Viṣṇusvāmī was a Hindu religious leader. He is primarily known for having started the Rudra sampradaya.[1][2][3] There are almost no sources on the life of Viṣṇusvāmī. The dates of Viṣṇusvāmī's life are unknown, but scholars conjecture he lived circa the 13th century. Viṣṇusvāmī's own works do not survive, and thus little is directly known of his theological positions. His students are also unknown, and his lineage did not continue uninterrupted.[4]
Viṣṇusvāmī | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Organization | |
| Philosophy | Shuddhadvaita, Hindu philosophy, Vedanta |
According to Śrīdhara's commentaries on the Bhāgavata Purāṇa and the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (c. 1250), Viṣṇusvāmī considered Narasiṁha to be the supreme deity. Mādhavācārya's Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha (14th century) quotes the Sākarasiddhi, a work of one of Viṣṇusvāmī's followers, and states the same.[5]
In Vallabha's commentary on the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Subodhinī, he states that Viṣṇusvāmī's devotional path was of the tamāsa guṇa, while he states is own is nirguṇa.[5]
According to Gadādharadāsa's Saṁpradāyapradīpa (colophon states A.D. 1552–54, but according to Hawley, actually from the latter half of the 1600s),[6] at one point in Kali Yuga a king from Drāviḍa country had conquered all of India and Viṣṇusvāmī was the son of that king's Brāhmaṇa minister.[5]
There exists a copper land-grant plate dated to 1661, which states that the Vijayanagara ruler Raṁga Rāya gifted the villages of Raṇaghaṭa and Hirekalyāṇi to the head of the Viṣṇusvāmī maṭha. The plate states that Viṣṇusvāmī could claim apostolic succession to one Gauḍapāda, the student of Śuka, and thereby to Vyāsa and Nārada.[5][7]
By the time of Vallabha the sect was barely in existence and a man named Vilvamaṁgala was the ācārya. When Vallabha won the śāstrārtha in Vidyanagara, he became the ācārya of the school and greatly promoted its ideas.[8]
In 1812, the king of Mysore Kr̥ṣṇa Rāja Oḍeyar III remitted the taxes owed by Kr̥ṣṇānanda Svāmī, who was the head of the Viṣṇusvāmī maṭha.[7]
References
edit- ^ The Sadhus and Indian Civilisation By Vijay Prakash Sharma
- ^ Vaisnavism: Contemporary Scholars Discuss the Gaudiya Tradition Steven Rosen
- ^ Advanced History of Medieval India S R Bakshi
- ^ Mītala, Prabhudayāla (1968). Braja ke Dharma-Saṁpradāyoṁ kā Itihāsa [Braja kā Sāṁskr̥tika Itihāsa, Bhāga २] [History of Braj's Religious Sects [Cultural History of Braj, Volume 2]] (in Hindi). Neśanala Pabliśiṁga Hāusa. pp. 151–152.
- ^ a b c d Śāstrī, Keśavarāma Kā. (1977). "Śrīviṣṇusvāmīno sampradāya". Śrīvallabhācārya mahāprabhujī [aithihyamūlaka jīvanī]. Śrī Sayājī Sāhityamāḷā (in Gujarati). Vaḍodara: Prācyavidyā Mandira, Mahārājā Sayājīrāva Viśvavidyālaya.
- ^ Hawley, John Stratton (2013). "How Vallabhacharya Met Krishnadevaraya". In Verghese, Anila (ed.). Krishnadevaraya and His Times. Mumbai: K R Cama Oriental Institute. pp. 88–93.
- ^ a b Saletore, Bhasker Anand (1936). Ancient Karnāṭaka. Poona Oriental Series No. 53. Vol. I: History of Tuḷuva. Oriental Book Agency. pp. 456–457.
- ^ Mītala 1968, p. 151-152.
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