The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c11.127

v1.c11.127

**Modern Vaisnavism :** Thus though the mystic system of Bhakti was first promulgated by the *Bhagavadgītā* as early as the time of the *Mahābhārata*, and fully developed in the *Śāṇḍilya Sūtra* and the *Bhāgavata Purāṇa*, it does not seem to have effected any material change in the form of the current Vaiṣṇavism of the country for a long [ 155 ] time. Hermits and sages, in their monastic seclusion, indulged in its mystic reveries; but the great body of the people adhered to the established ritual, and satisfied their religious craving with the *mantras* and *sandhyās* which their ancestors had followed. Nimbārka *alias* Bhāskara Ācārya was the first who attempted to give a wide circulation to the mysticism of Bhakti, and he was followed by Jayadeva in Bengal, and Rāmānuja in Southern India, both in the twelfth century. Then came Vallabhācārya, Mīrā Bāyī, Mādhvācārya, and Caitanya between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and they so completely changed the character of Vaiṣṇavism, as to give it quite a new shape. Songs, music and dancing replaced the *mantras* of old, Sanskrit prayers gave place to vernacular ones, and service to images of Kṛṣṇa in various forms to established rituals. Even the name of the followers of the new faith was changed from Vaiṣṇavas to Bhaktas, or the theopathists, i. e., the followers of the Bhakti creed.