GUWAHATI, Oct 1 - �The teachings for human life and propaganda for truth and higher philosophy of living were basic values of Sankaradeva�s vaishnavite movement which we found in his studies. His outlook and search for supreme�s knowledge not only merged through Vedantas, but also scientific outcomes which the physicists claimed as fourth molecule�, said Dr Nagen Saikia, eminent litterateur and scholar at Dibrugarh University while inaugurating the national webinar on the theme �Relevance of Sankaradeva Studies� today.
He said that Sankaradeva was an all-time relevant pathfinder in the society of Assam and he first introduced the State to outside and the entire Bharatvarsha to Assam.
The webinar was organized by the literary and socio-cultural research magazine Swarnalipi as part of its 11th year completion and to mark the celebration of the 571st birth anniversary of Srimanta Sankaradeva.
Discussing various aspects of Sankaradeva�s studies, from his humanistic and scholarly point of views, Dr Pona Mahanta, former Professor of English at Dibrugarh University said that Sankaradeva�s plays were highly scholarly works and he was the first Indian playwright who introduced �play within the play�, the very style of western dramas. His visions enriched with incorporation of mass- centric common dialects, sociological educative and realistic sensibilities and established plays as a higher class of democratic performances.
Citing many poetical contributions of Sankaradeva, Dr Pradip Jyoti Mahanta, former Professor of Cultural Studies at Tezpur University, analysed that the primary spirit of the poet was to uplift the heritage of his predecessor poets like Madhab Kandali and others and therefore he used the language of the common people. He established the poetic form as the speech of the mass and as scholars like Dr K Pannikar said, his works including Kavya (poetry) cherished with the songs of humanity and joy of the nation, which we should call �Bharatmanisha�.
Dr Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti, academician-cum-president of Society for Srimanta Samkaradeva cited many economic approaches and measures that the great leader used as socio-economic tools to establish a self-dependent social set-up, mostly in vaishnavite sattras. Sankaradeva�s socio-economic thoughts were very much modern and it echoed a democratic set-up for every class of individuals, Dr. Borkakoti added.
