Sri Caitanya and the Madhva Sampradaya

Abstract

The article "Sri Caitanya and the Sampradaya of Madhvacarya" by O. B. L. Kapoor investigates the debated question of Sri Caitanya's affiliation with a formal religious lineage (sampradaya), specifically his association with Madhvacarya’s Brahma Sampradaya. While traditional narratives and historical evidence support a formal connection through Caitanya’s guru, Isvara Puri, the article underscores major doctrinal divergences—most notably Caitanya’s theology of Acintya Bhedabheda (inconceivable identity-in-difference) versus Madhva’s strict Dvaita (dualism), and differences in their conceptions of devotion, liberation, and the supreme object of worship. Kapoor critically examines textual inconsistencies and disputes over initiation records but ultimately maintains that, in the absence of evidence for affiliation with any other Vaishnava tradition, Caitanya’s formal link to the Madhva Sampradaya must be accepted. The article concludes by characterizing the relationship between the two traditions as one of “identity-in-difference,” reflecting shared lineage but divergent theology.