A Brief History of Vaishnavism, Part I

Hinduism comprises of various religious sects of which Vaishnavism and Shaivism are most popular and prominent in present day India.

The Vaishnava religion was also known by different names like Suri, Suhrit, Bhagavata, Sattvata, Panchakalavit, Ekantika, Tanmaya and Pancharatrika.1 The word Vaishnava is used in the literal sense of ‘belonging to Vishnu’ in the Vajasaneyi Samhita, Taittiriya Samhita, Aitareya Brahmana, Shatapatha Brahmana, etc. But the use of the word in the sense of a sect of religion is not found anywhere in the earlier literature. Even the Bhagavad Gita does not use the word and it is not found in any of the earlier Upanishads and can be traced only in the later parts of the Mahabharata.2

Vaishnavism is the name given to the bhakti religion which recognises Vishnu also called Bhagavat, Narayana, Hari as the sole God.3 Vaishnavism has a philosophy and religion of its own. As a philosophy it bases itself upon the Upanishads and as a religion it reaches its roots into the Tantra. Its religious ritual therefore is of the Agamic or tantric character in general.4 According to R.C.Hazra the term Vaishnavism is very comprehensive in its denotation and the modern Vaishnavas consists generally of the Pancharatras and the Bhagavatas. These two sections, though originally different, are designated by the generic term Vaishnava on account of the identification of their respective sectarian deities with Vishnu.5

Causes for the rise of Vaishnavism

The elaborate and mechanical system of sacrifice offered to gods by the Vedic religion did not satisfy the religious spirit of all sections of the people. This led to religious speculations of a different type and thinkers like the author of the Mundaka Upanishad began to question the value and efficacy of sacrifice. It also gave rise to religious sects like Buddhism, Jainism and Vasudevism.6

Genesis of the concept of Bhakti

According to Akshaya Kumar Banerjea, the seeds of bhakti can be found in the Vedic religion which was interpreted from different viewpoints like Karma, Jnana and bhakti.

Those who interpreted the Vedas from the Karma point of view laid special emphasis upon the practical aspect of the teachings of the Vedas and held that all the Vedic revelations were chiefly concerned with the regulation of the practical behaviour of men in the path of righteousness (dharma). According to this school every Vedic instruction enjoins upon men either to do something right or to refrain from doing something wrong. This school was not interested in moksha and for them moksha meant the perfect fullness of life in the highest swarga. This school advocated the karma kanda of the Vedas.7

Those who interpreted the Vedas from the Jnana point of view attached the utmost importance to the metaphysical and transcendental truths revealed in the Vedas (Upanishads). This school strongly advocated the ascetic view of life and renunciation of the active domestic and social life, suppression of passions and desires and attachments and systematic practice of concentrated reflection and meditation. This school gradually divided into two sections, one section attached greater importance to metaphysical reflection and intellectual refinement and the other to the practical discipline of the body, senses, the vital system, mind and regular practice of concentration and deep meditation. The former was known as Jnani and the latter Yogi. Both advocated the nivritti marga and the Jnana kanda of the Vedas. For them moksha was the ultimate goal.8

Those who interpreted the Vedas from the bhakti point of view, the supreme ideal of moksha and tattwa jnana (absolute liberation and truth realization) is a gift of Divine mercy and the highest reward for wholehearted devotion to the Supreme Spirit. According to them the teaching of devotion or bhakti was the centre of all Vedic revelation.9

Seeds of Bhakti in Upanishads

R.G.Bhandarkar thinks that the origin of the bhakti doctrine may be traced to the Upanishadic idea of upasana or fervent meditation, which magnifies what is meditated upon and represents it in a glorious form in order to excite admiration and love.10

Bhakti, a pre-Vedic cult

Contradicting the claim of R.G.Bhandarkar, R.N.Dandekar feels that the learned scholar’s opinion is similar to the characteristics of the early Indology which has a tendency to trace all religious ideologies and the entire Indian culture back to the Vedas. According to Dandekar there is sufficient evidence to show that different religious sects prevailed in different regions of India prior to the Vedic cult of which the important were the Muni-Yati cult and the Bhakti cult.11

