Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c5.s2.12

c5.s2.12

While Madhva himself is seldom cited. Madhvaism or affiliation to the Mādhva sect is never acknowledged in the several authoritative lives of Caitanya, nor in the canonical works of the six Gosvāmins of Bengal Vaiṣṇavism. It is asserted for the first time in Kavikarṇapūra's *Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā*¹, but this work was not written probably before 1576 A.D. Caitanya's Guru-paramparā is traced in it, with more ingenuity than accuracy, from Madhva himself, through Mādhavendra and Īśvara Purī, in a list, which looks suspiciously similar to a list given by Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa which we shall mention presently. In his drama *Caitanya-candrodaya* (Act i), however, Kavikarṇapūra refers to Mādhavendra Purī, but not as a Mādhva ascetic; nor is there any reference to Madhva or Madhvaism in this work, as well as in his earlier Sanskrit poem *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*. On the contrary, in the fifth Act of his drama, Caitanya is distinctly stated to have entered the monastic order of the Advaitavādins². The only other support of the theory of Mādhva affiliation is to be found in a list of Guru-paramparā³ given at the commencement of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa's *Govinda-bhāṣya* (on the *Vedānta-sūtra*) and in his *Prameya-ratnāvalī*. As the time of some of these Mādhva Gurus is well-known, the historical accuracy of this list can be easily challenged,¹ and there can be no doubt that the list was made up for the occasion mainly from hearsay or imagination. Baladeva, a native of Orissa, belonged to the 18th century; and what tradition records about his pro-Mādhva tendencies is confirmed by his learned writings. Even if his *Govinda-bhāṣya* shows independence, he has entirely given himself up to Madhvaism in his *Prameya-ratnāvalī*². We shall discuss below the reason for this change of attitude on the part of one of the most acute champions of Bengal Vaiṣṇavism; but whatever may have been the reason, there is no other direct claim for Mādhva affiliation in the authoritative works of Caitanyaism.