Reading

Although a relatively short work, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s Prameyaratnāvalī (“A Pearl Necklace of Propositions”) occupies a place of historical significance in Caitanya Vaiṣṇava philosophy. As discussed by Okita in the preceding essay, the text was likely a product of the same historical circumstances that led to Baladeva’s commentary on the Brahmasūtra in the eighteenth century. The challenges faced by Caitanya Vaiṣṇavas in their new Rajasthani home led to important changes in how they viewed and asserted their religious identity. The Kachvāhā ruler, Mahārājā Jaisingh II, although deeply supportive of the Caitanya tradition and its sacred images, insisted that the new arrivals demonstrate their affiliation with older Vaiṣṇava lineages, both by providing lists of disciplic succession and by showing theological continuity, especially in terms of Vedānta commentary. This led Caitanya Vaiṣṇavas to assert an affiliation with the Mādhva sampradāya. Although this claim was likely not new, ¹²² it had not been a matter of much significance to early Caitanya Vaiṣṇavas, who were content to trace their lineage to Śrī Caitanya, whom they regarded as Kṛṣṇa himself.