The Interweaving of Cosmology, Soteriology and Compassion in the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Tradition

The sixteenth century Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition, inspired by Caitanya, envisions that supreme Godhead Kṛṣṇa has three aspects through which he simultaneously encompasses, oversees, and permeates the universe. Although Kṛṣṇa eternally resides in his transcendental realm Goloka-Vṛndāvana alongside associate devotees (bhaktas), Kṛṣṇa also animates the natural world and resides in the heart of every embodied being. This paper analyzes Gauḍīya philosopher Jīva Gosvāmin’s Bhakti Sandarbha in order to argue that the cosmological pervasiveness of Kṛṣṇa's divine presence is theorized as the foundation of all compassion in the Gauḍīya tradition. Jīva contends that as a bhakta progressively develops devotional love for Kṛṣṇa, so the expansive love for all other beings also spontaneously develops. I argue that the highest bhakti stages of soteriological realization according to the Gauḍīya tradition also align with the ethic of compassion such that every realized bhakta instinctively treats all beings like a dear son or friend.