-less aspects of God, Sankardeva did not deny His physical forms, and the importance of the sense of immediacy bred by the tradition of a personal god.

Pranabananda Pathak (b 1953) graduated from Joseph Cotton College of Guwahati Universiy in 1973, with a B.Sc. degree and took his B.A. and L.L.B. degrees in 1977 from the same university. A lawyer by profession, he joined the Guwahati High Court Bar in 1978, and has been a well known lawyer for the last 36 years. He was designated a senior advocate by the Guwahati High Court in 1999. In 2006 he worked as Ambassador of Peace for the inter-religious organisation, International Federation for World Peace, USA. A widely travelled man, he is connected with various NGOs, nature clubs, socio- cultural and sports activities. From 1997 to 2001, he was the Additional Advocate General of Assam. From 1999 to 2008 he served as the Advocate General of Mizoram.

The present work by Pranabananda Pathak represents the third exercise by him in translating the verses of the Bhakti tradition from the regional Assamese language into English. His other two works are Naam Ghosa Hymns to the Blessed Lord, and Bhakti Ratnavali, both highly appreciated by readers.

Sankardeva is a great medieval saint of Assam whose manifold contribution to the society not only placed His community on a sound cultural footing but also as a religious reformer. Sankardeva's greatest achievement is His success in bringing His people from the debased form of Shakti Tantricism to the pure Monotheism of His Vaishnavite faith.

As a theologian, Sankardeva made Bhagavata Purana, the main canon of His Vaishnavism. The works of Sankardeva are a large corpus. Of the works, Bhakti Ratnakara, the canon of Assamese Vaishnavism, is in Sanskrit. Of the theological works, the Bhakti Ratnakara, a compilation of Sanskrit verses having theological and philosophical significance, is the most important work to understand the religious tenets and doctrines of the cult. The Sanskrit verses are compiled from different Vaishnavite works and Sankardeva adds a commentary of His own on the collected verses. The Bhakti Ratnakara of Sankardeva is an intelligent compilation of Sanskrit verses from Bhagavata Purana, Padma Purana, Vishnu Purana, etc., with comments on Sanskrit prose. Sri Ramcharan Thakur Deva, the nephew of Sri Sri Madhava Deva and also an earnest disciple, translated the said Bhakti Ratnakara from Sanskrit to Assamese.