Bhagavata ("devotees of the Blessed One") is a Sanskrit word that means "devotees of the Blessed One."
- Vishnu's first followers (bhakta) were known as Krishna-Gopala, a deified cowherd hero who eventually became associated with Vishnu.
- Until the emergence of sectarian Vaishnavism in the eleventh century C.E., the name bhagavata was a blanket term for all Vaishnavas, with the exception of the Pancharatrikas, who followed the secret Pancharatra ceremonial practice.
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