Role of Panchasakha in the Socio-Religious life of the people of

Odisha

Akhay Mishra
Odisha
India
Abstract
Odisha displayed remarkable socio-religious harmony through the different times of
her history. Right from the ancient period, Odisha, assumed to be a melting point of different
religions and cultures. By the time when the Muslims started ruling over Odisha, Jainism,
Buddhism, Sakti worship, Sun worship, Saivism and Vaishnavism all mingled together to
influence the religious life of the people. This has been reflected in the social habits, food,
dress and ornaments; and dance, music and festivals. A resume of such a socio-religious
harmony was displayed in the period of Panchasakha.
Odisha in the medieval period marks an era with the past in respect of the evolution of
society. The Hindus gradually accommodated the newcomers viz., the Muslims and they
became parts of Odishan society. The absence of racial conflicts exhibits the better social and
religious understanding of the people belonging to all the segments of medieval Odisha.
Introduction
The bhakti movement influenced the whole country at different times, and had a definite
impact not only on religious doctrines, rituals, values and popular beliefs, but on arts, culture
and the state systems as well. The social protest and popular movement in medieval Orissa
not only had a close bearing on the bhakti movement, it influenced almost the entire body of
the contemporary society and culture. In this article, there is an attempt to discuss the role of
Panchasakhas in Odia culture. Their influence on the ruling class of contemporary period has
also been noticed. Numerous social changes that appeared in medieval Orissa like the growth
of education and moral upliftment with the emergence of the Bhagavata Ghara, development
of Pala, goti-pua dances, performance of suangas and organisation of Dola Yatra bear the
unmistakable marks.
When Hindu religion was full of dogmas, superstitions and rituals and when the caste
rigidity, the system of untouchability became unbearable, during that period (1470-1550 A.D)
there flourished a band of five comrades generally known as Panchasakha in Odisha and they
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were Balaram Das, Jagannath Das, Ananta Das, Jasobanta Das and Achyutananda Das.1 By
1510, a great Bhakti philosopher Sri Chaitanya from Nabadvipa of Bengal visited Puri with
the Vaishnava message of love and settled there till 1533 A.D.2 Sri Chaitanya was closely
associated with the Panchasakhas and other Odia followers during his long stay in Puri. It is
evident from the MadalapanJi3 and different writings of Achyutananda Dasa4 and Sudarshan
Dasa5 that the panchasakhas participated in the sankirtan of SriChaitanya. He introduced the
Nagara Sankirtana where there were no discriminations based on caste or social class, and the
songs of the kirtanas were not only in classical Sanskrit but also in the popular languages
such as Bengali and Oriya, encouraging ordinary and low-caste people to participate more
directly. Chaitanya also accepted low-caste people as his followers, embraced fishermen and
honored ex-Muslim devotees such as Haridasa, Rupa and Sanatana etc. So the Panchasakha
were deeply influenced by Sri Chaitanya. They followed the path of Bhakti adopting mantra,
tantra and yantra in their sadhana; they manifested mystic power and could change their body
into different forms.
Chaitanya has referred to these five friends as Panchasakha and stated that the Panchasakha
are like Pancha Atma, i.e., five souls (Atma- Tattva) and are in no way lesser than Avataars
of Vishnu. However, there is an interesting belief about the origin of Panchasakha which
relates them to the Mahabharata in the Dwapara-Yuga, and is also stated in Shunya Samhita
written by Mahapurusha Achyutananda. Here, Mahapurusha describes Panchasakha literally
meaning five mates or friends. Towards the end of Mahabharat era when Lord Krishna was
leaving the mortal body, Nilakantheswara Mahadeva appeared and had a conversation with
Lord Krishna. He revealed that the Lords companions Dama, Sudama, Srivatsa, Subala, and
Subahu would reincarnate in the Kali-Yuga and will be known as Ananta, Acyutananda,
Jagannatha, Balarama and Yasovanta, respectively. Thus, the believers of the Panchasakha
consider that these five saints were the most intimate friends of Lord Krishna in DwaparaYuga, who came again in Kali-Yuga to serve Him. Shri Chaitanya was the first to establish
the Bhaaba-Mishrita Naama Marga (the path of chanting the holy name with proper feelings
and faith). He first introduced this method for all the simpleminded people and made many
realize that God- realization can also be achieved by simpler method of pure devotion without
undergoing difficult method of austerities. It is he who first disclosed the importance of the
Mahaa Mantra Hare Krisna Hare Krisna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare! Like the Puranas and Tantric texts, the Panchasakha literature also
abounds with it. They were the first to take the Hindu Sanskrit texts into the reach of the
common people, by translating them into the local language, Odia. This was first done by
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Sarala Dasas translation of the Mahabharata in the mid-fifteenth century, followed by

Balarama Dasas Jagamohan Ramayana, Jagannath Dasas Bhagabat Purana, and
Acyutananda Dasas Harivamsa. The second aspect is their form of Odia Vaisnavism, which
sees God as the Shunya Purusha and the nature of the soul as being able to merge into the
Absolute. According to the Panchasakhas, Lord Jagannath is the PurnaBrahma, and all the
Avatars of Vishnu emanate from Him, and also enter into Him at the end. Jagannatha was the
chief god of the devotional sect. The chief ideal of the Panchasakhas was that, as Bhakta
they would be faithful, humble, learned, selfless, active, benevolent and affectionate. The
Panchasakhas were against the caste system, they considered all beings as one. They
translated the Sanskrit Classics into local language, Odia. Anyone could become a Vaisnava,
even Muslims.
