Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c6.s1.t1.2

c6.s1.t1.2

² References to Murāri-gupta are to be found in almost all the biographies of Caitanya, and some of them directly utilise his pioneer work. But details of his life are meagre. Originally belonging to Sylhet, he appears to have settled at Navadvīpa, and was probably a neighbour of Caitanya's father and a fellow-student of Caitanya at Gaṅgādāsa's Tol (*C-bh*, Ādi vii). He belonged to the Vaidya caste and apparently practised as a physician. He seems to have had Vedāntic inclination before he became a devotee of Caitanya. He appears to have been originally, like Caitanya's father, a Rāma-worshipper; and the *Rāmāṣṭaka*, which he cited before Caitanya, is given in full in his biography at ii. 7. 10-17. This circumstance might have led to his being regarded as an incarnation of Hanūmat. He was also a man of extraordinary physical strength, and it is recorded that once during a Kīrtana ecstasy at Śrīvāsa's courtyard he carried Caitanya on his shoulders and danced for hours together. His dates are unknown; but he must have been older than Caitanya, and probably survived him. In spite of Murāri's reputation for Sanskrit scholarship, his work contains many instances of *lapsus linguae* which cannot be explained merely as a feature of later Kāvya-style.