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Sri Krsna Caitanya (1486-1533), the inspiration and historical focus of a great revival of Krsna devotionalism in sixteenth century Bengal, was without doubt one of the greatest religious figures of late medieval India. After his death, his movement spread rapidly through much of the North, becoming known, from its point of origin, as the Bengal (Gaudiya) Vaisnava sampradaya. Caitanya's fervent devotionalism was taken up and formalized in the context of an elaborate theological system by the Gosvamins of Vrndavana, whom he may have appointed to the task. The most important of these writers were Rupa (fl. 1533-1550)1 and his nephew Jiva (1511-1596). 2 Retaining a considerable amount of vitality today, the sect has recently gained a world-wide following through the efforts of the late A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, founder of the International Society for Krsna Consciousness. The intensely emotional bhakti evinced by Caitanya continued the spirit of ecstatic devotion that had been so vividly portrayed in the Bhagavata-purana through such figures as Prahlada 115

116 and the gopis. Indeed, his religiosity was so intense in expression that it may be said to have extended the Krsnaite devotional ethos of the purana to new heights of emotionalism. Toward the end of his life Caitanaya was almost constantly immersed in the mood of the gopi Radha's 3 anguished separation from her beloved. In this condition, it is said, he experienced the highest conceivable levels of Krsna-bhakti, states previously attained only by Radha herself. Krsnadasa Kaviraja, his biographer, describes Caitanya's ecstasy as follows: 鈥� 鈥� 鈥� Different emotions arose in him, and agitation caught his heart. He was unable even to groan as dumb people do. Consumed by the fire of loneliness, his selfcomposure went tossing up and down. [He cried:] "You are my wealth, my life: show yourself to me again!" Paralysed and then shaking, sweating and turning pallid, he wept and uttered indistinct sounds. His body hair stood on end, he laughed, wept, danced about and sang. He jumped up and ran about, the next moment to fall on the ground and lose consciousness. The Gosvamins provided a theoretical framework for interpreting this style of bhakti, utilizing material derived primarily from the Bhagavata, Visnu, and Padma Puranas, the Panicaratra literature, and Sanskrit Poetics (alamkarasastra). 5 The Bhagavata-purana was the most important of these sources. It was Caitanya's favorite text, and his followers, as we have seen, came to regard it as their highest scriptural authority.6 For the most part, the Gosvamins were faithful to the devotional spirit of the

117 Bhagavata. They cherished the kind of devotional ecstasy displayed in the work, and totally accepted its valuation of bhakti as the highest of all spiritual attainments, its consequent devaluation of moksa, its adoption of Krsna as the central object of devotion, and, to a great extent, its egalitarian social ethic. What did not appeal to them, however, was the Bhagavata-purana's Indeed, the Bengal school after Advaitic tendencies. Caitanya historically maintained, and continues to maintain, an attitude of hostility toward Advaita. This is understandable considering that the Gosvamins and especially Baladeva, an important eighteenth century writer of the sect, were well-trained in traditional Vaisnava theology, which of course was committed to the view that non-dualistic thought is totally opposed to devotional spirituality. 7