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{{Short description|15th-century Indian Vaishnavite Hindu saint}}{{redirect|Krishna Chaitanya|the Telugu lyricist|Krishna Chaitanya (lyricist)}}{{redirect|Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu|the 1954 Hindi film|Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (film)}}{{Primary sources|date=October 2020}}{{Use Indian English|date=February 2024}}{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}

factoids

Nabadwip, Bengal Sultanate{{small>(present-day West Bengal, India)}}| birth_name = Vishvambhar Mishra1534142df=yes}}Puri, Gajapati Kingdom{{small>(present-day Odisha, India)}}| spouse = Lakshmi Priya (first wife) and Vishnupriya| guru = Swami Isvara Puri (mantra guru); Swami Kesava Bharati (sannyas guru)| philosophy = Bhakti yoga, Achintya Bheda Abheda| known_for = Expounded Gaudiya Vaishnavism, kirtan| founder = Gaudiya VaishnavismAchintya Bheda Abheda| free_label = Birth Anniversary| father = | mother = | relatives = | disciples = Rupa Goswami, Sanatana Goswami, Gopala Bhatta Goswami, Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami, Raghunatha dasa Goswami, Jiva Goswami, others| literary_works = Shikshashtakam| background = Orange}}{{Vaishnavism}}{{Hinduism}} Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (), born Vishvambhara Mishra ({{IAST|ViÅ›vambhara MiÅ›ra}}), was a 15th-century Indian Hindu saint from Bengal who was the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, which considers him to be an incarnation of Krishna.Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mode of worshipping Krishna with bhajan-kirtan and dance had a profound effect on Vaishnavism in Bengal. He was also the chief proponent of the Vedantic philosophy of Achintya Bheda Abheda Tattva. Mahaprabhu founded Gaudiya Vaishnavism ({{aka}} the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya Sampradaya). He expounded Bhakti yoga and popularised the chanting of the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra.Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228155252scsmath.com/docs/chaitanya_mahaprabhu.html |date=28 December 2017 }} “He spread the Yuga-dharma as the practice for attainment of pure love for Radha-Krishna. That process is Harinam-Sankirtan, or the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of Krishna “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare” He composed the Shikshashtakam (eight devotional prayers).Chaitanya is sometimes called Gauranga or Gaura due to his molten gold–like complexion.In the Name of the Lord (Deccan Herald) “He was also given the name of ‘Gora’ because of his extremely fair complexion.” {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061207225342www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/Mar122006/finearts1054102006310.asp |date=7 December 2006 }} His birthday is celebrated as Gaura-purnima.WEB,www.krishna.com/node/1407, Gaura Purnima, www.krishna.com, 16 December 2008, 12 March 2008,www.krishna.com/node/1407," title="web.archive.org/web/20080312140828www.krishna.com/node/1407,">web.archive.org/web/20080312140828www.krishna.com/node/1407, live, Sri Gaura Purnima {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001230238givegita.com/sri-chaitanya |date=1 October 2020 }}“givegita.com” He is also called Nimai because he was born underneath a Neem tree.KCM Archive“They named Him Nimai, as he was born under a neem tree.” {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080424064200www.archive.org/details/Krishna-Chaitanya-Mission |date=24 April 2008 }}