The Muni-Yati cult with its emphasis on Yoga-Tapas-Sanyasa was a characteristic feature of the pre-Vedic Shiva religion, while the the Bhakti cult was connected with the worship of the Mother-Goddess and the Naga and the Yaksa cult and its vegetal and fertility symbolism.12 According to Dandekar, the cult of bhakti which had become dormant on account of the influence of the Vedic religion became re-animated as the vitality of the Vedic religion began to diminish and emerged in the form of Vasudevism which became a dominant force during the time of Panini.13 The doctrine of Bhakti may be said to constitute perhaps the most significant feature of what we today understand by Vaishnavism.14

Vaishnavism, an amalgamation of different streams of thought

According to M. Hiriyanna, altogether three streams of thought combined to form Vaishnavism. The first is the worship of Vishnu who is represented in the Vedic mantras as one of the solar deities and as such is associated with light and life. There was also an allied conception, that of Narayana, whose origin may be traced in the Rigveda and referred in the epic as the son of Dharma. There is a third element also which goes to form Vaishnavism derived from a non-Vedic source. Krishna, a religious reformer who preached a theistic faith. It soon assumed a sectarian complexion in the form of Bhagavata religion. This monotheistic creed came in course of time to be combined with the Vedic cult of Vishnu-Narayana and Krishna was later deified and identified with Vishnu-Narayana as an incarnation of him.15

Similarly, Dandekar considers the classical Vaishnavism an amalgamation of four originally independent religious elements respectively embodied in the personalities of four divinities namely Vasudeva, Krishna, Vishnu and Narayana.16 According to him Vasudeva was different from Krishna and was a Vrsni prince who had come to be regarded as a god earlier than Krishna who was the religious leader of the Yadavas and who was the pupil of Ghora Angirasa. Later when the Vrsnis and the Yadavas who were related to each other came closer presumably for political reasons, the personalities of Vrsni Vasudeva and Yadava Krishna were merged into each other so as to give rise to the new supreme god Bhagavan Vasudeva Krishna.17

R.G.Bhandarkar also opines that Vasudeva and Krishna were originally names of distinct individuals. Vasudeva was a kshatriya belonging to the Yadava-Vrishni-Satvata race who founded a theistic system and later he was identified with Krishna, a holy seer. But H.C.Rayachaudhuri refutes this argument and says that on the basis of all available evidence, Hindu, Buddhist and Greek, it is impossible to justify the separation of Vasudeva and Krishna as two entities.18

D.C.Sircar opines that the success of Vasudevism (which later became Vaishnavism) was principally due to the identification of Vasudeva with the Vedic god Vishnu, with an ancient deified sage named Narayana, with a number of tribal deities as well as with Parabrahman (the Supreme Spirit) conceived by the Upanishads.19

Emergence of Vishnu as the Supreme God

A Solar deity

In the Vedic hymns Vishnu is represented as a solar deity and his essential feature as depicted in the hymns is his taking three strides which in all probability refers to the rising, culmination and setting of the sun. It was this worship of the sun, “the swift moving luminary” that gradually transformed itself into the worship of Vishnu as the Supreme God.20 Vishnu also figures in the Veda as a leader in battle. He is specially praised with Indra, the two being looked upon as masters of the world. Vishnu is revered under the title ‘Shipivishta’ meaning ‘clothed with rays of light’.21 In the later Vedic literature, the position of Vishnu becomes more prominent. The Shatapatha Brahmana relates with great fullness of detail the legend regarding the ‘three strides’. It further represents Vishnu as the personification of sacrifice. Earlier he was called the ‘germ of sacrifice’.22 In Aitareya Brahmana, Vishnu is said to occupy the highest place among gods. But at the same time in a passage of Aitareya Brahmana, he is called the door-keeper of the gods, not a very complimentary epithet for the highest among the gods.23

