Harida ̄sa belongs to the sixteenth century according to modern research. His
hagiography seems generally unreliable. The canon of the Harida ̄sa tradition
contains the poems of its successive heads of the organization till around
1750–60, and two works which are attributed to Harida ̄sa: the Kelima ̄la, a
devotional poem which depicts the love sports of Ra ̄dha ̄ and Kr.s.n.a, and the
As.t.a ̄das ́asiddha ̄nta, a brief didactic poem which warns against worldly life which
is an illusion, emphasizes the value of meditation on God (Kuñjabiha ̄ri) and
absolute devotion to him. The sa ̄dhuBiha ̄rinida ̄sa (probably late sixteenth to early
seventeenth century), a prolific writer, produced the main code of worship of
this tradition. The two main subdivisions of the tradition could have originated
from two disciples of Harida ̄sa: the Gosva ̄mı ̄s, who are in charge of the main
temple of this tradition, claim to have descended from Jaganna ̄tha, a married
Panjabi Brahman, while Sa ̄dhus, renouncers who practice worship in which
singing devotional hymns (sam.kı ̄rtana) is of the utmost importance, trace their
spiritual lineage to Vı ̄t.halavipula. In the early eighteenth century, in response to
the organization of Vais.n.ava groups into four main traditions (catuh.samprada ̄ya)
by Savai Jaisin.gh, the Sa ̄dhu Pı ̄ta ̄mbarada ̄sa defended the thesis that the Harida ̄sa
tradition stemmed from the school of Nimba ̄rka, while the Gosva ̄mı ̄s claimed an
affiliation with Vis.n.usva ̄min’s school. A schism occurred between these two sub-
divisions in the second quarter of the eighteenth century, after which Sa ̄dhus
lived secluded in monasteries, a disposition which continued till the end of the
nineteenth century. Apart from Sa ̄dhus and Gosva ̄mı ̄s, the Harida ̄sa tradition
has a following of lay people who receive varied types of initiation with dif-
ferent mantras from a preceptor of either of the two groups (Haynes 1974;
Rosenstein 1997).
Sanskritizing traditions from the late fifteenth century
The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries which saw the growth of the traditions of
NIA expression also witnessed the rise of two Sanskritizing Vais.n.ava traditions,
those of Vallabha and Caitanya, both closely associated with a devotion to
images perceived as the very form (svaru ̄pa) of Kr.s.n.a and with the mythology of
Kr.s.n.a’s life as described in the Bha ̄gavatapura ̄n.a. These two teachers (who lived
around the same time) or their immediate disciples, identified several places
in the Braj region as Gokula and as sacred sites of Vrindavan which mythol-
ogy associates with Kr.s.n.a’s life. The Vallabha tradition, from the time of
Vit.t.halana ̄tha, glorified the role of Ra ̄dha ̄, Kr.s.n.a’s favorite cowherd girl (gopı ̄),
and Caitanya tradition (and connected traditions) stressed the worship of the
divine couple (yugala) which they formed (Barz 1992: 90–1). This mode of
worship was not new but received a great impetus during the sixteenth century
in traditions of NIA expression (like the Harida ̄sa tradition) as well. This was also
associated with the revival of the Nimba ̄rka tradition (Clémentin-Ojha 1990:
351–75). Both Vallabha’s and Caitanya’s traditions, like that of Madhva, gave
great importance to the Bha ̄gavatapura ̄n.a. They held devotion superior to
history of vais.n.ava traditions 259