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The Biography of Visvanatha
Cakravarti Thakura
Srila
Narahari Cakravarti writes as follows in Bhaktiratnakara (Pathavadi ms. no.
2341-24, p. 154 ka, "My father, Vipra Jagannatha, was a disciple of the
famous Visvanatha Cakravarti." Visvanatha stands as a remarkable example
of Bengali intellect. His place in the Vaisnava world remains unsurpassed as
far as erudition, theological knowledge, poetic talent and appreciation of
rasa. He was worshiped by his contemporaries as an example of unblemished
ascetic life and an ideal follower of Ragamarga.
Scholars
differ in their views regarding Visvanatha's period. According to Syamalala
Gosvami it was 1626-
Visvanatha
completed Sararthadarsini in
Visvanatha
was born at Devagrama (see ms. of Narottamavilasa at Pathavadi no. 2336 (21),
p. 31 kha). Some believe that this village belongs to Kasiganj police station
of the Nadia district (Gaurapadatarangini, introduction p. 183; Vaisnava
Digdarsani p. 120; Jivanikosa by Sasibhusana Vidyalankar, Vol. 5, p. 1773;
Nadia: Svadhinata Rajatajayanti Smarakagrantha, Krsnagore 1973, p. 25). Others
argue that Devagrama falls under Sagaradihi police station of the Mursidabad
district (see 'Padakarta Harivallabha' by Harekrsna Mukhopadhyay in Ananda
Bajara Patrika special Puja no. 1369, p. 276).
None
of the old mss. record the names of Visvanatha's parents. Pathavadi mss. of
'Narottamavilasa" state that Visvanatha's father's name was Ramanarayana
Cakravarti. Visvanatha was the youngest child in the family. His eldest brother
was Ramabhadra and the next oldest was Raghunatha. Ramabhadra was an
accomplished theologian and a disciple of Gopikanta. This Gopikanta was the son
of Hariramacarya, the disciple of Ramacandra Kaviraja who belonged to the
spiritual lineage of Srinivasa. The second brother, Raghunatha, was also a
great scholar (mss. of 'Narottamavilasa' of Pathavadi no. 2336.21, p. 31 kha).
Visvanatha's
family was brahmana by caste from the Radha clan, Sandilya gotra, and lineage
drawn from Bhattanarayana (see Vaisnavacarya Visvanatha by Nanigopala Gosvami
in Bharatavarsa 1351).
In
the said mss. of 'Narottamavilasa' p. 31 kha, an account is given relating to
Visvanatha's birth. It is said that as soon as Visvanatha was delivered a
strange halo of light appeared around his body. That light illuminated the
entire delivery-room and then disappeared. This account seems to be an
interpolation at a later date. Once a highly renowned scholar visited Devagrama
and the local pandita's became unnerved upon meeting him. But Visvanatha, a
mere adolescent, defeated this scholar in argument.
As
a child Visvanatha completed his studies at Devagrama and thereafter went to
Saidavad. Some say that Visvanatha was educated under Ganganarayana Cakravarti
of Saidavad (Premavilasa J.N. Talukdar ed. pp. 206-7), while others argue that
Ganganarayana's adopted son Krsnacarana actually taught Visvanatha (H.K.
Mukhopadhyaya 'Padakarta Harivallabha'). No evidence in support of these views
has yet been found.
Radharamana
was the name of Visvanatha's diksa guru. Visvanatha himself writes about his
spiritual lineage in one sloka of Sararthadarini. In chapters 2-7 of Stavamrtalahari
Narahari also gives details on the spiritual lineage or guru-pranali of
Visvanatha as follows:
Lord
Gauranga
|
Lokanatha
|
Narottama
|
Ganganarayana
|
Krsnacarana
|
Radharamana
(alias Sri Rama)
(son
& disciple)
|
Visvanatha
Visvanatha's
guru and parama-guru belonged to the spiritual lineage of Narottama Thakura.
From
his childhood Visvanatha was of a detached temperament. At the command of his
father, Visvanatha's brother Ramabhadra arranged for Visvanatha's marriage at
an early age. However, through studying Srimad Bhagavatam Visvanatha developed
a deep spirit of renunciation. After completing his studies he took spiritual
initiation and gradually developed an intense love for Krsna. Finally, one day,
he renounced home, took the vow of a renunciate and went to Vrndavana. After
visiting several holy places Visvanatha finally sought the shelter of
Mukundadasa, a disciple of Krsnadasa Kaviraja on the bank of the Radhakunda.
