SRI JAYADEVANKA BAAISI PAHACHA
About the book:
Sri Jaya Dev of the 12th Century Orissa, erroneously
depicted as Sri Jayadev or Jayadeva, was not a Baishnav
as he is being projected; he was a social revolutionary and
proponent of Sahajajana sect of Buddhism. He had
authored his love lyrics to provide a supportive literature to
this cult which was essential in his time to check spread of
Brahminic aparthied in his motherland Orissa.
The lyrics having immense Sahajia impact and being
matchlessly popular, different agents of Brahminism, in
course of time, had tried to transform them into Brahminic
literature through interpolations and by editing them in a
style conducive to their own cult and by captioning the
interpolated compilation as Gita-Govinda when, in fact, the
poet was so much against the cult of Govinda that he had
never used that name even for once in his lyrics. His lyrics
supporting the female factor in consonance with Sahajayana were
so much threatening to patriarchal political system that they were
banned from the temple of Lord Jagannath by the great patron of
Brahminism in Orissa, Emporer Purushottam Dev. The Emperor had
replaced the lyrics of Jaya Dev with a book captioned as Abhinav Gita-
Govinda of which he had claimed to be the author; but which was allegedly
authored by a Brahmin namely Dibakara Mishra wherein attempts were
tactfully made to transform Sri Jagannath from Buddha of Orissa to Krishna
of Dwaraka in order to terminate the Buddhist flow of philosophy till then
active in his abode, Sri Mandira.
People of Orissa had revolted against this conspiracy and had compelled
the said Emporer to withdraw his own order and work and to restore recital
of the lyrics of Sri Jaya Dev before the Lord as before. Purusottam Dev
withdrew his work but the selected Brahminic interpolations continued in the
guise of orders of the Lord in dreams. Agitation of the public could somehow
be managed with his son and successor Emporer Prataprudradev
promulgating an ordinance to the effect that no other song than that of Sri
Jaya Dev would ever be recited in the temple. Unable to write off the
Buddhist impacts of this revolutionary poet, Brahminism in Orissa has
interpolated 72 verses on his original works and given it a misleading title
called Gita Govinda, editing the same in a style to usurp him for Brahminic
Vaishnavism. The Bengalis, without knowing the truth on Jaya Dev, have
joined the bandwagon of claiming him for Vaishnavism as well as for their
homeland. In the process, the immortal love lyricist has been buried under
baseless legends.
Sri Pattanayak has freed him from the labyrinth of legends and set him as
history permits. He has shown how both the segments, the chauvinist
section of the Bengalis and the agents of Brahminism are wrong in their
claim over Sri Jaya Dev. He has done a unique work. He has completely
dismantled the fort of Bengali claims over Sri Jaya Dev. He has, for the first
time, exposed how the Central Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi has been
misused by Bengali chauvinists in the matter of Sri Jaya Dev. He has, for the
first time, freed Sri Jaya Dev from legends on the basis of historic
perspectives. He has brought to records all the relevant but missing
episodes of Orissan history for the first time through interpretative
research.He has shown how Radha, now a Hindu Vaishnav deity, was
created by Sri Jaya Dev as Nayika of Buddhist Sahajayan. He has shown
how Orissa is the place where Buddha was born. He has shown how
Buddha became Sri Jagannatha. He has shown how Sri Jagannatha is in
reality the female factor. He has opened up new avenues for research on
the now extinct Mahodadhi Civilisation of Orissa. He has opened up new
vistas for research on extinguishment of Buddhism in the soil of its origin,
Orissa, vis-a-vis the the role of Asoka. Over and above the most
perspicacious discussion on Sri Jaya Dev and his times, this book contains
the Oriya translation of his lyrics in poetic form with the most measured
meticulousness typical of the acclaimed wordsmith Subhas Chandra
Pattanayak.
Originally published in 1998, his translations are regarded as the best in the
category so far. A better book than this in the subject so far is not available.
Smt. Sabitarani Kanungo,
Former Professor in Sansrit and President,
State Selection Board, Govt. of Orissa
About the author:
Sri Subhas Chandra Pattanayak, a Journalist of four decades standing,
known for his incisive investigations,has been contributing to the media
many original and interpretive articles on Orissan culture and scriptures,
Presently Representative-In-Chief of www.orissamatters.com, he is the first
officially accredited online journalist of India.
In this book, he has tried to free Sri Jaya Dev from legends and cultural
onslaughts by taking the Brahminic wrap off his real creed and has put him
in the historic perspective while proving that he was a social scientist, a
philosopher and propounder of Sahajayan sect of Buddhism that he had
wanted to strengthen with a popular literature for which he had authored his
love-lyrics,which are now available under the caption: Gitagovinda, a title
wrongfully and deliberately concocted by agents of Brahminism.
For people of Orissa to understand the immortal poet of their soil in his real
creed, Pattanayak has translated all the twenty-two lyrics of Sri Jaya Dev in
matchlessly lucid and poetic form in Oriya. In his discussion on Sri Jaya
Dev, he has established, on the basis of facts, the fakeness of Bengali claim
over him. But more importantly, he has exposed the mens rea behind such
false claim. In this endeavor, he has, interalia, brought to light how Orissa is
the birthplace of Buddha and why He is worshiped as Sri Jagannath in
Orissa.
For the first time, in this book, he has given a new but unrefutable
interpretation to history by pointing out at the antagonism of Asoka towards
Buddhism, which was the only reason of his attack on Orissa, the place
being the birthplace of Buddha and therefore, the fountainhead of
Buddhism. A master wordsmith, he has created magic in the pages of this
book where quest is melted into creativity, hunch is matched with
historiocity, comprehension is tested on the matrix of reality, reality has
metamorphosed into a lucid- in- languagebut-strong-in-tenor pattern,
uniquely ecstatic, that has revived Sri Jaya Dev in his entirity. This is a must
reading for everybody who loves Sri Jaya Dev and loves Orissa and her rich
ancient culture and to whom, reality is important than the legends.
