VAISHNAVAS, vish/na-vnz (Skt. adherent of Vishnu, from Visa a, Vishnu, name of a Hindu god). The general name of all wor shipers of Vishnu (q.v.), but applied particularly to those who worship Vishnu in his incarnate form, either as Krishna or as Rama. Even those who worship Vishnu under other forms, such as the reverers of 'Vishnu as the tortoise' (see Visitx0), are adherents at the same time of one of these two sects. Of the two, the older division comprises those who worship Vishnu as Krishna. These Krishnaites were known in the earliest sectarian period (c.200 D.c.) as Paiicaratras and Bhayaratas. Whether these names were at first applied to the same sectaries or to two divisions of Krishnaites is not known; but in the seventh century A.D. they appear to be two distinct bod ies. The essential tenet of these sects is that which is maintained by all Vaishnavas, namely, that, besides the identity of Krishna with Vishnu, the human soul is a distinct entity, while in corporate in an earthly body, and after the death of the body it becomes one with Vishnu. This qualified idealism distinguished the Vaishnavas philosophically from the Saivas (q.v.) on the one hand, and from the Vedautists (see VE DANTA) on the other. Another tenet held by all Vaishnavas, though not exclusively by them. is the doctrine of bhakti or saving faith, and this may be said to be the great popular support of all the Vaishnava sects. It appears first in the Bhayaradgit a (q.v.), the oldest scripture of the Vaishnavas. According to this doctrine, all works and other beliefs are without essential value, though good works and right knowledge are useful. The one essential, however, is faith in Krishna (or Rama) as i.e. as supreme deity. He who believes that Krishna is God is saved. Salvation, further, consists in being re ceived hack into God's essence. The correspond ing activity on the part of the divinity is grace or favor extended to such as have faith. In the grosser conception of Vishnu as a god occupy ing a heaven of his own, the soul, instead of being reabsorbed, simply shares the joy of this heaven.
At the present time the Krishnaites are largely in the majority in Northern India, while the Rama ites are strongest in the southeast, the southwest being the home of one of the strong Krishnaite sects, which arose in the twelfth cen tury. At this period, in fact. sprang up the chief sects of both parties, and from this time onward the antagonism between the sects and sub-sects of each separate division became powerful.
Before these popular schools ur sects arose, a special division of Krishnaitc Vaishnavas was formed (c.1200 A.D.) on the :Malabar coast under the influence of Anandatertha, the foumler of :4 school known as lle taught ma only the separate existence of human souls, but the separate existence of matter as an eternal es sence. This school remains a restricted southern
growth, hut the 'duality doctrine,' as it is called, has been accepted by the masses over a wide area. Both the next great Krishnaite sects emphasize *an entirely new practice, on which they lay more weight than they do on theology or metaphysics. This is the practice of revering the Child Krishna. No trace of this cult, with its accom paniment of madonna-worship, is to he found in the records of the older sects, and it is quite pos sible that the practice was an imitation of Chris tian usage. Unfortunately, with the introduction of this child-worship was still retained the an tique conception of Krishna as an amorous shep herd, and under the influence of these two images, together with the continual emphasis upon bliakti, the worship of Krishna-Vishnu rapidly deteriorated. This element became supreme in the later development of the Krishnaite sects of the north, where among the lower classes it has superseded all other religious notions and has deeply affected even the cultivated classes.
The first of these sects is that of Caitanya, who was born in Bengal in 1485. His special reli gious tenet was 'love for Krishna.' This was expressed by songs and dances of an amorous and licentious character. Caitanya himself, like most of the late Vaishnava teachers, was re garded as also divine and as a reincarnation of Krishna himself. The second great sect of Krislmaites arose in the northwest and was founded by Vallabha, called also Vallabhacarya. His sect, if somewhat less licentious than that of Caitanya, was no less self-indulgent. The wor ship of the Child Krishna was particularly af fected by the Vallabhas with all its excesses. But the sect is saved from the uniform low level of the Caitanyas through the fact that it is not without sectarian literature. The founder re verted to the non-dualistic doctrine of the Ve danta. and the philosophy of his school is thus distinguished from that. of Caitanya, who taught that each believer was to exist as a separate spirit in a heaven filled with sensual pleasures. Both these sects elevate Radha, the mistress of Krishna, to a divine position. A reform of both these religious bodies took place in the eighteenth century. The Cam Dasis were protestants against the excesses of the Vallabha sect and they instituted a moral reform based on the purer belief and practice of the southern Madhya Krishnaites. A similar protest against the Val labha sect resulted in the formation of a new division under the leadership of Narayana, who was worshiped as a god by his adherents. Other reforming sects of this sort scarcely deserve to lie called Vaislinavas, as they are eclectic deists.