Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c7.s4.64

c7.s4.64

(2) There is, therefore, no direct or decisive evidence to identify him with the Gopāla Bhaṭṭa who was one of the six Vṛndāvana Gosvāmins of the Caitanya sect. The personal history of this Gosvāmin is at best scanty and fatuous; his lineage, as given in the records of the sect is vague, conflicting and obviously legendary. In his *Hari-bhakti-vilāsa*, the authorship of which also is shrouded in mystery, he describes himself as writing for the satisfaction of Rūpa, Sanātana and Raghunātha-dāsa, and as the Śiṣya of Prabodhānanda; but he does not give his own ancestry or place of origin, as the other Gopāla Bhaṭṭa does in every work. The history of this Prabodhānanda is not clear; and in the works ascribed to him he reflects strangely the views of Caitanya's Navadvīpa disciples rather those of Vṛndāvana! It is doubtful if he was (as alleged by Nityānanda, Monohara and Narahari) an uncle of Gopāla Bhaṭṭa; for the story of Trimalla-Veṅkaṭa-Prabodhānanda is suspiciously legendary and uncorroborated by the earlier records of the sect.