Chaitanyas path of devotion was known as Raganuga Bhakti Marga, but the Panchasakhas
differed from Chaitanya and believed in Gyana Mishrita Bhakti Marga. The Panchasakha
converted ancient Hindu texts into prose (of simple language) easily understandable by the
people of Udra Desha (Odisha). The Panchasakhas believed in a concept of God as Sunya
(emptiness, void, zero) called Shunya Purusha or Shunya Brahman. This Shunya signifies a
transcendental principle that eludes the conceptual nexus applied to human thinking as
described in the Upanishads. The Panchasakhas project the deity Jagannath as the
embodiment of the Shunya Purusha.
Balarama Das
Among the Panchasakhas who flourished in the first quarter of the sixteenth century, the
eldest and the most radical was Balarama Dasa who was born in 1473 A.D., at Puri.6 He is
sometimes called Matta Balarama because of his disregard for social conventions in favor of
ecstatic Bhakti. Balarama Dasa wrote the famous Jagamohana or Dandi Ramayana, as well as
a number of other works entitled Gita Abakasa, Bhava samudra, Gupta Gita, Vedanta Sara,
Mriguni Stuti, Saptanga yogasara tika, Vedanta sara or Brahma tika, Baula gai gita, Kamala
locana chotisa, Kanta koili, Bedha parikrama, Brahma gita, Brahmanda bhugola, Vajra
kavaca, Jnana chudamani, Virat gita, Ganesh vibhuti, Amarakosha Gita, Lakshmi Purana.
Balarama Dass "Jagamohan Ramayana" is one of the three most important epics in Orissa. It
is purely in Odia composition. The work subsequently acquired the name of Dandi
Ramayana, as it became a popular work and the contents were being recited or sung by the
danda or road-side. Sanskrit Ramayana was read out by the Pundits in a high mandap (altar)
of the temple or of a village where the king, zamindars, and Brahmins of high class came to
listen to the sacred text. When poet Balarama Dasa wrote the Ramayana in Oriya and as it
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became popular and began to be sung and recited outside the humble house in the danda
(common street between two rows of houses). In his notes, "Balarama Dasa, as a national
poet, has sung for the people and by making Orissa a miniature world by itself has taught his
countrymen to love the land of their birth. Balarama Dasa condemned the priests responsible
for degrading religion to mere means of making a livelihood. In his Ramayana he exposed the
greedy and exploitative attitude of the priests. When Rama, Laxman and Sita had been to
Gaya to offer Pinda, the priests also did not spare them from collecting dakshina7. Sugriva,
Hanuman and Bibhishan were the ideals of the poet because of their honesty, sincereity and
helpful attitude. When the city of Ayodhya was reconstructed, Rama himself invited these
three persons to the ceremony celebrating the inauguration of the city. The poet said through
Rama that the persons who help selflessly at the time of danger, their foot-prints are more
important than the greatest religious activity like Yajna.8 The poet did not surrender to the
views of superiority of Brahmins, on the basis of merely their birth in the Brahmin families,
and if they were ignorant of true dharma, i.e. social equality. He believed only those were the
real Brahmins who knew Vedas, religion, and were engaged in right deeds and recognised the
self of others. Those who lived only in the shrines and exploited people in the name of
religion were not, according to Balarama, the true Brahmins.9 The poet did not find any
djstinction between a Brahmin and a Chandal and to him all were human-beings of the same
blood and flesh. To prove this he went on describing the close friendship between
Purushottam Rama and Guhaka, a tribal chief of the forest. Both of them were so close that
Rama delivered the message of killing Ravana first to Guhaka. Secondly, the poet also made
Rama to eat the berries already tested by a Sabari (hunter woman) while he was in exile in the
forest.10 The poet's description of the incident of the meditation of the Sudramuni Sambuka in
his Ramayana symbolises his deep concern to the development of status of the Sudras. To
him, Sambuka, attained nirvan, being killed by Rama, on the day of Sukla Panchami of the
month of Bhadrav. This day has been regarded as the Rishi-Panchami and according to a
popular belief, who worship the Sudra saints on this day. It is not only a sympathetic
consideration of the poet towards the Sudra community but also his insistence towards
building an egalitarian social order. Balarama Dasa protested against the tradition of ging
mercy and sympathy of the king. His message to his audience was for assertion of their right
before the king, not to seek his mercy.11 In a measure thus he upheld a revolutionary idea of
bringing out equality between the king and the people of his kingdom. As a social reformer
he condemned the oppressive features of Brahminical religion and was critical of the classes
who exploited the people subsisted on their toil without giving them anything in return.
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Besides there was another class of fraud sanyasis who only grew beard, weared beads, used
tilak on forehead, ashes on body and remained social parasites. In his Ramayana, Balarama
Dasa preached that there was no difference between the rich and poor, strong and weak,
ignorant and knowledgeable in the eyes of Lord Jagannatha. The Lord treats equally
everybody, be he a Brahmin or from an ordinary sect. When Balarama repeatedly asserted
that he was "son of Lord Jagannatha", it was not that he told about himself. He identified
himself with the entire humanity and meant that the whole mankind irrespective of caste,
creed and colour were the children of lord Jagannatha. To him, an ordinary man lost his caste
when he became a bhakta. All bhaktas identified themselves as Dasas or servants to God.
Balarama also attacked rituals. He did not believe in fast or meditation. He also did not
worship any God other than Lord Jagannatha, who symbolised the monotheistic ideals of his
religious life. He was a believer in jnana and bhakti. The philosophy of knowledge-cumdevotion was the weapon wielded by him to influence both the masses and the high classes.
