Vaishnavism

 

Vaishnavism is the branch of Hinduism in which Lord Vishnu or one of his incarnations is worshipped as the supreme God. Members of Vaishnavism are called Vaishnavites or Vaishnavas. Vaishnavism is the largest Hindu denomination and it has numerous subdivisions. In addition to the Vedas, Vaishnavites especially revere the Bhagavad Gita, the Bhagavata Purana, the Vishnu Samhita and the Gita Govinda. These texts focus especially on Lord Vishnu or his incarnations Lord Krishna and Lord Rama.

Vaishnavism is predominantly monotheistic in its philosophy, but not exclusive. Vaishnavism is also viewed as a part of Bhakti Movement. The faction's beliefs and practices, particularly the concepts of Bhakti and Bhakti Yoga, are based principally on Upanishads and associated with the Vedas and Puranic texts like the Bhagavad Gita, the Padma, Vishnu and Bhagavata Puranas. Vaishnavism denounces caste system and the notion that intermediaries like Brahmins was needed to reach out to God.

Origin of Vaishnavism
The origin of Vaishnavism sect lies not in the Vedic Age, but in the pre-Vedic, non-Aryan Bhakti, devotional cult. As Vedism declined, this cult sprang forth strongly and was pivoted around Vasudeva. Vaishnavism faction was based on spiritual wisdom delivered by the Gods themselves. Lord Vishnu had delivered knowledge about the creation to Brahma. Brahma, in turn, passed this knowledge to Narada, his son. Narada imparted the wisdom to his disciples, including Vyasadeva. The latter is known to have resided in Badrinath, located amidst the sublime clime of Himalayas. In an attempt to save the spiritual wisdom from destruction in Kaliyug, Vyasadeva put it in a written form for the very first time. Till date the script of Vaishnava cult is transmitted from teachers to their disciples.

History of Vaishnavism
History of Vaishnavism depicts that Lord Vishnu had reincarnated himself as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to fight the Kaliyug. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, in turn, had demonstrated the path of love, simple faith and devotion to reach out to God. Vaishnavism propagated that there is only one thing to which God responds and that is true devotion. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the reincarnation of Lord Krishna, was instrumental in helping the then contemporary society to break away from the shackles of rigid religious customs. The major characteristic of Vaishnavism, ‘Bhakti’ supports the devotee to escape from the ultimate cycle of death and birth. Besides Chaitanya, there also lies proof of various other committed Vaishnava religious leaders, who had become incidental to spread Vaishnavism. Some of these luminous sages include Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, Manavala Mamunigal, Vedanta Desika, Surdas, Meera Bai, Tulsidas, Jnanadeva, Anandamayi Ma and Tukaram.

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Krishna Temples in India

Krishna Temples in India are a tribute to the commonly worshipped Lord Krishna, symbol of supreme power and love.

Krishna temples in India are scattered throughout the country. Lord Krishna is integrally associated with love, friendship, benevolence and mischief.

Hence whether, it is north, south, west or east India, this deity is worshipped by all. While some devotees are fond of the 'bal gopal' (Krishna in his childhood), others are in awe of Krishna who delivered the messages inscribed in Bhagawad Gita to Arjuna.

Krishna is hailed as the eighth avatar of Lord Vishnu. Lord Krishna gave the highest form of teaching on the battlegrounds of Kurukshetra to its disciple Arjuna and this teaching later came to be known as the Bhagwad Gita which is recited by some people on a daily basis and also on auspicious occasions.

Krishna Janmashtami, the day on which the Lord Krishna was born, is regarded as one of the most auspicious occasions and it is celebrated all over India with much enthusiasm.

A majority of the Indian classical music collection in almost all the languages have their subject as the celebration of the childhood of Lord Krishna. 
Several Krishna Temples is India are found where the Lord is worshipped a large number of devotees. Some of the temples are Iskcon Temples in Delhi, West Bengal,Vrindavan Bengaluru and Tirupati, Dwarkadhish Temple in Dwarka, Guruvayoor Temple, Vrindavan Temples, Mathura Temples, Ashvakranta Temple in Guwahati, etc.

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Draupadi

Draupadi was the daughter of King Drupada in the epic Mahabharata. She was also known as Panchali, as Drupada was the ruler of the kingdom of Panchala.

Drupada had prayed for a son, but Draupadi emerged as well. Draupadi grew to be a young woman she was considered very beautiful, mainly for her glowing dark skin, large dark eyes and graceful figure. Due to her dark skin, she was also called by the name 'Krishna'. She seemed to have been blessed with powers from Goddess Kali for the purpose of destruction of Kauravas of Mahabharata.


Draupadi's devotion to Lord Krishna
Draupadi is regarded as Shakti (Goddess Kali) incarnate who was the sister of Vishnu. This makes Lord Krishna (an avtaar of Lord Vishnu) Draupadi's brother.

The incident wherein, Krishna cut his finger through his Sudarshan Chakra and Draupadi bound it with her sari was the origin of 'Rakhi' concept


Draupadi's Marriage to Pandavas
The contest was that there would be a target. The target was a bird which is placed on a revolving disc. It should be struck by an arrow only by looking at its reflection in the water below. A huge bow was kept for that purpose. Most kings failed to even string the bow. Only Arjuna was successful in hitting the target and won Draupadi's hand in marriage.


During the period of exile Kunti had taught the Pandavas to share everything among them. When Arjuna came to Kunti and said that he has won a prize, Kunti without giving it a look told Arjuna to share him among all the brothers. Thus respecting his mother's words, all the brothers accepted Draupadi as their wife.

Cheer-Haran of Draupadi
Draupadi's Cheer-Haran was one of the central reasons for the Kurukshetra battle. The term literally means stripping one from their clothes.
At a time of Cheer Haran of Draupadi.  Draupadi pleaded to everyone present in the courtroom to save her modesty. But no one came forward to help her. Frantically she called out Krishna's name who worked a miracle so that as Dushasana unwraps layers and layers of her sari, her sari keeps getting extended. Tired, Dushasana gave up the idea of stripping Draupadi.

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