Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c3.4

c3.4

The author fully realises the difficulty of writing upon a religious movement which is not yet five hundred years old, and about a religious faith which, within the limits of locality, is still living. The peculiar system of erotico-mystic devotion of Caitanyaism, set forth as it is in a vital background of myth, miracle, sentiment and speculation, and demanding a highly refined and almost superhuman capacity of emotional abandon and ecstasy, is not yet a superseded curiosity capable of exact academic appraisement. The writing of Religionsgeschichte in such a case has its own peculiar difficulties which should not be underrated. The author, therefore, makes no attempt at any critique or comparative valuation of the faith, but he merely summarises its fully recorded original dogmas and doctrines, and leaves them to speak for themselves. It should be clearly understood, however, that the subject is approached, not from the standpoint of a devotee, apologist or partisan of the faith, but in the spirit of historical and critical research, which aims at truth-finding but does not sacrifice sympathy and understanding. The author's opinions are his own, to which he is entitled as the considered result of his independent study, but there is no motive to offend, nor any for wilful distortion. He is willing to confess to an imperfect capacity, but his sincere desire to appreciate, in the light of modern standards of scholarship, should not be misjudged.