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| Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) | |
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| Vaishnavism (Hinduism) | |
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Gaudiya Vaishnavism (IAST: Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ), also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism,[1][2][note 1] is a Vaishnava Hindu religious movement inspired by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) in India.[14] "Gaudiya" refers to the Gaura or Gauḍa region of Bengal (present-day Malda district of West Bengal and Rajshahi district of Bangladesh), with Vaishnavism meaning "the worship of Vishnu". Specifically, it is part of Krishnaism—Krishna-centric Vaishnavite traditions.[15]
Its theological basis is primarily that of the Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavata Purana (known within the tradition as the Srimad Bhagavatam), as interpreted by early followers of Chaitanya, such as Sanatana Goswami, Rupa Goswami, Jiva Goswami, Gopala Bhatta Goswami and others.[16][17]
The focus of Gaudiya Vaishnavism is the devotional worship (known as bhakti yoga) of Radha and Krishna, and their many divine incarnations as the supreme forms of God, Svayam Bhagavan. Most popularly, this worship takes the form of singing Radha and Krishna's holy names, such as "Hare", "Krishna" and "Rama", most commonly in the form of the Hare Krishna (mantra), also known as kirtan and dancing along with it.
Gaudiya Vaishnavism is the spiritual and philosophical foundation of the well-known International Society for Krishna Consciousness, a.k.a. the "Hare Krishna Movement".[18][19]
- ^ De 1942, p. 7.
- ^ Sinha 2001.
- ^ De 1942, Preface.
- ^ a b McDermott 2005, p. 826.
- ^ The term Bengali Vaishnavism is not co-extensive with Chaitanya's movement – there are also the other Vaishnava traditions in Bengal, such as Vaishnava-Sahajiya, Ramanandi Sampradaya, Mahanam Sampraday, and others – but Gaudiya Vaishnavism is described as "the most characteristic form of Vaishnavism in Bengal" and is called Bengali Vaishnavism.[3][4]
- ^ De 1942, pp. 1–2, 9–12.
- ^ Bryant & Ekstrand 2004, p. 80.
- ^ Carney 2020.
- ^ De 1942, pp. 10 note 1, 17.
- ^ Rosen 1992, p. 127.
- ^ De 1942, pp. 1, 7–8, and Preface.
- ^ Singh 2004, p. 131 note 4.
- ^ "Gaura or Gauranga is an epithet of Chaitanya and hence Chaitanyaite Vaishnavism is also known as Gaura Dharma, 'religion of Gaura'."[12]
- ^ Sen 1922; Kennedy 1925; De 1942.
- ^ Hardy 1987, pp. 387–392.
- ^ Bryant 2017, p. 650.
- ^ Holdrege 2017.
- ^ Kapoor 1977, Front matter.
- ^ Gelberg 1983, Front matter.
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