Everything about Madhavendra Puri totally explained
Madhavendra Puri (in
IAST) also known as
Madhavendra Puri Goswami is a
Vaishnava saint who appeared in the 14th century.
Biography
Very little is known about early years of Madhavendra Puri, as in majority of sources he's figuring already a mendicant,
sannyasi. After making an extensive pilgrimage of India as a
sannyasi he passed his life in Vrndavana and Orissa. The main source of knowledge about this personality is
Caitanya Caritamrita. What is known that he was a
sannyasi of the
Sankara sampradaya order, however he also belongs to Madhva line being a disciple of Lakshmipati Tirtha and it appears that Madhavendra was the founder of the
Vaishnava centre at Mathura,
Vrindavana. He is considered a fountainhead of devotional worship of Krishna and he's started the worship of the Gopala deity, better known as
Shrinathji. He is attributed to mysterious discovery of the famous deity of Gopala near
Govardhana that was later worshiped by
Vallabhacharya, follower of Vishnuswami in Rudra sampradaya, who in turn was influenced by devotional mood of Vrindavana.
He is also famed for receiving direct instructions and gifts from the deity of
Gopinatha, who commanded him to travel for the supply of scarce sandal wood paste from the Orissa to Malaya Mountains.
Initiating sankirtana movement
Madhavendra Puri is often accepted as initial inspiration or initiator of the movement of
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who accepted Madhavendras intimate disciple,
Isvara Puri as ones
diksa guru. He is believed to be preaching the principles of
Gaudiya Vaishnavism prior to Caitanya.
Service in separation
It is believed that Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s service in feelings of separation
viraha begins with a single verse spoken by Madhavendra Puri, (his grand preceptor)
Lineage
In accordance with
Gaudiya Vaishnava sources his is believed to belong to
Madhvacharya lineage,
parampara, that has been transcribed in the books like
Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika,
Prameya-ratnavali and the writings of Gopala Guru Goswami. There is a version of this line of gurus recorded as a version found in the
Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika which matches other historical records. He had many disciples but
Advaita Acarya and
Isvara Puri are believed to be the chief
disciples of Madhavendra Puri.
Early History of the famous deity of Gopinatha (Ksirachora) isn't given in Gaudiya texts – it's given by Vinod Bijaya Babaji in Gopinatha Caritamrta. However there's large account of his interactions with this Deity in Caitanya caritamrita, the foundational book for the
Gaudiya Vaishnavas.
Memorial
Madhavendra Puri passed away in
Remuna, his memorial
Samadhi and sandals are still worshiped there. It is a place of pilgrimage for many
Vaishnava groups.
More information
References and Notes
Further Information
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