Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c9.s5.59

c9.s5.59

² Even if Saṃkīrtana here be supposed to mean the peculiar Vaiṣṇava mode of singing Kṛṣṇa's name, the occurrence of the word in this passage in the *Śrīmad-bhāgavata* only indicates, apart from any sectarian interpretation, that the mode was fairly old, at least older than Śrīdhara who accepts this passage as genuine. If this is correct, then the Saṃkīrtana is probably not such an innovation introduced by Bengal Vaiṣṇavism as it is often supposed to be, although it must be admitted that Bengal Vaiṣṇavism first realized its possibilities and made it into an effective mode of propagating the mass-emotion of Bhakti.