Lives of the Vaisnava Saints

This volume adds well-documented material in English, sometimes from Indian-language sources, on important saints of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition - Shrinivas Archarya, Narottam Das Thakur, and Shyamananda Pundit. Mr. Rosen's work emphasizes his own devotional attitude toward the subject- matter and is written in the 'bhakta' style rather than in a strictly scholarly manner. The adjustment of the reader to this point-of-view enhances his appreciation of the experience of devotion in this sampradaya 's tradition. The book, also, has value for students of Hinduism generally and bhakti in particular because of Mr. Rosen's reporting and documentation of the historical development of Gaudiya Vaishnavism in its formative period." —- Charles S. J. White, Chairman and Professor of Philosophy and Religion, The American University, Washington, D.C. ... - A large body of India's mystical literature remains inaccessible to the Western world despite that literature's invaluable content. This inaccessibility is largely a result of untranslated Sanskrit and Bengali texts. Chipping away at this wall of stone, 'The Lives of the Vaishnava Saints' reveals for the first time in the English language the uncommon activities of three oi sixteenth-century lndia's greatest mystics. Steven Rosen's thoroughly researched book recounts the varied sojourns of this transcendental triumvirate: their extensive travels throughout the Indian subcontinent; their profound. spiritual journeys within; and their sojourn; into the hearts of millions. The compelling stories of Shrinivas, Narottam and Shyamananda may indeed enter the readers’ hearts as well.