Non-Vedic popular god of the masses

From being occupied in a comparatively subordinate position in the pantheon of Vedic gods, R.N.Dandekar analyses how Vishnu was able to rise more or less suddenly to supreme eminence in Hindu mythology.24

In the view of Dandekar, Vishnu must have been regarded as a bird, at least among certain cultural groups among the Vedic people. In that form he was very closely connected with the vegetation ritual. He was indeed the god of fertility and productivity and as such he must have been regarded as most eminent in the popular religion of the masses. It was however on account of the aversion on the part of the Vedic priestly intellectuals and the conquering higher classes, for this popular fertility god and his uncouth, frivolous and to a certain extent obscene fertility rituals, that Vishnu was not easily admitted to the pantheon of the Vedic gods. The Vedic poets could not however completely ignore him. They therefore sought to transform the basic character of Vishnu. This attempt of theirs was greatly facilitated by the original bird-form of that god. The hieratic Vedic poets understood the bird-form of Vishnu as indicating not the fertility-God but the sun-God. They thus tried to suppress as far as possible the true nature of this god of the people. But those culture groups among whom Vishnu was a prominent god must have persisted in forcing him upon the official Vedic religion which was dominated by the Indra mythology.25

Vishnu incorporated into Vedic pantheon

If religious dignity and recognition had to be specially granted to any particular god, it was the practice of the Vedic poets to do so by associating that god with Indra and his fight with Vrtra. That made the god a legitimate member of the Vedic pantheon. Hence several hymns were composed wherein Vishnu rendered help to Indra in his fight with Vrtra.26 In post Vedic times when the popular religion again came into prominence, Vishnu became the supreme god.27

According to H.C.Rayachoudhuri we have no evidence of the existence of a Vaishnava sect in these early times. The sectarian name Vaishnava is met only in the latest portion of the Mahabharata. Also, there is very little inner connection between Vedic and Brahmanic Vishnu worship and the bhakti religion we call Vaishnavism. The idea of a God of grace, the doctrine of bhakti- these are the fundamental tenets of the religion termed Vaishnavism. But they are not very conspicuous in Vedic and Brahmanic Vishnu worship. Vishnu in the Brahmanic texts is more intimately connected with yajna (sacrifice) than with bhakti or prasada.28

Vishnu identified with Krishna

The exact period when Krishna was first identified with Vishnu cannot be ascertained. As Vishnu is one of the solar deities, it is not altogether improbable that he had from the first some connection with the religious movement associated with the name of Krishna who was himself a disciple of a priest of the sun. But there is no direct evidence to show that Vishnu occupied a prominent place in the early Bhagavata pantheon. Vishnu worship may have been a rival Brahmanical cult. There is a clear indication of the identification of Vasudeva with Vishnu found in Taittiriya Aranyaka.29

The identification of Vasudeva-Krishna with the Vedic deity Vishnu was the first step in the evolution of Vaishnavism. This was accomplished by the time the Bhagavad Gita was composed and henceforth the Vasudeva cult or Bhagavata religion was known also as Vaishnava dharma. It has been suggested with great plausibility that this identification was prompted by a desire on the part of the Brahmanas to bring this new and powerful religious sect within the pale of orthodox Vedic faith.30

Why was Krishna identified with Vishnu and not with any other Vedic god? Probably as Vishnu was from the earliest Vedic times connected with a work of deliverance for mankind in distress. He is always lauded as a great benefactor of mankind and known for his benevolence. He is the unconquerable preserver who maintained Dharma. He is a great helper of the gods against the Asuras. He assumed forms of a dwarf in order to recover the earth for the gods from the Asuras. All these characteristics of Vishnu eminently fitted him to be the centre of the Avatara theory propounded in the Bhagavad Gita.31