The devotees present there urged this young renunciate to return home, which
Visvanatha had to abide by (mss. Narottamavilasa pp. 31-32 ka).
Possibly
this was the time when Visvanatha went to Patadanja where he is said to have
realized his spiritual goal. Visvanatha installed the deity of Gopala
(Harekrsna Mukhopadhyaya p. 276)
At
the command of his guru, Visvanatha went home for one night to meet his wife.
His wife, however, heard nothing other than Krsna katha from her husband
throughout the night (see mss. Narottamavilasa p. 32 ka). Early the next
morning Visvanatha left home and took shelter of his guru. As directed by his
guru, Visvanatha began copying Srimad Bhagavatam.
Visvanatha
settled on the bank of the Radhakunda in Vrndavana. Regarding his spiritual
practices Narahari writes as follows, "Being deeply immersed in singing
kirtana of the Lord, Visvanatha narrated the pastimes of the Lord in a most
fascinating manner. No one is competent enough to speak of his spiritual
practices. Anyone who had the good fortune to set his eyes upon Visvanatha felt
immediately soothed from the pangs of material existence. Visvanatha served the
deity of Sri Gokulananda with great pleasure and devotion."
When
Visvanatha arrived in Vrndavana he noticed that with the disappearance of the
six Gosvamis the beauty of that holy place was no longer visible. A large
number of Mathas had been destroyed by the Muslims. Priests migrated from
Vrndavana taking away the deities which were in their charge. A number of
deities were left standing alone and received no service. And the devotees were
in a state of constant fear. People in general were in no mood to devote
attention to the study of the scriptures (see Madhurya Kadambini introduction,
p. 4, by Satyendranatha Vasu).
During
his stay in Vrndavana many loyal workers and scholars such as Baladeva
Vidyabhusana were deeply impressed upon seeing Visvanatha's devotion, strength
of mind and hard working nature. Visvanatha became determined to bring back the
lost glory of Vrndavana. The following are some of his achievements.
1.
Visvanatha himself installed the Deity of Gokulananda and took charge of
serving Govardhana sila. He reinstated different priests to begin the service
of the Deities in various places.
2.
It was through his initiative that the Sri Vardhana Matha of Kongala and some
new Mathas at several other places were set up (Visvakosa V. 19, p. 42).
Visvanatha also arranged to renovate a large number of temples.
3.
At that time there was little access by the common people to the works of the
Gosvamis. This was due to the fact that there were no proper analysis and
interpretation of these theological treatises. What Visvanatha did was to
prepare simple and lucid commentaries for these works, as well as presenting
abridged forms of the original works. This enabled devotees of all types to understand
and appreciate the essence of the Gosvamis' works. Visvanatha also arranged for
the wide distribution of books which Vaisnavas needed for daily study and
spiritual practices. He also organized classes to be held on them to impart
instructions.
Visvanatha
was one of the most accomplished preachers of madhurya-bhava in ragamarga.
Regarding sadhana (spiritual achievements), Visvanatha's name is placed after
Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Krsnadasa Kaviraja and Narottama Thakura (CC Sukumar
Sen ed. 1.4. p.13).
Visvanatha
was an out and out parakiya-vadi. Both in prakata and aprakata lila Visvanatha
considered Sri Radha and the gopis as the parakiya heroines of Lord Krsna.
Visvanatha had deep faith in the astakaliya nitya-lila described by Kavi
Karnapura and Krsnadasa Kaviraja (Padavaliparicaya 2nd ed. pp. 86-87). Apart
from practicing smarana (remembrance), manana (contemplation) and sankirtana,
Visvanatha remained deeply absorbed in the service of Radha Krsna with loyalty
to the Vrajavasis. Due to his own success in practice and realization,
Visvanatha was able to write beautifully describing the proper method for
astakaliya nitya-lila, a unique analysis of ragamarga sadhana, detailed
descriptions of Radha Krsna lila, details on the sadhana practiced by sakhi-manjari
or kinkari, the mystic significance of bhajan and the method of bhajan.
