Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c6.s3.4

c6.s3.4

The later development of the sect and the cult, therefore, is chiefly the work of his chosen disciples and associates. At the same time, one must guard against the error of supposing that the cult and the sect were entirely created by his followers, to whom Caitanya was a mere figurehead or a willing instrument. Caitanya's personal relation to his leading disciples, as borne out by the orthodox records, clearly demonstrate that on the main lines of its growth and expansion the movement was directly inspired by the example of his life and experience, even if he did not actually persevere at the task. If he possessed the capacity, he never had, in his emotional absorption, either the time or the willingness to found a sect or a system; but from the very beginning the movement bore the impress of his individuality and developed on the lines of his spiritual experience, which formed its greatest and most powerful asset. This was the driving force by which the movement organised and propagated itself during his lifetime, and which inspired his leading disciples to organise and propagate it after his death. As such this was his highest contribution to the sect and the cult. The standard of Vaiṣṇava life and devotion set up by his own life, the new spirit of emotionalism which he imparted to traditional piety, the wide-spread emotional appeal of the new mode of Saṃkīrtana which he developed, the sincerity and contagious passion of his realisation of the Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa cult, the expansive and liberating power of his catholic and simple ideas of worship, his devotional fancies about the Vṛndāvana settlement, his winning over of scholars and devotees who were to be the future organisers of the sect both on its practical and doctrinal sides, and inspiring them with a selfless love for the task,—in one word, his great religious life and personality clearly gave an initial direction and an impetus to the movement, which gradually organised itself in the hands of his capable followers into a definite sect and cult.