214 si Caitanya-caritamrta [ Adi-lila, Ch. 16
tabe visnupriya-thakura@nira parinaya
tabe ta’ karifa prabhu digvijayi jaya
SYNONYMS

tabe—after this; visrupriyad—of the name Visnupriya; fhakuranira—of the goddess
of fortune; parinaya—marriage; tabe ta’—thereafter; kariia—did; prabhu—the Lord;
dig-vijayi—the champion; jaya—conquer.

TRANSLATION

Then Lord Caitanya married Visnupriya, the goddess of fortune, and thereafter

He conquered a champion of learning named Kesava Kasmiri.
PURPORT

As in the modern day there are many champions in sports, so in bygone days
there were many learned scholars in India who were champions in learning. One
such person was KeSava Kasmiri, who came from the state of Kashmir. He traveled
atl over India and at jast came to Navadvipa to challenge the learned scholars there.
Unfortunately he could not conquer the learned scholars in Navadvipa, for he was
defeated by the boy scholar Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Later he understood that
Caitanya Mahaprabhu is none other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Thus he surrendered unto Him and later became a pure Vai$nava in the sampradaya
of Nimbarka. He wrote Kaustubha-prabhé, a commentary on the Vedanta commen-
tary of the Nimbarka-sampradaya, which is known as the Parijata-bhasya.

The Bhakti-ratnakara mentions Kesava Kasmiri and lists his predecessors in the
disciplic succession of the Nimbarka-sampradaya: (1) Srinivasa Acarya, (2) Visva
Acarya, (3) Purusottama, (4) Vilasa, (5) SvarGpa, (6) Madhava, (7) Balabhadra,
(8) Padma, (9) Syama, (10) Gopala, (11) Krpa, (12) Deva Acarya, (13) Sundara
Bhatta, (14) Padmanabha, (15) Upendra, (16) Ramacandra, (17) Vamana, (18) Krstia,
(19) Padmakara, (20) Sravana, (21) Bhuri, (22) Madhava, (23) Syama, (24) Gopila,
(25) Balabhadra, (26) Gopinatha, (27) Kesava, (28) Gokula and (29) Kegava Kasmiri.
It is stated in the Bhakti-ratndkara that Kesava Kasmiri was a favorite devotee of
mother Sarasvati, the goddess of learning. By her grace he was an extremely influen-
tial scholar, and he was the greatest champion among all the scholars in the four
corners of the country. Therefore he got the title digvifay7, which means '‘one who
has conquered everyone in all directions.'’ He belonged to a very respectable
brdhmana family of Kashmir. Later, by the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he
gave up the profession of winning championships and became a great devotee. He
joined the Nimbarka-sampradaya, one of the Vaisnava communities of the Vedic
culture.

TEXT 26
uraaain 2a) sfaatcea fawia |
"gb atfe aca CaTa-ecsa faoia uy I
