Chakradhara (also known as Sarvadnya Shri Chakradhar Swami or Kunwar Haripaladeva was an Indian Hindu saint and philosopher, who was the founder of Mahanubhava sect of

Krishnaism Krishnaism is a term used in scholarly circles to describe large group of independent Hinduism, Hindu traditions—sampradayas related to Vaishnavism—that center on the devotion to Krishna as ''Svayam Bhagavan'', ''Ishvara'', ''Para Brahman'' ...

. Shri Chakradhara advocated worship of the god

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

and preached a distinct philosophy based on

Bhakti ''Bhakti'' (; Pali: ''bhatti'') is a term common in Indian religions which means attachment, fondness for, devotion to, trust, homage, worship, piety, faith, or love.See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. In Indian religions, it ...

. He was an exponent of the

Dvaita Dvaita Vedanta (); (originally known as Tattvavada; IAST: ''Tattvavāda''), is a sub-school in the Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; , ), also known as ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six orthodox (Āstika and nāstika, ''āstika'') trad ...

philosophy within

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

. Shri Chakradhara did not recognize caste distinctions, and distinguished only between the householder and recluses. Some sources claim that Chakrapani Prabhu and Govinda Prabhu as the originators of Mahanubhava doctrine and Chakradhara as the first apostle who systematized Mahanubhava as a school of Bhakti philosophy.R. C. Dhere, Chakrapani, Vishwakarma Sahityalay, 1977, pp. 211-213 Shri Chakradhara is considered as an

avatar Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...

of Krishna by his disciples. his incarnation day is observed on the Tithi of Bhadrapada Shukla Dwitiya.

Life

Shri Chakradhara was born into a Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin. . Shri Chakradhara moved among all sections of society. He discoursed his philosophy effectively among the people in their own language. The ''Lilacharitra'' confirms that he also spoke fluent

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

along with Gujarati and Marathi. He used formulaic language full of meaning in a compact style. He insisted that his disciples should write only in Marathi. Thus the teachings of Shri Chakradhara and Mahanubhava Sampradaya are found in Marathi literature.

Philosophy

Shri Chakradhara's philosophy focused on asceticism and renunciation. His fourfold teachings were: non-violence (''

ahimsa (, IAST: , ) is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to actions towards all living beings. It is a key virtue in Indian religions like Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. (also spelled Ahinsa) is one of the cardinal vi ...

''), celibacy (''

brahmacharya ''Brahmacharya'' (; Sanskrit: Devanagari: ब्रह्मचर्य) is the concept within Indian religions that literally means "conduct consistent with Brahman" or "on the path of Brahman". Brahmacharya, a discipline of controlling ...

''), asceticism (''

sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (), sometimes spelled ''sanyasa'', is the fourth stage within the Hinduism, Hindu system of four life stages known as ''ashrama (stage), ashramas'', the first three being ''brahmacharya'' (celibate student), ''Gṛhastha, grihast ...

'') and devotion (''

bhakti ''Bhakti'' (; Pali: ''bhatti'') is a term common in Indian religions which means attachment, fondness for, devotion to, trust, homage, worship, piety, faith, or love.See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. In Indian religions, it ...

''). He prescribed different aspects of God to be worshipped: name, form, activity, deeds, place, vachanas ( Shruti), memories ( Smriti) and the blessing of God's incarnation. He considered five forms of God as Supreme called "Pancha Krishna": Dattatreya,

, Chakrapani, Govinda Prabhu and Chakradhara himself. As per Shri Chakradhara, one can practice bhakti by memorizing deeds of God. The aspirant for salvation must sacrifice his country, village and his relations and offer his life to God. He also taught his disciple when, where, how, how much alms they should be beg for. The central theme of his teaching was, "Feel the soul and not the body". Living the life of mendicant and practicing asceticism severely, the devotee should live according to principle, "God is mine and I am God’s". The core of his code of behaviour is summed up in the following line for the benefit of his followers: "Even if the head is cut off, the body should worship God". Besides teaching strict

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

, the Mahanubhav forbids the use of

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

and teaches non-violence. It teaches that

is the Supreme God; other deities are his powers. As per scriptures of Mahanubhav that Nirvana (

Moksha ''Moksha'' (; , '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'', and ''mukti'', is a term in Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, liberation, '' nirvana'', or release. In its soteriological and eschatologic ...

) can only be achieved by knowing and worshiping Krishna as the lone ultimate and thus one must give up on worshiping and getting involved unconsciously in the other powers of ultimate, It can be relatively explained as one should not be satisfied in loving the creation but love the creator.

References

{{Reflist Medieval Hindu religious leaders Gujarati people Hindu ascetics 13th-century Indian philosophers Scholars from Gujarat Indian Hindu spiritual teachers Anti-caste activists Hindu revivalists Marathi-language writers Indian social reformers People from Bharuch district People considered avatars by their followers Bhakti movement