Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #8 – The Mission of Śrī Caitanya and the Genius of Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja in Presenting It
Dhanurdhara Swami February 17th, 2025
I have written an article before about the genius of Sanātana Gosvāmī in presenting the mission of Śrī Caitanya in the first book of Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta. The mission of Śrī Caitanya is to give spontaneous love for Krishna (rāgānugā-bhakti) to the world. I was in awe of how creatively Śrī Sanātana did this. First, he weaved the plot of the book to build a foundation to help us understand its esoteric subject. Then, he highlighted the spontaneous love of the gopīs for Krishna through various dramatic exchanges between the devotees of Dvārakā in the last chapter. I recently saw the same type of literary brilliance of highlighting an essential point in various creative ways in the first chapter of the Antya-līlā of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta by Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja.
Before I continue, a disclaimer: I like to write, but I am hardly an authority in literature. I suppose every classic has themes that are presented in various ways, often by telling, showing and dramatizing as found in Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta and Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Still, I found these works exceptional. The authors not only insert their points through the texts in dramatic and creative ways but do it in verse form. The genius of their presentation certainly shone through to me and I’ll try to share some of that here with you.
The Antya-līlā of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta is the story of the last eighteen years of Śrī Caitanya’s life as he settles in Puri to fulfill the internal reason for his descent (his personal objective rather than his contribution to the world)—to relish the love of his topmost devotee, Śrī Radha, at the height of her love. It is the most esoteric subject in Krishna bhakti, and we are told throughout the book that it is impossible to grasp it simply by the force of one’s intellect. How then to enter the Antya-līlā , where this subject will be extensively discussed? We need the mercy of God and His pure devotees. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja establishes this point throughout the first chapter in a myriad of ways. I found the way he did it quite brilliant. Here are some of the ways he approaches the subject.
By direct declaration, as we are informed in the first verse that the impossible is made possible by mercy:
“I offer my respectful obeisances to Śrī Krishna Caitanya Mahāprabhu, by whose mercy even a lame man can cross over a mountain and a dumb man recite Vedic literature.” (Antya-līlā 1.1)
By his personal example:
At the beginning of the Madhya-līlā (the middle pastimes), only one third through the Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, he decides to summarize the pastimes of Śrī Caitanya, which were practically known only to himself due to his direct service and access to Svarūpa Dāmodara, the Lord’s personal confidante. He begins composing one verse for each pastime, and having completed that, hopefully plans to unpack each verse to tell the full story of Śrī Caitanya’s life as far as he can go. His fear is that he is old, nearly blind and invalid, and that he will either die or become incapacitated before he completes the book. Imagine his daunting task. He had to create one verse after another in Bengali in his mind, encapsulating his subject within strict poetic parameters, and then having only one shot to put it to paper. Somehow, however, he completes the Madhya-līlā and now he is faced with an even more daunting task, to approach the Antya-līlā , which describes the most esoteric part of Śrī Caitanya’s life and philosophy in verse form. His hope:
“My path is very difficult. I am blind, and my feet are slipping again and again. Therefore, may the saints help me by granting me the stick of their mercy as my support.” (Antya-līlā 1.2)
Through the story line as he presents it:
Śrī Caitanya has just returned from Vrindavan to fulfill the internal reason for his descent. His devotees get word of his return and proceed on the long journey from Bengal to Puri to join him under the leadership of Śivānanda Sena. On their journey Śivānanda gives shelter to a stray dog who joins the party. It’s a long story about how this dog was cared for by Śivānanda, and the story ends with the dog going back to Godhead. The message is clear: The impossible is possible by the mercy of God’s devotees. We too can enter, or understand, the Antya-līlā by their mercy. Śrīla Prabhupāda’s commentary encourages us:
“We may conclude that even as dogs we must take shelter of a Vaiṣṇava. The benefit will be the same as that which accrues to an advanced devotee under a Vaiṣṇava’s care.” (Antya-līlā 1.24, purport)
I could continue how expertly this theme of entering Antya-līlā for Śrī Caitanya, His devotees, the author, and the reader are expertly woven into the text, but it’s beyond the scope of a brief post. I haven’t even recounted the epiphany of Śrī Rupa on his journey to Puri that reveals the essence of the Antya-līlā and our entrance to the subject through him. I wanted to give just a glimpse of the literary genius of Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja in giving us the method of entrance to the heart of Śrī Caitanya and what He has given us and the world. Without a doubt, he’s a kavirāja, a genius of wordcraft.