The Religious System of the Mahanubhava Sect

The Mahanubhava sect is a Krishnaite sect within the Vaishnava tradition, founded by Shri Chakradhar Swami. The present book is a revised doctoral dissertation conducted on the sect.

The founder of this sect was born in Bharuch in 1194 in the Solanki kingdom of Gujarat. He became an ascetic in the Vidarbha region, and the sect became popular in Maharashtra. The title touches upon the literary composition of the Mahanubhava sect, known as Sutrapatha, which is dedicated to Chakradhara Swami. The Sutrapatha consists of 1172 sutras, and is divided into thirteen sections. However, the unique feature is that it was written in Classical Marathi, not in the usual Sanskrit language.

The book discusses the theological aspects, soteriology, cosmological understanding, and the rituals and rites followed by the Mahanubhava sect.

The book also covers Sutrapatha's textual tradition, which includes textual variants, translation from Classical Marathi into English, and manuscript tradition, which involves the comparative study with other manuscripts of Sutrapatha found in various repositories.