Narottama Dasa

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Narottama Dasa Thakura (1466(?)–?) is a Gaudiya Vaishnava saint who was responsible for spreading bhakti throughout Orissa and Bengal, India. Narottama was the son of King Krishnananda Datta and Narayani Devi who resided in Gopalpur Pargana of the Rajsahi district of Bangladesh. It is said that his appearance was discovered by Caitanya Mahaprabhu. According to some, after the death of his father he entrusted his royal duties to the eldest paternal uncle's son and left for Vrindavan.

His life is described in Premavilasa. In Vrindavan Narottama was received by Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami. After Narottama was initiated by Lokanatha Gosvami who in turn instructed him to go and study from Jiva Goswami. He traveled to Bengal with other sadhus to bring devotional writings to Bengali bhaktas. Fifty years after the disappearance of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Narottama organized annual festivals in Bengal, which served to keep the Gaudiya philosophy unified. The significant meeting took place in Kheturi where the Gaudiya Vaishnava Theology of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's sect was defined. The exact year of this event is unknown but some say that it was around 1572. [1].

[edit] Narottama's writings

Narottama Dasa is best known for his bhakti (devotional) poetry that have inspired many generations. They describe intense longing and humility. His prayers Sri Rupa Manjari Pada and Sri Guru Carana Padma [2] are often sung in Gaudiya Math and ISKCON temples.

Among the writings of Narottama, Prarthana and Premabhakticandrika are the most well-known. The brief write-up titled Hatapaltana is also attributed to Narottama but the contents do not seem to be in harmony with historical events and thus some believe that it is a fake work. Narottama did translate Smaranamangala into Bengali verse. In eleven slokas this work describes the pastimes of Radha Krishna in eight parts of the day.