304 Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta

sires of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and by His direction he wrote two books named
Lalita-madhava and Vidagdha-mddhava. Lord Caitanya desired the two brethers,
Sanatana Gosvami and Rupa Gosvami, to publish many books in support of the
Vaisnava religion. When Sanatana Gosvami met Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lord
advised him also to go to Vendavana.

Sri Sanatana Gosvami is described in the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (181). He was
formerly known as Rati-mafijari or sometimes Labanga-manijari. In the Bhakti-
ratnakara it is stated that his spiritual master, Vidyavacaspati, sometimes stayed in
the village of Ramakeli, and Sanatana Gosvami studied all the Vedic literature from
him. He was so devoted to his spiritual master that this cannot be described. Accord-
ing to the Vedic system, if someone sees a Mohammedan he must perform rituals
to atone for the meeting. Sanatana Gosvami always associated with Mohammedan
kings. Not giving much attention to the Vedic injunctions, he used to visit the
houses of Mohammedan kings, and thus he considered himself to have been con-
verted into a Mohammedan. He was therefore always very humble and meek. When
Sanatana Gosvami presented himself before Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he admit-
ted, ‘‘l am always in association with lower class people, and my behavior is there-
fore very abominable.” He actually belonged to a respectable brdhmana family, but
because he considered his behavior to be abominable, he did not try to place himself
among the bradhmanas but always remained among people of the lower castes. He
wrote Hari-bhakti-vilasa and Vaisnava-tosani, which is a commentary on the Tenth
Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. \n the year 1476 sakdbda he completed the Brhad-
vaisnava-tosani commentary on Srimad-Bhagavatam. |n the year 1504 sakdbda he
finished the Laghu-tosani.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught his principles through four chief followers.
Among them, Ramananda Raya is exceptional, for through him the Lord taught
how a devotee can completely vanquish the power of Cupid. By Cupid’s power,
as soon as one sees a beautiful woman he is conquered by her beauty. Sri Ramananda
Raya vanquished Cupid’s pride because in the faganndtha-vallabha-nataka he
personally directed extremely beautiful young girls in dancing, but he was never
affected by their youthful beauty. Sri Ramananda Raya personally bathed these
girls, touching them and washing them with his own hands, yet he remained calm
and passionless, as a great devotee should be. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu certified
that this was possible only for Ramananda Raya. Similarly, Damodara Pandita was
notable for his objectivity as a critic. He did not even spare Caitanya Mahaprabhu
from his criticism. This also cannot be imitated by anyone else. Haridasa Thakura
is exceptional for his forbearance because although he was beaten with canes in
twenty-two marketplaces, nevertheless he was tolerant. Similarly, Sri Sanatana
Gosvami, although he belonged to a most respectable brahmana family, was excep-
tional for his humility and meekness.

In the Madhya-lila, Chapter Nineteen, the device adopted by Sanatana Gosvami
to get free from the government service is described. He served a notice of sickness
to the Nawab, the Moslem governer, but actually he was studying Srimad-Bhdgavatam
with brahmanas at home. The Nawab received information of this through a royal
physician, and he immediately went to see Sanatana Gosvami to uncover his inten-
