Vaishnava-Sahajiya

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Vaishnava-Sahajiya is a form of tantric Vaishnavism that originated in Bengal from the 16th century. Vaishnava-Sahajiya is generally considered as a 'left-handed path' (Sanskrit: vāmācāra) and 'heterodox' (Sanskrit: nāstika) to vedic injunction, though followers claim that this is only a cosmetic understanding. The Vaishnava-Sahajiya sought religious experience through the five senses which included human coupling and sexual love. Sahaja (Sanskrit: “easy” or “natural”) as a system of worship was prevalent in the Tantric traditions common to both Hinduism and Buddhism in Bengal as early as the 8th–9th centuries. "Sahaja" was evident in the teachings and poetry of Mahasiddha Saraha (c.8th century CE, Bengal, Nalanda).

The tradition, used the romance between Krishna and Radha as a metaphor for union with God, and sought to experience that union through its physical reenactment. It teaches that the ideal way to understand the union of humanity is to transcend the profane aspects of sexual intercourse and experience it as a divine act.

The Vaisnava-Sahajiya coterie is a synthesis and complex of these various traditions. The Vaisnava-Sahajiyas due to their sexual tantric practices were perceived with marked disdain by other religious communities and operated in secrecy. In their literature they deliberately employed an encrypted and enigmatic style of substitutions and correspondences that has come to be known the Twilight Language (Sanskrit: saṃdhyā-bhāṣā), iconic of all permutations of Tantra. Because of the necessity of privacy and secrecy, little is definitively known about their prevalence or practices.^[1]

The cult was centered in Bengal. It began in full in the 16th century, although similar predecessors were in existence as early as the 8th century in the same city. The founder is generally thought to be Baru Chandidas, who lived in the 14th century. In order to avoid unwanted attention, the group spoke of its activities in a coded language.

Members of this lineage enacted the 'group in a round' Ganachakra (Sanskrit) or circle dance known commonly now as the Rasa-lila of Krishna as a mystery religion rite, wherein the participants, entered into the mystery of the divine rite, a rite of communion, trance possession and nondifference with deity.