Varkari & Mahanubhava Sampradayas

[Guest guest]

I didnt get any comments in the Four Vaisnava Sampradayas conference so far,

so I am forwarding this to Krsna Katha and Sanskrit conferences now.

 

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Text PAMHO:5248949 (40 lines)

(Bhakta) Sergei Schmalz (Wiesbaden - D)

22-Feb-02 12:00 (13:00 +0100)

(Four) Vaisnava Sampradayas

Varkari & Mahanubhava Sampradayas

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Dear everyone,

please accept my respectful obeisance.

All glories to Sri Sri Guru-Gauranga and Sri Sri Radha-Govinda!

 

I have been for over a year out of PAMHO, and conferences that I started,

including this one, became inactive, as I can see. I came back to PAMHO

activities a week ago and would like to bring things to at least where they

were when I left.

 

I have a question, maybe someone of you does know something about it.

 

Being a student of Indology I have been having Old Marathi (9th-13th century

Marathi) courses for the last two semesters. At the courses I have also

learnt about two Maharastrian Vaisnava sampradayas, namely, Varkari and

Mahanubhava.

 

Does anyone of you know if there are any links between one of these two

sampradayas with the Four Sampradayas that all of us know? Are these two

sampradayas bona fide or apasampradayas? Did Srila Prabhupada ever mention

anything about them?

 

>From what I know I can say that Varkari sampradaya is most likely a bone

fide sampradaya, because Tukaram comes from it and is actually the last of

the greatest "sants" (comparable to "acarya", although I dont know yet the

actual meaning and usage of the word "sant") in it, the first was Jnanesvara

who wrote a very famous Marathi commentary to Bhagavad-Gita called

"Bhavartha-dipika" (nowadays better known as "Jnanesvari" or "Jnanadevi").

 

And Mahanubhava seems to me to be more of an apasampradaya, because they (as

I was told be my Marathi teacher) put Krsna of Bhagavad-Gita above Krsna of

Bhagavata Purana. But my teacher isnt a Vaisnava himself and could have

given just some main-stream indological interpretation, so I wouldnt jump to

conclusions right away, I'd prefer to first get more informtion and only

then make the final decision.

 

I hope someone has more to tell in regard to Mahanubhava and Varkari

sampradayas in Maharastra and their status in the past and present.

 

Your humble servant,

Sergei.

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