BHAGAVATA

(Sanskrit: One Devoted to Bhagavat ), member of the earliest Hindu sect of which there is any record, representing the beginnings of theistic, devotional worship and of modern Vaisnavism (worship of the Lord Vishnu); the term is commonly used today to refer to a Vaisnava, or devotee of Vishnu. The Bhagavata sect originated among the Yadava people of the Mathura area in the centuries preceding the beginning of the Christian era. From there it spread as the tribes migrated to western India and the northern Deccan. It was introduced into South India at an early date. The sect continued to be prominent within Vaisnavism until at least the 11th century, when bhakti (devotional worship) was revitalized by the great theologian Ramanuja. The Bhagavata system was a highly devotional faith centred upon a personal god, variously called Vishnu, Vasudeva, Krishna, Hari, or Narayana. The school was known as ekantika-dharma (religion with one object, i.e., monotheism). The religious poem the Bhagavadgita (1st2nd century AD) is the earliest and finest exposition of the Bhagavata system. By the time of the Gita Vasudeva (Krishna), the hero of the Yadava clan was identified with the Vedic Lord Vishnu. Later, the deified sage Narayana, whose followers were originally called Pacaratras, was assimilated, and, still later, the pastoral and amorous Krishna was added to the multiplicity of traditions. The Bhagavatas believed in simple rites of worship and condemned Vedic sacrifices and penances. The sect may have been largely responsible for the spread of image worship among orthodox, upper-class Hindus. Few early Vaisnava images are still extant, but those that have survived are mainly from the Mathura area, perhaps the earliest being the image of Balarama, the half brother of Krishna, which is attributed to the 2nd1st century BC.