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Concept
Gaudiya Vaishnavism
Summary
Gaudiya Vaishnavism (), also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism, is a Vaishnava Hindu religious movement inspired by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) in India. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gaura or Gauḍa region of Bengal (present-day Malda district of West Bengal and Rajshahi district of Bangladesh), with Vaishnavism meaning "the worship of Vishnu". Specifically, it is part of Krishnaism—Krishna-centric Vaishnavite traditions.
Its theological basis is primarily that of the Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavata Purana (known within the tradition as the Srimad Bhagavatam), as interpreted by early followers of Chaitanya, such as Sanatana Goswami, Rupa Goswami, Jiva Goswami, Gopala Bhatta Goswami and others.
The focus of Gaudiya Vaishnavism is the devotional worship (known as bhakti yoga) of Radha and Krishna, and their many divine incarnations as the supreme forms of God, Svayam Bhagavan. Most popularly, this worship takes the form of singing Radha and Krishna's holy names, such as "Hare", "Krishna" and "Rama", most commonly in the form of the Hare Krishna (mantra), also known as kirtan and dancing along with it.
Gaudiya Vaishnavism is the spiritual and philosophical foundation of the well-known International Society for Krishna Consciousness, "Hare Krishna Movement".
According to Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy, consciousness is not a product of matter, but is instead a symptom of the soul. All living beings (jivas), including animals and trees, have a soul. That soul is distinct from their current physical body – the nature of the soul being eternal, immutable, and indestructible without any particular birth or death. The soul does not die when the body dies, but it is transmigrated into another new body and takes new birth in a new body. Souls which are captivated by the illusory nature of the world (Maya) are repeatedly reborn among the various 8.4 million number of species of life on this planet and in other worlds in accordance to the laws of karma and individual desire. This is consistent with the concept of samsara found in Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist beliefs.
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