The Glories of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu

Description

This collection of devotional texts is important for both its contents and its origins. In terms of content, the seven short texts represent the main themes and beliefs of Vaisnava’s devotion: the beauty and charm of Caitanya, the power and attraction of his devotion to Krsna, and his ultimate identity with the Lord whom he worships. Caitanya, as these texts make clear, is not for his followers just a great devotee or even the greatest devotee: he is “the best of incarnations” of Krsna Himself, embodying all of Krsna’s previous incarnations and being in his true nature none other than the Supreme Person, the Godhead, the “original cause of all causes.”

In terms of origins, the texts demonstrate the continuity and consistency of the tradition from Caitanya to the present. A special status is reserved for the Caitanya Upanisad, a compendium of devotional beliefs about Caitanya in the form of prophecy which tradition ascribes to the Atharva Veda and thus grants Vedic authority-a truth of faith, whatever its historical validity. The remaining texts are by devotees who span a period of four centuries: the earliest by Gosvāmis whom Caitanya personally appointed as his movement’s theologians; the most recent by Bhaktivinoda Thakura.

Leader of the nineteenth-century renaissance of Bengal Vaisnavism. From beginning to end, the beliefs and sentiments of these texts are the same, and it is this unified message that has been carried forward in the twentieth century by the International Society for Krsna Consciousness (ISKCON).

The wave of devotional fervor set in motion by Caitanya has in our day reached shores far distant from Bengal. This is clearly evidenced by the translator of this collection, an American devotee whose knowledge of both Caitanya and Sanskrit is the product of missionary efforts by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of ISKCON and himself a disciple of Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s son. Yet this work also reflects the fact that as the wave has expanded, it has drawn new attention back to its source, Caitanya, and to the faith which he inspired-a faith which is eloquently expressed in these texts. Those who are disciples will be inspired by them, while other readers may use them with confidence as a guide to the living faith of Bengal Vaisnavism.