Caitanyabhagavata-A Study (An Old and Rare Book)

In the present work, the author following the lines of the Caitanyabhagavata has shown that it is possible for a person to scale the height on which nature stands. A true devotee can arrive at the blessed stage where losses and crosses weigh not upon the soul, eternally happy in spite of accident and vicissitudes. A Bhakta can find every secret of life and the great problems of life. He ultimately reaches the stage of perfection and he imparts his tranquility to others, living for the happiness of the world and mankind.

According to the author love is the primary motto, the root word of the Caitanyabhagavata theology and the same phenomenon is dealt with artistically and at the same time aesthetically.

Professor Asoke Chatterjee Sastry (b. 1929) obtained a number of oriental and occidental degrees from different oriental institutions and universities of India and abroad securing the top position in all examinations. A very well-known and celebrated Indologist, he has written 36 original research books in different languages like Sanskrit, Hindi, English, Bengali, German. He has at least 200 papers published in the leading indological journals of India and Europe to his credit. He is a famous research guide too. About forty students have worked under his guidance and obtained Ph.D./Vidya varidhi Degrees. He was formerly the Professor and Head of the Department of Sanskrit (Itihasa and Purana) in the Sanskrit University (now Sampurnanand Sanskrit University) Varanasi. At present he is the Professor and Head of the Department of Sanskrit, University of Calcutta. Recepient of several prestigious Prizes and Honours, he has travelled all over the world on many occasions. He is also the visiting Professor of Sanskrit at the Buddhist university, NongKhai, Thailand. Last year he was especially invited by the universities of Oxford, London and Heidelberg and he delivered some extension lectures there.

He is associated with all the recognised institutions catering to the development of Sanskrit sponsored by the Govis. of India and West Bengal as well.

Vindavanadasa is the celebrated author of Caitanyabhagavata, one of the most popular and authentic biographies of Sricaitanya, the doyen of Vaisnava Bhakti - cult and the protagonist of Bhakti-movement in mediaeval Bengal. His Caitanyabhagavata dealing mainly with the early parts of Caitanya's life was composed at the command of Nityananda.. The name of the work itself indicates the author's spirit, intention and devotional attitude towards writing a biography of a renowned personality.

Vindavana's work though incomplete is still regarded as an authoritative and valuable record of Caitanya's early life.. The author must have been familiar with the traditions, myths and other sorts of informations about Caitanya's adi lila, the centre of which was the historic courtyard of Srivasa. The main source of all his materials was Nityananda, but he might have used Murari's Kadca or accounts supplied by Murari. Krspadasa Kaviraja, the renowned author of Caitanyacaritamṛta, bestows high credit for such an work and compares Vindavanadasa to Vyasa.

adicaitanyalilar vyasa vrndavanadasa He, Jayananda, the author of Caitanyamangala and Locanadasa have already sincerely accepted Vrndavana's work s the most authentic one.

**Contents and Sample Pages**