Life

File:Ganga mata math (crop).jpg|thumb|left|Deity of Shadabhuja Gauranga at Ganga Mata Math in PuriPuriCaitanya was born in a Brahmin family as ViÅ›vambhara MiÅ›ra aka Nimāi, the second son of Jagannātha MiÅ›ra and his wife ÅšacÄ« DevÄ«, the daughter of Nilambara Chakrabarti, both Brahmins of Sylhet region.BANGLAPEDIA, Chaitanya, Sri, Stewart, Tony K, Jagannātha MiÅ›ra’s family were from the village of Dhakadakshin in Srihatta (Sylhet) (now in Bangladesh). The ruins of their ancestral home still survive in present-day Bangladesh.WEB, Chaitanya and his age, Sen, Dinesh Chandra,archive.org/details/chaitanyahisage00senduoft, 16 August 2020, Internet Archive, en, {{sfn|Nair|2007|p=87}}BOOK, Valpey, Kenneth, Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online, Brill, 2018, Jacobsen, Knut A., Caitanya, Basu, Helene, Malinar, Angelika, Narayanan, Vasudha, File:Yogapith, Mayapur.jpg|thumb|alt=A white ornate structure with a pyramidal pointed dome standing on the bank of a pond and surrounded by trees|Yogapith temple at Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s birthsite established in the 1880s by Bhaktivinoda Thakur in Mayapur, West BengalWest BengalAccording to Chaitanya Charitamrita, Caitanya was born in Nabadwip (in present-day West Bengal) on the full moon night of 18 February 1486, at the time of a lunar eclipse.BOOK, Chattopadhyay, Nripendra Krishna,archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.265084, Sri Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, 1961, WEB, Kabiraj, Krishnadas, Sachitra Sree Sree Chaitanyacharitamrita(Adi Lila),archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.453768, 29 July 2020, Internet Archive, 1897, bn, WEB, Swami, A. C. Bhaktivedanta, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya-caritāmá¹›ta(Ä€di-lÄ«lā),vedabase.io/en/library/cc/adi/, vedabase.io, en, 12 August 2020, 7 August 2020,web.archive.org/web/20200807122540/https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/adi/, live, While still a student, his father died, and he soon married Laká¹£mÄ«priyā. He travelled to east Bengal to become a scholar and support his family but his wife died in his absence. He then married Viṣṇupriyā, daughter of paṇḍit Sanātana MiÅ›ra. ViÅ›vambhara, also known as Nimāi Paṇḍit, was a promising Sanskrit scholar, and once defeated KeÅ›ava Bhaá¹­á¹­a of the Nimbārka school in a debate on Sanskrit prosody.In 1508-1509 he left Nabadvip to go to Gaya to perform Å›rāddha, a ritual homage to his dead father. There he met an ascetic named Īśvara PurÄ« and was initiated by him using a mantra for Kṛṣṇa worship. After this meeting ViÅ›vambhara abandoned all scholarly and domestic pursuits and had no interest except hearing and speaking of Kṛṣṇa. Within a year he took a vow of saṃnyāsa (renunciation) and changed his name to Kṛṣṇa Caitanya under his guru KeÅ›ava BhāratÄ«. His mother then asked him to at least live in the city of Puri so that he would not be too far from Bengal.After becoming a renunciate he spent his time converting and instructing followers in the tenets of Kṛṣṇa bhakti and engaging in communal saṁkÄ«rtana. Notably he is said to have debated and converted followers of Advaita Vedānta or Māyāvāda. He spent two months in Vrindavan in c. 1515 where he instructed Sanātana GosvāmÄ« and RÅ«pa Gosvāmi. The last two decades of his life were spent in Puri where he focused on immersing himself in devotional yearning for Kṛṣṇa and his consorts, mainly Rādhā. He died c. 1528-1534.

Biographies

Works on Chaitanya:{{sfn|Mukherjee|1999|pp=65–66, 174, 280}}{{sfn|Manring|2005|pp=34–42, 44}}PDF {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626032050shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/127571/14/14_chapter%206.pdf |date=26 June 2020 }}.BOOK, Mamoni, Sarma, History of Vaishnavite cultures in Assam and Bengal a comparative study,hdl.handle.net/10603/127571, Chapter 14, 253–255, 10603/127571, Note, Sarma Mamoni is a researcher at Gauhati University under Chakraborty Amalendu.,

• Krsna-Caitanya-Caritamrta ({{c.}} 1513 or 1536–1540; Sanskrit)

• Kadcha or chronicle (Sanskrit)

• Govindadaser Kadcha (Bengali)

• Chaitanya Bhagavata ({{c.}} 1535 or 1546–1550; Bengali)

• Krsna-Caitanya-caritra-mahakavya ({{c.}} 1535)

