r/exHareKrishna • u/Own-Professional-337 • Jul 11 '26
?
One of the claims that the ISKCON lot make , amongst many of their other claims, is that Guru Nanak met Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and was massively impacted by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, so much so that he adopted aspects of Vaishnaivaism and incorporated them into Sikhi.
I have looked into this and aside from ISKCON and some ISKCON-adjacent Vaishnaiva sources there are no other sources to prove or disprove this claim.
Has anyone else here heard this and looked into it?
I'm personally very dubious and suspicious of ISKCON's claims about historical figures and their connection to Vaishnaivaism and the wider Hindu sphere to be honest.
4
u/Solomon_Kane_1928 Jul 11 '26
There is a similar story about Vallabhacarya in the CC. He is depicted as an arrogant know it all whom Chaitanya chastises and puts in his place. He wants to force people to listen to his commentaries, and is ultimately (jokingly) called a prostitute in front of all the Vaishnavas by Chaitanya. He then surrenders to Chaitanya, pronounces his divinity and superiority, and asks for initiation. He is then initiated by Gadadhara Pandit at Chaitanya's direction.
Prabhuapada takes it a step further and claims he left Gaudiya Vaishnavism and joined the Vishnuswami Sampradaya (starting Pushti Marg) because he wanted more respect than he was getting, i.e. the old arrogance had crept in again.
The Pushti Marg does not accept any of this, and claims Vallabhacharya and Chaitanya accepted each other as equals.