THE EROTIC MYSTICISM OF CAlTANYA

Abstract

Caitanya (1486-1533) was the focal point for a revitalization of Vaisnavism which produced sweeping religious, devotional and theological changes in medieval Bengal. His own religious experience! was preserved in the movement which elaborated his simple devotion into a fully-articulated religious system. Caitanya's devotional activity does not stand on its own but is the intersect of vaisnava religious development, especially the figures of Radha and Kr~1Ja, with the erotico-religious vocabulary of aesthetic sentiment. To understand this mystical path, we must look first at Ceitanya's life and religious experience, then at Radha and Krsna, and then at the pattem of devotional feeling that became paradigmatic for Bengal Vaisnavism