World Vaisnava Association —
Visva Vaisnava Raj Sabha
AbbreviationWVA–VVRS
Established18 November 1994 (29 years ago) (1994-11-18)[1][2]
Founders28 sannyasis and members of 19 missions[1][2]
Founded atVrindavan, India
TypeReligious organization
Purpose
HeadquartersVrindavan, India[1]
Area served
Worldwide
Official languages
English
President
Srila Bhakti B. Tirtha Maharaj[3]
Main organ
  • Council
  • Managing Committee
  • Council Supervisors
AffiliationsGaudiya Vaishnavism
Websitewva-vvrs.org/index.htm
Part of a series on
Vaishnavism
Closeup of Vishnu, seated in the lotus position on a lotus. From depiction of the poet Jayadeva bowing to Vishnu, Gouache on paper Pahari, The very picture of devotion, bare-bodied, head bowed, legs crossed and hands folded, Jayadeva stands at left, with the implements of worship placed before the lotus-seat of Vishnu who sits there, blessing the poet.
Supreme deity
Vishnu / Krishna / Rama
Important deities
Dashavatara
Other forms
Consorts
Related
Holy scriptures
Puranas
Sampradayas
Others
Teachers—acharyas
Related traditions

The World Vaisnava Association, officially, World Vaisnava Association — Visva Vaisnava Raj Sabha (WVA–VVRS), is an international Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organization, which had been established in 1994 by some Gaudiya leaders for coordination the global mission for glorification the Supreme Lord Krishna.[1][4] The name of organization refers to the Visva Vaisnava Raj Sabha ("Royal World Vaisnava Association") formed in 1885 by Bhaktivinoda Thakur and to Vaishnavism in whole. Howsoever, de facto, the WVA was founded and includes only Gaudiya Vaishnavas, and barely from splinted branches of the revivalist reformist order of the first half of the 20th century, Gaudiya Math.[1][4][5]

Bhakti Pramod Puri Goswami (1898–1999), the first president of the WVA–VVRS, founder-acharya of the Sri Gopinatha Gaudiya Math.

Already in February 1994 the leaders published initial copy of the periodical World Vaisnava Association Newsletter. In November 1994 a founding meeting joined 120 participants.[1] Among the WVA prominent founding members were the 97-year-old Bhakti Pramod Puri Goswami [ru] (who became the WVA first president),[1] Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha (a vice-president), Paramadvaiti Swami [es] (a former secretary)[6] and Tripurari Swami.[7] The Association united most of the named branches. At the same time, such well-known successors of the Gaudiya Math as the Gaudiya Mission and ISKCON are not its members. ISKCON participates only by some figures, such as Bhaktisvarupa Damodar Swami.[8]

The WVA recognizes solely traditional denominations, those perceive extraordinal role of the Gaudiya Math,[9] and are not promoting any particular teachings (as example of rejected novation, the ideas of the ritvik movement).[10]

The main structure of the WVA comprises a Council, a Managing Committee and a Council Supervisors.[2] Since 2002, the president of WVA is the acharya of the Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math, Srila Bhakti B. Tirtha Maharaj.[3] And the main forums are twice a year organizational meetings.[9] Thou, as notes in 2004 the scholar, Jan Brzezinski, there is little real cooperation among these branches, and the World Vaisnava Association has not "met with much success."[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Jones, Constance A.; Ryan, James D. (2007). "World Vaishnavite Association". Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Encyclopedia of World Religions. J. Gordon Melton, Series Editor. New York: Facts On File. pp. 504–505. ISBN 978-0-8160-5458-9. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "World Vaisnava Association (WVA)". Yearbook of International Organizations Online. UIA Union of International Associations. 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Srila Bhakti B. Tirtha Maharaj". wva-vvrs.org. World Vaisnava Association. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Brzezinski, Jan (2004). "Charismatic Renewal and Institutionalization in the History of Gaudiya Vashnavism and the Gaudiya Math". In Bryant, Edwin F.; Ekstrand, Maria L. (eds.). The Hare Krishna Movement: The Postcharismatic Fate of a Religious Transplant. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 90. ISBN 0-231-12256-X.
  5. ^ Jones, Constance A.; Ryan, James D. (2007). "Gaudiya Math". Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Encyclopedia of World Religions. J. Gordon Melton, Series Editor. New York: Facts On File. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-8160-5458-9. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Former Paramadvaiti Swami dismissed as leader of the WVA". VINA Vaishnava Internet News Agency. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  7. ^ Paramadvaiti, Swami B. A. (1999). Our Family — the Gaudiya Math. A study of the expansion of Gaudiya Vaisnavism and the many branches developing around the Gaudiya Math. VRINDA The Vrindavan Institute for Vaisnava Culture and Studies. ISBN 3-927745-90-1. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019.
  8. ^ Paramadvaiti 1999, Part 2.
  9. ^ a b Paramadvaiti 1999, Part 1.
  10. ^ Paramadvaiti 1999, Part 3.

External links

Chaitanya (Gaudiya) Sampradaya
Modern Gaudiya Vaishnavas (1800s to date)
Vishnu-bhakti, Vaishnava theology, and Vaishnava philosophy
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