| The king was
convinced about the superiority of Sankaradeva's creed and was deeply moved by his
majestic personality. He honoured the saint with valuable presents and assured royal
patronage towards propagation of the Bhakti movement in his kingdom. The king even
expressed his desire to become his disciple but Sankaradeva declined to give him
initiation, as he thought that it would not be possible for kings to observe the religious
and ethical code of his religion. Sankaradeva came back to Barpeta, but both the king and
his brother Cilarai invited him on several occasions to Cooch Behar for holding religious
discussions. Cilarai built for him a Satra, near the capital which was known as Bheladanga Satra. Here, the great saint who gave to Assam a new way
of thinking about God and man passed away in 1569 A.D. Before his death, Sankaradeva
nominated his devout disciple Madhavadeva to the apostolic seat, disregarding the claims
of his son, who was also a devout Vaishnava. From Madhavadeva's time, theEkasaranadharma
came to be known as Mahapurushiya as Madhava was looked upon by the disciples as the
Mahapurusha, the great spiritual leader who led the way in devotion to the faith of
Sankara. |