Another
remarkable achievement of Visvanatha's was to establish Gaudiya Vaisnavism and
its theology through Baladeva Vidyabhusana, Visvanatha's close follower, at the
meeting of Vaisnavas held at Galta, Jaipur in
As
a youth in Saidavad Visvanatha set up a Sanskrit school and accepted a teaching
career. In order to help the students to learn easily Visvanatha wrote a
simplified commentary titled 'Suvodhini' on Kavi Karnapura's Alamkara
Kaustubha. This is said to be Visvanatha's first literary work. Upon his
arrival in Vrndavana, Visvanatha sought the refuge of Mukundadasa. This Mukunda
dasa was a poet and disciple of Krsnadasa Kaviraja. Mukunda dasa had some books
to be completed. Noting Visvanatha's devotion and erudition, he thus requested
Visvanatha to complete those books. Pathavadi mss. Narottamavilasa p. 32 ka,
refers to this but does not give the names of the works.
In
Vrndavana Visvanatha's literary talent blossomed and beautiful compositions
began to flow like many streams of nectar. His complete works can be classified
under four groups:
1)
Commentary works (Tika Grantha):
At
that time most of the manuals and other books which Vaisnavas needed to consult
daily were full of difficult theological concepts mostly written in Sanskrit.
This made it difficult for the lay-devotee to study and understand the proper
conclusions. To remove these obstacles Visvanatha wrote simple Sanskrit
commentaries on many of the Gosvamis' works. Titles of such commentaries are as
follows:
1)
Sararthadarsini (
2)
Sararthavarsini - tika on Bhagavad-gita
3)
Sri Caitanya-caritamrtera tika (the first commentary in Sanskrit on a Bengali
book)
4)
Brahmasamhitara tika
5)
Anandacandrika - tika on Ujjvala-nilamani of Rupa Gosvami
6)
Bhakti-sara-pradarsani - tika on Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu of Rupa Gosvami
7)
Prema-bhakti-candrika-kirana - a Sanskrit tika on Narottama's
Prema-bhakti-candrika
8)
Sukhavartini - a tika on Kavi Karnapura's Ananda-vrndavana-campu
9)
Mahati - tika on Danakeli Kaumudi of Rupa Gosvami
10)
Bhakta-harsini - tika on Gopalatapani
11)
Hamsaduta tika - tika on Rupa Gosvami's Hamsadutam
12)
Tika on Rupa Gosvami's Vidagdha-madhava
13)
Lalita-madhavera tika
Some
scholars argue that the tika on Lalita-madhava and Vidagdha-madhava were not works
of Visvanatha. They say that Krsnadeva Sarvabhauma, a disciple of Visvanatha,
was the writer of the Vidagdha-madhava tika, while Radhakrsna dasa, a disciple
of Jiva Gosvami wrote the tika of Lalita-madhava (see Haridasa dasa Gaudiya
Vaisnava Abhidhana, p. 1751-52, 1745)
2)
Abridged Works:
Visvanatha
felt that many of the Vaisnava works were difficult for the lay-devotee to
grasp. He therefore extracted the most relevant information and presented an
abridged form of various selected books. Three of these are works of Rupa
Gosvami as shown below:
1)
Kirana i.e Ujjvala-nilamani-kirana on Ujjvala-nilamani
2)
Vindu i.e Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu-vindu on Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu
3)
Kana i.e. Bhagavatamrta-kana on Laghu-bhagavatamrta
3)
Original Works:
Visvanatha's
thoughts had originality and depth. He was gifted with the talent of
communicating deep philosophical concepts in a simple way, while keeping the
unique characteristics of Radha Krsna lila in tact. Most of his original works
relate to sadhana-bhajan as follows:
1)
Sri Krsna-bhavanamrta (
2)
Ragavartmacandrika: a guide to and an account of raganuga bhakti and its
methods
3)
Madhurya-kadambini: reveals the subtle concepts on rupa and madhurya of Lord
Krsna
4)
Aisvarya Kadambini: a scriptural account of Lord Krsna's aisvarya (opulence)
5)
Camatkara-candraka: mystic sports of Radha Krsna
6)
Gopipremamrta: reveals the love of the gopis and concepts regarding svakiya and
parakiya
7)
Mantrartha-dipika: explanation of kamabija and kamagayatri mantras
8)
Vraja-riti-cintamani: describes the sites of Lord Krsna's Vraja-lila
9)
Prema-samputa (
10)
Sankalpa-kalpadruma (
11)
Nikunja-keli-virudavali (
12)
Surata-kathamrta (
Some
other works by Visvanatha are written like hymns. These reveal Visvanatha's
genuine devotion and reverence for his superiors, cherished Deities, and the
holy places of Lord Krsna's pastimes. The following is a list of these works:
1)
Sriman Mahaprabhorastakaliya Smaranamangalastotram: A guide book describing
Lord Gauranga's astakaliya lila.
