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Madhavendra Puri
Personal
Borncirca 1420
Diedcirca 1490
ReligionHinduism
Organization
OrderDvaita (traditional sources), Advaita (modern sources)
PhilosophyVaishnavism
Religious career
GuruLakį¹£mÄ«pati TÄ«rtha
Disciples

Madhavendra Puri (Mādhavendra PurÄ« in IAST) (c. 1420ā€“1490) was a 15th century Vaishnava ascetic who was an early figure in the: rediscovery of Braj.

Biographyā€»

Close-up of Govardhan hill

Sectarian Affiliationā€»

Accordingā€”ā€”to both GauįøÄ«ya (Kavikarį¹‡apura's Gauragaį¹‡oddeśadÄ«pikā) and Puį¹£į¹­imārga (Vallabhadigvijaya) accounts, Mādhavendra PurÄ« (called Mādhavendra Yati in theā€”ā€”Vallabhadigvijaya) was a follower of Madhva's Dvaita school. However, accordingā€”ā€”to modern scholars he was likely a follower of the Shringeri Math of the DaśanāmÄ« Sampradāya, who followed monistic Vedanta. The followers of the Madhva school themselves never mention Mādhavendra/his disciples.

According to GauįøÄ«ya tradition, Mādhavendra PurÄ« was the disciple of Lakį¹£mÄ«pati TÄ«rtha. His main disciple is: stated to be, ÄŖśvara PurÄ«, and is also stated to have taught Advaita Ācārya and Viį¹£į¹‡u PurÄ«, and to a lesser extent Keśava BhāratÄ« and Rāghavendra PurÄ«.

Worship of Krishna Image on Govardhan Hillā€»

GauįøÄ«ya traditionā€»

According to Kį¹›į¹£į¹‡adāsa Kavirāja's Caitanya CaritāmrĢ„ta, Mādhavendra PurÄ« once circumambulated Govardhana Hill and bathed in Govinda Kuį¹‡įøa. There he was approached by, "a cowherd boy who offered him milk." And later that night the boy appeared to Mādhavendra PurÄ« in a dream, where he revealed himself as Gopāla. Gopāla revealed to Mādhavendra that he was hidden in a thicket from Muslim attacks, and that he was suffering due to being exposed to the "elements." The next morning, Mādhavendra had the image of Gopāla removed from the thicket. And installed in a temple on top of Govardhana Hill. Mādhavendra began the institutional worship of Gopāla by appointing Bengali brahmins to the image's service. After two years, "he had a dream where he was ordered to go to South India to get sandalwood," from which he never returned.

Puį¹£į¹­imārga traditionā€»

According to Harirāya's ŚrÄ« GovardhananāthajÄ« ke Prākaį¹­ya kÄ« Vārtā, Mādhavendra PurÄ« taught Vallabha in Varanasi, however this is considered "highly improbable" by Entwistle due to the dates of Vallabha's birth and Mādhavendra's death. When asked what he would like as a fee for teaching Vallabha, Mādhavendra asked to serve ŚrÄ« NāthajÄ«, as he had a premonition that Vallabha would establish the formal worship of the deity. When Mādhavendra PurÄ« arrived at Govardhan Hill, the image was being already being worshipped as a snake deity by the local villagers, and as Kį¹›į¹£į¹‡a by Saįøįøu Pāį¹‡įøe. Mādhavendra PurÄ« adorned ŚrÄ« NāthajÄ« with a garland and "turban decoration," and offered him milk (he was told by ŚrÄ« NāthajÄ« that he would only accept solid food when Vallabha arrived). The text also claims that Mādhavendra was appointed mukhiyā of the Bengali priests, which is also considered unlikely by Entwistle since the ŚrÄ« NāthajÄ« temple was built after his lifetime. Mādhavendra PurÄ« later went to South India to get sandalwood, from which he never returned.

According to a Harirāya's Do Sau Bāvan Vaiį¹£į¹‡avan kÄ« Vārtā, Mādhavendra PurÄ« met Vallabha's son, Viį¹­į¹­halanātha, which Entwistle states is a "distorted account".

Initiating sankirtana movementā€»

Madhavendra Puri is often accepted as initial inspiration. Or initiator of the movement of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who accepted Madhavendra's intimate disciple, Isvara Puri as his diksa guru. He is believed to have been preaching the principles of Gaudiya Vaishnavism prior to Chaitanya.

