There is some difference of opinion about Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī’s caste. Once again, Śrīla Prabhupāda, Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura has discussed this point: “Supporters of different ideas claim that Kṛṣṇadāsa appeared in one of the three upper castes (brāhmaṇa, kāyastha or vaidya). Kavirāja is a title given to those who have proven themselves by composing literary works that have achieved renown for their quality in learned circles. Since this title is also given to Ayurvedic physicians, some people hold that Kṛṣṇadāsa was a vaidya. It is difficult to contradict those who claim that he is a brāhmaṇa on the basis of his profound skill in darśana śāstra and extraordinary mastery of the scriptures and other branches of learning. Nor is the view that he was a kāyastha altogether illogical, as he reveals a soft spot for that caste when he praises its intelligence and managerial talents in the chapters about Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī’s early life.” (Preface by Śrīla Prabhupāda to Caitanya Caritāmṛta)

From this discussion, we can see that Kṛṣṇadāsa may have been born in any of these three castes. Whatever the case, all the scriptures say that a Vaiṣṇava is transcendental no matter in what caste he takes his birth.

All scriptures state that a Vaiṣṇava is transcendental. It does not matter in which caste he takes birth. That most sinful person who judges a Vaiṣṇava in terms of his race or his caste will be born repeatedly in the lowest forms of life. (Caitanya Bhāgavata 2.10.100, 102)

There is no unanimous opinion about Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī’s marital status, either. Some say that he was a lifelong brahmacārī when he went to Vṛndāvana, for if he had left a wife and family he would likely have mentioned it when describing his renunciation. Śrīla Prabhupāda writes in this connection, “After arriving in Vṛndāvana, Kṛṣṇadāsa became totally absorbed in harikathā and indifferent to talk about his previous family life. This behavior is appropriate for someone in the third or fourth station and completely committed to devotional service. Caitanya Caritāmṛta is the composition of someone who has reached the status of a paramahaṁsa and is completely beyond the four āśramas. He was known as Kavirāja Gosvāmī to his spiritual family. His spiritual identity in Vraja-līlā is Ratnarekhā-mañjarī, or Kasturī-mañjarī according to Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Abhidhāna.

From Kṛṣṇadāsa’s statements in the Caitanya Caritāmṛta, we also learn that he had a brother. Kṛṣṇadāsa does not name him, but Haridāsa Dāsa writes in the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Abhidhāna that he was called Śyāma Dāsa Kavirāja.

In the course of his glorification of Nityānanda Prabhu in the Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Kavirāja Gosvāmī describes the crucial event in his life. He had organized a 24-hour kīrtana at his house and amongst those invited was Nityānanda Prabhu’s dear associate, Mīnaketana Rāma Dāsa, who also lived in Jhamatpur.

Mīnaketana Rāma Dāsa was a great Vaiṣṇava who was constantly in a state of devotional trance as he chanted the name of Nityānanda Prabhu. While in his ecstatic mood, he would sometimes slap people and sometimes hit people with his flute. In general, his ecstatic behavior was the cause of some astonishment amongst the participants and most came to pay their obeisances and offer him their respects. Only Guṇārṇava Miśra, who had been engaged as a pūjārī of the deities, did not demonstrate a respectful attitude. This behavior was an indication that Guṇārṇava Miśra had no faith in Nityānanda Prabhu. Rāma Dāsa became angry and criticized Miśra, saying,

”Just look! This is a second Romaharṣaṇa Suta, who did not come forward to show respect when he saw Balarāma!” (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 1.5.170)

Guṇārṇava Miśra was pleased to have been chastised by Rāma Dāsa. At the end of the kīrtana festival, when Guṇārṇava Miśra had left, however, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī’s brother got into an argument with Mīnaketana Rāma Dāsa about what had happened. Kavirāja Gosvāmī’s brother had strong faith in Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but lacked similar faith in Nityānanda Prabhu. Upon hearing this, Rāma Dāsa was deeply wounded and he became so angry that he broke his flute and left. The result of this curse was that Kavirāja Gosvāmī’s brother was doomed to lose whatever devotion he had. In this argument, Kavirāja Gosvāmī took the side of Nityānanda Prabhu’s associate and rebuked his brother:

“These two brothers [Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu] are one body, equal in every respect. If you do not accept the divinity of Nityānanda Prabhu, you will meet with ruin. To have faith in one but to disrespect the other is as logical as accepting half a hen that lays the eggs. Better you should be an atheist and deny the divinity of both than a hypocrite who believes in one and not the other.” (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 1.5.175-7)

The Lord is influenced by His devotees and He gives great importance to even the slightest display of attachment to His devotees, bestowing upon them all that they desire. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī writes that just for taking the side of Nityānanda Prabhu’s associate and chastising his brother, he won the blessings of Nityānanda Prabhu Himself. Nitāi came to him in a dream and ordered him to go to Vṛndāvana.

