Volume 3 - Prabhupada Books

Introduction
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta is the principal work on the life and teachings of Sri
Kr�t:�a Caitanya. Sri Caitanya is the pioneer of a great social and religious move­
ment which began in India a little less than five hundred years ago and which has
directly and indirectly influenced the subsequent course of religious and phi­
losophical thinking not only in India but in the recent West as well.
Caitanya Mahaprabhu is regarded as a figure of great historical significance.
However, our conventional method of historical analysis-that of seeing a man as
a product of his times-fails here. Sri Caitanya is a personality who transcends the
limited scope of historical settings.
At a time when, in the West, man was directing his explorative spirit toward
studying the structure of the physical universe and circumnavigating the world in
search of new oceans and continents, Sri Kr�t:�a Caitanya, in the East, was in­
augurating and masterminding a revolution directed inward, toward a scientific
understanding of the highest knowledge of man's spiritual nature.
The chief historical sources for the life of Sri Kr�t:�a Caitanya are the kac;facas (di­
aries) kept by Murari Gupta and Svaropa Damodara GosvamT. Murari Gupta, a
physician and close associate of Sri Caitanya's, recorded' extensive notes on the
first twenty-four years of Sri Caitanya's life, culminating in his initiation into the
renounced order, sannyasa. The events of the rest of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's for­
ty-eight years are recorded in the diary of SvarOpa Damodora Gosvami, another of
Caitanya Mahaprabhu's intimate associates.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta is di�ided into three sections called lilas, which literally
means "pastimes" -Adi-lila (the early period), Madhya-lila (the middle period)
and Antya-li/a (the final period). The notes of Murari Gupta form the basis of the
Adi-li/a, and Svaropa Damodara's diary provides the details for the Madhya- and
Antya-li/as.
The first twelve of the seventeen chapters of Adi-li/a constitute the preface for
the entire work. By referring to Vedic scriptural evidence, this preface establishes
Sri Caitanya as the avatara (incarnation) of Kr�t:�a (God) for the age of Kali-the
current epoch, beginning five thousand years ago and characterized by material­
ism, hypocrisy and dissension. In these descriptions, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who
is identical with Lord Kr�t:�a, descends to liberally grant pure love of God to the
fallen souls of this degraded age by propagating sar'lkirtana-literally,
"congregational glorification of God"-especially by organizing massive public
chanting of the maha-mantra (Great Chant for Deliverance). The esoteric purpose
of Lord Caitanya's appearance in the world is revealed, his co-avataras and prin­
cipal devotees are described and his teachings are summarized. The remaining
portion of Adi-lila, chapters thirteen through seventeen, briefly recounts his
divine birth and his life until he accepted the renounced order. This includes his
childhood miracles, schooling, marriage and early philosophical confrontations, as
well as his organization of a widespread sankirtana movement and his civil disobe­
dience against the repression of the Mohammedan government.
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