2)
Sri Gauranganoddesa-candrika: A brief account on the close associates of Lord
Gauranga (a similar manuscript of Visvanatha's dealing with the
associates
of Lord Gauranga is available in the collection of Barahanagar--Sri Gauranga
Granthamandir--the title of the said mss. is Gauraganasvarupa-tattvacandrika,
no. 230 B 17)
3)
Stavamrta-lahari: This is one of the best works of hymns. It consists of a
total
of 28 hymns which deal with the guru, the poet's own guru, paramaguru,
paratparaguru, Narottama, Lokanatha, Sri Caitanya, Vaisnava acaryas, etc. Then
invocation of the mercy of the famous Deities Gopaladeva, Madanagopala,
Govindadeva, Gopinatha, Gokulananda and Lord Krsna; invocation of the grace of
Radha and Vrnda devi; hymns in praise of various lila sites such as Vrndavana,
Nandisvara, Krsnakunda, etc.
4)
Padavali Samkalam (compilation of Vaisnava poems)
5)
Ksanada-gita-cintamani (known briefly as 'Ksanada' or 'Gitacintamani').
[Ksanada-gita-cintamani
mss. Pathavadi no. 2615 (24 ga), 2613 (24 ka), oldest edition
1282 (
2nd
edition 1315 Vrndavana Kesighat (Krsnapada dasa Babaji)
3rd
edition (?) Nitaipada Dasa
4th
edition (1332) Nityasvarupa Brahmacari, Calcutta
5th
edition (1369) Bimanabihari Majumdar, General Library
While
compiling this Ksanada-gita-cintamani containing selected Vaisnava poems
Visvanatha had in mind that devotees of raganuga marga may every night perform
or listen to nama-guna etc. of their cherished Deities.
Earlier
some attempts were made to prepare compilations of Vaisnava poems to some
extent by Ramagopala dasa of Srikhanda in his 'Sri Sri Radhakrsnarasa-kalpavalli',
by his son Pitamvaradasa in 'Rasamanjari' and Mukundadasa, a disciple of
Krsnadasa Kaviraja in 'Siddhantacandrodaya'. However it was Visvanatha who
first prepared this first compilation. In fact Ksanada is considered "the
first perfect Padavali compilation" (Vangala Sahityera Itihasa V.
Recently
the second part of Ksanada, compiled by Manohara dasa, was found and published
(Ksanada-gita-cintamani: Manoharadasa, published by Radhakrsna dasa,
Kusumsarovar, P.O. Radhakunda, Mathura). This mss. contains the first to the
seventeenth section of Ksanada. It was available from Advaitacarana Gosvami,
the priest of Radharamana of Vrndavana. Haridasa dasa gives information in
Gaudiya Vaisnava Abhidhana Vol. 3, p. 1484 that a similar manuscript is
available in the collection of Nimbarka sampradaya.
Bimanbihari
Majumdar argues as follows: "Since Visvanatha compiled Vaisnava poems for
the Bengalis to enjoy he titled them 'Purva Vibhaga' (eastern section) and his
contemporary, Manohara dasa, the writer of Anuragavalli, compiled for the
readers of western India and hence titled it 'Pascima Vibhaga' (western
section)."
In
the second compilation there are twenty one poems of Manohara dasa, along with
those of Haridasa Svami etc. Several of Manoharadasa's poems deal with Lord
Gauranga. This compilation consists of Hindi poems. In the 'Pascima Vibhaga'
there are six Hindi poems written by Visvanatha, who gave the bhanitas of
Harivallabha or Vallabha.
