Vaishnavism

Overview

Vaishnavism (Sanskrit: वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major traditions within Hinduism, alongside Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. Its followers, known as Vaishnavites or Vaishnavas, regard Vishnu as the supreme being who leads all other deities. The tradition includes sub-streams such as Krishnaism and Ramaism, which venerate Krishna and Rama respectively as the supreme form of the divine.

The early development of Vaishnavism is generally understood as the gradual fusion of several regional theistic traditions with the Vedic worship of Vishnu. The Bhagavata cults of Vāsudeva-Krishna and Gopala-Krishna, along with the Pancaratra tradition centred on Narayana, took shape between the 7th and 4th centuries BCE. In the early centuries CE these streams were identified with the Vedic Vishnu, and the doctrine of avataras emerged, by which various deities came to be revered as incarnations of the one supreme God.

Forms and avataras venerated within Vaishnavism include Narayana, Hari, Rama, Krishna, Kalki, Perumal, Shrinathji, Vithoba, Venkateswara, Guruvayurappan, Ranganatha, Jagannath, Badrinath and Muktinath, each understood as an aspect of the same supreme reality. The tradition is particularly known for its emphasis on loving devotion (bhakti) to an avatara of Vishnu, often Krishna, and played a central role in the spread of the Bhakti movement across the Indian subcontinent during the second millennium CE.

Vaishnavism encompasses four major Vedanta schools, each associated with a distinct sampradaya: the Vishishtadvaita of Ramanuja, the Dvaita of Madhvacharya, the Dvaitadvaita of Nimbarkacharya, and the Shuddhadvaita of Vallabhacharya. Several other V

References

• English Wikipedia page for Vaishnavism