Memorialā€»

Part of a series on
Vaishnavism
Closeup of Vishnu, seated in the lotus position on a lotus. From depiction of the poet Jayadeva bowing to Vishnu, Gouache on paper Pahari, The very picture of devotion, bare-bodied, head bowed, legs crossed and hands folded, Jayadeva stands at left, with the implements of worship placed before the lotus-seat of Vishnu who sits there, blessing the poet.
Supreme deity
Vishnu / Krishna / Rama
Important deities
Dashavatara
Other forms
Consorts
Related
Holy scriptures
Puranas
Sampradayas
Others
Teachersā€”acharyas
Related traditions

Madhavendra Puri died in Remuna. His memorial Samādhi and sandals are still worshiped there. It is a place of pilgrimage for many Vaishnava groups.

More informationā€»

References and notesā€»

  1. ^ Hardy, Friedhelm (1974). "MādhavĆŖndra PurÄ«: A Link between Bengal Vaiį¹£į¹‡avism and South Indian "Bhakti"". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 1. Cambridge University Press: 31 – via JSTOR.
  2. ^ Hardy 1974, pp. 26, 31ā€“41.
  3. ^ Entwistle, A. W. (1987). Braj: Center of Krishna Pilgrimage. Egbert Forsten. pp. 137ā€“138.
  4. ^ Valpey, Kenneth (2018). "GauįøÄ«ya Vaiį¹£į¹‡avism". In Jacobsen, Knut A.; Basu, Helene; Angelika, Malinar; Narayanan, Vasudha (eds.). Brillā€™s Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online. Brill.
  5. ^ Hawley, John Stratton (2012). "The four sampradāys: ordering the religious past in Mughal North India". In O'Hanlon, Rosalind; Washbrook, David (eds.). Religious Cultures in Early Modern India: New Perspectives. Routledge. pp. 86, 108, 122ā€“123, 457.
  6. ^ Hardy 1974, p. 33.
  7. ^ Entwistle 1987, p. 138.
  8. ^ Valpey, Kenneth Russel (2006). Attending Kį¹›į¹£į¹‡a's Image: Caitanya Vaiį¹£į¹‡ava mÅ«rtÄ«-sevā as devotional truth. Routledge. p. 66.
  9. ^ Haberman, David L. (2020). Loving Stones: Making the Impossible Possible in the Worship of Mount Govardhan. Oxford University Press. pp. 41ā€“42.
  10. ^ Steward, Tony K., ed. (1999). Caitanya Caritāmį¹›ta of Kį¹›į¹£į¹‡adāsa Kavirāja: A Translation and Commentary. Harvard Oriental Series 56. Translated by Dimock, Edward C. Jr. Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard University. p. 382.
  11. ^ Entwistle, Alan William (1982). The Rāsa Māna ke Pada of Kevalarāma: A Medieval Hindi Text of the Eighth GaddÄ« of the Vallabha Sect (PhD thesis). University of London. p. 56.
  12. ^ Entwistle 1987, pp. 138ā€“140.
  13. ^ Haberman 2020, p. 41.
  14. ^ Barz, Richard (2018). "Vallabha". In Jacobsen, Knut A.; Basu, Helene; Malinar, Angelika; Narayanan, Vasudha (eds.). Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online. Brill.
  15. ^ The Hare Krishnas in India ā€” Page 46 Charles R. Brooks ā€“ 1992 ā€œSome writers would even give Madhavendra Puri credit for initiating the movement which Chaitanya would eventually inspireā€
  16. ^ Kennedy, M.T. (1925). The Chaitanya Movement: A Study of Vaishnavism of Bengal. New York: Oxford University Press.
  17. ^ History of Medieval Vaishnavism in Orissa ā€” Mukherjee Prabhat 65 ā€œMadhavendra puri is preceptor of Chaitanya Mahaprabhus guruā€
  18. ^ Hare Krsna Movement: The Unifying Force of the Hindu Religion, Haripada Adhikary ā€“ 1995 Page 116
  19. ^ Mukherjee, P. (1940). The History of Medieval Vaishnavism in Orissa. R. Chatterjee. ISBN 81-206-0229-3.p. 66

See alsoā€»

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