An off-list reply made me realize I wasn't as clear in formulating
my question as I should have been: I am primarily interested in the
epithet mahāprabhu used
as a title for historical persons (rulers and/or holy men), or
possibly local/regional deities (such as Jagannātha). The late
medieval to early modern period would be particularly relevant.
Best wishes,
Martin
Den 2019-04-13 kl. 19:54, skrev Martin
Gansten:
I am not
sure if there is a good answer to this question, but I would be
interested to hear what people think: what with Caitanya
Mahāprabhu of Bengal, Jagannātha Mahāprabhu (the deity) of Orissa,
and, in more recent times, Swargadwari Mahaprabhu of Nepal (of
whom I confess I had never heard before a web search turned him
up), I wonder if mahāprabhu is a title most prominently found in
the (north)-eastern parts of South Asia, at least before the 20th
century? I know there is a 16th-century Harivaṃśa Mahāprabhu from
the Mathura area, founder of the Rādhāvallabha-sampradāya, but I
suspect the use of the epithet in his case may have been modelled
on that of Caitanya.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts,
Martin Gansten