Hinduism: A Short History (23 page)

The Vallabha
saṃpradāya
is a vigorous religious movement today, with most of its members living in the Braj maṇḍala and in Gujarāt. It became recently known in the West through the American followers of Gurujī Mahārāj, the juvenile, cherubic-looking descendant of one of the original followers of Vallabha.

While all Vaiṣṇava
saṃpradāyas
are supposed to be subsumed under one of the four main branches described, there is one more recent development, which needs separate treatment. Although nominally linked with the Madhva
saṃpradāya
, Bengal Vaiṣṇavism, especially in the form of the Caitanya movement, shows so many features of its own that it deserves a separate treatment. It also has become known and influential in the West as the “Hare Krishna Movement” and so some more detailed information on this branch of Vaiṣṇavism might be welcomed by Western readers.
¹²⁵

Kṛṣṇa Caitanya (1486–1533)
¹²⁶
is one of the most influential figures in modern Vaiṣṇavism and he represents in a way a new type of it: pure emotionalism, ecstatic love for God – a revivalist movement rather than a new school of religion.

Caitanya embodies a Vaiṣṇavism that is only concerned with feelings and emotions. Caitanya was not its author but perhaps its greatest master as regards its practical realization. Caitanya had studied the
Bhāgavata Purāṇa
, had read the poems of Caṇḍīdāsa and Vidyāpati, knew Bilvamangala’s
Kṛṣṇa-karndmṛta
and Jayadeva’s
Gītā-govinda
, and indeed the practice of
kīrtaṇa
was widespread already in his time. He must have met quite a number of those
bhaktas
who travelled the length and breadth of India spreading their message of love for Viṣṇu, Kṛṣṇa, and Rāma, through songs and poems.
¹²⁷
Caitanya did not write any books: his own writing consists of only eight verses, the
Śiḳsāṣṭaka
. From these we learn that he considered humility as a requirement for receiving the grace of God. His religion consists in “taking the name” and expresses itself as disinterested
bhakti
, accompanied by signs of highest emotion like tears, choked voice, horripilation, etc., and making very intense the desire for union with God.
¹²⁸

The theology of the Caitanya movement was articulated by the six Gosvāmis of Vṛṇdāvana, Caitanya’s disciples: Raghunātha Dāsa, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, Rūpa, Sanātana, Jīva and Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa. Its basis are the
Bhāgavata Purāṇa
and the
Pāñcarātra Brahma Saṃhitā
, the latter especially with regard to ritual. According to Caitanya Kṛṣṇa alone is the full manifestation of God, and the continued presence of Kṛṣṇa in Braja is the central fact around which the practice of this religion moves.
¹²⁹
Specifically it is the Kṛṣṇa of Vṛṇdāvana the great lover, and the Gopīs, the beloved, who perfectly responded to the call of love, who are the main theme of this new type of
bhakti
religion.

Much of the theological literature of Caitanya Vaiṣṇavism consists of commentaries on the
Bhāgavata Purāṇa
. The Caitanyites consider it the only authentic
bhāṣya
to the
Brahma-Sūtras
. In their ontology they largely follow the Pāñcarātra tradition, especially as explained by Madhva and Nimbārka. While they accept the definition of the supreme Brahman as
sacciddnanda
, they stress the
ānanda
element: “it is pure bliss, self differentiated, the ground of all life and the source of all the
rasās
that give human life its meaning and value.”
¹³⁰
Brahman or Bhagavān is only Viṣṇu or Hari, identical with Kṛṣṇa. Therefore in Kṛṣṇa all attributes are found: he is the repository of all excellent qualities. The purpose of existence of devotee and God is none else but to please and enjoy each other. Kṛṣṇa, through his
cit-śakti
, creates the
jīvas
, through his
māyā-śakti
he creates the universe, and though his
hlādinī-śakti
he enjoys everything. His enjoyment constitutes the bliss of the
bhakta: “Hlādinī
is so named because of giving delight to Kṛṣṇa who tastes delight through that power. Kṛṣṇa himself is delight.
Hlādinī
is the cause of the
bhakta’s
delight; the essence of
hlādinī
is called
premā
. Rādhā is the modification of Kṛṣṇa’s love, her name is the very essence of the delight-giving power.
Hlādinī
makes Kṛṣṇa taste delight. Through
hlādinī
the
bhaktas
are nursed.”
¹³¹

The manifestation of this
hlādinī-śakti
of Kṛṣṇa is the
līlā
, the love play of god and humans, exemplified best in the
rasā-līlā
of Kṛṣṇa and the Gopīs in Vṛṇdāvana.

