Breakdown of Sri Chaitanya's Life

Shri Chaitanya enacted His earthly pastimes for 48 years (1486-1534). His youth was dedicated to scholastic excellence, His middle age to mass preaching, and His final years to deep communion with Krishna. It was a remarkable life.

In Chaitanya-Bhagavata (the first major biography of Shri Chaitanya), Vrindavana das Thakur’s primary focus was to describe the Lord’s first 24 years in Navadvip, West Bengal. Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami summarises these accounts in the Adi-Lila of Chaitanya-Charitamrita. His focus, however, was to narrate the later pastimes of Shri Chaitanya, which form the entire Madhya-Lila and Antya-Lila of his work.

Chaitanya-Charitamrita contains approximately 11,000 verses spread over 62 chapters. The chief historical sources used by Krishnadasa are as follows:

• Birth to 24 years – Murari Gupta, a physician and close associate of Shri Chaitanya, scribed extensive notes on the Navadvip years, culminating in the Lord’s acceptance of the renounced order (sannyasa).

• 24-48 years – The second half of Shri Chaitanya’s life was recorded in the diary of Svarupa Damodara Goswami, who acted as His personal secretary in Jagannatha Puri.