Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī ( bn, কৃষ্ণদাস কবিরাজ, Kṛṣṇôdas Kôviraj; born 1496; date of death unknown) was the author of the Caitanyacaritāmṛta, a

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

on the life of the mystic and saint Caitanya Mahāprabhu (1486–1533), who is considered by the

Gaudiya Vaishnava Gaudiya Vaishnavism (), also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism, is a Vaishnavism, Vaishnava Hindu denominations, Hindu religious movement inspired by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) in India. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gaura or Gauḍa region o ...

school of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

to be an incarnation of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa combined.

Early life

There is scant information about the life of Krishna Dasa Kaviraja Goswami. Krishna Dasa was born in 1496 CE in the village of Jhamatpur, within the district of Bardhaman,

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

. He claimed his descent from cowherds (Gopas). His father was called Bhagiratha, and his mother was named Sunanda. He also had a younger brother named Shyamananda Dasa. Both his parents died when he was young, thus he and his brother were raised by relatives.

Instructions

Krishna Dasa relates in his Chaitanya Charitamrita that, once his brother argued with a prominent Vaishnava devotee Minaketana Ramadasa over the ontological positions of Chaitanya and

Nityananda Nityānanda (; born circa 1474), also called Nitai, was a primary religious figure within the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Bengal. Nitai was Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's friend and disciple. They are often mentioned together as ''Gaura-Nitai' ...

(Chaitanya's lifelong companion) and belittled the position of Nityananda. Krishna Dasa considered this to be an unpardonable offence and rejected his brother forthwith. After receiving instructions in a vision from Nityananda, Krishna Dasa left Bengal and travelled to Vrindavana where he took initiation from

Raghunatha Dasa Goswami Raghunatha dasa Goswami (1494–1586), Dasa Goswami, was a disciples of the Śrī Yadunandan-ācārya (see Vilāpa Kusumānjali, verse 4, Caitanya-Caritāmṛta Ādi chapter 12 and Antya 6) one of the apostle of the Vaishnava saint, Chaita ...

(1494–1586 CE), one of the direct followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Chaitanya Charitamrita

At an advanced age and in poor health Krishna Dasa commenced work on his magnum-opus the

Chaitanya Charitamrita The ''Chaitanya Charitamrita'' (; bn, চৈতন্যচরিতামৃত, Côitônyôcôritamṛtô), composed by Krishnadasa Kaviraja in 1557, is written in Bengali with a great number of Sanskrit verses in its devotional, poetic cons ...

(c. 1557) after being repeatedly petitioned by the devotees in Vrindavana who had never met Chaitanya and who were eager for details. He vividly describes in the text itself: “I have now become too old and disturbed by invalidity. While writing, my hands tremble. I cannot remember anything, nor can I see or hear properly. Still I write, and this is a great wonder.” In composing his Charitamrita, Krishna Dasa used the diaries of

Murari Gupta Murari Gupta (fl. 16th century) was born in a Baidya family in Sylhet. He was a physician and noted Bengali Vaishnava poet. He became a devotee of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and moved to Nabadwip. In 1513, he composed in Sanskrit the ''Shri Krishna Ch ...

and Swarupa Damodara, both of whom were intimate associates of Chaitanya. Krishna Dasa was given a great deal of information by his guru, Raghunatha Dasa also, who had served Swarupa Damodara when the latter was Chaitanya's personal secretary. Due to its amount of detail on the life of Chaitanya and his precepts, the Chaitanya-charitamrita became the definitive biography of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. According to the Gaura-ganoddesha-dipika of Kavi Karnapura, Krishna Dasa Kaviraja has been identified as being an incarnation of the handmaiden of Krishna called

Kasturi Manjari Kasturi or Kasthuri ( kn, ಕಸ್ತೂರಿ) ( te, కస్తూరి) ( ta, கஸ்தூரி) may refer to: * Deer musk, known as kasturi * Musk, meaning of kasturi in some Indian languages * ''Kasturi'' (TV series), a Hindi soap op ...

Works

He wrote some short prayers in Sanskrit as well as ''

'' and two other major works: * ''

'' — The most definitive biography of

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (; born Vishvambhar Mishra) was a 15th-century Indian saint who is considered to be the combined avatar of Radha and Krishna by his disciples and various scriptures. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mode of worshipping Krishn ...

. * ''Sri Govinda-lilamrita'' — A work explaining the daily pastimes of Krishna and his associates in Vrindavana. * ''Saranga-rangada kangada tika'' — A commentary on the ''Krishna-karnamrita'' of Bilvamangala Thakura.

Bibliography

* Tirtha, Swami B.B., Sri Caitanya and His Associates, 2001
Mandala Publishing
San Francisco, . * Gaudiya Vaisnava Abhidhana (Bengali), Compiled by Haridasa Dasa, Haribol Kutir, Navadvipa, W.Bengal, 1957. * Bhakti-ratnakara (Bengali), Narahari Chakravarti, Pub. By Gaudiya Mission, Kolkata, 1986.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaviraja, Krishnadasa Gaudiya religious leaders People from Mathura Bengali Hindus 16th-century Bengalis Bengali writers Hindu writers 1496 births Year of death unknown People from West Bengal Vaishnava saints 16th-century Indian writers Writers from West Bengal Indian biographers