At the same time, Jagannatha Dasa emerged and also made most cant contribution to the
growth of Oriya literature.
His Laksmi Purana is considered the first manifesto of womens liberation or feminism in
Indian literature. An analytic approach over Balaram Dass Laxmi Purana testifies to a fact
that Lord Jagannath in the manifestation of goddess Laxmi emerged to carry out the socio
cultural movement in the then society which was at its lowest ebb exhausting all its potential
and energetic spirit and leading towards a rapid disintegration and decline. In its attempt to
re-energizing the defunct spirit and to create consciousness among the subalterns and to free
the society from the gender-bias, Balaram Das devoutly surrendered to goddess Maha Laxmi
for liberating the society from the thralldom of social taboos, evils, orthodoxy, conservatism,
and above all, Brahmin dogmatism. Goddess Maha Laxmi as a first lady of Odia society
seems to take leadership to regenerating the idea of male-female equality and to revolting
against male chauvinism. It also tries to establish a fact that a woman should carry out her
struggle against male chauvinism, so long her right to equality is not perfectly ascertained.
Further more, in His Lila (acting) Lord Jagannath is found to manifesting Himself in the form
of Sriya Chandaluni, a lady of an out caste who could never make temple entry. But this
Sriya Chandaluni was a sincere devotee of Lord Jagannath and Mother Laxmi. Her sincere
and absolute devotion made Goddess Maha Laxmi to remain present in her thatched and
dilapidated house in one fine morning of Thursday day of the month of Margasira to receive
her worship and offering. This led to a serious troublesome affair as it was seen by Lord
Balaram, the elder brother of Lord Jagannath, who disapproved Laxmis presence in a
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Chandalas house. This led to the banishment of goddess Laxmi from the Bada Deula who
desperately left the temple accusing Lord Jagannath for not following the nuptial ideologies.
The result is well known to every body. As a self esteemed lady, Mother Laxmi did not return
back to his parental house rather she opted to carry out the struggle singlehandedly imparting
a lesson to all Odia ladies that virtue, patience and wit-mind would ultimately encrown a
lady with absolute success12. In the voice of goddess Laxmi, Balaram Das achieved his
objective, making the temple entry of the out castes and also promoting the interdining
culture inside the Anand Bazar with a hope that the idea would be diffused and disseminated
throughout the Odia society. It indicates to the fact that social distinction is man-made. It is
not made by any divine authority. In Jagannath culture the sins and crimes have no place.
But, if a sinner would make proper repentance for his acts done he would be pardoned and
would be allowed to join in the mainstream of social life. Take for example Balaram Das who
ran out from a harlots house listening to ding dung sound of the bells and blowing of the
pipes to accompany Lord Jagannath during the car-festival, but his shabby and awkward gaitup made the Daitapatis to believe that without proper ablutions he was riding up the car to
make the whole process unsacred.
Balaram Das mentions in his Brahmanda Bhugola; In the primeval days, there was no
existence of the universe; So also, sun and moon were not present; Day and night did not
occur. There was no concept of the world (three worlds- Swarga, Martya and Patala) and the
earth.The concept of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva was not present those days.
Atibadi Jagannatha Dasa
Jagannatha Dasa, the second of the celebrated Panchasakhas, is popularly remembered for his
unique contribution to the Oriya literature through his Bhagavata. He was born in
Kapilesvarapur or Kapilesvar grama (one of the 16 traditional Sasana villages) at 14 kms
from Puri towards Brahmagiri, on the day of Radhastami of 1487. As he was born on
Radhastami, he is considered to have a close relationship with Srimati Radhika.
Besides the Bhagavata(1504 or 1505 A.D), Jagannatha also composed a number of minor
philosophical and devotional treatises in the language of the people. Artha koili, Gajastuti,
Darubrahma Gita, Gundicha Vijay, Dutibandha, Radhamanjari, Chaupadi Manasiksha and
Dhruba Charita are included to his credit. He also wrote Gupta Bhagavat, Tula vina, Sola
chaupadi, Chari chapadi, Diksa samyad, Mruguni stuti, Annamaya kundali, Goloka
sarodhara, Bhakti chandrika, Kali malika, Indra malika, Niladri vilasa, Nitya gupta
chintamani, Sri Krishna bhakti kalpa lata etc. It is said that by the order of Narada Muni,
Jagannatha Das translated Srimad Bhagavata into Odia. This work gave him the reputation of
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the best spiritual teacher in Odisha in his times, and is still extremely popular even today,
being worshiped and recited in all households. In fact in Odisha this text is considered on the
same level of Tulasi Das Rama charita manasa.
The "Odia Bhagavata'' like Balaramas creations helped in breaking down the pride and
traditional outlook of the orthodox Brahmin Pundits. The Oriya Bhagavata of Jagannatha Das
was even called by Brahmin Pundits as teli bhagavata, the Bhagavata of the low-caste oilmaker. Jagannatha Dasa himself was a Brahmin and an erudite scholar in Sanskrit. He had
completed his Odia Bhagavata before the coming of Chaitanya to Odisha. Chaitanya first met
him under the so-called Kalpa-bata (eternal banyan tree) within the premises of Jagannatha
temple, reciting there his recently composed Bhaqavata to illiterate folk from the rural areas.