The
Purva Vibhaga of Visvanatha consists of a total of thirty Ksanada or themes.
These themes are fitted each for thirty nights from the first night of the dark
fortnight of one lunar month till the day of the new moon and from the first
day of the bright fortnight till the night of the full moon. Varying in size,
eight have small and sixteen have big padas. A total of 308 pada are found in
Purva Vibhaga containing the bhanita of 48 known and unknown poets (of these
the compiler has 53 padas - 40 with the bhanita of Harivallabha and 13 with the
bhanita of Vallabha). Some hold that Harivallabha was the name of Visvanatha's
guru. Some argue that Harivallabha was the sannyasa name of Visvanatha. However
neither of these ideas is supported by evidence. In 'Gitavali' part of the book
Stavamrta-lahari of Visvanatha, out of eleven Sanskrit padas two have bhanita
of Harivallabha and four have the bhanita of Vallabha.
In
'Mantrartha-dipika' Sri Radha addresses Visvanatha in a state of dream as
Harivallabha. Narahari, the son of Visvanatha's disciple, clearly writes that
Harivallabha was the name of Visvanatha.
Each
Ksanada or section is arranged in such a manner as it could be sung for one
night. First there is Gaura Vandana, then follows Nityananda Vandana and
concludes with poems of milana (comedy) or sambhaga. In between there are
poems/lyrics dealing with abhisara, or aksepanuraga and rasa. All these
compositions relate to madhurya rasa. None of these deal with sakhya, vatsalya
or even themes relating to Mathura.
This
compilation was made with a view to serving aspirants with manjari-bhava eager
to enjoy Vrajarasa. Though Visvanatha was a highly imaginative poet he was a
perfect erudite too. He never liked to compose poems in a simple, unadorned
manner. Sanskrit expression, rhetorically rich language, chiming words and
waves of rhythm enriched his poems which were equally rich with fascinating
themes and deep rasa.
Visvanatha
had an extraordinary command of Vrajvuli, Hindi and Sanskrit. In all three
languages Visvanatha composed a total of seventy padas of which the ones in
Sanskrit are the best.
It
seems that Visvanatha's poems were not appreciated by his contemporaries. Hence
in later compilation not many of Visvanatha's poems are found. In
Padamrtasamudra of Radhamohana Thakura, almost a contemporary of Visvanatha,
there was not any pada of Visvanatha's. The reason for this was that
Radhamohana compiled the poems in Bengal while Visvanatha was in Vrndavana.
Neither can any pada of Visvanatha's be found in Sankirtanamrta, a compilation
by Dinabandhu dasa belonging to a bit later period.
Among
other compilations of padas there are five padas of Visvanatha's in the total
1169 pada in Gitacandrodaya compiled by Narahari Cakravarti, one pada of
Visvanatha's out of a total of 1119 pada compiled in Kirtanananda of
Gaurasundara dasa, and three pada of Visvanatha's out of 3101 total pada
compiled in Vaisnava dasa's Padakalpataru.
When
critically evaluated as poetry Visvanatha's works do not rank in the first
category although critics have praised most of his padas (see introduction by
Bimanbihari Majumdar ed. Ksanadagitacintamani).
Judged
from the standpoint of the preceding Vaisnava acaryas and the quality of rasa,
Visvanatha undoubtedly contributed immensely in leading Gaudiya Vaisnavism and
sadhana bhakti forward. Most of the difficult treatises of Rupa Gosvami were
presented by Visvanatha to devotees sometimes by adding simple commentaries and
sometimes by preparing abridged editions. Devotees hailed Visvanatha as 'the
second svarupa of Rupa' or as 'avatara of Rupa'.
Among
the devotees of Visvanatha nothing much is known about others except Krsnadasa
(see mss. N. Vilasa p. 33 kha), Kanudasa, Nandakisora (see Rasakalika ed.
Haridasa dasa, p. 82, p. 154). Some think that Krsnadeva Sarvabhauma was a
disciple of Visvanatha. Baladeva Vidyabhusana, a disciple of Radhadamodara,
revered Visvanatha deeply as his guru.
Visvanatha
stands as a remarkable outcome of Bengali intellect in 17th-18th century as
poet, musician, thinker, theologian, scholar and above
all a devotee and preacher.
UPDATED: July 26, 2010