Institutionalizing prema-bhakti

This chapter analyzes those means of institutionalization that have been most relied upon by Caitanya Vaisnavas for propagating and perpetuating the value orientation of prema-bhakti, which they cherish as the raison detre for their existence as a community, or communion, of devotees. It examines the wide range of non-coercive intermediate organizational institutions devised or adapted by Caitanya Vaisnavas. One of the most basic institutions of any Vaisnava community is the guru–sisya relationship, i.e., that between spiritual master and disciple. Cross-cutting the natural and functional image or category of branches are several conventional or nominal categories by which prominent early devotees were designated by some Caitanya Vaisnava writers. The Caitanya Vaisnava literature is to be read or heard, but not merely that. It is to be read or heard so as to inspire one to strive for truer devotion, to guide one through proper devotional practice, and to fill the reader or hearer with rich symbolic content for meditation and visualization

Political science · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Psychology