Brahma Sampradaya

The Brahma Sampradaya (Brahma-sampradāya) refers to the disciplic succession (sampradaya) of gurus starting with Brahma in Hinduism.^[1] The term is most often used to refer to the beliefs and teachings of Madhvacharya^[2] and his Dvaita philosophy.

The term Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya Vaisnava Sampradaya is used by ISKCON ("Hare Krishna's") to refer to the teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his Gaudiya theology..^[3]

Sampradaya

Followers of this tradition believe that Vedic knowledge descends from Brahma. In the Vedic conception, these sampradayas began at the creation of the universe and endure to the present moment in the person of the student's own guru. Due to the consistency of the transmission of knowledge, all the previous gurus are present in the teachings of the present spiritual master. The Vedic process assures that the transmission remains pure by assuring the qualifications of the transmitter.^[4]

ISKCON links its own Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition to the Brahma sampradaya, calling itBrahma-Madhva-Gaudiya Vaisnava Sampradaya.

List of the Sampradaya members, acharyas, beginning with Krishna Himself:

1. Krishna
2. Brahma
3. Narada Muni
4. Vyasadeva
5. Madhvacarya
6. Padmanabha Tirtha
7. Nrhari Tirtha
8. Madhava Tirtha
9. Aksobhya Tirtha
10. Jaya Tirtha
11. Jnanasindhu Tirtha
12. Dayanidhi Tirtha
13. Vidyanidhi Tirtha
14. Rajendra Tirtha
15. Jayadharma Tirtha
16. Purusottama Tirtha
17. Brahmanya Tirtha
18. Vyasa Tirtha
19. Laksmipati Tirtha
20. Madhavendra Puri
21. a) Isvara Puri, b) Nityananda Prabhu, c) Advaita Acharya

Gaudiya Vaishnavism continues:

1. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
2. a) Rupa Goswami, b) Sanatana Goswami, c) Svarupa Damodara Goswami
3. a) Raghunatha dasa Goswami, b) Jiva Goswami
4. Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami
5. Narottama dasa Thakura
6. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura
7. a) Baladeva Vidyabhusana, b) Jagannatha dasa Babaji
8. Bhaktivinoda Thakura
9. Gaurakisora dasa Babaji
10. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura
11. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Founder-Acharya of ISKCON)

See also

• Brahma Samhita

References

1. Hinduism and Buddhism: An Historical Sketch - Page 239 Charles Eliot, 1998
2. The Sadhus and Indian Civilisation - Page 57 Vijay Prakash Sharma - Sadhus - 1998 - 209 pages
3. Female Ascetics in Hinduism Lynn Teskey Denton, 2004 - 224 pages
4. Goswami, S.D. (1976), Readings in Vedit Literature: The Tradition Speaks for Itself, [S.l.]: Assoc Publishing Group, pp. 240 pages, ISBN 0912776889 Check date values in: |year= / |date= mismatch (help)