New History of the Marathas v1.c5.64

v1.c5.64

Chakradhar concentrated his teaching upon the worship of Krishna, emphasising dualism in contravention to the then existing Advait system as enunciated by Shankarāchārya and adopted for centuries by the common masses and rulers of the Yādava dynasty. The main points on which this new teaching differed from the old can be thus summarized : (1) Chakradhar did not accept the sanctity of the Vedas as the ultimate authority, (2) he denounced the artificial divisions of caste and (3) the adoration of the numerous gods, their forms and incarnations. (4) He also rejected the pollution by touch in any shape or form, upholding all human beings as equal in sanctity. He also enforced a strict vegetarian diet and allowed no sensual excesses unlike the Shāktas and Tāntrikas. The Mānabhāvs have two distinct orders, the householders and the recluses. The latter admit even women to the status of religious celibates ; the former live much the same social life as the common mass of their brother Hindus, and can be hardly distinguished by any special conduct at this day.