Bhattadeva is acknowledged as the vicar of Assamese Prose whose donation went myriad into the province of the mapped Assamese literature. Assamese prose was truly born in the hands of another bright star of the Sankaradeva Movement, Vaikunthanatha Bhattacharyya or Bhattadeva as he is popularly known. Before assessing Bhattadeva's works it is necessary to know why he discarded the traditional verse form in favour of prose. The guiding influence in his life was Damodaradeva at whose behest Bhattadeva undertook to render these texts, because of their didactic and monitory qualities, into Assamese prose for the benefit of women and the submerged stratum of society. One contribution of the Vaishnava writers to Assamese philosophical writings is the production of numerous commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita, in both prose and verse. Relevant verses from the Gita were first rendered into Assamese by the two saints, Sreemanta Sankaradeva and Madhavadeva, to expound their doctrines of devotion, liberation and incarnation. But the entire text was not available in a single comprehensive volume. This was first made available in Assamese prose by Bhattadeva with the help of Sridhara Svami's commentary. The first verse rendering was done by Govinda Mishra, a native of Kamarupa. High poetic quality and mastery of forceful Assamese are the salient features of Govinda Misra's translation. His language is simple, chiselled and beautiful, and is easy to memorise. Vaikunthanatha Kaviratna Bhagavata Bhattacarya, popularly known as Bhattadeva, and believed to have flourished between 1558 and 1638, wrote Katha-Bhagavata (the Bhagavata in prose) and Katha-Gita (the Gita in prose). Before assessing Bhattadeva's works it is necessary to know why he discarded the traditional verse form in favour of prose. The guiding influence in his life was Damodaradeva at whose behest Bhattadeva undertook to render these texts, because of their didactic and monitory qualities, into Assamese prose for the benefit of women and the submerged stratum of society. Bhattadeva was to a great extent crowned with success in his attempt. The spirit of the age, an intense and permeating interest in religion, was with him. Even a casual reader of Katha-Bhagavata and Katha-Gita can without demur say that the author has succeeded in making these works intelligible to the common people. By translating these two most sacred and edifying Sanskrit texts into Assamese and by making his language an easy and eloquent vehicle for abstract thought and profound philosophical ideas, Bhattadeva wins the reader's applause. Bhattadeva's learning and scholarship made his style distinguished for dignity and poise. With unparalleled skill the author has employed both Assamese and Sanskrit vocals side by side for exposition of deep spiritual thoughts. His style reveals an astonishing flexibility and variety according to the subject-matter. As one reads Katha-Bhagavata one feels as if he were in the heart of a religious congregation and the scholar-divine were explaining the text with comments on and answers to possible objections to his interpretations. On the other hand, none can fully appreciate the compositional skill of Katha-Gita without entering into the atmosphere of dialogue that prevails throughout. Although Bhattadeva's works were mainly translations, they have enough of originality in them and make pleasant reading thanks to the author's incomparable style. Further, these texts are not mere renderings from one language to another; the writer assimilated the original materials and interpreted them according to his standpoint. The author never failed to weave into the texts homely similes and familiar maxims from standard commentaries wherever they were considered illustrative of the arguments. From the standpoint of the art of translation, Katha-Bhagavata is a prominent landmark, overshadowing the other prose translations of mediaeval Assamese literature. Bhattadeva had a profound grasp of Sanskrit grammar and literature, which earned for him the title of Bhagavata Bhatta. carya (versed in the Bhagavata). Bhattadeva has several original Sanskrit language works to his credit. Inevitably, therefore, Sanskrit influences, particularly that of Sanskrit syntax, tinged his Assamese writings. Besides, as these texts are translations from Sanskrit, "tatsama" words naturally creep into them; but the author is nowhere pompous because his works are not intended for the learned only. The judicious use of Sanskrit words has only invested these religious writings with dignity and grace. In syntactical structure also his writings are disciplined by Sanskrit grammar. In his Katha-Gita, however, the sentences hobble at places running to complex lengths due to the piling up of clause on clause for illustrating knotty points In spite of these occasional lapses, the syntax is regular, the verb is not dropped or shifted at will, the infinitive is not split, and clauses are not thrown in a higgledy-piggledy fashion with utter disregard of the principles of clarity and precision. Bhattadeva's works are a landmark in the evolution of an accomplished philosophical and narrative prose in Assamese literature. He created a sure-footed expository prose-style with an eye to grammatical perfection. His aim was to explain religious matters in a clear and logical manner. The conversational and argumentative prose style of Kaiha-Gita served as a model and pattern to the metaphysical Vaisnavite prose writers of later years, and the simple free light-sailing style of Katha-Bhagavata greatly influenced the writers of Garitputhis. Another very important type of literature that developed as an offshoot of the resurgence of the Vaishnava movement under the direct aegis of the Satra institutions was the Caritputhis, the biographies of Sreemanta Shankaradeva. Later this tradition continued in the biographies of many other Vaisnavite saints. Recitations from the biographies of saints as a source of religious inspiration to devotees are made after congregational prayers even to this day. According to Katha-Guru carit (a prose biography of Sahkaradeva and Madhavadeva), it was Madhavadeva who first introduced this practice. He was the first to undertake a daily recitation of his Guru's biography. Biography has been described as "the most delicate and human of all the branches of the art of writing". Indeed it is a delicate art because the biographer has to restore the sense of life to a vanished figure. It is a humane art, as it partakes of all the ambiguities and incongruities of life itself. As such, the Carit-puthis still reward the reader and have a secure place in Assamese literature. Bhattadeva's works are a landmark in the evolution of an accomplished philosophical and narrative prose in Assamese literature. He created a sure-footed expository prose-style with an eye to grammatical perfection. His aim was to explain religious matters in a clear and logical manner. The conversational and argumentative prose style of Kaiha-Gita served as a model and pattern to the metaphysical Vaishnavite prose writers of later years, and the simple free light-sailing style of Katha-Bhagavata greatly influenced the writers of Caritputhis. Another very important type of literature that developed as an offshoot of the resurgence of the Vaishnava movement under the direct aegis of the Satra institutions was the Caritputhis, the biographies of Sankaradeva. |
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