Chaitanya

(1486–1533 C.E.) Bengali saint, devotee
(bhakta) of the god Krishna, and the
founder of the Gaudiya Vaishnava religious community. Chaitanya was such a
pivotal figure that there are many traditional sources for his life, although their
hagiographic character makes them historically unreliable. According to one of
these traditions, Chaitanya embodied
Krishna himself. Krishna became
Chaitanya to experience the longing of
Radha, his beloved consort whom
Chaitanya imagined himself to be. Thus,
for his followers Chaitanya was conceived as Krishna and Radha in the
same body.
Chaitanya was born in the town of
Navadvip in the state of West Bengal
and given the name Vishvambar.
Traditional sources portray the young
man as a gifted teacher but with no
inclination toward Krishna. In 1508 he
went to Gaya, a sacred site (tirtha) associated with rites for the dead, to perform
rites for his dead father. In Gaya,
Vishvambar met his teacher, Ishvara
Puri, and something profound happened there, for he returned to
Navadvip a passionate devotee of
Krishna. On his return, Vishvambar
began to hold the public kirtan (devotional chanting) that has become the
hallmark of the Gaudiya Vaishnava
school. Devotees sang and danced in the
streets and wept uncontrollably.
Through this ecstatic emotional worship, they sought to regain the devotional
atmosphere associated with the gopis,
Krishna’s cowherd women, and thus
135
Chaitanya
share in the gopis’ intimate relationship
with Krishna.
In 1510 Vishvambar formally became
an ascetic, taking the name Krishna
Chaitanya, and for the rest of his life
propagated the worship of Krishna. For
much of that time, he resided in the
sacred city of Puri. This was reportedly
in deference to his mother, since she felt
that Krishna’s childhood home,
Brindavan, was too far away. Despite his
mother’s wishes, Chaitanya did take several lengthy trips: a two-year tour of the
holy places in southern India between
1510 and 1512, and in 1514, a trip to
Brindavan, in which Chaitanya had frequent mystical experiences. After his
return to Puri, he met the brothers Rupa
and Sanatana Goswami. Chaitanya
directed them to settle in Brindavan and
re-establish the holy sites associated
with Krishna’s life. Driven by Chaitanya’s
charisma and ecstatic devotion, Rupa,
Sanatana, and their nephew Jiva
Goswami became pivotal figures in the
development of the Gaudiya Vaishnava
school. While Chaitanya was absorbed
in his devotion to Krishna until his
death, Rupa, Santana, and Jiva Goswami
gave this devotion a systematic organization. For further information see
Sushil Kumar De, Early History of the
Vaishnava Faith and Movement in
Bengal, 1961; and Janardana
Chakravarti, Bengal Vaishnavism and Sri
Chaitanya, 1975.