A Humble Offering
In 1965, when Shrila Prabhupada suffered sea sickness and multiple heart attacks on his voyage to America, his reading of Chaitanya- Charitamrita brought him great solace. He said it was the “nectarine of life” and his “source of vitality”. Shrila Prabhupada also recollects how Chaitanya-Charitamrita was his spiritual master’s favourite book. Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur had predicted that a time would come when people would learn the Bengali language simply to relish this classic composition by Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami. At present, however, Chaitanya-Charitamrita remains a relatively unexplored literature. Since the studies of Bhagavad-Gita and Shrimad-Bhagavatam are vast in and of themselves, many neglect the opportunity to bathe in the delightful narrations of Shri Chaitanya’s life.
This small contribution does not fully describe each episode of the Chaitanya-Charitamrita, since Shrila Prabhupada’s translation does that perfectly. The key objectives are as follows:
• To present an easy-to-follow overview of Shri Chaitanya’s life.
• To provide a road-map and framework for anyone who desires to explore the Chaitanya-Charitamrita in greater detail.
Above all, this book has been compiled in a spirit of self-improvement, with the ardent desire to increase my meditation on Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. I am far from qualified to write about this elevated subject matter, but my attempt is simply to encourage the reader to approach the original source of knowledge: Krishnadasa’s devotion-filled words translated by Shrila Prabhupada. Please forgive any mistakes I may make, which are likely due to my limited knowledge and lack of spiritual depth.
S.B. Keshava Swami
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