Odia Books

Jagannath Das was born in 1490.Among the saint-poets of odisha, Jagannath Das stands supreme and his influence on the national life and literature is immense. He was born in a Brahmin family in the village of Kapileswarpur near Puri. His father used to explain in odia the Sanskrit scripture in the famous Jagannath Temple of Puri, and for this Purushottam Dev, the then king of odisha, conferred on him the title of ‘Purana Panda’. Jagannath Das showed great promise and versatility during his early days and could acquire mastery over Sanskrit lexicography, grammar, poetics, Puranas and the Vedas.

Jagannath Das lost his father in his childhood. It is said that Jagannath Das translated the Bhagavat from Sanskrit to odia at the instance of his mother, who could not fully understand the explanations given by the Sanskrit Pandit in the Puri Temple. He has written many books in odia and Sanskrit, but his translation of the Bhagavat is the most outstanding work. Chaitanya, a great devotee and preacher of the Vaishnav cult, was greatly impressed by the profound devotion and learning of Jagannath Das, and in token of their friendship, he addressed him as ‘Atibadi’, meaning a great devotee. The religious community formed by Jagannath Das is, therefore, known as ‘Atibadi sampradaya’. This school professes that knowledge is not an obstacle, but is complementary to spirituality and piety. They accept Lord Jagannath as the Supreme Lord. A biography in poetry of this saint poet has also been written by Dibakar Das during the later part of the seventeenth century.

We learn from Vaisnab Leelamruta of Madhab Pattanaik, a devotee in the early sixteenth century, that
Jagannath Das was adept in ‘Rasa nrutya’ and ‘Kirtan’. Along with Panchasakha (five saint friends) and Chaitanya, he preached ‘Nama kirtan’ (Chanting loudly the holy name of the Lord Krishna while dancing) in the villages. Devotees in odisha and Bengal were also enlightened by him about the principles of ‘Bhakti’, and for his noble qualities addressed him as Swami or the great master.

Jagannath Das lived the life of a ‘Sanyasin’ practising austere penance in a hermitage on the sea-shore in Puri, called Sata Lahari, till he breathed his last. Krushna bhakti kalpalata, Krushna bhakti, Kalpalata phalam, Premasudhambudhi, Nitya gupta mala upasana satakam, Nityachara, Neeladri satakam, Jagannath charitambodhi sarani are some of his Sanskrit writings. Among his odia writings, Darubramha geeta, Tula bhina, Mruguni stuti, Pasanda dalan, Gaja stuti, Artha koili, Gupta Bhagavat are noteworthy. But it is his odia Bhagavata composed in the metric form of nine-lettered lines that is known in every home all over odisha. This is not an actual translation of Vyasa’s Sanskrit Bhagavata. Rather the ideas in various shlokas have been faithfully transmitted in a highly lyrical, spontaneous and simple odia language. The odia Bhagavat is a monumental work. The first eleven volumes were written by this great genius, but the last two volumes, the twelfth and the thirteenth were composed in the same manner by Mahadev Das, an eminent poet of the later period.

His Darubramha geeta deals with the sacred place of Puri and Lord Jagannath in three cantos written in his usual simple style. Artha koili is a small piece of poetical composition. It gives esoteric interpretation of‘Kesab koili’, a popular lyric of Markanda Das, depicting the feelings of mother Yasoda for her darling Krishna, who left for Mathura, but did not return when he met his own parents there. His devotional songs and lyrics have also earned for him a great honour. In Tula bhina we find the examples of early odia prose.
BIBLIOGRAPHY; Dibakar Das, Jagannath charitamruta; M.Mansinha, History of odia Literature (New
Delhi, 1962); M. Patanaik, Vaisnab Leelamruta (Sambalpur 1990); S.Das, Mohapurusa Jagannath Das.
(Cuttack, 1978); S. Mishra, Atibadi Sri Jagannath Das Goswami (Puri, 1921); S.N. Dash odia sahityara
itihas (Cuttack, 1964).

Odia Books By Jagannath Das

Purana Panda
Darubramha Geeta
Tula Bhina
Mruguni Stuti
Pasanda Dalan
Gaja Stuti
Artha Koili
Gupta Bhagavat