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CH. XXX11] The Life of Caitanya
385 was written shortly after. Krsnadāsa Kavirāja's work, Caitanyacaritāmīta, was written long afterwards. Though there is some dispute regarding the actual date of its completion, it is well-nigh certain that it was in śaka 1537 (A.D. 1616). The other date, found in Prema-vilāsa, is šaka 1503 (A.D. 1581), and this had been very well-combatted by Professor Rādhā Govinda Nath in his learned edition of the work. The Caitanya-candrodaya-nāțaka was written by Kavi Karnapūra in saka 1494 (A.D. 1572). It would thus appear that for the most authentic account of Caitanya's life one should refer to this work and to Vịndāvanadāsa's Caitanya-bhāgavata. Kavirāja Krsnadāsa's Caitanya-caritāmrta is, however, the most learned of the biographies. There was also a Caitanya-sahasra-nāma by Sārvabhauma Bhattācārya, the Govinda-vijaya of Paramānandapurī, songs of Caitanya by Gauridāsa Pandita, the Gaudarājavijaya of Paramānanda Gupta, and songs of Caitanya by Gopāla Basu.
The Life of Caitanya. I shall attempt here to give only a brief account of Caitanya's life, following principally the Caitanya-bhāgavata, Caitanyacandrodaya-nāțaka and Caitanya-caritāmrta.
There lived in Navadvīpa Jagannātha Miśra and his wife Sacī. On a full-moon day in Spring (the month of Phālguna), when there was an eclipse of the moon, in saka 1407 (A.D. 1485), Caitanya was born to them. Navadvipa at this time was inhabited by many Vaisnavas who had migrated from Sylhet and other parts of India. Thus there were Srivāsa Pandita, Srīrāma Pandita, Candrasekhara; Murārigupta, Puņdarika Vidyānidhi, Caitanya-vallabha Datta. Thus the whole atmosphere was prepared for a big spark of fire which it was the business of Caitanya to throw into the combustible material. In Sāntipura, Advaita, a great Vaisnava very much senior to Caitanya, was always regretting the general hollowness of the people and wishing for someone to create new fire. Caitanya's elder brother Viśvarūpa had gone out as an ascetic, and Caitanya, then the only son left to his parents, was particularly cherished by his widowed mother Saci Devī, the daughter of Nīlāmbara Chakravarti.
Navadvīpa was at this time under Moslem rulers who had grown tyrannical. Sārvabhauma Bhattācārya, son of Viśārada
