Chitswami

(late 16th c. C.E.) One of the ashtachap, a
group of eight northern Indian bhakti
(devotional) poets. The compositions of
these eight poets were used for liturgical
purposes by the Pushti Marg, a religious
community whose members are devotees (bhakta) of Krishna. In the Pushti
Marg’s sectarian literature, all eight are
also named as members of the community and as associates of either the community’s founder, Vallabhacharya, or
his successor, Vitthalnath. Chitswami is
traditionally associated with Vitthalnath,
a link confirmed by his poems written in
praise of this guru. Aside from such
explicitly sectarian compositions,
Chitswami also wrote poetry in praise of
Krishna, which tends to be more
elaborate and uses more Sanskrit than
his contemporaries. To date, his works
have not been translated, perhaps
because interest in them is limited to
a small sect.