Skip to content Skip to navigation

Webinar on philosophical comparison between Sankaradeva and Spinoza

As part of the international webinar series on Different facets of Sankaradeva Studies, organised by the Society for Srimanta Sankaradeva, the eighth webinar was held on 21st August 2022. Delphic Council of North East India was also associated with it. Dr Ananya Barua, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Hindu College, University of Delhi was the resource person. She delivered a lecture on "Sankaradeva and Spinoza: a philosophical comparison". The webinar was moderated by Dr. Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti, author and scholar of Sankari culture.

Dr Ananya Barua made an attempt to draw a conceptual comparison philosophically between the mystical quest of Srimanta Sankaradeva and the rational quest of Spinoza. She explored the East-West dichotomy, and how to bridge the dichotomies in a harmonious way. She also discussed the methodology of dialogical hermeneutics.

Dr Barua further attempted to understand the role of God without religion, and the other, who is deeply soaked in the spirituality of Bhakti tradition. She referred to the question of whether one could be both a genuine Adavitin and an authentic Bhakta. The creative dialogue between the two, and the triumph of Bhakti over Jnana were some of the interesting aspects of her presentation. She stressed that Spinoza’s philosophy was a continuation of Srimanta Sankaradeva’s philosophy.

Several scholars and eminent persons including Prof Archana Barua,  Retired Faculty of IIT Guwahati, Ashok Singh from Delphic Council of Jammu & Kashmir, and Swapnanil Barua, President of Delphic Council of North East India attended the webinar. Prof Archana Barua took an active part in the deliberations and said that the philosophy of Geeta was relevant in this discussion.

Dr Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti, in his comments, said that Srimanta Sankaradeva was a pioneer in combining paths of devotion and knowledge. The saint equated Brahma and Ishwara, which was an unprecedented phenomenon. Dr Borkakoti said that Spinoza proceeded in the same line of thought as he preached love for absolute being. That Srimanta Sankaradeva was a guiding light for a philosopher like Spinoza was a notable feature.

Add new comment

Random Stories

Sattriya rendering towards perfection

12 Dec 2017 - 7:37am | Prantik Deka
Recently, the audience at the Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra’s Sri Sri Madhabdev International Auditorium were treated to an evening of Sattriya Oja pali - 'Sampurna Apaal Poda Gowa', which was...

Moinul joins BPF

8 Apr 2014 - 6:13pm | Hantigiri Narzary
Founder president of the All BTC minority Students Union(ABMSU) and main culprit of BTAD riot 2012 Moinul Haque today joined to the BPF  party along with his supporters at a meeting held at...

Centre reviews Assam land order situation

11 Apr 2008 - 2:31pm | editor
The Centre is reviewing Assam’s law and order situation at a series of meeting in New Delhi which began on Thursday. The state’s top ranked civil and police officials including Assam...

Fierce Fighting: 2 ultras, PC Ram suspected dead

12 Jul 2007 - 4:45am | editor
Guwahati : A fierce fighting between ULFA and security forces near the city on the wee hours on Thursday left two ultras and the kidnapped FCI officer P C Ram dead.Reliable sources here say acting on...

