Gaudiya Vaishnavism
From Freepedia
Gaudiya Vaishnavism, (Bengal) Vaishnavism, is a sect of Hinduism founded by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya sampradaya is the disciplic succession following this particular type of Vaishnavism (and Vaishnava Theology), which worships Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Gaudiya and other Vaishnava schools: main theological differences
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.)
Gaudiya Vaishnava Theology is prominently expounded by Jiva Gosvami in his Sat-sandarbhas, six elaborate treatises on various aspects of God. Other prominent Gaudiya Vaishnava theologians are his uncles, Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami, Visvanatha Chakravarti and Baladeva Vidyabhushana, author of Govinda Bhashya, a famous commentary on Vedanta Sutra.
Modern times
After departure of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, in 18th-19th century, there was a period of decline but at the end of 19th and beginning of 20th century Gaudiya Vaishnavism underwent a renaissance due to efforts of Bhaktivinode Thakur, who held a prominent position as a judge, and his son Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, eminent scholar and preacher, founder of 64 monasteries around India and abroad called Gaudiya Matha. He was the guru of A.C. Bhaktivedanta_Swami_Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON, Hare Krishna Movement). Since 1980's, partially due to problems in ISKCON, some of its members joined various other Gaudiya Vaishnava groups (like various Gaudiya Mathas and the Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mission) or created their own, with varying attitudes to ISKCON. Another recent development is that ISKCON has been participating in bringing the academic study of Krishna into western academia in the theological discourse on Krishnology.
External links
- An overview of Gaudiya Vaishnavism
- Gaudiya FAQ
- Biography of Sri Chaitanya by Swami Sivananda
- Krishna.com All about Krishna. Info, books, MP3s, images, radio. . .
- ISKCON
- World Vaishnava Association An Umbrella Organisation of the Vaishnava faith
- VINA - Vaishnava Internet News Agency The Official News Site of the World Vaishnava Association
- Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math
