Page 11 - Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu (English)
P. 11

Prologue



             Lord Caitanya has many names. His father
          titled Him Viçvambhara, and in His youth He was
          called Nimäi Paëòita. When He took  sannyäsa
          He became Çré Kåñëa Caitanya. He was also
          renowned as Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, or simply
          Mahäprabhu. And throughout His pastimes He
          was known as Gauräìga, or Gaurahari, because of
          His golden complexion. *
             The Lord spent His first twenty-four years
          in Navadvépa, West Bengal.  Thereafter He
                                         †
          renounced family life and accepted  sannyäsa.
          Making Puré His headquarters, Mahäprabhu
          then passed six years traveling between South
          India, Bengal, and Våndävana. For the remaining
          eighteen years of His manifest presence He stayed
          in Puré, where He drifted into ever deeper trances
          of love for Kåñëa.

             The raptures exhibited by Lord Caitanya are
          unparalleled in the history of Eastern or Western
          religious mysticism. His biographers have recorded
          that  in  the  ecstasy  of  separation  from  Kåñëa,

          * Gaura—golden or fair-complexioned.
          † A town and area presently in the state of West Bengal,
          India.

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