Reassessing Madhavdeva : the Preceptorial Legacy and Institutional Shaping of Ekasarana Dharma

Author(s)	Dr. Utpal Saikia
Country	India
Abstract	Madhavdeva (c. 1489 or c. 1514-1596), venerated as Mahapurusha in the Assamese Vaishnavite tradition, stands as the principal preceptor and spiritual successor of Srimanta Sankardeva within the Ekasarana Dharma movement. This paper undertakes a comprehensive reappraisal of Madhavdeva's life, his transformative conversion from Shaktism to Vaishnavism, his institutional contributions through the Satra and Namghar systems, and his prodigious literary output-including the Naam Ghosa, Bhakti Ratnavali, 191 Borgeets, and nine Jhumura plays. Drawing upon hagiographical texts, modern historiography (notably Misra 2016), and the extant literary corpus, the study situates Madhavdeva not merely as Sankardeva's disciple but as an independent architect of Assam's religious, cultural, and social renaissance. The paper also examines the historiographical debate surrounding his birth date, the schism with Damodardeva, and the enduring institutional legacy of the Barpeta Satra and Sundaridiya Satra. It is argued that Madhavdeva's contributions-literary, philosophical, institutional, and performative constitute an indispensable and autonomous pillar of the Neo-Vaishnavite movement in Assam.
Keywords	Madhavdeva, Ekasarana Dharma, Sankardeva, Naam Ghosa, Borgeet, Satra, Namghar, Neo-Vaishnavism, Assam
Field	Arts
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 5, September-October 2026
Published On	2026-09-03
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i05.86950

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