Evolution of Bhagavatism

In the Rigveda and Atharva Vedas, the word Bhagavat conveys the meaning of blissful and happy one. In several places of the Upanishads, the term Bhagavat is used to denote Lord Rudra-Shiva. In later works the term is used exclusively in connection with Vaishnavas though Patanjali once refers to the Shiva-Bhagavatas.32 Though Vaishnavism as its name implies is the religion in which Vishnu is the supreme object of worship, in the period just preceding the Christian era, the highest deity was the human hero Vasudeva. It is difficult to determine exactly how and when this Vasudeva sect originated and came to the forefront. Its earliest reference is to be found in the Astadhyayi of Panani, where the worship of Vasudeva and Arjuna are mentioned.33 In the epic Mahabharata, Arjuna is always associated with Vasudeva-Krishna; also, in the Shatapatha Brahmana, Arjuna is one of the secret names of Indra and thus at the root of the close connection between Vasudeva-Krishna and Arjuna we may makeout the relationship between Vishnu and Indra in the Rigveda. In Mahabharata Arjuna has been described as the son of Indra.34 The next stage in the evolution of the Vasudeva cult is marked by the dropping of Arjuna and Vasudeva being worshipped alone as the Supreme God as proved by the evidence of the Besnagar inscription.35

Vasudeva’s associated with Samkarsana

In the next centuries we find Vasudeva associated with Samkarsana or Baladeva, who is regarded in the epic as his elder brother. The Ghosundi stone inscription records that in the second half of the first century B.C. king Sarvatata performed a horse sacrifice and constructed a stone enclosure for the place of worship of the gods, Samkarsana and Vasudeva and it was called Narayana Vataka or house of Narayana.36

Samkarsana was originally a non-Vedic agricultural divinity with an influential following among the masses. The cult also reveals many features of snake worship and Samkarsana is regarded as an incarnation of Sheshanaga. The worship of Samkarsana appears to have been quite popular in the fourth century B.C. and Megasthenes seems to refer to him.37

One of the prominent characteristics of Samkarsana is his association with agriculture and he invariably figures as holding the two characteristically agricultural weapons, the pestle and the plough. He was identified with Baladeva, the elder brother of Vasudeva-Krishna and this identification took place prior to the second century B.C. The alliance of the cult of Samkarsana with Vasudeva-Krishna must have promoted the cause of Vaishnavism by winning over a large number of agricultural populations to its fold.38

Vasudeva and Krishna, One and the same

A reference to the founder of Vasudeva sect has been traced in the Chhandogya Upanishad which refers to sage Krishna, son of Devaki as a disciple of the rishi Ghora of the Angirasa family. The Chhandogya Upanishad inculcates tapas (asceticism) dana (charity) arjava (simplicity or piety), ahimsa (non-injury) and sathyavahana (truthfulness), the same virtues are extolled by Krishna in Gita.39

As both in the Chhandogya Upanishad and the Gita essentially the same doctrines are associated with one and the same person called Krishna -Achyuta, son of Devaki, it is very probable that they were originally learnt by Krishna from Ghora and were later taught by him to his own disciples and the teachings of Ghora Angirasa to Krishna formed the kernel of the Gita.40 The age when Vasudeva-Krishna flourished cannot be determined with certainty. The reference to Chhandogya Upanishad seems to point to a date in the 6th or 7th century B.C.41

The Bhagavata religion propounded by Vasudeva was the parent of later Vaishnavism and it was probably the development of sun worship. According to the Shantiparva of Mahabharata, the Satvata vidhi, another name for the Bhagavata doctrine after the tribe responsible for its introduction, was laid down in the old times by the sun.42

Bhagavatism, a religion based on God’s grace

The cult of Bhagavatism was eminently a religion based upon God’s grace to humanity. It emphasized and developed for this purpose the doctrine of Avatara or the divine incarnation. The Arcavatara (the theory of the presence of God in images) was also elaborated in order to illustrate his easy accessibility.43

Derided by the Vedicists

The Bhagavata system was not favourably inclined towards the varnashrama dharma and the Brahmins and the Vrsnis among whom Krishna was born was noted for their irreverent attitude towards Brahmins and they freely admitted the casteless foreigners into the Bhagavata fold. The Besnagar inscription of the 2nd century B.C. mentions Heliodorus, an ambassador of the Greek king Antialkidas as a Bhagavata. Women and shudras were also given initiation and allowed to worship Vishnu themselves.44

