Chakradhara ( mr, चक्रधर), also known as Sarvadnya Shri Chakradhar Swami or Kunwar Haripaladeva was an Indian saint and philosopher, who is considered as an

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

of Krishna by his disciples and one of the most important exponents of the

Dvaita Dvaita Vedanta (); (originally known as Tattvavada; IAST:Tattvavāda), is a sub-school in the Vedanta tradition of Hindu philosophy. The term Tattvavada literally means "arguments from a realist viewpoint". The Tattvavada (Dvaita) Vedanta su ...

tradition within

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

. He is the founder of Mahanubhava Sampradaya of

Krishnaism Krishnaism (IAST: ''Kṛṣṇaism'') is a large group of independent Hinduism, Hindu traditions—sampradayas related to Vaishnavism—that center on the devotion to Krishna as ''Svayam Bhagavan'', ''Ishvara'', ''Para Brahman'', the source of ...

. Shri Chakradhar Swami advocated worship of

Lord Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one of ...

and preached a distinct philosophy based on

Bhakti ''Bhakti'' ( sa, भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, purity".See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. It was originally used in Hinduism, referring to d ...

. He did not recognize caste distinctions, and like

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

had only two others viz 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 Chakradhara's birth anniversary is observed on the

Tithi In Vedic timekeeping, a ''tithi'' is a uration of two faces of moon that is observed from earth known as ''milа̄lyа̄'' (𑐩𑐶𑐮𑐵𑐮𑑂𑐫𑐵𑑅, मिलाल्याः) in Nepal Bhasa, or the time it takes for the longit ...

of Bhadrapada Shukla Dwitiya.

Life

Shri Chakradhara was born into a

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

Samavedi

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

family in

Bharuch Bharuch (), formerly known as Broach, is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District. The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since tim ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. He is referred as the son of a royal minister of Gujarat according to his biography Lilacharitra. He took

Sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' As ...

at a young age and left his home for pilgrimage of

Ramtek Ramtek is a city and municipal council in Nagpur district of Maharashtra, India. History Ramtek hosts the historic temple of Rama. It is believed that Ramtek was the place where Rama, the Hindu god, rested while he was in exile. According to H ...

. During his journey, he received initiation from his

guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...

Shri Govinda Prabhu at Ridhapur, which is in modern-day Amravati district. Then for twelve years he stayed in forests of

Vindhya The Vindhya Range (also known as Vindhyachal) () is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India. Technically, the Vindhyas do not form a single mountain range in the ...

mountain as an ascetic. After attaining the awakening, he started preaching a new philosophy, i.e. ''Mahanubhava tattvajnana'' to the common people.V. B. Kolte, Shrichakradhara Charitra (श्रीचक्रधर चरित्र), Arun Prakashan, Malkapur, 1952, pp. 1-11. Although his native language was

, he had excellent command over

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

. He moved among all sections of society. He discoursed his philosophy extremely effectively among the people in their own language. The Lilacharitra confirms that he also spoke fluent

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

along with Gujarati and Marathi. Chakradhara used formulaic language full of meaning in a compact style. He insisted that his disciples should write only in Marathi and therefore, Marathi

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

became rich with the teachings of Shri Chakradhar Swami and Mahanubhava Sampradaya.

Philosophy

One of the most important aspects of the philosophy propounded by Shri Chakradhara are asceticism and renunciation. His fourfold teachings are: non-violence, celibacy, asceticism and bhakti. And the different aspects of Gods incarnations to be worshipped are: name, form, activity, deeds, place, vachanas ( Shruti), memories (

Smriti ''Smriti'' ( sa, स्मृति, IAST: '), literally "that which is remembered" are a body of Hindu texts usually attributed to an author, traditionally written down, in contrast to Śrutis (the Vedic literature) considered authorless, that ...

) and the blessing of God incarnate. He considered five divine incarnations of god as supreme entity, which are known as 'Pancha Krishna', namely: Shri Dattatreya, Bhagavan Shri Krishna, Shri Chakrapani, Shri Govinda Prabhu and Shri Chakradhara himself. One can practice bhakti by memorizing deeds of the Almighty. The aspirant for salvation must sacrifice his country, village and his relations and offer his life to God. Chakradhar Swami also taught the disciple of the sect 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 consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may ...

, the Mahanubhava Sampradaya forbids the use of

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

and teaches non-violence. The religion survives to the present. It teaches that

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

is the only ultimate of Gods and all the other gods are just powers of him. It is understood from various scriptures of Mahanubhava Sampradaya that Nirvana (

Moksha ''Moksha'' (; sa, मोक्ष, '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'' and ''mukti'', is a term in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, enlightenment, liberation, and release. In its soteriology, ...

) 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, refs= {{citation , author = Arunchandra S. Pathak , title = Sthanapothi : Ek Puratattviya Abhyas (स्थानपोथी : एक पुरातत्त्वीय अभ्यास) , page = 76-84 , date = July 4, 2014 Mahanubhava sect Medieval Hindu religious leaders Vaishnavite religious leaders Vaishnava saints Devotees of Krishna Dvaitin philosophers Gujarati people Hindu ascetics Hindu philosophers and theologians 13th-century Indian philosophers Indian Hindu monks Scholars from Gujarat Indian Hindu spiritual teachers Anti-caste activists Hindu revivalists Indian Vaishnavites Marathi-language writers Indian social reformers People from Bharuch district‎ People considered avatars by their followers Bhakti movement