Produced by James Simmons CHAITANYA'S LIFE AND TEACHINGS From his contemporary Bengali biography the _Chaitanya-charit-amrita_: Translated into English BY JADUNATH SARKAR, M.A., I.E.S. SECOND EDITION, _Revised and enlarged, with topographical notes._ 1922 M. C. SARKAR & SONS, CALCUTTA, LUZAC & Co., LONDON. Rs. 2. PUBLISHED BY S. C. SARKAR M. C. Sarkar & Sons, 90/2A, Harrison Road, Calcutta. PRINTER: S. C. MAZUMDAR SRI GOURANGA PRESS _71/1, Mirzapur Street, Calcutta._ 1481/21. TO _Professor_ RAJA GOPALACHARIAR, M.A., B.L., WHO HAS DONE SO MUCH TO MAKE THE VAISHNAV SAINTS OF THE SOUTH KNOWN TO US, I DEDICATE THIS ATTEMPT TO PLACE THE ORIGINAL LIFE OF CHAITANYA--THE GREATEST VAISHNAV TEACHER OF THE NORTH WITHIN THE REACH OF ALL READERS OF ENGLISH WHO KNOW NOT THE BENGALI TONGUE. PATNA COLLEGE, _10th April, 1913._ J. SARKAR THE AUTHOR AND HIS BOOK Krishna-das Kaviraj, the author of the _Chaitanya-charit-amrita_, was born in the Vaidya caste, at Jhámatpur, a village of the Kátwá sub-division of the Burdwan district in Bengal, (1496 A.D.) Having lost his parents in early life, he was brought up by his late father's sister. He read Persian at the village school, and then began to study Sanskrit in order to qualify himself for practising Hindu medicine, the profession of his caste. Every part of his great poem bears evidence to his profound mastery of Sanskrit literature, particularly of the _Bhágabat Purán_. The young orphan, while still unmarried, was converted to Vaishnavism by Nityánanda, and begged his way on foot to Brindában, where he spent the remainder of his long life in religious study, meditation and worship. He was initiated as a Vaishnav monk by Raghunath-das, who along with Swarup Damodar had been body-servants to Chaitanya during that saint's stay at Jagannáth. From his _guru_, Krishna-das learned the particulars of Chaitanya's life and teaching which he has embodied in the present biography.