Vrindavana Dasa Thakura or Brindaban Das (1507–1589) was the author of the
Chaitanya Bhagavata, the first full-length biography of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu written in the
Bengali language
Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken ...
.
Early life
Vrindavana Dasa was born in Mamgachi in the
Navadvipa
Nabadwip (), also spelt Navadwip, anciently Nadia or Nudiya, is a heritage city in Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is regarded as a holy place by Hindus, and is the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Famous for Rass fest ...
area of
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 ...
. His mother was Narayani, the niece of
Srinivasa Acarya, a direct follower of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Vrindavana Dasa’s father, Vaikunthanatha Vipra, was from Sylhet in
East Bengal
ur,
, common_name = East Bengal
, status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan
, p1 = Bengal Presidency
, flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg
, s1 = Ea ...
. However, it is said that his father died before he was born and so his mother moved to the house of Srivasa in
Mayapura
Mayapur () is a neighbourhood of Bamanpukur, in the Nabadwip CD block in the Krishnanagar Sadar subdivision of the Nadia district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is situated adjacent to Nabadwip, at the confluence of two rivers, where t ...
. In his youth Vrindavana Dasa took initiation from
Nityananda, one of the main associates of Chaitanya and he was apparently the last disciple that Nityananda accepted.
Chaitanya Bhagavata
In 1535, Vrindvana Dasa wrote the
Chaitanya Bhagavata, a 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 ...
. Initially, the Chaitanya Bhagavata was named Chaitanya Mangala. However the poet
Lochana Dasa also wrote a work with this title. Therefore, the leading Vaishnavas in
Vrindavana met and decided that henceforth Vrindavana Dasa's book would be known as the Chaitanya Bhagavata, and Lochana Dasa’s book would remain as the
Chaitanya Mangala The Chaitanya Mangala ( bn, চৈতন্যমঙ্গল) (c.16th century) of Lochana Dasa is an important hagiographical work on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna Chaitanya - Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Bengali. This work of Lochan ...
.
Praise of Vrindavana Dasa
Vrindavana Dasa is considered by Gaudiya Vaishnavas as the
Vyasa
Krishna Dvaipayana ( sa, कृष्णद्वैपायन, Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana), better known as Vyasa (; sa, व्यासः, Vyāsaḥ, compiler) or Vedavyasa (वेदव्यासः, ''Veda-vyāsaḥ'', "the one who cl ...
of Chaitanya’s pastimes, since he was the first to reveal that Chaitanya was God himself and not just an incarnation of Godhead.
It would seem that the Chaitanya Bhagavata was the only major work written by Vrindavana Dasa. There are a number of other works attributed to him but their authorship has not been validated.
See also
*
Gaudiya Vaishnavism
Gaudiya Vaishnavism (), also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism, is a Vaishnava Hindu religious movement inspired by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) in India. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gaura or Gauḍa region of Bengal, with Vaishnavism meani ...
*
Hare Krishna
*
Six Goswamis
*
Chaitanya Bhagavata
Bibliography
* Tirtha, Swami B.B., Sri Caitanya and His Associates, 2002
Mandala Publishing San Francisco.
* Mahayogi Swami B.V., Lives of the Saints, translated from Gaura Parsada Citravali, unpublished work.
* Sahitya Academi site (https://web.archive.org/web/20080914033637/http://www.sahitya-akademi.gov.in/old_version/glos.htm)
* Encyclopaedia Of Bangladesh (Set Of 30 Vols.) By Nagendra Kr. Singh - Page 309
External links
Read On-line/Download
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thakura, Vrindavana
Gaudiya religious leaders
1507 births
1589 deaths
16th-century Indian writers
Bengali-language writers
Bengali Hindus
Writers from West Bengal
Bengali writers