Glossary — Śrī Caitanya Bhāgavata

Key terms and concepts that recur throughout Śrī Caitanya Bhāgavata, explained briefly for readers new to the tradition.

Central concepts

Saṅkīrtana — congregational chanting of the names of God, performed publicly and often with singing, dancing, and instruments. The text presents Caitanya's introduction and spread of saṅkīrtana as his central mission and gift to the world.
Kṛṣṇa-prema / bhakti — loving devotion to Kṛṣṇa, the goal the text holds saṅkīrtana as the most effective means of reaching. Caitanya's own visible transformation after his initiation at Gayā (Book 1, Ch. 11) is described in terms of being overtaken by this love.
Nāmācārya — "teacher of the holy name," an honorific applied in the tradition to Haridāsa Ṭhākura for his exemplary, unwavering practice of chanting under persecution (Book 1, Ch. 16).
Pañca-tattva — the five categories of person through whom the tradition understands Caitanya's mission to operate: Caitanya himself, Nityānanda, Advaita Ācārya, Gadādhara, and Śrīvāsa. See the diagram in Book 2, Chapter 6.
Vipralambha-bhāva (the mood of separation) — the devotional mood of longing for Kṛṣṇa in his absence, distinct from the mood of union. The tradition credits Mādhavendra Purī — Caitanya's guru's guru — as the first to openly express this mood, in a verse (ayi dīna-dayārdra nātha) later described as the seed from which Caitanya's own theology grew. See the Cast of Characters entry on Mādhavendra Purī.

Viśvambhara — "sustainer of the universe," the name given at his birth ceremony.
Nimāi — an affectionate childhood nickname, from the nimba (neem) tree under which his name-giving ceremony took place.
Gaurāṅga / Gaurahari / Gaura-candra — "the golden-limbed one" / "the golden moon," names referring to his fair complexion, used especially from his youth onward.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya — the name given upon his acceptance of sannyāsa (Book 2, Ch. 28), and the name by which the tradition and this text most often refer to him thereafter.

Navadvīpa — the town in Bengal where Caitanya was born and spent his childhood, youth, and early adulthood; the primary setting of Books 1 and most of Book 2.
Gayā — the pilgrimage town where Caitanya, traveling to perform funeral rites for his father, meets Īśvara Purī and undergoes his spiritual transformation (Book 1, Ch. 11).
Jagannātha Purī (Nīlācala) — the pilgrimage city in Orissa, home of the Jagannātha temple, where Caitanya resides for most of his life after accepting sannyāsa; the primary setting of Book 3.
Mathurā / Vṛndāvana — the region associated with Kṛṣṇa's own earthly pastimes, which Caitanya sets out to visit more than once during his years at Puri.
Setubandha (Rāmeśvaram) — a pilgrimage site in the far south of India, reached during Caitanya's travels narrated in Book 3.

Khaṇḍa — "part" or "section"; the three books of the work are titled Ādi-khaṇḍa (the beginning section), Madhya-khaṇḍa (the middle section), and Śeṣa-khaṇḍa (the final section) — matching this site's Book 1, 2, and 3.
Maṅgalācaraṇa — the auspicious invocation with which the work (and each of its major sections) opens, offering praise to the Lord and his associates before the narrative proper begins. Chapter 1 of Book 1 is almost entirely maṅgalācaraṇa.
Bhaṇitā — a poet's signature verse, in which the author names himself and his object of devotion; a standard closing convention in Bengali devotional literature, used by Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura at the end of Book 1, Chapter 1.