The Vedic Brahmins had contempt towards the Bhagavatas as they worshiped images and lived upon the offerings for initiation and those made to temple gods. They did not perform the Vedic duties and had no relationship with the Brahmins and so they (Bhagavatas) were not regarded as Brahmins by the Vedic Brahmins. It was considered that even by the sight of a man who takes to worship as a means to livelihood is polluted and should be purified by proper purificatory ceremonies. The Vedic Brahmins also regarded the Pancharatra texts adopted by the Bhagavatas as invalid and non-Vedic.45

Medhatithi, the commentator on Manu Smriti discards not only Buddhism and Jainism as being outside the true Vedic dharma but also the followers of Pancaratra (Bhagavatas) and the Pasupatas as well. He held that their (Bhagavatas) teachings are directly contrary to the mandates of the Vedas and as an illustration he points out that the Bhagavatas considered all kinds of injury to living beings to be sinful, which directly contradicts the Vedic sanctions to sacrifice animals at particular sacrifices. According to him injury to living beings is not itself sinful but only such injury is sinful as is prohibited by the Vedic injunctions. So, the customs and practices of all systems of religion which are not based on the teaching of the Vedas are to be discarded as not conforming to dharma.46

Was Vedicist alliance with Bhagavatas, a tactical alliance?

The Mahabharata contains indications that it was with great difficulty that the orthodox Brahmanists could be prevailed upon to recognise Krishna-Vasudeva as the God Narayana himself. Hence H.C.Rayachoudhuri opines that it was probably due the active propaganda of Ashoka (who propagated Buddhism) that led the Vedic priests to identify Vasudeva with Vishnu for the purpose of winning over the Bhagavata as their allies.47

Narayana cult assimilated into the Bhagavata fold

The next step in the evolution of Vaishnavism was the identification of Vasudeva-Krishna-Vishnu with a deified sage or hero named Narayana. According to Shatapata Brahmana, Purusha Narayana thrice offered sacrifice at the instance of Prajapati. Narayana is said to have performed a pancharatra sacrifice (sacrifice continued for five days) and thereby obtained superiority over all beings and became all beings. The earliest identification of Narayana with Vishnu is probably to be traced in the Baudhayana Dharma Sutra. The Taittiriya Aranyaka regards Narayana, Vasudeva and Vishnu as one and the same deity. Narayana also appears as Hari. Some passages of the Mahabharata call Narayana an ancient rishi who was the son of Dharma and was associated with another rishi named Nara. Narayana is said to have undergone austerities in the Himalayas (Badri).48

It seems more reasonable to think that Narayana was an ancient leader of thought born in a family of another sage called Nara, that both of them probably advocated solar worship and this ultimately led to the identification, especially of the former with the solar deity Vishnu. The Narayana cult originated in some part of the Himalayan region or its neighbourhood. It is difficult to determine whether the family of Narayana had anything to do with the Yadavas. The followers of Narayana were originally called Pancaratrika and were later merged into the worshippers of Vasudeva-Krishna.49

Once Narayana was assimilated into Bhagavatism, he came to be represented as the propounder of a specific aspect of Vaishnavism namely the Pancaratra. This was presumably due to the reference in the Shatapata Brahmana to the Pancaratra Sattra which Purusha Narayana is said to have performed.50

The assimilation of the Narayana element into Bhagavatism probably took place after the final revision of the Bhagavad Gita as neither the name of Narayana nor the doctrines of the Vyuhas are found in the Bhagavad Gita.51