Other Contents by Author

A webinar series on different facets of Sankaradeva studies, organized by Society for Srimanta Sankaradeva, was started with the maiden lecture programme by Dr Arshiya Sethi, a dance scholar and Fulbright fellow from New Delhi on 19th December 2021. She talked about   “Going Global: Sankaradeva and the Living Arts of the Sattras.” The program was moderated by Dr. Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti, author and scholar of Sankari culture. Dr Arshiya Sethi referred to the recognition of Sattriya dance at the national level on November 15, 2000 and spoke about the challenges that came after that in her lecture. She gave special reference to the devotees residing in the Sattras, the...
The Society for Srimanta Sankaradeva, a leading organisation promoting the legacy of Srimanta Sankaradeva, is planning to hold a series of global webinars on different facets of Sankaradeva Studies starting in December 2021. Scholars from India and abroad will take part in the webinars. All webinars will be moderated by author and researcher Dr. Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti, who is also President of the Society for Srimanta Sankaradeva. The inaugural lecture will be held on 19th December 2021 at 5 pm IST. It will be delivered by Dr Arshiya Sethi, an independent dance scholar, author and columnist from New Delhi. The topic of her lecture will be “Going Global: Sankaradeva and the Living Arts of...
Girijananda Chowdhury Institute of Management & Technology (GIMT), Tezpur has organized a state level essay competition for the students of class IX to XII. The topic for the essay competition is 'Role of Technology in National Progress/ৰাষ্ট্ৰীয় প্ৰগতিৰ ক্ষেত্ৰত প্ৰযুক্তিবিদ্যাৰ ভূমিকা'. The participants can submit their essays either in English or Assamese within word limit of 1500-2000. Essays should be submitted in clean handwritten or typed form in a single file (preferably in pdf format). In the first page the participants should mention his/her name, postal address, Email ID, phone number, name of school/college, standard (class). The last page should contain a signed...
The Smart India Hackathon 2017 held on April 1-2 at Girijananda Chowdhury Institute of Management & Technology (GIMT), Guwahati was successfully concluded. 31 teams from across the country participated in the event - each team comprising of six students and two mentors. The participating teams offered digital solutions to 11 problems put forward by the Ministry of DoNER. The team ‘Bitcoders’ from Gandhi Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar led by Ravi Prakash Gupta was declared winners of the competition held at the Guwahati nodal centre. The first and second runners up of the competition were respectively, ‘Stark’ from MM Engineering College, Mullana, Ambala and ‘Detect &...
Girijananda Chowdhury Group of Institute (GIMT & GIPS) Guwahati, a unit of Shrimanta Shankar Academy (SSA) the first non-governmental Engineering and Pharmaceutical College of Assam Besides Academics the institute has moved a step towards adopting an underdeveloped village called Garbhanga in the district of Kamrup metro and converting it into a model village.Moreover, the institute has always dedicated their Annaul Cultural cum Technical Fest “Euphuism” for the cause of the society by adopting some social issues as the motto of the event and thereby organising various activities based on the theme. This time Girijananda Chowdhury Group of Institute (GIMT & GIPS) is proud to...
Student Chapter of Indian Society for Technical Education,  at Girijananda Chowdhury Institute of Management, Guwahati organised a seminar on Cloud Computing on Saturday. Prof. Gautam Barua, Director, IIIT Guwahati gave the keynote address on the topic. Bhabaranjan Sarmah, Vice President of ISTE also attended the Programme.
A 45 day long workshop on Aharya of Ankiya Bhaona was held in Assam under the auspices of the Society for SrimantaSankaradeva, an international organization engaged in promoting the legacy of Sankaradeva across the world. The workshop sponsored by Sattriya Kendra of SangeetNatakAkademi took place from December 14 to January 27 at the Pragati Library inDhing. Experts JadabMahanta, UtpalBania, Haren Goswami, Nityananda Goswami, TibrajyotiBairagi, Rani Dutta Barua, MriduMoucham Bora, Chittaranjan Bora, Kalyan Saikia and others trained the participants inmaking costumes, ornaments, masks, properties, headgears and even make-up among others. The workshop was led by both theory and...
Girijananda Chowdhury Institute of Management & Technology (GIMT) & Girijananda Chowdhury Institute of Pharmaceutical Science (GIPS), will organise their Annual Cultural cum Technical festival called “EUPHUISM’15 PRASINISMA” from January 27-29.EUPHUISM since its inception in the year 2008 aims to creates a platform for students across the state to showcase their talent in various technical, non-technical & cultural events. The event will feature several events, performances. Prof. Amarendra Kr. Das, IIT Guwahati will grace the inaugural ceremony as the Chief Guest for the occasion.
The Society for Srimanta Sankaradeva is organising a 45 day free residential workshop at Dhing, Nagaon from December 14 on Aharjyabhinaya of Ankiya Bhaona. In this workshop, costume making, ornament making, mask making, make-up etc will be taught practically and elaborately by leading experts of Assam. The objective is that the trainees should set up own workshops for producing these items and thus become self-employed after the training. So only unemployed youths will be trained. The workshop is sponsored by Sattriya Kendra of Sangeet Natak Akademi. It is for the first time that such a comprehensive workshop on Aharjya of Ankiya Bhaona is being organised in Assam.Preparation of...
Pushpa Narayan Bhakat (born 1929) was felicitated by Society for Srimanta Sankaradeva (SSS) on September 7 in a solemn function at his residence in Salbari village, Tufanganj, West Bengal for his dedication to spread Eka Sharana Nama Dharma and its culture in West Bengal. SSS was represented by Palash Pratim Bora, the convener of its Madhupur events. Pushpa Narayan Bhakat has been engaged in religious activities since taking initiation at Jharabari Sattra in 1956. Later he became a Sharanacharjya of Srimanta Sankaradeva Sangha. He revived the Haripur Sattra and Kakatkuta-Bhela Sattra in Koch behar District. In Jalpaiguri District he established seven Namghars in Jalpaiguri, Dhupguri,...