Krishnadasa Kaviraja

Krishnadasa Kaviraja Biography

Krishnadasa Kaviraja is the author of the Chaitanya Charitamrita, noted work on the biopic of mystic saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is regarded to be an incarnation of Radha and Krishna combined. Chaitanya belongs to the Gaudiya Vaishnava school of Hinduism. There is only a little information regarding this poet. It’s believed that he lived in the 16^th century.

Krishna Dasa was born in 1496 CE in a family of physicians in the village of Jhamatpur of present Bardhaman district of West Bengal.  His father was Bhagiratha, and his mother’s name was Sunanda. He also had a younger brother named Shyamananda Dasa. They lost their parents at a younger age and hence raised by relatives. Krishna Dasa has recorded in his work that an argument occurred between Minaketana Ramadasa, a great Vaishnava devotee and his brother about the subject of the ontological positions of Chaitanya and Nityananda. After this incident, he broke the relationship with his brother as he felt that it was an unpardonable offence.

Once Nityananda came to his dreams and gave him a few instructions. According to it, he left home and travelled to Vrindavana where he took initiation from Raghunatha Dasa Goswami. Goswami was one of the direct followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He started working on his magnum-opus the Chaitanya Charitamrita towards the end of his life and at an ill health, after being requested several times by devotees in Vrindavana. Those devotees who have never met Chaitanya before were eager to know more about the incarnation of Lord Krishna.

Dasa used the diaries of Murari Gupta and Swarupa Damodara as reference to write the hagiography on the life of the mystic and saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He got a lot of information from his guru, Raghunatha Dasa also. Thus Chaitanya-charitamrita became the definitive biography of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Krishna Dasa Kaviraja has been identified as an incarnation of the handmaiden of Krishna called Kasturi Manjari.

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Updated: March 12, 2014