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through the intervention of Lord Siva himself.16 From the
time of Sridhara, according to De, "a class of mystic-
emotional Samny膩sins seems to have grown up, who found
nothing inconsistent in their practices of Bhakti with their
belief in Advaita Ved膩nta. # 17 This tradition emerges into
the light of history again in the work of Vi峁ａ箛u Purt
(fourteenth century), the author of the Bhaktiratnavalt,
anthology of verses from the BP through which that text
first became popular in Bengal. Vi峁ａ箛u Purf was a member of
the same order of Samkara monks as Sridhara.
Indeed, in the
closing verses of this work he apologizes for any deviation
he may have made from the teachings of his illustrious
18 predecessor. The influence of this tradition of
devotional Advaita samny膩sins seems to have reached Caitanya
himself in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century, in
this case through I艣vara Purf, who was Caitanya's guru, and
M盲dhavendra Purf, who was the preceptor of I艣vara and
therefore Caitanya's paramaguru. Both of these figures were
members of Sridhara's order. It is possible, therefore,
that Caitanya's respect for Sridhara was based upon the
recognition of a direct spiritual connection between himself
and the great commentator, mediated by a lineage of gurus in
the Advaitic Purt order. 19
For reasons such as these, De and Elkman believe
that Caitanya may have been less hostile to Advaita than his
followers made him out to be. On this, De writes: