A devotee (bhakta) of
the deity Vishnu in any of his many manifestations.
The doctrine of the 10 avatars, or divine incar nations, is
particularly prevalent in Vaishnava theology: Fish, Tortoise, Boar, Man-Lion,
Vamana (dwarf), Parashuram, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and Kalki.
The avatar idea is widely recognized as a means of
assimilating lesser regional deities into the greater pantheon by classifying
them as manifestations of Vishnu, and Vishnu is most generally worshiped in the
guise of these avatars.
Although the Boar avatar and the Man-Lion avatar were
powerful regional deities in the early centuries of the common period, the two
most important avatars have been Rama and Krishna.
The early Vaishnava faith is hazy and enigmatic.
Despite the fact that Vishnu occurs in multiple hymns in the
Vedas, the earliest Hindu religious books, he was obviously a lesser god, and
it is impossible to get from there to becoming the universe's greatest force.
Some academics believe that the worship of Krishna, a
deified local cowherd hero, originated outside of the Vedic religious framework
and that Krishna's cult was integrated into legitimate Vedic religion via the
identification of Krishna with Vishnu.
These concepts are fascinating, but there is little
empirical evidence to back them up.
The worship of Krishna was well-established by the first
century B.C.E., according to inscriptional evidence.
These followers are known as Bhagavatas ("devotees of
the Blessed One"), a term that was used to apply to Vaishnavas in general
for the following thousand years.
The Pancharatrikas ("followers of the
Pancharatra") were a subgroup of the early Bhagavata society who
eventually developed distinct cosmological ideas.
These mainstream Bhagavatas demonstrated their love for
Krishna by writing works that included portions of the Bhagavad Gita, the
Harivamsha, and many puranas, culminating in the Bhagavata Purana in the
eleventh century.
The Alvars, a group of twelve devout (bhakti) poet-saints
who lived in southern India during the seventh and tenth centuries, changed the
tone of Vaishnava devotion dramatically.
The Alvars preached a bhakti distinguished by fervent
devotion to God and characterized by a great emotional relationship between god
and devotee, singing their songs in Tamil, the vernacular language of their period.
The Alvars, together with their Shaiva counterparts, the
Nayanars, pioneered the renewal of Hindu religion in relation to Buddhists and
Jains, and in doing so, changed the tradition as the devotional wave they had
started spread northward.
Various Vaishnava communities arose throughout the time
between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, generally as a result of a
particular charismatic religious personality.
This process started in southern India, where the
philosopher Ramanuja (11th century) established the Shrivaishnava group and the
philosopher Madhva (1197–1276) established the Madhva community.
Jnaneshvar (1275–1296? ), Namdev (1270–1350), Chokamela (d. 1338),
Eknath (1533–1599), and Tukaram (1598–1650) were some of the finest characters
in the Varkari Panth, which was centered on the shrine of Vithoba at
Pandharpur.
From the thirteenth century onwards, the Mahanubhav cult
flourished in Maharashtra.
Jagannath, a tribal god integrated into the pantheon as a
version of Krishna, is worshipped in Puri on India's eastern coast.
As the poet Jayadeva's Gitagovinda demonstrates, this was
firmly established by the eleventh century.
Finally, many active religious organizations may be found in
northern India.
The twelfth-century philosopher Nimbarka, whose Nimbarki
society preserves his name, is a very early character; many centuries later,
Vishnuswami, about whom little is known, appears.
The Pushti Marg was founded by the philosopher
Vallabhacharya, the Gaudiya Vaishnava community was founded by the Bengali
saint Chaitanya, and the poet saint Harivamsh (d. 1552) and the Radhavallabh
community was founded by the poet saint Harivamsh (d. 1552).
The Pushti Marg and the Gaudiya Vaishnavas viewed Krishna to
be the greatest god, whilst the Nimbarkis and the Radhavallabh group worshiped
him in conjunction with his consort Radha, whom they considered Krishna's wife
and equal.
The devotion of Rama has its deepest roots in northern
India, as seen in the poems of the poet-saint Tulsidas (1532–1623?).
Many of these schools, many of which have a lengthy history,
are still important in today's world.
Ascetics are the last Vaishnava group that has to be
addressed.
Vaishnava asceticism is a more recent development than
Shaiva asceticism (though dates are unknown), and it is mostly found in India's
northern regions (the Shaivas are spread throughout the country).
Bairagis ("passionate") Vaishnava ascetics are
divided into four sampradays (religious groups characterized by distinct bodies
of teachings), each associated with a notable Vaishnava figure.
The Shri Sampraday of the Ramanandi ascetics is by far the
most powerful, tracing its spiritual lineage from poet-saint Ramananda to the
southern Indian philosopher Ramanuja, whom they claim was Ramananda's guru.
The Nimbarki ascetics' Sanaka Sampraday may trace their
spiritual heritage back to the philosopher Nimbarka.
The Vishnuswami ascetics' Rudra Sampraday may be traced back
to an older person, Vishnuswami, via the philosopher Vallabhacharya.
Finally, the Brahma Sampraday, a Gaudiya Vaishnava ascetic
subgroup, traces its spiritual lineage from Bengali saint Chaitanya to southern
Indian scholar Madhva.
Each of these sampradays is distinct not just in terms of
its founder, but also in terms of its tutelary god or deities.
The Ramanandis worship the deity Rama, whereas the rest
revere the god Krishna and his bride Radha, however they differ in how they
place Radha.
Scholars have pointed out that these historical assertions
are either very suspect or utterly false, and that the differences between the
sampradays are mostly academic in nature.
Given that Ramanandis make up the vast majority of these
ascetics, the others seem to be relevant solely for symbolic purposes, such as
having a representation from each of the great Vaishnava religious
personalities.