The Pancaratra Shastra

The Pancaratra Shastra or doctrine is said to have been promulgated by Shandilya as he did not find a sure basis for the highest welfare of man in the Veda and its auxiliary disciplines.52 The basic doctrines of the Sattvata (Bhagavata) religion were probably first reduced to a system by Shandilya Kashyapa. In the Pancaratra text name Ishvara Samhita (I. 39-41) the initiation of Shandilya to Bhagavatism is described. It says that after many years of severe austerities, Shandilya obtained from Samkarsana, the Veda by name Ekayana and taught them to Sumantu, Jaimini, Bhrgu, Aupagayana and Maunjayana. The Vrddha-Harita Samhita contains this legend about un-Vedic Vaishnavism originally taught by Shandilya who promulgated a religious code (Dharma Samhita) for the worship of Vishnu drawn up in un-Vedic spirit. Adopting his system some great sages worshipped Keshava in un-Vedic manner. Men performed religious rites in a way not ordained in the shastra (Veda) and the earth was deprived of svahak svadha and Vasatkara. Angered at this, Vishnu condemned Shandilya to live in hell. After Shandilya expressed his regrets, Vishnu modified his curse and blessed Shandilya to be born again as a human after 100 years in hell and advised him to worship Him (Vishnu) according to rules laid down in the Vedas. Shandilya followed his advice and entered the world of Hari.53

What was the un-Vedic method of worshipping Vishnu originally taught by Shandilya we are not told in the Vrddha-Harita-Samhita. The Narayaniya section of the Shantiparva of the Mahabharata contains the earliest exposition of the Pancaratra in its Sanskritised form. About the origin of Pancaratra we are told that this supreme scripture was compiled and uttered by the seven Citra shikandin Rishis- Marici, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu and Vasishta and Manu Svayambhuva after worshipping Hari Narayana for thousand years. They then read it to Narayana who praised it and certified it to be in complete accord with the four Vedas. Shandilya Kashyapa is not recognized as a teacher here.54

Resentment against the Pancharatra

In chapter 15 of the Kurma Purana it is said that the Pancharatrins were produced as a result of killing cows in some other birth, that they are absolutely non-Vedic and that the literatures of the Shaktas, Shaivas and the Pancharatras are for the delusion of mankind. The Pancharatras are strongly denounced in Parashara Purana, Shamba Purana, Vasishta Samhita and the Suta Samhita as great sinners and as absolutely non-Vedic. The reason for this type of denouncement was that the Pancharatras initiated and admitted within their sect even women and sudras.55

Yet another reason for the resentment against the Pancharatra from the custodians of the Vedas was for the simple reason that the Pancharatra easily displaced many of the elaborate Vedic sacrifices and rituals by idol worship and that they promoted universality and a common approach and helped in making God more easily accessible to the worshippers. Reluctantly the orthodox gave the Pancharatras a status and standing. But the Pancharatras never accused the Vedas nor belittled their followers and even called the Vedas as their source, guardian and friend.56

Pancharatra Agama superior to the Vedas

The term Agama is the counterpart of mantra or Veda and denotes a popular cult wherein practical religious formularies and offerings, in the form of fruits, flowers, food and drinks, etc, made with devotion take the place of incantations and sacrifices in fire.57 By the second century A.D. Bhagavatism came to be generally known by the name of the Pancharatra Agama and the Pancharatra Agama was regarded by the Bhagavatas as superior to the Vedas and called it Mulaveda; the holy teaching from Narayana himself to Nara and a succession of teachers like Shandilya, Prahalada, Sugriva and others till it was taught to mankind in order to save it.58

Meaning of Pancharatra

One of the Samhitas says that it is called pancharatra because it consists of five lectures delivered by God Narayana to five deities- Ananta, Garuda, Visvaksena, Brahma and Rudra respectively during five nights (pancharatra).59

Another Samhita indicates that it is called pancharatra because by it five other systems of thought namely Samkhya, Yoga, Pasupata, Bouddha and Jaina are obscured, that is made nights (darkened).60

A third derivation to the term Ratra is said to mean knowledge and pancharatra is said to delineate five kinds of knowledge, tattva-truth, mukti-liberation, bhakti-devotion, Yoga-concentration and vishaya-material things.61

The word pancharatra is also interpreted as the five forms of Narayana namely- Para, Vyuha, Vibhava, Harda and Arca. In Purushasukta and Narayanoparishad it is expressed that Narayana desired to be worshipped in the above mentioned five forms.62

