claim seems highly suspect, in part
because the guardian deitiesof the two
sects are different; Chaitanya and his
followers worshipthe gods Krishnaand
Radha, whereas Madhva and his follow-
ers worship Lakshmi-Narayan. There
are also differences in their observances.
Although the Madhva ascetics have a
long history in southern India, they have
virtually no presence in the north, where
the Chaitanyite ascetics are well repre-
sented. Ghurye speculates that this
claim is based on the desire of the
Gaudiya Vaishnavas to establish ties to
an ancient lineage; this would give them
an unassailable identity and thus a place
in the bathing (snana) procession at
religious festival Kumbha Mela. See
G. S. Ghurye, Indian Sadhus, 1964.
Brahmasutra Bhashya
A commentary (bhashya) written by the
philosopher Shankaracharya on
Badarayana’s Brahma Sutras, a collec-
tion of 555 brief aphorisms (sutras) that
form the basis for the philosophical
school known as Vedanta. This com-
mentary is the defining text for the
Advaita Vedantaschool of Indian phi-
losophy. Shankaracharya begins his
investigation by establishing the Self as
the basis of all knowledge, since the one
thing that can never be doubted is the
reality of the one who knows. He identi-
fies this knowing consciousness as the
eternal Self, or atman, which never
changes over time despite the vicissi-
tudes of the physical bodies it inhabits.
According to Shankaracharya, the per-
ceivable world is clearly subject to
change and thus is not the Absolute
Reality, which the philosopher identi-
fies as the unqualified, unchanging
Brahman. Following the Upanishads,
Shankaracharya identifies atman as
identical to Brahman. He states that for
human beings the reason for both
unhappiness and the bondage of the
soul is the ignorance of this relationship,
which causes one to mistake this per-
ceivable reality for the Ultimate Reality.
With the destruction of this mistaken
understanding, all bonds are broken,
and the person attains final liberation.Brahma Sutras
Variant name for Badarayana’s Vedanta
Sutras, which date from the third to the
fifth century B.C.E. This collection of 555
brief aphorisms (sutras) is the basis for
the philosophical school known as
Vedanta, so named because it claims to
reveal the ultimate meaning of the reli-
gious scriptures known as the Vedas.
They are given the name Brahma Sutras
because they attempt to summarize and
systematize the philosophic and reli-
gious ideas in the speculative texts
known as the Upanishads, particularly
the ideas about the Ultimate Reality
known as Brahman. The sutras are so
brief that they presuppose commentary,
of which the most famous is the
Brahmasutra Bhashya, written by the
philosopher Shankaracharya.Brahmayajna
(“sacrificeto Brahman”) One of the five
great sacrifices (panchamahayajna)
prescribed in the texts on religious duty
(Dharma Shastras). These five great
sacrifices are prescribed daily religious
observances for a “twice-born” house-
holder, that is, a householder who has
been born into one of three groups in
Indian society—brahmin, kshatriya, or
vaishya. Such men are eligible for the
adolescent religious initiationknown as
the “second birth.” Each of the five sacri-
fices (yajna) is directed toward a differ-
ent class of beings, from the Ultimate
Reality down to animals, and is satisfied
by different actions. The brahmayajna is
directed toward the Ultimate Reality
(Brahman) and is satisfied by teaching
and studying the Vedas, the oldest
Hindu religious texts. In the time since
the Dharma Shastras were composed,
Hindu life has undergone significant
change, but many brahmins still study
the Veda—if not daily, at some point in
their youth.Brahmasutra Bhashya