Rama Saraswati was an eminent figure of Assamese Vaishnava literature. During this time the court of the King Naranarayana (1533-84) was like a university where men of great learning gathered. Among such men, the most well-known are Sankardeva, Rama Saraswati and Anantakandali all of whom received royal patronage for their works. The poet was asked by King Naranarayana to "make verse rendering of the Mahabharata, the seven books of the Ramayana and the eighteen Puranas for popular edification" (Darang-Raja-Varnsavali). Thus it was under royal patronage that Rama Saraswati occupied himself with the monumental task of rendering the Sanskrit Mahabharata into Assamese. With the translation of the Mahabharata, the body of Assamese poetical literature got enriched. The central theme of the same is not so much the encounter of the Kauravas and the Pandavas or the conflict between virtues and vices. In fact, in the best tradition of Vaishnava literature, it is the projection of Krishna`s personality. There are episodes in Rama Saraswati`s Mahabharata that have no primary connection with the original, episodes like Kidacala Vadha, Baghasura Vadha, not to speak of Upakhyanas like that of Nala and Damayanti that are woven in deftly, thus giving a splendid harmony and unity to the whole. Though the poet differs widely and variously, Rama Saraswati`s Mahabharata is an original work. He had improved and elaborated upon the original, more especially in the Banaparva where the glorification of Lord Vishnu is heightened with a passion.
The works of Rama Saraswati did not just remain confined to the epics and the Indian Puranas. His literary works like the Manicandra, the Sindhuyatra and the Asvakarna breathe of the aroma of the soil. He was adept not only in poetry and religious philosophy, but also in the arts of music, poetics and erotics. He had even rendered Jayadeva`s Gita Govinda into Assamese for the first time. One thing must be said in conclusion the poet`s preoccupation with war scenes in his kavyas has a conventional ring of the type of Madhavakandali`s. Whatever this may be, Rama Saraswati has given strength and beauty to the neo-Vaishnava movement.
