Radha Vallabha Sampradaya
Radha, the principal goddess of the Radha Vallabha tradition
Founder
Hith Harivansh Mahaprabhu[1]
Regions with significant populations
Mathura, Uttar Pradesh[1]
Religions
Hinduism
Scriptures
Hita-Chaurāsī[2]  other hymns
Languages
Braj Bhasha  Sanskrit[3]
Website
radhavallabhmandir.com

The Radha Vallabha Sampradaya (Sanskrit: राधावल्लभसम्प्रदाय, romanized: Rādhāvallabhasampradāya)[4] is a Vaishnava Hindu denomination which began in 1535 at Vrindavan with the bhakti sant Hith Harivansh Mahaprabhu (1502–1552).[5] Harivansh's views are related to Krishnaism, but emphasises devotion to the goddess Radha as the Supreme Being.[6][1][7][8][9]

Features

Radha Krishna murti depicting their love where Radha is depicted as queen and Krishna as her loving subordinate.

According to the scholar Guy L. Beck, the Radha Vallabha Sampradaya has the following features, in comparison with Krishnaite traditions.[10]

  1. Its view on Radha and Krishna differentiates from normative Krishnaite theology. The Supreme Being in this tradition is Radha, while her consort Krishna is described to be the penultimate step toward the supreme deity,[1] and her most intimate servant.[note 1]
  2. The tradition prefers to remain unaffiliated with any classical philosophical positions[3] and previous four major Vaishnavite sampradayas.[note 2]
  3. It declines to produce theological and philosophical commentaries, basing on pure bhakti, divine love.
  4. The founder and followers lived and live as householders and sannyasa is not praised.

Scriptures

The main scriptures of the sampradaya created in regional Braj Bhasha with status of the heaven language.[3]

  • Hita-Caurāsī (a.k.a. Caurāsī Pad) — the eighty-four verses (hymns), the principal work of Hith Harivansh Mahaprabhu.[2]
  • Vyāhulau Utsav ke Pad (the Wedding Hymns of Radha and Krishna).[13]

Lineage of Radha Vallabha Sampradaya

The central deity of Radha Vallabh Temple, Vrindavan

The Shri Radha Vallabh Temple in Vrindavan, Mathura is a very famous temple of the same preaching. This temple is among the most famous 7 temples of Thakur of Vrindavan including Radha Vallabha, Govinda, Banke Bihari and four others. In this temple, there is no idol of Radha, but a 'Gādī Sevā' is placed next to Krishna to signify her presence.[14]

The Shri Radha Vallabh Temple was founded by Hith Harivansh Mahaprabhu who is worshipped in the adjacent temple of Radha Vallabha which was earlier Radhavallabha's temple, but because of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's attack on Vrindavan he was shifted to other place and then the new temple was built. The Yugal Darshan of Radhavallabha is considered as difficult because of rituals due to which the "patt" gets closed. This temple with Madan teer and Seva kunj with Maharasmandal are held by the Tikaet Adhyaksh and are considered as Radha Vallabha's property. In this temple Radhastami is celebrated largely which is a festival on the birthday of Radha.

The kirtan "Samaj-Gayan" is the Radha-vallabha's collective style of hymn singing by the Hindustani classical music forms, such "dhrupad" and "dhamar".[3]

Notable people

See also

Notes

  1. As a precursor to this view can be understand the 12th-century poet Jayadeva, in whose Gita Govinda (10.9) Krishna beneath Radha.[11]
  2. Scholaes sometimes count the Radhavallabhis as offshoot of Nimbarka Sampradaya.[12]

References

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Beck 2005, p. 66.
  2. 1 2 White 1977; Snell 1991; Beck 2005, pp. 67–68.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Beck 2005, p. 67.
  4. Gupta, Ravi; Valpey, Kenneth (2013-03-26). The Bhagavata Purana: Sacred Text and Living Tradition. Columbia University Press. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-231-14999-0.
  5. White 1977; Snell 1991, chapter 1; Brzezinski 1992; Rosenstein 1998; Beck 2005.
  6. Rosenstein 1998.
  7. Vemsani, Lavanya (2016). Krishna in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Hindu Lord of Many Names: An Encyclopedia of the Hindu Lord of Many Names. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio. ISBN 978-1-61069-211-3. Archived from the original on 2023-03-20. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  8. Lochtefeld, James G. (2002). "Radha". The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: N–Z. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 542. ISBN 978-0-8239-3180-4.
  9. Balfour, Edward (1885). The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia: Commercial, Industrial and Scientific, Products of the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Kingdoms, Useful Arts and Manufactures (3rd ed.). London: B. Quaritch. p. 62. Archived from the original on 2023-03-20. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  10. Beck 2005, pp. 74–76.
  11. Beck 2005, p. 76.
  12. De, Sushil Kumar (1942). Early History of the Vaisnava Faith and Movement in Bengal from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources. Calcutta: General Printers and Publishers. p. 6 note.
  13. Beck 2005, pp. 86–90.
  14. Rājaśekhara Dāsa (2000). The Color Guide to Vṛndāvana: India's Most Holy City of Over 5,000 Temples. Vedanta Vision Publication.
  15. Live, A. B. P. "प्रेमानंद जी महाराज वृंदावन का जीवन परिचय जान आप रह जाएंगे हैरान, यहां पढ़ें इनकी जीवनी". ABP News (in Hindi). Retrieved 2023-07-09.

Bibliography

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