Chaitanya, like a common charmed scribed to in listen to the episodes of Krishna's such soft,
sonorous, rhythmic and folk, was life demelifluous couplets. These are outstanding
characteristics of Jagannatha's popular Oriya Bhaqavata. The saint intuitively saw in the poet
a spiritual kinship that developed into warm, lifelong friendship between them. He was
deeply impressed by the work of Jagannatha Dasa and his intellectual discourses on
metaphysical matters. Therefore, Sri Chaitanya called him "atibadi" or the "Very Great". The
Bengali Vaishnavas were enraged at the title of "atibadi" to Jagannatha Dasa. 13 Chaitanya
was very calm and replied, "The sand, stone, wood and trees of this land are equal to Gods.
Comparatively the dignity of man is so high that it is beyond imagination and therefore it is
correct to address Jagannatha Dasa "atibada".14 He further advised, "Be small like grasses and
tolerate all like trees. Be pleased in respect and don't be sorry at disregard. Then you will be a
pure Vaishnav.
Poet Jagannatha did not give importance to Varna in the worship of Radha and Krishna. To
him, any person irrespective of his or her caste or sex, Brahmin, Sudra or a woman, could be
taken as a guru, if he/she worshiped Radha and Krishna with twelve lettered mantras.
Jagannatha Dasa was a great believer in bhakti and he particularly emphasised a harmonious
and balanced relationship among jnan, bhakti and yoga. Jagannatha's immense popularity
among the masses cannot ordinarily be estimated. His Oriya rendering of the original Sanskrit
Bhagavata recited in his own sweet voice had incomparable impact on the people. He had
created enemies among the Puranapandas by his recitations as they had lost the dakshina
which they used to receive from the devotee-listeners. Jagannatha Dasa, however, became the
focal point of envy, resentment and anger due to the added reason of the envy of the
followers of Chaitanya. There is a legend which describe how even king Prataprudradev was
misled into believing in some of these rumours circulated by his envious enemies concerning
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his morals. The Pundits, were deadly jealous of Jagannatha and lodged a complain against
him to the king Prataprudradev on a charge of abducting women. The Pundits alleged that
Jagannatha Dasa was a magician and by virtue of his mantras he was attracting a large
number of women than men. The time would come when all women would be running after
him leaving their own husbands. A famous incident regarded such confidential exchanges
with Medha and Sumedha, two ladies endowed with great spiritual power and who were said
to be going in the night to visit Jagannatha in the temple by their mystic powers after it was
closed. Some envious men complained to king Prataparudra accusing Jagannatha Dasa of
immoral behaviour (illicit relationships with women) and the King called him for
questioning. Jagannatha Dasa replied that for him there was no difference between men and
women; he said that in fact when he was associating with ladies, he actually regarded himself
as a woman, too.
The King did not believe him but when Jagannatha Das was put in jail he actually manifested
himself in the form of a woman and the guards, impressed, called the King to witness such an
extraordinary feat.
King Prataparudra realized he had committed an offense to a great devotee, so not only he
released him/her from prison, but he also asked that s/he gave initiation to his chief Queen
into Bhakti yoga. The Queen invited Jagannatha Dasa within the royal palace, where he could
open his own Matha, called Bada Odiya Matha andthen the Satalahari Matha.
Once an affluent merchant from Kasi presented a piece of very valuable sandalwood to King
Prataprudradev who in turn handed it over to Jagannatha to prepare paste and anoint Lord
Jagannatha. Jagannatha made the paste but applied it to the walls of his own monastery.
When news of this reached the king he was naturally furious and wanted an explanation for
this preposterous behaviour. Jagannatha's cool reply was that he had applied sandal paste on
the Lord with perfect devotion. At this the king wanted the sevaka to verify and report to him.
And to their utter dismay and surprise they found that the Lord had actually been anointed
with this special aromatic sandal paste. At this the king realised his own mistake and the
greatness uf poet Jagannatha and he promptly apologised to him. Jagannatha Dasa did not
travel to various places of pilgrimage in India like other religious personalities and saints. He
considered it adequate to stay at Srikshetra all his life. And instead of putting over-riding
emphasis on knowledge or ritual observations he put a high premium on right-living, right
action, simplicity of life-style and on devotion or bhakti. Sadhana remained impor-tant but
not merely as a system of formulae, incantations, or celebrations. It was transmuted into
quieter- channels of submissian to the divine and the path of right-living. From several
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episodes in the Oriya Bhaqavata one can get vivid and realistic pictures of contemporary
Oriya society, its value-systems, organisational its royal courts and their splendour, social
morals and taboos, hopes and aspirations, religious faith, and ethical attitudes. It is eminently
clear from the Oriya Bhaqavata that to its poet Krishna was only another name for Lord
Jagannatha, and Srikshetra the seat of the Lord of the Universe, was the focal point of
Orissa's social life and culture. In fact, the religion of the Bhagavata is the religion of
Jagannatha, unique for its cultural synthesis, universal brotherhood, assertion of the
uniqueness of man in the entire creation and the equality of all before the Lord.15 Jagannatha
Dasa composed a new poetic language which was balanced, elastic, effective and creative. Its
general aroma of sanctity, its soft fluency, its quiet dignity and the sublime air of high moral
and spiritual life it breathes, go straight into the hearts of hearers and readers. This human
body is a rare gift meant only to aspire for salvation. Whenever a crowd gathers, there is
bound to be a quarrel. Karma is your own guru what else do you enquire. What can the
powerful do to one Whom the Lord protects. See all these rivers, rivulets they flow on and
join the sea. Mingling with saline water they forget their name and identity. Likewise the
Cowherd maidens have merged their life and mind in me. They forget the body, the Samsar
and were delivered over from birth and death. Poet Jagannatha not only rendered emphasis on
spiritual liberation of man irrespective of caste, he also contributed to the cultural and
spiritual upliftment of the women, by accepting them as disciples.16 In Orissa Krishna was
also worshiped as Madhava and Gopinatha. In Jagannatha Dasa's Bhagavata these two names
are also used very frequently. Apart from Chaitanya, Jagannatha had close relations with
Balarama, Achyuta, Jasovanta and Sishu Ananta, all of whom contributed to the growth of
Oriya literature, religion and philosophy. They had their disciples and followers. Sishu
Ananta mentions that Jagannatha had around three thousand and six hundred Sishyas of
whom twelve were quite prominent. Dibakara Dasa, the biographer of Jagannatha Das was
one of his prominent disciples. Jagannatha breathed his last in the sixteenth year of life on
Sukla Magha saptami (7th day in the bright fortnight of the month of Magha, Chandrabhaga
Mela in Konarak) in 1557. Thus he had ushered a significant religious, literary and linguistic
transformations in Odisha.