One of the great contributions of the Caitanya school to
bhakti
religion is its development and analysis of the stages of
bhakti
and especially its system of
rasa
. The main work is Rūpa Gosvāmi’s
Bhakti- rasāmṛta-sindhu
, “The Ocean of the Nectar of the Feeling of Devotional Love”: though deliberately making use of the
rasa
systematics of contemporary poetics, it is original in its application of it to Kṛṣṇa-
bhakti
. Rūpa Gosvāmi
(c
. 1460–1540), a direct disciple of Caitanya, wrote the work under Caitanya’s instructions. It is considered the most authentic exposition of
bhakti
according to Caitanya. Rūpa Gosvāmi incorporated thousands of quotations from authoritative sources so as to make the work a veritable
summa tbeologica
of
bhakti
. It analyzes and classifies the various types and stages of
bhakti
. Their psychological bases, the
bhāvas
, and their essences, the
rasās, are
described in an ascending series, culminating in
madhura-bhakti-rasa
.

There is no good quality and no cause of enjoyment that is not found in Kṛṣṇa, and much of Caitanya’s
bhakti
religion consists in a contemplation and vivid imagination of all the physical features of Kṛṣṇa at various stages of his life, all details of his deeds as recorded in the Purāṇas. Accordingly,
bhakti
is divided into
vātsalya, sākhya, dāsa
, and
mādhurya
, corresponding to the contemplation of the features and activities of the infant Kṛṣṇa, the child Kṛṣṇa, the boy Kṛṣṇa, and the young man Kṛṣṇa. External signs of
bhakti –
especially of the higher stages – are dancing, rolling on the ground, singing, shouting, laughing loudly, behaving as if mad, fainting, horripilation, and so forth, as well as trembling, shedding of tears, changing of color, and stammering. The highest love for God is that which the Gopīs had; only to such lovers does Kṛṣṇa appear in his own full form.

This
rati –
highest love for Kṛṣṇa as the beloved – has two complementary phases:
sam-bhoga
(togetherness) and
vi-pralamba
(separation).
Rati
is itself a modification of Kṛṣṇa’s
hlādinī-śakti
, free from
māyā
and
avidyā
and the
sthāyi-bhāva
(constant mood) of
bhakti-rasa;
once it has appeared it cannot be lost again. Its bliss is the most intense, higher than that of
mokṣa
. Kṛṣṇa alone is the
akhila rasāmṛta-mūrti
, “the complete embodiment of the nectar of all feelings”; he excites different
rasās
(sentiments) in different devotees according to their different emotional dispositions.

In details of the description of the various kinds of devotees, the nature of Kṛṣṇa and the nature of salvation, various authors differ. One of the most authoritative works is Jīva Gosvāmi’s
Ṣaṭsandarbha
. It distinguishes two categories of
jīvas:
those who possess through God’s grace a
saṃskāra
(inborn inclination) toward Bhagavān do not need any instruction (like Prahlāda); those whose inclination to Bhagavān has been obstructed under the influence of
māyā-śakti
need instruction. This “conversion to Bhagavān” – the necessary first step on the way to salvation – is called
abhideya
. It consists in counteracting the superimposed aversion and produces a
bhakti
whose characteristic is devotional worship of Bhagavān. From it proceeds true knowledge of Bhagavat. The
māyā-śakti
is counteracted by the
hlādinī-śakti
of which an atom also exists in a potential state in the
jīva
.

External worship is extremely important for Caitanyites. One reason for this is the belief in the real physical presence of Kṛṣṇa in the objects of worship. It is also considered a natural activity of a devotee: service of one who is dear brings happiness and nothing can be dearer than the Bhagavān. Service itself, especially
kīrtaṇa
(congregational singing of hymns), brings highest bliss to the devotee.
bhakti
is not an imposition from the outside, but the realization of the true nature of the soul. The highest type of
bhakti
is
prīti
(liking) or
preman
(love), characterized as
duḥkba nivṛtti
(cessation of suffering) and
sukha prāpti
(attainment of bliss), “the attainment of the
jīva’s
natural state and the relinquishing of its otherwise imposed state.”

