Historical
These historical works just mentioned are really very largely biographical in nature:
They are mostly concerned with leaders in the revival of enthusiasm that marked the sect two generations after Chaitanya.
The story of the three men most revered, Śrīnivāsa, Narottama and Śyāmānanda, has been told as part of the history of the sect. It was the power of their influence that gave rise to the works we are about to describe.
As Dr. Sen says:
These men helped the further development of the Vaishnava creed in Bengal:
Their great sacrifices, asceticism, scholarship and faith made them the central figures of the age that succeeded that of darkness and stupor caused by the tirodhāna - the passing away of Chaitanya from this world.
Their mystic visions, the romance of their lives, which cast a spell over the wicked and innocent alike, and their zeal and enthusiasm in propagating the creed of their faith,
have been the subject of many illustrious memoirs and poetical songs, which once more sprang like a rich harvest In the field of the Vaishnava literature.
These works are truly historical, in that they throw a flood of light upon the circumstances of the Vaishnava revival, its methods, its extent and its contagion, while setting forth in living and vivid outline the figures of leading actors in the scene.
Some of these works are clearly contemporary records:
They are full of the atmosphere and detail of personal experience and knowledge, such as descriptions of great festivals, the founding of shrines, learned discussions on the doctrines of the faith and debates that became historic.
Probably the earliest of these works is the Premavilāsa, by Nityānanda Dās. Its date is about 1640-50.
The author was himself a Vaishnava scholar who had studied under the famous son of Nityānanda, Vīrabhadra. He was a friend of Śrīnivāsa also, and writes as an observer of the men and events which he records.
He was evidently a man of standing in the community, as he acted as guide to Jāhṇavī, the widow of Nityānanda, on her tour to Vrindāvan.
Besides the accounts of the great ascetics mentioned, this work gives us much information about the work of Vīrabhadra, at whose instigation it was undertaken. The leadership of this man was of a very different character.
We have already, in the historical section, made clear the significance of his influence, not only in letting in the flood that wrought deterioration in the sect,
but also in consolidating, as it were, the power of his father and the family prestige, that has continued unimpaired to the present.
One of the many narratives of great interest and importance, from a historical standpoint, in the Premavilāsa, is the graphic story of the famous robbery of the Vrindāvan manuscripts.
The only copies of several very important Vaishnava works, including the great Caritamṛta itself, were dispatched from Vrindāvan to Bengal for dissemination there,
under the care of three young scholar ascetics, about 1600, after they had completed their studies under the Vrindāvan Gosvāmīs.
On the way they were robbed of their treasure. When this word reached Vrindāvan, the blow was fatal to the aged Krishna Dās Kaviraj, who expired on receipt of the news.
The manuscripts were eventually recovered, and the robber chieftain became an important Vaishnava ruler of the period.
This work has probably suffered from interpolation, as is true of many of these later Vaishnava works
Dr. Sen believes the printed work to be untrustworthy as regards several of the last chapters, but is convinced by the examination of many manuscript copies that the body of the work is authentic.
Some idea of the use made of these works may be gained through the fact that 500 copies of the Premavilāsa were made and circulated throughout the Vaishnava community.
For the literary qualities of the work let Mr Sen speak:
The Premavilāsa, though written in verse, is prosaic in its spirit and in its style. Nowhere in this work is there any touch of poetical sentiment.
Facts are put forward in a simple and unassuming manner. The great merit of the book consists in its brevity and power of condensing and arranging facts.
As the author gives accounts mostly from first-hand knowledge, the descriptions are characterised by a vividness of detail, which excites curiosity
and does not oppress the reader with that feeling of weariness which so often confronts him in perusing some of the laboured Vaishnava biographies of a later period.
The Karṇānanda, by Jadunandana Dās, belongs to the same period, and was written at much the same time as the Premavilāsa.
The author seems to have been a disciple of Hemalatā Devī, the able and cultured daughter of Śrīnivāsa Āchārya, one of the famous trio of whom these books tell. We are told that the book was written at her command and received its name from her.
It deals with the same events and figures treated by the Premavilāsa, but its viewpoint is somewhat different and its command of style and poetic phrase is much superior.
Its interest in theology gives it importance as throwing light on the development of doctrine in the sect.
The parakīya teaching, for instance, which had so much influence in the sect, receives much consideration in this work; and we learn from it that Śrīnivāsa himself was an upholder of this doctrine.
Jadunandana was something of a Sanskrit scholar, and he is perhaps equally well known among Vaishnavas for his translations of works of the Vrindāvan saints.
He also contributed many songs to the pāda collections.
The Rasika Maṅgala, by Gopīvallabha Dās, is perhaps the next work of any interest in order of time.
Its chief claim to importance is that it deals with the spread of the sect in Orissa, and gives valuable information about the winning of that area.
It is mainly an account of the labours of Śyāmānanda, and particularly of his aristocratic disciple, Rasika Murāri. The work dates from the first quarter of the 17th century.
Coming now to the Bhaktiratnākara, we have to deal with a famous work among the Vaishnavas. Its date is considerably later than the other narratives we have discussed:
It was written about the second or third decade of the 18th century; its survey covers the development of the movement from Chaitanya's time until the end of the 17th century.
Its author, Narahari Chakravarti, was a man of scholarly training, having studied the great Sanskrit texts at Vrindāvan.
He was likewise an ascetic after the original Vrindāvan ideal, living for years in the shrines of the place, and actually serving for a period of years as cook in the Govindjī temple there.
The work is a voluminous one, full of references to Sanskrit authorities, and quoting freely from the orthodox biographies of Chaitanya.
Its 15 chapters cover a wide range, but deal, for the most part, with the 17th century development treated by the preceding works.
It does not omit theology even, for one chapter is devoted to a learned resume of the treatises of the master theologians on the psychology of love.
From a historical point of view, it is inferior to the earlier Premavilāsa, as it lacks the contemporary knowledge, and reflects the deifying tendencies of a later generation.
In the estimation of the Vaishnavas it ranks next to the Caritamṛta of Krishna Dās.
The Narottama Vilāsa and the Anurāgāvali are well known works by the same author, treating of the lives of Narottama and other saints.
Mention should be made also of the Vaṁśīśikṣā, by Puruṣottama Siddhānta Vagīsa, written early in the 18th century.
It throws interesting light on Chaitanya, but mainly treats of the life of Vamśīvādana, Navadvīpa friend and disciple of Chaitanya. Discussions between the two on Vaishnava doctrines are recorded here.
The golden image of Chaitanya, now worshipped at Navadvīpa with such reverence, was made by Vamśīvādana for Viṣṇupriyā's comfort.