Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Changing Notions of “Ideal” Monkhood: A Case Study from a Satra of Majuli

Abstract

All religions were initially founded with the aim of purifying men and women and helping them to lead ethical lives through prayers. However, unfortunately religion evolved to be a force reinforcing discrimination diverted from the original motive of religion. The Vaishnavite faith initiated by the 15th century Guru, Mahapurush Srimanta Shankardeva, in the region of Assam was also based on egalitarian and humanitarian values. The ideal monkhood in a Satra is to lead a life devoid of material pleasures and offer oneself to God by taking his name all the time. The various sects that have emerged after the demise of the Guru are the proofs that the main objective of an egalitarian society has collapsed. The social hierarchy is still maintained even if the Satras claim to have removed it. The unique culture of the Satra is its liturgical training, which includes dance, drama, music and poetry. The performing art forms were specifically for the monks to be performed only within the premises of the Satra, which are now staged and have become the sources of income for many monks. The monks are more known as performing artists than religious beings or leaders. The media is a socializing agent in itself, which has changed the concept of monkhood. Ideal monkhood is still a question, and this article is an academic effort to throw light on this question. It would try to bring forth the different ways as to how the ideologies of Neo-Vaishnavism has changed with time and how the monks have adjusted to the transformation. The findings are based on both primary and secondary data using ethnographic approach.

Keywords

Assam, Vaishnavism, Ethnography, Monastery, Modernity

PDF

Author Biography

Pranalee Sharma

PhD scholar, Department of human Development and childhood Studies, Lady Irwin College, Lady Irwin College, Sikandra Road, Delhi-110001, University of delhi

Asha Singh

Associate Professor, Department of Human Development and Childhood Studies, Lady Irwin College, Sikandra Road, Delhi-110001


References

Allen, B. C. (1927). Assam. Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, 764-786.

Ambedkar, B.R. (1916). Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development, presented at Anthropology Seminar of Dr. A.A. Goidenweiser, Columbia University, New York, 9 May (pp. 1-32). Jullundur: Patrika Publications

Appadurai, A. and C.A. Breckenridge (1995). Public Modernity in India. In C.A. Breckenridge (Ed.), Consuming Modernity: Public Culture in a South Asian World (pp. 1–20). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Barua, H. C. (1965). The Assamese-English Dictionary Hem-Kosha. Hem Chandra Library.

Census of India (2011). District Census Handbook Jorhat: Village and Town-wise Primary Census Abstract (PCA). Retrieved September 29, 2016, from http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/1813_PART_B_DCHB_JORHAT.pdf

Chakrabarty, D. (2002). Habitations of Modernity-Essays in the Wake of Subaltern Studies. Chicago: The University of Chicago,

Chauhan, S. K. (1980). Caste, Status & Power: Social Stratification in Assam. New Delhi: Classical Publishing Company.

Dalton, E. T. (1851). Mahapurushyas. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

Dutta, M. (2014). Bhakti Movement: A Socio-religious Struggle of the Marginalised Society. Indian Journal of Applied Research, pp.685-687.

Eisenstadt, S.N. (2010). Modernity and Modernization. Sociopedia.isa, pp.1-15. doi: 10.1177/205684601053

Eraly, A. (2000). Emperors of the Peacock Throne. Gurgaon: Penguin Books India.

Gait, E. (2008). A History of Assam. Guwahati: EBH Publishers.

Ghurye, G. S. (1952). Ascetic Origins. Sociological Bulletin, 162-184.

Gohain, H. (1987). The Labyrinth of Bhakti: On Some Questions of Medieval Indian History. Economic and Political Weekly,, 1970-1972.

Goswamee, G., & Das, S. (2013). A Study of Value Pattern of Inmates of Monastic Satras of Assam, India. The Clarion, 147-151.

Guha, A. (1983). The Ahom Political System: An Enquiry into the State Formation Process in Medieval Assam (1228-1714). Social Scientist, 3-34.

Hazarika, S. (2016). Hindutva’s Quiet Entry in Assam. Hindustan Times, Retrieved June 15, 2016, from http://m.hindustantimes.com/static/hindutvas-quiet-entry-in-assam/

Kakoti, P., & Mahanta, P. J. (2012). Understanding Women in the Religious Institutions: A Study With Reference To the Sattras of Assam. Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 19-22.

Konwar, D. N. (2015). Sankare Pate Bhakate Bhange. Guwahati: Assam Book Trust.

Kotoky, P., Bezbaruah, D., Baruah, J., & Sarma, J. N. (2003). Erosion activity on Majuli – the largest river island of the world. Current Science, 929-932.

Lanman, C. R. (1917). Hindu Ascetics and Their Powers. Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, 133-151.

Majuli Cultural Landscape Region. (n.d.). Retrieved September 25, 2016, from http://majulilandscape.gov.in/sattra.php
Mitra, N. (2016, September 2). Majuli named world's largest river island. Times of India. Retrieved September 8, 2016, from http://m.timesofindia.com/city/guwahati/Majuli-named-worlds-largest-river-island/articleshhow/53972804.cms
Neog, M. (2008). Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Assam. Guwahati: LBS Publications.

Olivelle, P. (1981). Contributions to the Semantic History of Saṃnyāsa. Journal of Americal Oriental Society, 265-274.
Peabody, N. (2009). Disciplining the Body, Disciplining the

Body-Politic: Physical Culture and Social Violenceamong North Indian Wrestlers. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 372-400.

Saikia, N. (2011). Bisay: Shankardeva. Dibrugarh: Kaustubh Prakashan.

Sarma, K. (2013). Monastic Sattras of Assam. The Clarion, 152-166.

Sharma, C. K. (1996). Socio-Economic Structure and Peasant Revolt: The Case of Moamoria Upsurge in the Eighteenth
Century Assam. Indian Anthropologist, 33-52.

Sikdar, S., & Mukherjee, A. N. (2012). Enrolment and Dropout Rate in School Education. Economic and Political Weekly, 27-31.

Tamuli, K. (2014). Desi and Margi Interpretation in Sattriya Nrittya. International Journal of Advanced Research, 1-11.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.