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Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu

By Stephen Knapp

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu [pronounced Chaitanya] (February 27,1486 to 1534 A.D.) was born in Navadvipa, Bengal, on a full moon night during a lunar eclipse. It is typical for people to bathe in the Ganges during an eclipse and chant the Lord’s holy names for spiritual purification. So, everyone in the area was chanting the holy names when He was born. His parents, Jagannatha Misra and Sachidevi, gave Him the name of Vishvambhara, meaning the support of the un

Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami

Born in a dynasty of Vaisnavas, Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami was the only son of a wealthy landowner. As a boy, he received Haridasa Thakura's association and blessings. At fifteen he met Lord Caitanya. By the mercy of Lord Nityananda he renounced a beautiful wife and an opulent family. He ran to Jagannatha Puri to intimately serve Sri Gaura Raya and his siksa guru Svarupa Damodara Gosvami for sixteen years. Lord Gauranga gave His personal Govardhana sila and gunja mala to Ragh

Gopal Bhatta Goswami

Shri Gopal Bhatta Goswami was the son of Vyenkatta Bhatta, a brahmana resident of Shri Rangam, who was initiated in the Shri Sampradaya. The city of Shri Rangam is located on the Kaveri river in the district of Tanjor about ten miles west of Kumbhakonam. Regarding this temple. Shri Bhaktivedanta Swami remarks as follows. "The Shri Rangam temple is the largest in India, and there are seven walls surrounding it. There are also seven roads leading to Shri Rangam. The ancient nam

Sanatana Goswami (Longer Biography Part - 2)

Sanatana Goswami and Madana Mohan

The Bhakti-Ratnakara describes how Sanatana began the worship of his Madana-Mohan deity. Among Mahaprabhu's orders to Sanatana was his instruction to establish the worship of the Deity of Krishna. The Bhakti Ratnakara how Shri Sanantana Goswami, when he was staying in Vrindavan, began the worship of Shri Madana-Mohan, also known as Madana Mohana. In Mahavana, nearby Krishna's birthplace in Vrindavana, Sanatana Goswami m

Sanatana Goswami (Longer Biography Part -1)

vairagya-yug-bhakti-rasam prayatnair

apayayan mam anabhipsum andham

krpambudhir yah para-duhkha-duhkhi

sanatanas tam prabhum asrayami

[Raghunatha dasa Goswami has glorified Sanatana Goswami as follows in his Vilapa Kusumanjali (6)] “I was unwilling to drink the nectar of devotional service possessed of renunciation, but Sanatana Goswami, out of his causeless mercy, made me drink it, even though I was unable to do so. Therefore he is an ocean of mercy. He is

Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami

danda pranama kari bhatta padila carane

prabhu raghunatha bali kaila alingane

"Raghunatha Bhatta fell straight as a rod at the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Then the Lord embraced him, knowing full well who he was." (Caitanya Caritamrta Antya 13.101)

From Kasidhama, Raghunatha Bhatta traveled on foot to Puri-dhama. When he arrived in Puri, he went straight to the place of Sriman Mahaprabhu and offered his respects at the Lord's lotus feet. At that time, the Lord em

Short Biography

Sri Sanatana Gosvami appeared in 1488, five years before Sri Rupa Gosvami, in a Sarasvata brahmana family in Bengal. Sanatana and his two brothers, Rupa and Anupama, were always absorbed in bhava bhakti from early childhood. Remembering Vrndavana, they named the forests in which they played after Vraja's twelve forests (Talavana, Madhuvana, Kamyavana, Mahavana). They called their favorite bathing ponds Radha-kunda and Syama-kunda.

In his youth, Sri Sanatana dreamt that a beautiful

Rupa Gosvami

In 1517, Sri Rupa Gosvami and Sri Sanatana Gosvami, his elder brother, came to Vrndavana to fulfill four orders of Lord Caitanya's: (1) Uncover Sri Krishna's lost pastime places. (2) In­stall Deities, start puja. (3) Write bhakti-sastras. (4) Propagate the rules of bhakti-yoga.

Wearing only kaupina (loincloth) and kantha (patchwork quilt), Sri Rupa Gosvami lived a mendicant's life absorbed in hearing, chanting, writing about Radha-Govinda's sweet loving pastimes in Sri Vrndavana-dhama

Narottama Dasa Thakura

Narottama Dasa Thakura was a lifelong brahmacari. He visited all the holy places and the was the best of pure devotees. On the banks of the Padmavati river, in the town of Gopalpura lived King Krsnanda Datta. His older brother was Purusottama Datta. The wealth and fame of these two brothers was beyond compare. King Krsnananda's son was Sri Santosa Datta. In the month of Magha, onthe day of sukla-pancami, Sri Narottama Dasa Thakura took his birth. Seeing many auspicious omen

The Glories of Narottama

Once when Narottama Thakura passed by the school a learned smarta brahmana insulted Narottama Thakura in front of his students. Blaspheming him again and again, he called Narottama Thakura a Shudra. After this offense, all the limbs of the brahmana began melting away from leprosy. Consumed by his incurable disease and seeing no hope for recovery the brahmana went to throw himself in the Ganges and die. That night Durga Devi came to the brahmana in a dream and said, "You f

