Bhagavata

(“devotees of the Blessed One”) General
name for the earliest devotees (bhakta)
of Vishnu, particularly the devotees of
Krishna-Gopala, a deified cowherd hero
who later became identified with
Vishnu. Until the development of
sectarian Vaishnavism in around
the eleventh century C.E., the word
bhagavata was a blanket term for all
Vaishnavas except the Pancharatrikas,
who were followers of the secret ritual
tradition known as Pancharatra.