“O Kṛṣṇadāsa! Have no fear. Go to Vṛndāvana, for there you will attain all things.” After saying this, He indicated the way to Vṛndāvana by waving His hand and then disappeared with His associates. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 1.5.195-6)

In contrast, a person who shows all the customary virtues, yet holds devotees in contempt, is eternally deprived of the Lord’s blessings. A good example of this is the zamindar Rāmacandra Khān, who committed offenses to Haridāsa Ṭhākura, as a result of which he incurred Nityānanda Prabhu’s displeasure and anger. Not only did Rāmacandra lose his family and possessions, but his house was razed to the ground, leaving him with nothing. Only a fool who lacks discrimination would be so bold as to behave unjustly toward a saintly person.

With words of profound humility, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī proclaims the glories of Nityānanda Prabhu:

I am more sinful than Jagāi and Mādhāi and lower than a maggot in stool. Whoever hears my name loses the results of his virtuous deeds, and whoever utters my name commits a sin. Other than Nityānanda Prabhu, could anyone in this world show mercy to one as abominable as me? Nityānanda Prabhu is an incarnation of mercy; He is so intoxicated by ecstatic love that He does not discriminate between the superior and the inferior. He delivers anyone who falls down before Him. Therefore, He has delivered such a sinful and fallen person as me. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 1.5.205-9)

Without the mercy of Viṣṇu and the Vaiṣṇavas, it is impossible to describe their glories. It is for this reason that Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī begins each chapter of the Caitanya Caritāmṛta with invocations to Mahāprabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu, Advaita Ācārya, and His associates and concludes each chapter with a prayer for the service to the feet of Rūpa Gosvāmī and Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī. He thus showed how important it is to carefully avoid any disrespect or offense to the Vaiṣṇavas.

The activities of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu are by nature wonderful and sweet. When described by Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura, they become a shower of nectar. To describe them again would not only be repetition, but a display of arrogance, for I do not possess his powers. I shall thus only present a synopsis of those events already described fully by him in his Caitanya Maṅgala. In this book, I shall do my best to fully describe only those incidents mentioned in his outline that he did not develop. I therefore offer respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura, praying that I will not offend his lotus feet by my action. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.4.5-9)

Just as Vyāsadeva compiled Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Ṭhākura Vṛndāvana Dāsa depicted Lord Caitanya’s pastimes. I offer millions of obeisances unto the lotus feet of Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura, who has delivered the entire universe through his book. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 1.8.35, 40)

Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura is the authorized biographer of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and equal to Śrīla Vyāsadeva. The way he has described the Lord’s pastimes makes them more and more delectable. Afraid that it would become too voluminous, Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura left some events out of his book. I shall try as far as possible to fill in these gaps. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 1.13.48-9)

Parama-pūjyapāda Bhakti Promode Purī Gosvāmī Mahārāja, the former president of the editorial board of Caitanya Vāṇī magazine, explains the above statements in his foreword to the Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math edition of the Caitanya Caritāmṛta:

Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura gave an outline of Mahāprabhu’s līlā at the beginning of the Caitanya Bhāgavata, but as he started to describe them in more detail he found that the work became voluminous resulting in leaving the events mentioned in the outline unelaborated. He became so absorbed in describing Nityānanda Prabhu’s activities that, particularly, the Lord’s pastimes after His sannyāsa remained incomplete. Mahāprabhu’s Vṛndāvana devotees were extremely eager to listen to those pastimes and so they approached Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, asking him to write down a full version of these events. Kavirāja Gosvāmī then went to the deity of Madana Mohana and asked for permission to do as he had been requested. In front of all the prominent contemporary members of the Gauḍīya community in Vṛndāvana, Madana Mohana’s garland fell from His neck. This was taken by all present as a sign of the Lord’s approval and they let out a joyous cheer. Madana Mohana’s pūjārī picked up the garland and placed it on Kavirāja Gosvāmī’s chest. Accepting it as a symbol of the Deity’s wishes, he began to write his biography of the Lord. Thus, he has written in great humility,

“Caitanya Caritāmṛta is being dictated to me by Madana Mohana. My writing is like the repetition of a parrot. I write as Madana Gopāla orders me, just as a wooden marionette is made to dance by a puppeteer. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 1.8.78-9)

In writing Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Kavirāja Gosvāmī made use of Svarūpa Dāmodara’s notes, which Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī had memorized. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has described this as follows: “Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī wrote an outline of Mahāprabhu’s later activities in his diary. He had Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī memorize these events and preached them throughout the world through Kavirāja Gosvāmī. Svarūpa Dāmodara’s notes were not published. Caitanya Caritāmṛta is the gist of Svarūpa Dāmodara’s kaḍcā (notes).

