History of Vaisnava traditions: An esquisse

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the history of "VaisNava traditions" that is, of organized and institutionalized VaisNava movements, mainly on the basis of religious literature and epigraphy. Many VaisNava traditions need a critical examination and study of their history and their literary sources. Bhagavatism is the first "VaisNava" tradition to appear distinctly in history. Besides the Bhagavata worship evidenced mainly through epigraphy, Sanskrit literature from around the third century CE, attests a tendency which stresses asceticism and yoga in association with devotion for NarayaNa. The existence of organized VaisNava ascetic communities in this period cannot be excluded, though documentation to sustain this hypothesis is scanty. The Haridasakuta (to be distinguished from Haridasasampradaya, a later north Indian tradition) was closely associated with the Madhva tradition. Haridasa belongs to the sixteenth century according to modern research. Apart from Pañcaratra texts, several Tantric works were of special importance for the different VaisNava traditions.