Jagannatha Das also used to go to recite the Bhagavata in the houses of people and made no
discrimination on the basis of bodily identification, befriending men and women in the same
way. The poet has also sometimes felt it necessary to give the theme more of a local context,
social credibility and pictorial quality. At other times he seems to have driven by his religious
fervour to emphasise and expand those mportions dealing with the leela or activities of Lord
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Krishna. It is, indeed, a unique poetic creation. With philosophical backdrop, it never
degenerates into arid, obscure or abstruse, philosophical debates and discussions. On the
other hand, the most difficult philosophical propositions are delineated through simple stories
narrated in the traditional manner of storytelling. A work which certainly had at least a partial
motivation of religious or spiritual purpose never degenerates into any listing of litanies or
observances of rituals or ceremonies. This explains why the Odia Bhaqavata remains the
most intimate expression of the Odia soul as well as the culture and social ethics of the Odia
speaking people. The spirit of liberal humanism, tolerance, sacrifice and humility, so
characteristic of Odia social life, is, indeed, the gift of this epic Bhagavata.
Achyutananda Das
Shri Achyutananda Das was the most prolific writer of the Panchasakhas and has written
numerous books (called as Pothis), believed not in one life but in many successive lives.
Mahapurusha Achyutananda was a shunya sadhak and had acquired immense knowledge
about almost every aspect, i.e. spiritualism, Ayurveda, various other sciences, and social
regulations. He was born to father Dinabandhu Khuntia and mother Padmavati in Tilakana
near Nemala, Cuttack, in 1485.17 As a child, he was named Agani. When he grew older, he
had a mystic dream where the Lord taught him the Gita, the Upanishads and the Tantra.
Immediately he went to pilgrimage and on the way he met Chaitanya and it is said he
received Harinam initiation from Him. The mula mantra he chanted and taught was the
Radha mantra. Achyutananda is mostly famous for the book of prophecies called
Achyutananda Malika, composed of 13 chapters. Achyutananda also translated into Oriya
and commented Harivamsa. Tattva bodhini, Sunya samhita, Jyoti samhita, Gopala Ujjvala,
Baranasi Gita, Anakara Brahma Samhita, Abhayada Kavacha, Astagujari, Sarana panjara
stotra, Vipra chalaka, Mana mahima. Among his other creations,Brahmasankuli, Akalita
Samhita, Amara-Jamara Samhita, Sabdabrahma Samhita, Manivarana Gita, Manibandha
Gita, Garuda Gita, Janapradipa Gita, Sunya Gita, Kaliyuga Gita, Kali Kalpa Gita, Adilila
Gita, Avada Samhita, Dasa Patala, Udaya Kahani, Nirghanta Sabda, Nitya Rahasa, Varuna
Charita, Sarasvata Malika etc. are important.18 The Shunya Samhita is regarded as one of his
top compositions that dealt with supreme spiritual science where the description is recorded
as a conversation between Guru Achyuta and Shishya Ram Das. Achyutananda Das who
claims himself as a Sudra and one of the great poet Philosophers of the Panchasakhas rightly
mentions in his Sunyasamhita. This wooden form is the sum total of the ten incarnations.
Once again all the manifestations of ten incarnations were assimilated in the wooden form.
