Caitanya Mahāprabhu
15th–16th century · Navadvīp, Bengal & Purī, Odisha · Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism
Caitanya, born Viśvambhara Miśra at Navadvīp in Bengal, was a brilliant young scholar who turned wholly to the love of Kṛṣṇa. He spread saṅkīrtana — singing the divine names together in the streets with drums and cymbals — and the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahāmantra. He spent his last years at Purī, absorbed in the worship of Jagannātha.
He wrote little himself; the eight verses of the Śikṣāṣṭakam are his. His followers, the Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvan, developed the philosophy of acintya-bhedābheda, “inconceivable oneness and difference”. His life is told in the Caitanya Caritāmṛta of Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja. His followers see him as Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā in one form.
Navadvīp, Bengal · Saṅkīrtana · Śikṣāṣṭakam · Acintya-bhedābheda