Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c6.s2.86

c6.s2.86

¹ Pratāparudra appears to have ruled at Cuttack from 1497 to 1540 A.D. His Sarasvatī-vilāsa has in the beginning an invocation of Śiva, although in some manuscripts there is also an invocation of Viṣṇu Hayagrīva. This work is an authoritative compilation of orthodox Smṛti, and has nothing to do with the special Vaiṣṇava Ācāra. Pratāparudra's connexion with Caitanyaism has probably been much exaggerated. As a man of devout inclinations, he was probably impressed by the religious personality of Caitanya and paid a willing homage; but beyond this there is no evidence of Pratāparudra's actual conversion. For a discussion of the account of this alleged conversion as given by Caitanya's biographers, see B. Majumdar, op. cit., pp. 378-83. The spread of Caitanyaism in Orissa is due chiefly to the personality and influence of Syāmānanda-dāsa and others, who flourished much later.