It is too difficult to attain salvation by Yoga. So it is indispensable on the part of human
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beings to chant the Name and obtain salvation.19 To identify Lord Jagannath as the sum
total of ten incarnations means an acceptance of the theory of socialism, i.e. all are equal
before the eyes of the God; and He has not made discrimination and distinction between
man and man; He is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. Lord Jagannath is the supreme
sovereign of the Odia nationality. Describing Lord Jagannath as supreme-infinite who made
Himself to be emerged from an absolute Zero (Sunya / great vaccum) to a form. A number of
folk lores and legendary sayings relating to Lord Jagannath are found attesting to the fact of
socio cultural unity and integrity of the Odia society where liberty, equality and fraternity
played a vital role. Let it be considered that the struggle against the caste system in Odisha
was developed under the leadership of Lord Jagannath. The classic paradigm was the story of
Dasia Bauri who was born in a Scheduled Caste called bauri who resided near Baligaon. He
was a great devout of Lord Jagannath who was not allowed to enter inside the temple. Lord
Jagannath was so pleased with the absolute devotion of Dasia that he offered two boons to
him out of which one was that Lord Jagannath would personally receive. In one occasion,
Dasia Bauri gave a coconut of his tree to a Brahmin of his village who made a pilgrimage to
Puri requesting him that after offering his personal naivedyas, he must come down to the
back side of the Garuda Stambha where he would offer the coconut to Lord Jagannath telling
that it was sent for Him by Dasia Bauri. Further he told him that if it was not personally
received by Lord Jagannath, then it must be returned back to Dasia. The Brahman followed
accordingly what was told by Dasia. To his surprise, the Brahmin found the hands of
Jagannath extended like the tusks of the elephant towards him and the coconut was lifted
within no time. Another interesting incident happened when Dasia Bauri personally
proceeded to Puri to offer sweet mangoes to Lord Jagannath. He was obstructed by the
Sevakas who insisted upon him to hand over the mangoes to them. Dasia Bauris polite
refusal to the sevakas stating that the mangoes would be directly received by the Lord made
them to be curious. The sincere meditational devotion of Dasia Bauri made the mangoes to be
vanished within an wink of the eyes and to the utmost surprise of the sevakas the seed stones
of the mangoes were found lying on the ratna simhasana. This proves to the fact that the god
belongs to all in an equal manner. Further, a group of persons of vestedinterests describe
Lord Jagannath as Patitapaban which literally means who is the uplifter or saviour of the
Patitas, i.e. dalita or down-troddens. He claimed that no one is patit in front of Lord
Jagannath. Since all are equal, the patitas (down troddens) were created by the unruly social
behavior. Similarly, the account of Bhakta Salabeg and Kabir proves to the fact that
Jagannath culture knows no racial, social and cultural discrimination. It stands for socializing
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the Odia-society where there is no place for discrimination between caste, creed and religion.
Probably the Sikhs langar cult (inter dinning) was borrowed from the Anand Bazar cult of
Lord Jagannath where people irrespective of their social status could dine together. Apart
from it, people from Chhatisa Pataka (36 patakas -castes and sub-castes) are employed to
render their respective services to the God. Achyutanandas teachings present a fusion of
Saguna and Nirguna worship, uniting the doctrines of Dvaita and Advaita, and knowledge
from Upanishads and Kundalini yoga. He left his body on Jyestha sukla Ekadasi.
Yasobanta Das
Jasovanta Das was born in 1487 near Aranga Nandi village, district of Cuttack, in a kshatriya
family. His father was Balabhadra Mala, his mother was Rekha Devi.20 The mula mantra
chanted and taught by him was the Shyama mantra. He wrote Govinda chandra, Shiva
sarodaya, Sasti mala, Prema bhakti, Brahma gita, Atma pariche gita, a Malika and several
bhajans. The Govinda Chandra became very famous in Assam, Bengal and north India which
is basically related with traditional dance and teaching of dance connected with the
Vaishnava tradition.
Jasovanta Das is well remembered only through his ballad of "Govinda Chandra" sung by
Natha cult medicant singers. Jasovanta became indifferent towards the world while he was
twelve years of age. He was determined to be a sanyasi. Since his early age Jasovanta used to
travel over many parts of India and lastly returned to Puri. Jasobanta Dasa composed many
devotional songs among which Premabhakti Brahmagita, Govinda Chandra Gita, Svaraday,
Chaurashi Ajna, and Rasa etc. were important. He has deciphered a number of methods of
yoga in' his Siva Svaraday". His language was very simple and intelligible to all. He also
propagated the knowledge-cum-devotion ideology among the people and discussed the
philosophy, ethics and principles of nirakara, anakara and omakr Brahma. The relation
between the soul and the great soul (Paramatma) was also investigated by him. He loved
Orissa, to him "Neelachal Purushottam Kshetra" was a rare place in the Universe, and the
shrines like Gopa, Mathura, Vrindaban, Dwaraka and Kashi were prevalent here.21 The
picture of the contemporary society, family and the eternal love between the mother and son
are to be found in his book "Govindachandra Gita". It deals with the tradition of social
behaviour in human society. Mother Mukta Devi taught her son, the prince Govinda.
Sacrifice was given a higher position than enjoyment. Another important thing the treatise
preaches that the gurus should be accepted irespective of caste, creed and colour-, if they
were to possess real knowledge. The prince Govinda Chandra had worshiped his guru
Hadipa, who was a sweeper by caste.22 Jasovanta Dasa also protested 'against the existing
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norms of socio-economic domination and discrimination. According to him meditation and

dvotion to God can never be monopolised by a particular caste or community, it is open to all
mankind. He bglieved in Premabhakti propagated to worship the God with' the Gopibhava. In
his Premabhakti Brahmagita he has made Sri Krishna to speak to his devotees. He comes to
closer to them who worship Him with premabhakti.There is no better devotion than lovebased devotion.
