Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (also transliterated
Caitanya,
IAST ''''; 1486–1534) was a
Bengali spiritual teacher who founded Gaudiya Vaishnavism. He is believed by his devotees to be
Krishna himself who appeared in the form of His own devotee in order to teach the people of this world the process of Bhakti and how to attain the perfection of life. This they say with several evidences in scripture. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is said to be a disciple of Isvara Puri who was a disciple of Madhavendra Puri who was a disciple of Lakshmipati Tirtha who was a disciple of
Vyasatirtha (1469–1539) of Madhvacharya's Sampradaya. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is considered as the most merciful manifestation of Krishna. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was the proponent for the
Vaishnava school of
Bhakti yoga (meaning loving devotion to God), based on
Bhagavata Purana and
Bhagavad Gita. Of various incarnations of Vishnu, he is revered as Krishna, popularised the chanting of the
Hare Krishna mantra and composed the
Siksastakam (eight devotional prayers) in
Sanskrit. His followers,
Gaudiya Vaishnavas, revere him as a Krishna with the mood and complexion of his source of inspiration
Radha.
Early growth Over the three centuries following the disappearance of
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition evolved into the form in which we largely find it today in contemporary India. In the early years of the tradition, the followers of
Nityananda Prabhu,
Advaita Acharya and other companions of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu educated and initiated people, each in their own locales across
Bengal. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu requested a select few among his followers, who later came to be known as the
Six Gosvamis of Vrindavan, to systematically present his
theology of bhakti in their writings. This theology emphasized the devotee's relationship to the Divine Couple, Radha and Krishna, and looked to Chaitanya as the embodiment of both Radha and Krishna. The six were
Rupa Goswami,
Sanatana Goswami,
Gopala Bhatta Goswami,
Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami,
Raghunatha dasa Goswami and
Jiva Goswami. In the second generation of the tradition, Narottama, Srinivasa and Shyamananda, three students of
Jiva Goswami, the youngest among the six Goswamis, were instrumental in spreading the theology across
Bengal and
Orissa. The festival of Kheturi (approx 1574), presided over by
Jahnava Thakurani, the wife of
Nityananda Rama, was the first time the leaders of the various branches of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's followers assembled together. Through such festivals, members of the loosely organized tradition became acquainted with other branches along with their respective theological and practical nuances. That notwithstanding, the tradition has maintained its plural nature, having no central authority to preside over its matters. The festival of Kheturi allowed for the systemization of Gaudiya Vaishnava theology as a distinct branch of
Vaishnava theology.
17th–18th century During the 17th–18th centuries, there was a period of general decline in the movement's strength and popularity, its "lethargic state", characterized by decreased public preaching and the rise of persons following and promoting
tantric teachings and practices. These groups are called
apasampradayas by the Chaitanyaits. In the 17th century,
Vishvanath 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 luminaries headed by Siddha Jayakrishna Das Babaji of Kamyavan and Siddha Krishnadas Babaji of
Govardhan. The latter, a widely renowned teacher of the mode of internal worship (
raga-bhajan) practiced in the tradition, is largely responsible for the current form of devotional practice embraced by some of the traditions based in
Vrindavan.
Manipuri Vaishnavism The "Manipuri Vaishnavism" is a regional form of Gaudiya Vaishnavism with a culture-forming role among the
Meitei people in the north-eastern Indian state of
Manipur. There, after a short period of
Ramaism penetration, Gaudiya Vaishnavism spread in the early 18th century, especially from beginning its second quarter. Raja
Gharib Nawaz (Pamheiba) was initiated into the Chaitanya tradition. Most devotee ruler and propagandist of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, under the influence of
Narottama Dasa Thakura's disciples, was raja
Bhagyachandra, who has visited the holy for the Chaytanyaits
Nabadwip.
Rasa Lila dance became a feature of the regional folk and religious tradition.
20th century established in 1880s by
Bhaktivinoda Thakur, presently caretaken by the Sri Chaitanya Math , estd. 1930) is the formal headquarters of
Gaudiya Math, now headquarter of
Gaudiya Mission. From the very beginning of Chaitanya's
bhakti movement in Bengal,
Haridasa Thakur and others
Muslim by birth were the participants. This openness received a boost from
Bhaktivinoda Thakur's broad-minded vision in the late 19th century, Baba Premananda Bharati's mission in the United States in the beginning of 20th century and was institutionalized by
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur in his
Gaudiya Math in the 20th century. A renaissance began at the start of the 20th century both in India and the West. One pioneer of the Gaudiya Vaishnavite mission in the West was Baba Premananda Bharati (1858–1914), author of
Sree Krishna – the Lord of Love (1904) – the first full-length treatment of Gaudiya Vaishnavism in English, who, in 1902, founded the short-lived "Krishna Samaj" society in
New York City and built a temple in Los Angeles. He belonged to the circle of adherents of the guru
Prabhu Jagadbandhu with teachings similar to the later
ISKCON mission. His followers formed several organizations including the now defunct Order of Living Service and the AUM Temple of Universal Truth. The reform change of traditional
caste Gaudiya Vaishnavism of 19th century is believed to have happened largely in India 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. Bhaktivinoda Thakur's son grew up to be both an eminent scholar and a highly influential Vaishnava preacher, and was later known as
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. In 1920, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati founded
Gaudiya Math in India, and later sixty-four Gaudiya Matha monasteries in India, Burma and Europe. In 1933, the first European preaching center was established in
London (London Glouster House, Cornwall Garden, W7 South Kensington) under the name "Gaudiya Mission Society of London". Soon after Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's death (1 January 1937), a dispute began, which divided the original Gaudiya Math mission into two administrative bodies still in existence today. In a settlement, they divided the sixty-four Gaudiya Math centers into two groups: the Sri Chaitanya Math headed by Bhakti Vilasa Tirtha Maharaj and the
Gaudiya Mission headed by Ananta Vasudev (Bhakti Prasad Puri Maharaj). s of
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and
Nityananda prabhu at
ISKCON Temple, Pune Many of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's disciples disagreed with the spirit of these two factions and/or started their own missions to expand their guru's mission. In the 1960s, the one of his disciples,
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada went to the West to spread Gaudiya-Vaishnavism and establish the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), "the most successful of the Gaudiya Math's offspring," an organization that continues today. However, despite the active missionary work of the reformed Gaudiya Math and its followers, most of the Gaudiya Vaishnava community in India remained under the influence of hereditary
brahmins-
goswamis, who run famous old Gaudiya mandirs, as one example, the
Radha Raman Temple in Vrindavan and its prominent scholar-acharya
Shrivatsa Goswami. ==Gaudiya and other Vaishnava schools==