• Krsna-Caitanya-candrodaya-natakam ({{c.}} 1535 – 1570s)

• Caitanya-candrodaya-natakam ({{c.}} 1538 or 1540 or 1572 or 1579; Sanskrit)

• Caitanya-caritāmá¹›ta-kavya ({{c.}} 1542 – late 1500s; Sanskrit)

• Caitanya-caritāmá¹›ta ({{c.}} 1557 or 1580 or 1615; Bengali)

• Caitanya-Mangala ({{c.}} 1560 or late 1500s; Bengali)

• Chaitanya Mangala ({{c.}} 1560–66 or 1575)

• Chaitanya-chandrodaya-kaumudi (Bengali)

• Gaura-ganoddesha-dipika ({{c.}} 1576)

• Chaitanya-samhita (Bengali)

• Chaitanya-vilasa ({{c.}} 1500s; Odia)

• Gauranga-vijay ({{c.}} 1500s)

• Sriman-mahaprabhor-asta-kaliya-lila-smarana-mangala-stotram ({{c.}} late 1600s; Sanskrit)

• Sri Gauranga-Lilamrta ({{c.}} late 1600s – 1700s; Bengali)

• Caitanya-upanisad

• Sri Caitanya-caranamrta Bhasva (1887)

• Amrita-pravaha-bhashya ({{c.}} late 1800s – early 1900s; Sanskrit)

• Anubhāsya (1915)

• ÅšrÄ« Caitanya-caritāmá¹›ta (1974; English)

• Krishna-Caitanya, His Life and His Teachings (2014; English; {{ISBN|978-91-981318-1-9}})

Teachings

Chaitanya sankirtan.jpg|Chaitanya and Nityananda are shown performing a ‘kirtan’ in the streets of Nabadwip, Bengal.Panca-tattva Altar.jpg|Pancha Tattva deities installed on a Vaishnava altar. From left to right: Advaita Acharya, Nityananda, Chaitanya, Gadadhara Pandita, Srivasa.Mahaprabhu 103.jpg|Murti of Chaitanya MahaprabhuChaitanya’s direct teachings are recorded in Sanskrit verses called Siksastakam (though, in Vaishnava Padavali it is said: “Chaitanya himself wrote many songs on the Radha-Krishna theme“).Chaitanya’s epistemological, theological and ontological teachings are summarised as ten root principles called dasa mula.Thakura, B. (1993). Jaiva dharma: The universal religion (K. Das, Trans.). Los Angeles, CA: Krishna Institute.

1. The statements of amnaya (scripture) are the chief proof. By these statements the following nine topics are taught.
2. Krishna is the Supreme Absolute Truth.NEWS, Krishna is the absolute truth,www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/spirituality/2018/apr/21/krishna-is-the-absolute-truth-1803769.html, 5 November 2020, The New Indian Express, 7 August 2020,web.archive.org/web/20200807221732/https://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/spirituality/2018/apr/21/krishna-is-the-absolute-truth-1803769.html, dead,
3. Krishna is endowed with all energies.
4. Krishna is the source of all rasa- flavor, quality, or spiritual rapture/emotions.WEB, Relationships with Krishna, see also Rasas {{!, Krishna.com |url=http://www.krishna.com/topic-term/relationships-krishna-see-also-rasas |website=www.krishna.com |access-date=5 November 2020 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111052407www.krishna.com/topic-term/relationships-krishna-see-also-rasas |url-status=live }}
5. The jivas (individual souls) are all separated parts of the Lord.
6. In the bound state (non-liberated) the jivas are under the influence of matter, due to their tatastha (marginal) nature.
7. In the liberated state the jivas are free from the influence of matter.
8. The jivas and the material world are both different from and identical to the Lord.
9. Pure devotion is the only way to attain liberation.WEB, “The Only Way To Understand God” BY SRILA PRABHUPADA .,iskcondesiretree.com/groups/India/forum/the-only-way-to-understand-god-2, ISKCON Desire Tree {{!, IDT |access-date=5 November 2020 |date=11 April 2011 |archive-date=22 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922181817iskcondesiretree.com/groups/India/forum/the-only-way-to-understand-god-2 |url-status=live }}
10. Pure love of Krishna is the ultimate goal.WEB, Ultimate Goal of Life {{!, Krishna.com |url=http://www.krishna.com/taxonomy/term/104 |website=www.krishna.com |access-date=5 November 2020 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111022702www.krishna.com/taxonomy/term/104 |url-status=live }}