Ananta Das
Ananta Das who was another distinguished members of Panchasakha born in Balipatna
village, near Bhubaneswara, in 1488. His fathers name was Kapila, and his mothers name
was Gaura Devi.23 He was a contemporary of King Prataprudradev and was an associate of
Sri Chaitanya. He wrote the Bhakti mukti daya gita, one of the oldest and most important
popular scriptures of Orissa, and other texts like Sisu Deva gita, Artha tarani, Udebhakara,
Tirabhakana, a Malika and several bhajan songs. In Udaya bhagavata he describes Lord
Jagannatha as the combined form of Radha and Krishna. He composed number of treatises,
namely, the Garuda-Keshav Sambad, Thikabahar, Agatbhabishya Malika Arthatareni,
Chumbak Malika, Bhaktijuktidayak Gita, Anakar Sabad, Dibi Dibi Dhola, Pinda Brahmanda
Gita and 'Hetu Uday Bhagavat'. The "Hetu Uday Bhagavata" was the most important work in
which he described the implications of the guru mahima (significance of the religious
guides), Pancha mana (five stages of the mind) and Pachis Prakriti (twenty-five natures of
human-being) and also defined the philosophy of the creation of the Universe: Chauda
Brahmanda (Fourteen Worlds), Gayatri Tattva, Pinda Brahmanda Tattava and Abdhut Charita
etc. His predictions regarding the future of society was simple and was understood in
vernacular by the common men. Ananta Dasa, like his other comrades, was also one of the
exponents of the bhakti cult. He asked his devotees to submit their mind and soul to the God
as a wife submits herself to her husband. This was the way of bhakti and the method to
achieve the consciousness of the supreme God, Vishnu. Apart from this he propagaed that
God has no colour and He is avarna.24 According to him everything depends on mana (mind
or motive) and God is inside one's heart and not in the temple. The control of mind is real
meditation. The poet did not recognise the worship of God by the priests. He personified the
system of worship which is mental and is in the realm of thought.
The Panchasakha strove so much to elevate the status of the lowly-placed people in society
and wrote special books to make them feel equal to others and also indispensable for the total
functioning of the society. It is not surprising that these saints and writers who proclaimed the

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same presence of God in every man did not find much justice in the contemporary caste
society. And they had their own way of dealing with the problem in order to solve it.25
The main common characteristic of the panchasakha are:
They preferred meditation on the Formless to images, though the idol of Buddha-Jagannatha
represented to them not only Vishnu, but even the Sunya and Alekh (the void, the imageless)
they were preaching about.
They accepted all-surrounding devotion as a means of salvation, but advocated a preparatory
stage of inner purification through meditation and Hatha-yogic and Raja-yogic practices.
They hated rituals and showed hostility to professional priests as a class. They preached
against caste and claimed the right of the Sudra to read and expound the Vedas and the
Vedanta.
They were souls dedicated to the spiritual upliftment of the common man and were
deliberately writing in the language of the people in order to accomplish their purpose like
the Buddhists, even though some of them were erudite scholars.26
In a society where caste had gradually come to be looked upon as a divine
dispensation as it were and its whole ethics was built securely on that clever insinuation, the
Panchasakha declared themselves to be Sudras. In fact they belonged by birth to different
castes in society, at least one of them was a Brahmin, but became Sudra by choice. They had
their own way of explaining the origins of caste as a system. To say it with Achyutananda
again, all the four castes have been born out the great luminosity of the Lord only. According
to him, Vaishya is the eyes of God, Kshetriya His ears, the Brahmin is the very breathing and
exhalation of God and Sudra represents His face. He says that though his father was a
Kayastha and his mother was a Kshetriya by birth, he belongs to neither of these categories,
because he does neither of the functions intended for both of them. His real caste should
therefore be determined according to his function in the society. He argues that his case in the
following way. The Sudra takes birth upon earth to act as a servant to the three other castes.
Lord Jagannatha has made himself manifest in this world in all the three eras in three
different forms, I am His servant and thus I am a Sudra too. I am nothing but a Sudra,
because I have the Sudra attitude dominating all others.27
The attitude or the inner dominant propensity is the true determinant. Brahmin,
Kshetriya, Vaishya and the Sudra, these do not stand for the four castes, they stand for the
corresponding propensities. The one that is preponderant in a person will determine his real
caste. The Sudra attitude is the attitude of service. It is the propensity to give one to be of use
and to consecrate. This is how Achyutananda seems to have drawn a conclusion; I have no
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desire to be a Brahmin, neither a Kshetriya nor a Vaishya. To be humble and low gives you a
real sense of inner humility. That is why I have decided to be a Sudra and nothing else. And
again, Only a Sudra is eligible for real survive. A Sudra has indeed very little scope to
become egoistic while playing his roles. Genuine service and devotion make one worthy of
the heavens and bring him to the feet of God.28
It is clear that the traditional society of the time must have totally disapproved of this
attitude at caste. The established order with the Brahmins at the highest rung must have very
much opposed it. They came forward with all sorts of measures to humiliate them. They
argued, for example, that the Panchasakha had to take recourse to an explanation like the
above mainly because of their ignorance about the Sastras. Grapes are sour to those who have
not reached up to them, they pleaded. The Panchasakha said in reply that they were of course
well-versed in the Sastras and the Sadhanas, but nevertheless they proclaimed themselves to
be Sudras because of a choice, in view of a special propensity they bore within them. They
said they really wanted to be low and hence did not deem the Sudra in any way different from
them. They were servants at the feet of the Lord and thus could not discriminate between
high and low and chose to be Sudras. They very categorically announced that they were not
Brahmins, neither Vaishyas, nor Kshatriyas.29
This reads very well together with the medieval saints in literature all over India. The
Dasa of Karnataka also flouted all caste distinctions. A person, once he places himself on the
path of God-realization, has no more any need for a caste, no need to be high or low. This is a
proper context upon which we shall try to assess the scope of the Panchasakhas attainment
and works and to trace out the way and attitude which is so uniquely theirs. Achyutananda
has referred to the four stages of Bhakti following one another in an ascending order as it
were. He explains, the first attitude in the whole process of a Bhaktas evolution is the
Kshatriya attitude. At this stage, he destroys his lower nature and puts an end to the many
hostile elements within him that keep him stuck and staggering. At the second stage of the
evolution, the Bhakta goes out for commerce with the further stages of his development as a
Vaishya with the name of Krishna, the Lord, as his capital. As the second phase becomes
stable, the Bhakta takes to the propensities of a Brahmin and performs all the rituals and the
attendant paraphernalia and thus comes to realize what the path of a knower and thus
knowing Him in his real essence, he becomes a servant at His feet. This is the fourth and the
last station, the station of the Sudra, which ultimately makes the aspirant stable and sure in
the path of Bhakti.30
Conclusion
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The Panchasakhas represented a movement of protest against all authoritarian interference

and imposition. Despite all obstacles on their path they raised their voice against caste
hierarchy and discrimination against the Sudras, low status of women, against all exploitative
institutions including the King's authority, Brahminical ritual and priest-hood and the
sanctified hegemony of Sanskrit Ianguage. Their protest was also against all authoritarian
Shastras and even against all authoritarian gurubada. They were themselves the gurus, but did
not approve of the dogmatic pretensions of the gurus. They sang the glory of Lord Jagannatha
and the great values. Luxmi Purana is a unique literary product, propagating the superiority of
the quiet and unostentatious life of a woman to the noisy activities of a man. Even today,
after five centuries of its creation this book provides one of the finest, most highly edifying
and intensely entertaining folk-plays in Orissa. Moreover, it is socially remarkable, and a
crusade against untouchability and caste hierarchy. It preaches the triumph of love and
devotion.
