Sankardeva (1449-1569), the great spiritual fore-runner of Neo-Vaishnavite movement of medieval Assam made his all pervasive and pervading influence in every sphere of Assamese society. He is considered as the father of Assamese nation. His great contribution made in the field of religion, language, literature, art, play, music, architecture etc. makes the very foundation of today’s Assamese culture and society. Most of his successors till our days are indebted to him. The stalwart like Laksminath Bezbaruah, Jyotiprasad Agarwala, Bishnuprasad Rabha etc. belongs to modern age, were vehemently influenced by his principle of inclusiveness, adopted by this great vaishnavite saint who made this nation called Assamese. Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika (1926-2011), being born in a family background where deep influence of Sankardeva prevailed, became inquisitive to know about activities and ideologies of this great personality since his childhood. Subsequently, when he emerged as a lyricist cum singer, influences of ideologies of this great saint got its reflection in his lyrics. This paper aims at finding out how Bhupen Hazarika treated Sankardeva and his ideology in his lyrics.
Key words: Sankardeva, Bhupen Hazarika, neo-vaishnavite movement, medieval Assam, lyrics, song etc.
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