চৈতন্য মহাপ্রভু.jpg|60 feet Chaitanya Mahaprabhu statue in Nabadwip.Gauranga mahaprabhu.jpg|Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Prachin Mayapur, Nabadwip.Idols of Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Jagannath, Balarama, Subhadra and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu at the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (ISKCON Mayapur) in Mayapur, Nadia, West Bengal, India.jpg|Deities of Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Jagannath, Balarama, Subhadra and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (in middle), at the ISKCON Durgapur Temple.Gaura Nitai shrine at ISKCON temple, Delhi.jpg|Gaura Nitai shrine at ISKCON Temple Delhi.

Philosophy and tradition

{{more citations needed section|date=July 2015}}From the very beginning of Chaitanya’s bhakti movement in Bengal, Haridasa Thakur and others, Muslim or Hindu by birth, were participants. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the great sage of Dakshineswar, who lived in the 19th century, emphasised the bhakti marga of Chaitanya, whom he referred to as “Gauranga.” (The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna). This openness received a boost from Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s broad-minded vision in the late 19th century and was institutionalised by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati in his Gaudiya Matha in the 20th century.{{sfn|Sherbow|2004|p=138}}In the 20th century the teachings of Chaitanya were brought to the West. For the first time, by Baba Premananda Bharati (1858–1914),{{sfn|Carney|2020|pp=135–136}} author of Sree Krishna—the Lord of Love (1904)—the first full-length treatment of Gaudiya Vaishnavism in English,{{sfn|Carney|2020|p=140}} who founded in 1902 the short-lived “Krishna Samaj” society in New York City and built a temple in Los Angeles.{{sfn|Carney|2020|p=152}}{{sfn|Jones|Ryan|2007|pp=79–80|loc=Baba Premanand Bharati}} He belonged to the circle of guru Prabhu Jagadbandhu{{sfn|Carney|2020|pp=140–143}} with teachings similar to the later ISKCON mission.{{sfn|Jones|Ryan|2007|pp=79–80|loc=Baba Premanand Bharati}} His followers later formed several organisations, including now defunct the Order of Living Service and the AUM Temple of Universal Truth.{{sfn|Jones|Ryan|2007|pp=79–80|loc=Baba Premanand Bharati}} Another prominent missionary was A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977), a representative of the Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati branch of Chaitanya’s tradition. Prabhupada founded his movement known as The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) to spread Chaitanya’s teachings throughout the world.WEB, History of the Hare Krishna Movement {{!, Krishna.com |url=http://www.krishna.com/history-hare-krishna-movement-0 |website=www.krishna.com |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=24 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124195422krishna.com/history-hare-krishna-movement-0 |url-status=live }} Saraswata gurus and acharyas, members of the Goswami lineages and several other Hindu sects which revere Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, including devotees from the major Vaishnava holy places in Mathura District, West Bengal and Odisha, also established temples dedicated to Krishna and Chaitanya outside India in the closing decades of the 20th century. In the 21st century, Vaishnava bhakti is now also being studied through the academic medium of Krishnology in a number of academic institutions.Krishnology (definition) {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205182516www.did-you-mean.com/Krishnology.html |date=5 February 2012 }}