With regard to the
summum bonum
there seems to be confusion, at least with regard to terminology. On the one hand Vedāntic terms are used; on the other hand every association with Śaṇkara’s ideas is shunned. The
Bhāgavata Purāṇa
already required the
bhakta
to give up all desire for
mokṣa –
the essential prerequisite for Śaṇkara – and in the
Caitanya-Caritāmṛta
we read: “At the sound of
mokṣa
the
bhakta
feels hatred and fear, he prefers hell to it. At the utterance of the word
bhakti
, the mind is filled with joy.”
¹³²
However, Jīva Gosvāmi does use the word
mukti
and even knows a
mukti
during lifetime, besides that after death, which is of the usual five kinds, all of which are permanent, that is, there is no return from them into
saṃsāra
. According to him,
mukti
is attainable through
sākṣātkāra
(bodily vision, viz. of Kṛṣṇa) alone, which is produced by
prīti
only. Its essence is apprehension of the Lord in his paradise: only
prīti
gives certainty to it. “Although the
jīva
never becomes perfectly identical with the Bhagavat the chief characteristic of the
sāyujya mukti
is complete immersion in the divine bliss and consequently the capacity of experiencing the Lord in all his intrinsic energies and supersensuous sports becomes lost in the state of immersion. In this respect the
sāyujya mukti
differs from the other four forms of emancipation in which the separate existence and the consequent opportunity for worship and service of the emancipated being still continue. For this reason the
sāyujya mukti
is regarded as inferior and is never desired by the real
bhakta.”
¹³³

The condition of the released soul is relayed in colourful pictures of a heavenly existence and the descriptions of Vaikuṇṭha in the
Bhāgavata Purāṇa
are taken literally. The true
Bhakta
receives a celestial body to sport forever with Kṛṣṇa. Usually three heavens are mentioned: Vaikuṇṭha, Goloka, and the celestial Vṛṇdāvana. The followers of the higher, esoteric
bhakti
alone go to Vṛṇdāvana; they are the
rāgānuga bhaktas
, who experience the love of the
gopīs
to Kṛṣṇa, a love which is itself grace. The lower or
vaidhi bhakti
is “learned”: it has to be acquired by following the rules of the
śāstras
. It has sixty-four elements, among which the most important are society of holy men,
kīrtaṇa
of Kṛṣṇa’s name, listening to the recitation of the
Bhāgavata Purāṇa
, dwelling in Vraja, and worship of the
mūrti
. All these topics are dealt with at great length in the writings of the six Gosvāmis. The main emphasis is always laid on the singing of the name: “In the
Kaliyuga
the singing of the name is the great
sādhāna
. Through
saṁkīrtaṇa
the sin of the world is destroyed, the heart is purified and practice of all kinds of
bhakti
is initiated.”
¹³⁴

The authentic ritual of the Caitanyites was codified by Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, one of the six Vṛṇdāvana Gosvāmis, in his
Hari-bhakti-vilāsa
– written, according to tradition, under the direct command of Caitanya himself
¹³⁵
– containing detailed instructions about the way of life of a
bhakta
.

From the sixteenth century till today Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism has been a vigorous movement and a major presence in the Hindu religious scene. It succeeded to establish itself at the height of Mughal domination of India and its first representatives built large and beautiful temples in rediscovered Vṛṇdāvana. It survived the wrath of Aurangzeb and generated revival and resistance movements in nineteenth-century Bengal. The nineteenth-century Neo-Caitanya movement resulted in the establishment of Gauḍīya mathas in most major cities in India. Neo-Caitanya missionaries carried their message to Europe, America and Japan before World War II. In 1965 Swāmi Bhaktivedaānta “Prabhupāda” launched ISKCON (“International Society for Krishna Consciousness”) in New York, from where it spread rapidly throughout much of the world.

VAIṢṆAVA WORSHIP AND DEVOTION

Vaiṣṇavism as we know it today is intimately connected with image worship.
¹³⁶
True to the idea of the presence of Viṣṇu in space and time which is so basic for Vaiṣṇavism, representations of Viṣṇu in images and through ritual are not only symbolisms but realities. In continuation of the
vyūha
and
vibhava
theories of the Pāñcarātra system, the
arcāvatāra
form of God is conceived as a further extension of his presence and manifestation.
¹³⁷
Besides the
mūrtis
that are made by humans representing Viṣṇu with a human-like body, Vaiṣṇavas also worship some natural phenomena as presence of Viṣṇu. Among plants the
tulasī
tree is sacred to Viṣṇu and is worshiped: a tulasī plant is found in almost every Vaiṣṇava home. Among minerals the
śālagrāma
(either in the form of a petrified ammonite or of a round granite pebble from the Gaṇḍakī river in Nepal) is held sacred not only as a substitute for a human-made image but often considered a particularly intense presence of Viṣṇu.
¹³⁸