With the blessings of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, though I am an insignificant living being, I have summarized in writing everything that Svarūpa Dāmodara recorded in his notes about the Lord’s pastimes, as well as everything that I heard from the mouth of Raghunātha Dāsa. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 3.3.267-68)

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s glorious name, form, qualities and activities all manifested in Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī’s heart, which he then published in the Caitanya Caritāmṛta. He himself stated this fact in various places throughout the book:

I am now an old man and an invalid. My hand trembles as I write and my memory fails me. I am going blind and deaf, but still I manage to write and this is a great wonder. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.2.89-90)

While Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda was once glorifying the supremacy of Caitanya Caritāmṛta to his disciples, he instructed them as follows: “If ever a situation were to come where everything in the world were destroyed, leaving only Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and Caitanya Caritāmṛta, then the people would still be able to achieve the ultimate goal in life. And even if the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam were lost, leaving only the Caitanya Caritāmṛta, there would be no loss to humanity, for that which has not been revealed in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is found in Caitanya Caritāmṛta. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the combined form of Radha and Kṛṣṇa, is the Supreme Absolute Truth. Caitanya Caritāmṛta is His nondifferent sound incarnation. The most sublime and divine nature of Rādhārāṇī and Her glories are found therein. Can there be any doubt, therefore, of the supreme status of this piece of transcendental literature?”

This statement underscores the supremely special status of Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī himself. His three books, Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Govinda-līlāmṛta and a commentary on Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, are all priceless works. Govinda-līlāmṛta describes in detail Lord Kṛṣṇa’s activities over a twenty-four-hour period. Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura has therefore stated:

kṛṣṇadāsa kavirāja, rasika bhakata mājh
jiṅho kailā caitanya-carita
gaura-govinda-līlā, śunite galaye śilā
tāhāte nā haila mora cita

Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī stands out amongst the devotees who are expert in the knowledge of transcendental divine mellows, for he is the author of the biography of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Even the stones melt on hearing his descriptions of Gaura and Govinda’s līlā. Alas, my mind has still not been attracted by these works. (Prema-bhakti-candrikā)

Kṛṣṇadāsa Gosvāmī was honored with the title kavirāja “king of poets” for his Govinda-līlāmṛta. He is also respected in the Vaiṣṇava world as the best amongst the followers of Rūpa Gosvāmī.

From the illustrious commentator Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura’s words, we can understand that Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī was an associate of Rādhārāṇī, and that the deepest and most esoteric truths of the Divinity were revealed to him, showing that every word he wrote is to be taken as the supreme spiritual truth. Śrīla Bhakti Pramode Purī Gosvāmī Mahārāja has recounted the following anecdote in his Caitanya Caritāmṛta foreward: “Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura was unable to understand why Kavirāja Gosvāmī had written that the kāma-gāyatrī mantra consists of 241/2 syllables rather than 25. He became so distraught by his inability to comprehend that he finally took a vow to give up his body by the banks of Rādhā-kuṇḍa. As he dozed off in the middle of the night, Rādhārāṇī, the daughter of Vṛṣabhānu, appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘O Viśvanātha! O the one dear to Hari! Get up. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja has indeed written correctly. He is My dear girlfriend, who brings Me much pleasure. I have blessed him so that he can understand the most intimate things about Me. Do not doubt anything he has written.’ In the book named Varṇāgama-bhāsvat, it is written that whenever the syllable ya is followed by the syllable vi, it is considered to be only half a syllable.”

The Bhakti-ratnākara mentions that Śrīnivāsa Ācārya met Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī and Śrī Rāghava and got their blessings. (Bhakti-ratnākara 4.392)

On the grounds of Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī’s home in Jhamatpur is a small temple containing Nityānanda Prabhu’s footprints. Local legend has it that Kavirāja Gosvāmī received Nityānanda Prabhu’s mercy, possibly mantra initiation, at this very spot. According to the Prema-vilāsa, however, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī took initiation from Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī. In the temple, there is a wooden sandal that is said to have belonged to Kavirāja Gosvāmī. His bhajana-kutīra and samādhi are in Rādhā-kuṇḍa. He disappeared after Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī, on the śuklā dvādaśī tithi of the month of Āśvina.

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¹ - According to Āśutoṣa Deva’s Bengali Dictionary and Haridāsa Dāsa’s Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Abhidhāna, Kṛṣṇadāsa’s parents were named Bhagīratha and Sunandā.