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Achyutananda Das: A Spiritual Eco-Chronicler

Journal: Ars Artium (Vol.5, No. 1)

Publication Date:

Authors : ;

Page : 1-13

Keywords : Saint; oppressed communities; cowherdmen; spiritual revolution; Panchasakha; Neo-Vaishnavism.;

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Abstract

The paper presents an exploration of the literary and cultural contributions of a 16th century Odia saint poet who represented the oppressed communities of his time like cowherdmen, fishermen and other castes and worked for the socio-cultural upliftment of these communities through religious and socio-economic activities. It is said that this saint wrote one lakh books, all devoted to glorify the great incarnation of God, Lord Krishna. A propagator of neo- Vaishnavism, he contributed profusely to the medieval Odia religious literature, where he has narrated his personal experience from yoga, sadhana and ponderance over religious thoughts/experiences and his practices as a karmayogi (crusader of action) and jnanayogi (crusader of knowledge). Describing himself through his own spiritual experience and vision as a companion of the Lord through the various ages, he had created several personal myths and had adopted a large number of disciples from various communities leaving behind a tradition of guru-shishya (preceptor-disciple) in the communities which have been following him so far and a religious sect of his own creating a community of worshippers who are called brahma-gopala who are adept in religio-cultural activities, etc. This poet-saint was the contemporary of Sri Chaitanya and had other four companions in Odisha who together were the five Vaishnava saints and poets, popularly called Panchasakha, i.e., five friends.

Last modified: 2018-01-27 04:07:57