The Pancharatra Samhitas are in fact numerous and said to number over 200. Of these Sattvata, Paushkara and Jayakhya are considered by the orthodox as the three jewels of the Pancharatra agama.63

The doctrine of the four Vyuha

Although Vasudeva-Krishna alone figures as the founder of the new religious movement, several other members of his family originally shared the honour of deification with him. The five Vrshni heroes referred to in the inscription of the first century A.D. at Mora near Mathura are enumerated in the Vayu Purana as Sankarshana (son of Vasudeva by Rohini), Pradyumna (son of Vasudeva-Krishna by Rukmini), Samba (son of Vasudeva-Krishna by Jambavati) and Aniruddha (son of Pradyumna).64

The Vyuha doctrine is one of the principal tenets of the old Pancharatra system, which was absorbed in the Bhagavata religion as well as the later Vaishnava philosophy. According to the Vyuha doctrine, Bhagavat Vasudeva created from himself the Vyuha (phase of conditioned Spirit) Sankarshana and prakriti (matter) and from them Pradyumna and manas (buddhi or intelligent) and from them Aniruddha and ahamkara and from them the Mahabhutas (elements with their qualities and Brahman who created the earth.65

As there is no reference to Vyuhas in the Bhagavad Gita, the earliest religious text of the Bhagavatas, it is clear that this philosophical interpretation of the relation of Vasudeva with the other deified Vrshni heroes is a later development.66

Bhagavata dharma, a modification of Nivritti dharma

According to P.C.Divanji, the Bhagavata religion founded by Sri Krishna, was not a new religion but a modification of the old nivritti marga started by Rishi Narayana, the Vedic sage. Sri Krishna modified the way of adoration of Narayana by propounding the view that a kshatriya need not renounce the world in order to be able to realise the identity of the individual soul with the supreme soul and that he can realise it by leading a life of a kshatriya in the true sense of it, that is to say by continuing to discharge his duties as laid down in the Dharmashastras without allowing his mind to be swayed by the emotions promoted by self-interest and a desire to enjoy the fruits of the efforts involved in the discharge of such duties.67

Divanaji also opines that the doctrine of Samkhya which is interwoven with the doctrine of the Bhagavata could be due to the intervention of Veda Vyasa who brought about a reconciliation between the Samkhya doctrine and the old nivritti dharma on acknowledging the propounder of the former as an avatara of Vishnu or Narayana and the theory of Avataras as a whole too was a product of his imagination.68

Were Bhagavatas and Pancaratrikas one and the same?

According to the prevalent view of the scholars, the worshippers of the deified sage Narayana called Pancaratras merged with the Bhagavata sect who were the worshippers of the Vrshni hero Vasudeva-Krishna.

While the Pancaratras had accepted the doctrines of Vyuhas and were the followers of tantric Vaishnavism the Bhagavatas had accepted the doctrines of avataras and were followers of Vedic Vaishnavism.69 But Mrs Suvira Jaiswal says that the difference between the Bhagavatas and the Pancaratras does not lie in the fact that they were originally devoted to two different gods or two different groups of divinities, but in their social base. The main difference between them seems to lie in the fact that whereas the Bhagavata devotees of Narayana had accepted the brahmanical social order, the Pancaratras were indifferent to and were perhaps against it. The Pancharatras had prominent tantric leanings while Bhagavatas gained support of the ruling class and championed the varna system. It was only gradually that varna distinction crept into the Pancaratra rituals.70

