The Predecessors of the Saint

In the nineteenth chapter of his Uttarakānda Rāmāyana, Sankaradeva gives an account of his roots:

Bardowā nāme grām		sasye matsye anupām
	Louhityar āti anukul
bhoilā sei Grameswar	yāra nāma Rājadhar
	Kāyastha kulara padmaphul
tāna putra Suryyavar		mahābara desadhar
	dāni māni mahāyasi sista
yāra yasa ebhu jwalai	Jayanta Mādhava daloi
	duyo bhāi yāhāra kanistha
tāna hante bhoilā jāta	samaste desate khyāta
	prasiddha Kusuma yāra nām
dāne māne bhoilā chara       bhaumika madhyata sāra
	ekogune nāhike upām
tāhāna santati āti	jnāna-sunya sisumati
	Kesavara kinkar Sankar
Dirgha hrasva nānā chande	biracilā padabandhe
	Seskathā Uttarakāndar

There stands a village, Bardowā by name, unparalleled in richness of crops and fishes, washed by the waters of the Lauhitya. A potentate named Rājadhara ruled there, the lotus of the Kāyastha clan. His son was Suryyavara, owner of lands, generous, highly honored, most renowned and gentle, whose fame still shines, having as his brothers, Jayanta and Mādhava Daloi. From him was born the renowned Kusumavara known throughout the length and breadth of the country, who excelled in bounty and honor, the chief among the bhaumikas (landed-chiefs). Each of his virtues is matchless. His son, Sankara, quite lacking in wisdom and knowledge and utterly childish, the servant of Kesava, composed the final events of the Uttarakānda in verse, in multifarious long and short rhymes.