Srila Vyasadeva

It is described in the lists of the main avataras of the Lord as found in the Bhagavata Purana, that the seventeenth incarnation was Srila Vyasadeva who appeared as the son of Parashara Muni and his wife Satyavati. His mission was to divide the one Veda into various branches and sub-branches so the people who are less intelligent can more easily understand them. (Bhag.1.3.21 & 2.7.36)

It is further explained that because of his tapasya or austerities at Badrinatha, Vyasadeva was a

Not Just Another Guru

Vyasa-puja Offering By Jayadvaita Swami (1995)

Today we honor the representative of Srila Vyasa. Srila Vyasadeva has many representatives. And so we may think of Srila Prabhupada as one of them. And of course he is.

Yet Srila Prabhupada stands distinct, distinguished, in a class by himself. He is not merely "a guru," our guru, one among many, just as the Bhagavatam is not just another book, Hare Krsna not just another mantra, and Lord Krsna not just another god.

To study Srila

Srimad-Bhagavatam - Canto 2 Chapter 4 Text 18
kirata-hunandhra-pulinda-pulkasa
abhira-sumbha yavanah khasadayah
ye 'nye ca papa yad-apasrayasrayah
sudhyanti tasmai prabhavisnave namah

kirata -- a province of old Bharata; huna -- part of Germany and Russia; andhra -- a province of southern India; pulinda -- the Greeks; pulkasah -- another province; abhira -- part of old Sind; sumbhah -- another province; yavanah -- the Turks; khasa-adayah -- the Mongolian province; ye -- even those; anye -- others; ca

Both the initiating and instructing spiritual masters represent of the Supersoul.

The guru is actually one; the guru is the Supersoul. The guru, as the representative of the Supersoul, may appear differently externally, but the transcendental message is the same. Therefore, no real representative of God can disagree with anotherrepresentative of God. Sometimes itseems there are disagreements among genuine representatives of God, but theseare not disagreements, only different perspectives on the

Vrndavan dasa Thakura

Srimad Vrndavan dasa Thakura's mother's name was Sri Narayani Devi. Narayani Devi was the daughter of Srivas Thakura's brother. After the disappeareance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Srivas Thakura went to live in Kumar Hatta. Srivasa Thakura had three brothers: Sripati, Srirama and Srinidhi. He also had one son, but at a young age, his son passed away, returning to the Lord's supreme abode.

Srivasa Thakura had previously lived in Sri Hatta, but because he wanted the associatio

Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura

Shrila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura took birth in the year 1654 Shaka era (according to the Gaudiya Vaishnava Abhidana, Part 3, p. 1370) within the Nadia district of West Bengal in a place called Prasiddha Deva Gram. He appeared in the Radhiya line of brahamanas. He had two brothers: Shri Ramabhadra Chakravarti and Shri Raghunatha Chakravarti. Shrila Chakravarti Thakura went on to live in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal, in Saiyadabad, where he received

Vishnupriya devi

The Supreme Lord Visnu has three different Saktis: Sri, Bhu, and Nila. Sri Visnupriya is the internal potency known as Bhu-sakti. She appeared in Gaura-lila to assist Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu with his mission of spreading the holy name of Krsna.

In Nabadwipa-dhama there lived a brahmana named Sanatana Misra, who was an extremely exalted Visnu-bhakta. He was a pious and generous brahmana as well, and used to feed, clothe and shelter many people. He was famous as the king of panditas

Vasudeva Ghosh, Govinda Ghosh, and Madhava Ghosh

Krsna dasa Kaviraja Goswami writes (CC Adi 10.115): “The three brothers, Govinda, Madhava, and Vasudeva were the eighty-second, eighty-third, and eighty-fourth branches of the Caitanya tree. Lord Caitanya and Nityananda used to dance in their kirtana performances. In his Caitanya-Caritamrta commentary, Sripad Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja writes: ”The three brothers, Govinda, Madhava and Vasudeva Ghosh all belonged to a kayastha family. govinda esta

Vamsidasa Babaji

He was born in Majitpura in the subdivision of Kisoraganja in the district of Mayamanasimha. His father's name was Sanatana Malovrahma. His former name was Bhairavacandra. According to usual custom, he married at an early age but he had no attraction for married life. Being repeatedly requested by his mother, he dealt with his wife for a single day only. He was initiated into the family of Narottama Thakura and accepted the garb of an ascetic. At that time the influence of the Ka

Vamshivadananda Thakura

On the Caitra Purnima, the full moon day of the month of Caitra, Sri Vamsivadananda Thakura took birth within this world. It was a sweet moon in 1466, and everyone sang in great joy at the appearance of such a great soul.

Vamsivadananda Thakura is also known as Vamsivadana, Vamsi dasa, Vamsi. Within Kuliya are the villages known as Teghari, Venciada, Vedadapada, and Cinedanga Grama. Srikara Cattyopadhyaya's sons moved to Bilvagrama, Paduli Hata, and Venciada in Kuliya. His