Cultural legacy

{{See also|Bengal Renaissance}}Chaitanya’s influence on the cultural legacy in Bengal, Odisha and Manipur, has been significant,WEB, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,www.krishna.com/who-lord-chaitanya, 2 November 2020, 7 June 2002,www.krishna.com/printarticles/Lord_Chaitanya.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20020607045307www.krishna.com/printarticles/Lord_Chaitanya.html,">web.archive.org/web/20020607045307www.krishna.com/printarticles/Lord_Chaitanya.html, live, with many residents performing daily worship to him as an avatar of Krishna. Some attribute to him a Renaissance in Bengal,Bengal Studies Conference {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217014530bengal-studies-conference.org/ |date=17 December 2014 }} “History says that the Bengali people experienced the renaissance: not only once but also twice in the course of history. Bengalis witnessed the first renaissance in the 16th century when Hossain Shah and Sri Chaitanya’s idealism influenced a sect of the upper literal class of people” different from the more well-known 19th-century Bengal Renaissance. Salimullah Khan (b. 1958), a noted Bangladeshi linguist, maintains, “Sixteenth-century is the time of Chaitanya Dev, and it is the beginning of Modernism in Bengal. The concept of ‘humanity’ that came into fruition is contemporaneous with that of Europe”.WEB, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,gaudiyahistory.iskcondesiretree.com/caitanya-mahaprabhu/, 2 November 2020, 17 November 2020,gaudiyahistory.iskcondesiretree.com/caitanya-mahaprabhu/," title="web.archive.org/web/20201117000851gaudiyahistory.iskcondesiretree.com/caitanya-mahaprabhu/,">web.archive.org/web/20201117000851gaudiyahistory.iskcondesiretree.com/caitanya-mahaprabhu/, live, Noted Bengali biographical film on Chaitanya, Nilachaley Mahaprabhu (1957), was directed by Kartik Chattopadhyay (1912–1989).BOOK, Sur, Ansu, Goswami, Abhijit, Bengali Film Directory,books.google.com/books?id=R-hkAAAAMAAJ, 96, 1999, Nandan, West Bengal Film Centre, A Bengali film based on Chaitanya’s demise, Lawho Gouranger Naam Re, will be directed by Srijit Mukherji where Parambrata Chatterjee will be seen portraying Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.NEWS, Chakraborty, Shamayita, Parambrata to play Gourango in Srijit’s next; will also sing in the film,timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bengali/movies/news/parambrata-to-play-gourango-in-srijits-next-will-also-sing-in-the-film/articleshow/84485145.cms, 31 March 2022, The Times of India, 16 July 2021, en, 31 March 2022,web.archive.org/web/20220331172159/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bengali/movies/news/parambrata-to-play-gourango-in-srijits-next-will-also-sing-in-the-film/articleshow/84485145.cms, live,

Recognition

In 2024, speaking at the commemorative event for the 150th birth anniversary of a leading proponent of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi called Chaitanya Mahaprabhu “the touchstone of love for Krishna. He made spiritualism and meditation accessible to the masses“{{sfn|Modi|2024}} and recalled his own personal experience of the transformative power of bhakti through kirtan.{{sfn|Modi|2024}}

See also

• Vrindavan
• Gauranga
• Jagannath Temple (Puri)
• Pancha Tattva (Vaishnavism)
• Prabhupāda

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References

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Works cited

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Further reading

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External links

{{Prone to spam|date=March 2017}} {{Sister project links|Chaitanya Mahaprabhu|display=Chaitanya Mahaprabhu|wikt=no|v=no|voy=no|n=no|b=no|author=no|d=Q870262}}

• {{Internet Archive author}}
• {{Internet Archive author|name=Chaitanya}}
• Gaudiya Vaishnavism – The Tradition of Chaitanya
• Caitanya Upanisad
• Caitanya Bhagavata Biography
• Gaudiya Vaishnavism – The Tradition of Chaitanya
• Life of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712011418www.purebhakti.com/mission/bhakti-is-love-mainmenu-75/799-life-of-sri-chaitanya-mahaprabhu.html |date=12 July 2018 }}
• Scriptural Statements/Predictions regarding Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s birth
• Lord Gouranga and His Message of Devotion (theosophical.ca)
• YogPeeth, Mayapur, Navadvipa – The birthplace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
• at Chaitaniya mahaprabhu biography
• Who is Lord Chaitanya?
• Scriptural References To Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu being Avataar of Sri Krishna

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