To be continued

Reference

  1. J.N.Banerjea – Pauranic and Tantric Religion (Early Phase), 1966, p.18
  2. S.N.Dasgupta – History of Indian Philosophy, vol-2, p.536
  3. H.C.Rayachaudhuri – Materials for the Study of the Early History of the Vaishnava Sect, p.10
  4. S.Krishnaswami Aiyangar – Early History of Vaishnavism in South India, Madras University, 1920, p.1
  5. R.C.Hazra – Pre Puranic Hindu Society before 200 A.D., Indian Historical Quarterly, vol – 15, pp:410,411
  6. Haridas Bhattacharyya – (Editor) – The Cultural Heritage of India, vol – IV, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Calcutta, 1956, p113
  7. Akshaya Kumar Banerjea – Philosophy of Gorakhnath, Mahant Digvijainath Trust, Gorakhpur, pp:266,267
  8. Ibid, pp:266-269
  9. Ibid, pp:269-270
  10. Haridas Bhattacharyya – Op.cit, p.112
  11. R.N.Dandekar – Insight into Hinduism, Ajanta Publication, Delhi, 1979, pp:233-234
  12. Ibid
  13. Ibid, p.210
  14. Ibid, p.205
  15. M.Hiriyanna – Essentials of Indian Philosophy, pp:33,34
  16. R.N.Dandekar – Op.cit, p.215
  17. Ibid, pp:217,218
  18. H.C.Rayachaudhuri –Op.cit, pp:35,36
  19. Haridas Bhattacharyya – Op.cit, p.114
  20. M.Hiriyanna – Op.cit, pp:34,35
  21. H.C.Rayachaudhuri –Op.cit, p.13
  22. Ibid, p.15
  23. Ibid,pp:16,17
  24. R.N.Dandekar – Vedic Mythological Tracts, p.68
  25. Ibid, pp:88,89
  26. Ibid, p.71
  27. Ibid, p.89
  28. H.C.Rayachaudhuri –Op.cit, pp:17,18
  29. Ibid, pp:106,107
  30. R.C.Majumdar (Editor) – History and Culture of the Indian People, vol -II, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1960, p.235
  31. H.C.Rayachaudhuri –Op.cit, pp:108,109
  32. Sudhakar Chattopadhyaya – The Evolution of Theistic Sects in Ancient India, p.18
  33. Ibid, pp:24,25
  34. Ibid, p.27
  35. Ibid, p.33
  36. Ibid, pp:33,34
  37. Mrs. Suvira Jaiswal – The Origin and development of Vaishnavism from 200 B.C. to A.D.500, Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi, 1967, pp:52,53,55,58,60
  38. Ibid
  39. R.C.Majumdar- Op.cit, p.433
  40. Ibid
  41. Ibid, p.434
  42. Ibid, p.433
  43. Haridas Bhattacharyya – Op.cit, p.164
  44. R.C.Hazra – Op.cit,pp:412,413
  45. S.N.Dasgupta – History of Indian Philosophy, vol-3, p.15
  46. S.N.Dasgupta – History of Indian Philosophy, vol-4, p.7
  47. H.C.Rayachaudhuri –Op.cit, pp:106,107
  48. R.C.Majumdar- Op.cit, pp:435,436
  49. Haridas Bhattacharyya – Op.cit, p.120
  50. R.N.Dandekar – Insights into Hinduism, pp:259,260
  51. Ibid, p.256
  52. Rama Prasad Chanda – The Indo-Aryan Races, A Study of the origin of Indo-Aryan People and Institutes, part I, Rajshahi, 1916, p.99
  53. Ibid, pp:105,106
  54. Ibid, pp:108,109
  55. S.N.Dasgupta – History of Indian Philosophy, vol-3, pp:19,20
  56. S.Rangachar – Philosophy of Pancaratras, p.36
  57. Haridas Bhattacharyya – Op.cit, p.164 (in footnotes)
  58. Ibid, p.164
  59. S.Rangachar – Op.cit, p.48
  60. Ibid
  61. Ibid, pp:48,49
  62. Ibid, pp:49,50
  63. Ibid, p.65
  64. R.C.Majumdar- Op.cit, p.447
  65. Ibid
  66. Ibid
  67. P.C.Divanji – Origin fo the Bhagavata and Jaina Religions, ABORI, vol – xxiii, Bhandarkar, Oriental Research Institute, 1943, p.114
  68. Ibid, p.112
  69. R.N.Dandekar – Insights into Hinduism, p.261
  70. Mrs. Suvira Jaiswal – Op.cit, p.45
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