So, the Panchasakha strove to bring out a new social order by removing the social barrier that
separated man from man and community from community. They were eminently successful
in their mission and made the people to believe in social equality through their writings. It is
also believed that minimization of caste tension and oppressian in Odisha is certainly a
contribution of the Panchasakhas. They brought the spiritual lore that was as yet a sealed
book in Sanskrit to the doorsteps of the peasant's cottage. Through their Ramayana,
Bhaqavata and Laxmi puran they made all the esoteric teaching accessible to the common
Oriya, unschooled in Sanskrit. They wrote ballads to carry their messages of ideal living and
desirable attitudes to life even to the illiterate womenfolk in the inner courtyards. Even now
Balarama's Baula Gai, Laxmi Puran, Jagannatha's Mriguni Stuti, Jasovanta Chandra
constitute the main stack-in-trade of the wandering minstrels of Odisha. Their recitals of
these ballads door to door to the accompaniment of the mono-string Kendra, draw children
and womenfolk to the doors, windows and streets as though by magic. Their appeal is
undying because they were written by devout souls with eyes fixed on the common mans
spiritual benefits.

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References:
1. M.Mansingh, A History of Oriya Literature, New Delhi, 1962, p.83.
2. Dibakara Dasa, Jagannatha Charitamruta, Puri, 1st Ed.,1963, p.51.
3. Madalapanji, Prachi, pp.54-55.
4. Sunya Samhita, Ch.I.
5. Chaurashi Ajna, Ch,III.
6. C.R. Das, Achyutananda o Panchasakha Dharma, Viswa Varati, Santiniketan, 1951,
7. M. Mansingh, History of Oriya Academy, New Delhi, 1963, p.95 Literature, Sahitya
8. K.C. Sahoo, Kavi Balarama Dasa, Orissa Sahitya Academy, Bhubaneswar, 1988, p.51.
9. Ibid. p.54
10. Ibid. p.55.
11. K.C. Sahoo, Kavi Balarama Dasa, Orissa Sahitya Academy, Bhubaneswar, 1988, p.51.
12. Luxmi Puran, pp.23-24.
13. Dibakara Dasa, Jagannatha Charitamruta, Puri, 1st Ed.,1963, p.39.
14. Dibakara Dasa, Jagannatha Charitamruta, Puri, 1st Ed.,1963, p.39.
15."Sakala dehe Narayana.; Basanti anadi karana. Sakala dehe Narahari; Basanti
atmarupadhari." Bhagavata
16. Jagannatha Charitamrita, p.112.
17. "Tilakanare mu janam labhili kehi no chinhile more;
Agani ta boli mata dakuchanti anna na milai ghare." Sunya Samhita, Ch.l8
18. Jagabanhu Singh, Prachina Utkal, Odisha Sahitya Academy, 1964, P.108.
19. Achyutananda Das, Tattvabodhini, Dhrama Grantha Store, 1985, P.3.
20. B.M. Mohanty, "Mahapurusha Jasovanta Dasa" in B. Mohanty(ed) op cit., p.130, Vide
S.N. Das, op. cit.'pp.492-93.
21. Jasovanta Dasa, Premabhakti Brahmagita, Prachi Samiti, Bhubaneswar, 1st Ed., n.d.,
Chapter.V, p.40.
22. B. Mohanty (ed.), op. cit., pp.130-33.
23. B. Sahu, "Hetu Udaya Bhagaba ta" in B. Mohanty ( ed. ) ,Konark, 1971, p.429
24. "Arekha avarna atai, Avarna barna se nuhain".Hetu Udaya Bhagabata.
25.Chitaranjan Das, A Glimpse into Oriya Literature, Odisha Sahitya Academy,
Bhubaneswar, 1982, p.80
26. M.Mansingh, op.cit., pp.83-84.
27. Chitaranjan Das, op.cit., p.81.
28.Ibid.
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29.Ibid.
30.Ibid.

Web Reference:

http://odisha.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/2014/Jun/engpdf/115-119.pdf

http://anantahimalayas.blogspot.in/2012/07/blog-post_26.html

http://anantahimalayas.blogspot.in/2012_07_01_archive.html

http://puriwaves.nirmalya.in/saints/atibadi-jagannath-das

http://odisha.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/2011/july/engpdf/11-15.pdf

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