Why does Krishnadas KG in CC offer obeisances to his readers?
From Dinabandhu P:
Answer Podcast:
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
to be revealed. Multiple reasons.
Firstly, it is his natural expression of humility. Krishnaskara Yoswami is, he even says in the Chetan Charita Amrut that actually I am lower than a worm in the stool and I am very fallen. So, so he is considering that even the readers may be elevated Vaishnavas and in that out of his natural humility he is offering obeisances.
That’s firstly. Secondly, if we see Chetan Charita Amrut was a very very critical book in Gaudiya Vaishnava history. So it is written in Chetan Mahaprabhu’s legacy came in two primary places.
The Bengal-Orissa area where the devotees wrote primarily biographical books in Bengali and his legacy also came in Vrindavan where the Goswamis wrote books philosophically, philosophical books in Sanskrit. So now this was sort of there was past time books and there was philosophy books and there was a divulge between the two. So, Krishnaskara Yoswami was a person who was born and brought up in Bengal lived hearing Chetan Mahaprabhu’s past times in his childhood from Indamdas Thakur and Lachinda Thakur’s books and then he went to Vrindavan and he studied under the Goswamis and after studying under the Goswamis he wrote Chetan Charita Amrut.
So, Chetan Charita Amrut is like it manifests the marriage of Bengali Gaudiya Vaishnavism and Vrindavan Gaudiya Vaishnavism. So that’s why it is a book which combines past times and philosophy. It is a biography but within the biography there are many there are there is elaborate philosophy given and also that’s why although other Goswamis wrote the books in their books in Sanskrit Krishna Yoswami wrote his book in Bengali.
Normally Vrindavan not many Bengali people are there. So, if he is writing the book in Vrindavan why should he write a book in Bengali? Because he systematized the theology of Gaudiya Vaishnavism because different devotees have written different books and some people had also started imitating and deviating from Chetan Mahaprabhu. So, we see in the 11th, 12th, 13th chapter in the 10th, 11th, 12th chapters he gives chapters are just filled with long lists of Vaishnavas the branch expansions of Nityananda Vamsha the expansions of Gadadhar the expansions of Advaita Acharya So, why is this why is he doing like this? Because he is giving a list of which Vaishnavas are authorized followers of Chetan Mahaprabhu and which are not authorized followers.
So, in that sense actually before totally it is described that after Chetan Mahaprabhu disappeared 27 biographies were written of his. But Chetan Jagat Amrit is the last biography. And after this biography was written there was no need for another biography this became the defining biography.
So, in that sense he is writing the book also for Vaishnavas. So, that’s why he chooses the language of Bengali and he also writes so that those who are practicing Vaishnavas they can understand who are true followers of Chetan Mahaprabhu who are not true followers who are authentic who are not authentic and what they should be following. So, because he is naturally humble because he is writing for devotees and because he is writing about devotees so in that sense because he is writing to devotees primarily so his offering of obeisances is also an indication of both the mood of the book and the purpose of the book.
So, even as Srila Prabhupada when he would write to his disciples he would naturally be the spiritual master but he also offers this he says please accept my blessings. He is not offering obeisances but he is writing like a spiritual master writing to his disciples. But Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami does not put himself in that position because he is writing to people who are already practicing Vaishnavas to tell them what is the actual Siddhanta.
So, that is why he also offers obeisances to his readers. So, both ways from the mood of natural humility of the author and the purpose of the book to systematize Gaudiya Vaishnavism he is we can understand from that perspective he is offering obeisances.