Gaudiya Vaishnavism
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Gaudiya Vaishnavism, (Bengal) Vaishnavism, is a Vaishnava religious movement founded by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the late 1400's. The focus of Gaudiya Vaishnavism is the devotional worship (bhakti) of Radha and Krishna, and their many divine incarnations as the supreme forms of God.
Most popularly this worship takes the form of singing Radha and Krishna's holy names, such as 'Hare', 'Krishna' and 'Rama', which is known as kirtan. The movement is sometimes referred to as the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya sampradaya referring to its traditional origins in the disciplic succession of spiritual masters (gurus) believed to originate from Brahma.
History since Caitanya Mahaprabhu
Over the three centuries following the departure of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition evolved into the form we largely find it today in contemporary India. In the early years of the tradition, the descendants of Nityananda Prabhu, Advaita Acharya and other companions of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu educated and initiated people, each in their own locales across Bengal.The tradition in Vraja, led by the six Goswamis, the theological founding fathers of the tradition, became famous for its siddha-mahatmas (perfected saints). Narottama, Srinivasa and Shyamananda, three students of Jiva Goswami in the second generation of the tradition, the youngest among the six Goswamis, were instrumental in spreading the established theology across Bengal and Orissa.
In the 17th century, Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur held great merit in clarifying core doctrinal issues over the practice of raganuga-bhakti through works such as Raga-vartma-chandrika. His student, Baladeva Vidyabhushan, wrote a famous commentary on the Vedanta-sutra called Govinda Bhashya.
The 18th century saw a number of illuminaries headed by Siddha Jayakrishna Das Babaji of Kamyavan and Siddha Krishnadas Babaji of Govardhan. The latter, a widely renown teacher of the mode of internal worship (raga-bhajan) practiced in the tradition, is largely responsible for the current form of devotional practice embraced in the traditions based in Vraja.
Modern times
The 19th century India, now under substantial influence from the West with the establishment of the British rule, reflected on its values and cultural heritage in diverse avenues. Vaishnavism was not unaffected – this was to be an era of new movements and revolutionaries.The need to influence the colonisers was felt strongly among the Bengali intelligentsia. This spirit touched Kedarnath Datta Bhaktivinoda, a deputy magistrate under the British government, who sent an English biography of Chaitanya's he had authored in 1896 to numerous Western universities. The first missionary to cross the ocean was Baba Premananda Bharati, a follower of Jagatbandhu Sundar's, who arrived in the United States in 1902, establishing a Krishna-temple in Los Angeles and, according to some accounts, raising up to 5000 followers. His disciple, Mahanambrata Brahmachari, was to lecture in dozens of universities across the country in the 1930's. Their Western following is said to have later dwindled under religious persecution in their absence.
Radharaman Charan Das Babaji, also known as Boro Baba, was one of the leading characters of the era, gathering a substantial following of his own. This group, popularized further through the efforts of Ramdas Babaji, is known for their "Nitai Gaura Radhe Shyam" chant. Despite some doctrinal disagreements, Boro Baba's followers have gained acceptance among the tradition.
In 1919, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati founded a monastic movement called Gaudiya Matha. Under his inspiration, Bhakti Saranga Goswami, Bhakti Hridoy Bon and Bhakti Pradip Tirtha journeyed to England for missionary work in the 1930's, meeting with only limited success. However in India, Burma and Pakistan where Bhaktisiddhanta propagated his reformist movement with tremendous support from people in all ranks of society, he succeeded in establishing 64 Maths (monasteries) where devotees could congregate and worship Lord Hari together. Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati vocally expressed his dissatisfaction over the state of the contemporary Gaudiya tradition and was highly critical of many householder gurus in the vamsha-traditions and many babaji-renunciates. This spirit, accompanied with some theological revisions, led the majority of the tradition to distance itself from the new movement.
As printing presses grew more popular and became more readily available, the old literature of the tradition, earlier available only as hand-written manuscripts, was widely published in a printed form. Perhaps the greatest among publishers was Haridas Dasji of Haribol Kutir, who spent the entirety of his life searching, editing and translating old manuscripts for publication. Other stalwart publishers were Puri Das, known from his days in Gaudiya Matha as Ananta Vasudeva, Krishna Das Babaji of Kusuma Sarovara, and the numerous branches of the Gaudiya Matha.
The Gaudiya Matha
Gaudiya Matha historians assert that in the 17th-18th century, there was a period of general decline in the movement's strength and popularity, followed by a renaissance which began at the start of the 20th century. This change is believed to have happened largely due to the efforts of a particularly adept preacher known as Bhaktivinoda Thakur who also held the position of a deputy magistrate with the British government. Srila Bhaktivinoda's son was later to became known as Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. The latter was an eminent scholar and preacher who founded sixty-four Gaudiya Matha monasteries in India and abroad.The leading disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura established their own temples (mathas) after his departure from this mortal world in 1936. The reform initiated by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati caused dissension among the tradition, on account of which, instead of reforming the existing tradition, his endeavors formed for all practical purposes a new form of the tradition. This movement was coined as the Saraswata Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition.
The branches of Gaudiya Matha have grown numerous. The most well known branches are:
- ISKCON, founded by A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
- (became known as the 'Hare Krishnas' by many in the West)
Gaudiya and other Vaishnava schools
There are a number of philosophical differences between Gaudiya Vaishnava theology and that of other Vaishnava groups, although from a general perspective their core beliefs are virtually identical. The main points of difference are: This teaching - shared by Nimbarka and Vallabha sampradayas and opposed by Ramanuja and Madhva - is based most prominently on Bhagavata Purana 1.3.28 (krsnas tu bhagavan svayam), the most important Purana for Gaudiya Vaishnavas, and elaborated on by Jiva Gosvami (one of Six Gosvamis of Vrindavan) in his Krishna sandarbha.- Sri Radha is the adi Shakti of Krishna, the source of all other shaktis including Lakshmi Devi and Durga Devi.
- Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the latest incarnation of Krishna to descend in this yuga (age). (Kalki comes in the yuga sandhya at its end.)
Notable modern-day personalities
- Ananta Das Babaji
- Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj
- Bhakti Bibudha Bodhayan Maharaja
- Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja
- [Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami]
- Bhakti Vallabha Tirtha Maharaja
- Bhakti Vaibhava Puri Maharaj
- Jayapataka Swami
Gaudiya Vaishnava organizations
- Gaudiya Kutir
- Gaudiya Math
- International Society for Krishna Consciousness
- Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mission
External links
- [An overview of Gaudiya Vaishnavism] - (gaudiya.com)
- [Bhaktivedanta Book Trust portal] - BBT (krishna.com)
- [Biography of Sri Chaitanya by Swami Sivananda]
- [Gaudiya Kutir Wiki] - Online Gaudiya Vaishnava encyclopedia
- [ISKCON Homepage]
- [Lake of Flowers Productions] - Free media on Gaudiya Vaishnavism
- [Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math]
- [Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mission]
- [World Vaishnava Association] - An Umbrella Organisation of the Vaishnava faith
- [VINA: Vaishnava Internet News Agency] - Official News Site of the World Vaishnava Association
- [ramakrishnananda.com] - The Bhaktivedanta Vedic Church
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