YADAVACARYA GOSVAMI OR YADAVA MISRA

He was the brother of Visnupriya Devi and a resident of Vrndavana (CC. 1.8.67).
Krsnadasa Kaviraja sought his permission before taking up the task of writing
CC.

When Virabhadra Gosvami arrived at Vrndavana, Yadavacarya went with other
devotees to welcome him. He was the disciple of Kasisvara Gosvami of Vrndavana.
(BRK. 13.323-325, Prema-vilasa 18)

The family priests of Mahaprabhu at Navadvipa claim to be descendants of
Yadavacarya.



YADAVENDU THAKURA

He belonged to the family of Srinivasa Acarya. He was the elder brother of
Radhamohana Thakura, the compiler of Padamrtasamudra. His descendants live in
the village of Daksinakhanda near Malihati. There are some padas which were
composed by him. (See also "Srinivasa Acarya")



YADUNANDANA/YADUNANDACARYA

He was a disciple of Virabhadra Gosvami and hailed from the Pippali clan in
Sripata Jhamatpur. Virabhadra married Yadunandana's two daughters, Srimati and
Narayani (Prema-vilasa 24, BRK. 13.250). Yadunandana's wife was Laksmi (BRK.
13.251-255)



YADUNANDANA CAKRAVARTI

He was a brahmana disciple of Dasa Gadadhara and hailed from Sripata Katoa
(BRK. 9.352). On the occasion of the disappearance of Dasa Gadadhara, he
invited devotees from all over to celebrate a festival in honor of Sri
Gadadhara. According to Haridasa Dasa (GVA. P. 161) family priests who serve
the Deity of Mahaprabhu at Katoa in Burdwan, are Yadunandana's descendants (See
"Gadadhara Dasa"). He made some contribution to Padavali literature.



YADUNANDANA CAKRAVARTI

He was the teacher of Rasikananda when the later was a child. (Rasikamangala
Purva 9.27)



YADUNANDANA DASA/THAKURA

He was a Vaidya by caste and a disciple of Hemalata, the daughter of Srinivasa
Acarya. His Sripata was at Malihati village (or Meleti) to the north of Katoa.
He wrote the book titled Karnananda which contains a biography of Srinivasa
Acarya.

Upon hearing this book Hemalata Devi was deeply impressed and named it
Karnananda. Yadunandana acquired great fame for his lucid translations of
Vidagdhamadhava, Govindalilamrta and Krsnakarnamrta. His poems have been
included in Padamrtasamudra. See the book Vaisnava Sahitya O Yadunandana for
details.

The following is from GPC:

This Yadunandana dasa was one of the five followers of Sri Caitanya whose names
were Yadunandana. In 1459 Saka the great composer Sri Yadunandana dasa was born
in the village of Khalihati, which was situated on the western bank of the
Bhagirathi and the northern part of Kantakanagara, 13 crosa south of the
district of Mursidabad.

He belonged to a Vaidya family and was a favorite disciple of Srimati Hemalata,
daughter of Srinivasa Acarya. In his book Karnananda, Sri Yadunandana dasa
mentions the name of his guru at the end of every chapter and respectfully
glorifies her: "Hemalata, the daughter of Srinivasa Acarya Prabhu, is just like
a creeper of divine love and is a beautiful creation of the Supreme Lord. I,
Yadunandana dasa, take pleasure in writing the book Karnananda, keeping her
lotus feet fixed within my heart."

He translated Sri Govinda-lilamrta in verse and in that book he states:

"Worship the feet of guru which is the only abode of peace and which is the
mine of all good qualities. The daughter of Acarya Prabhu is Sri Hemalata,
whose name can bring fulfillment of all desires. Finding me in utter darkness
of ignorance and in utter damnation, She gave me her kind refuge and by her
mercy my eyes have been opened by throwing away the darkness of ignorance."

Srimati Hemalata Thakurani was a wonderful genius amongst the Vaisnavas in
Gauda. She, like her father Srinivasa, preached the teaching of Lord Caitanya
everywhere. Through her influence even the most wicked persons became
interested and attracted to the path of devotion. Sri Yadunandana dasa was very
sincere and devoted to his guru. He frequently stayed at the house of Srimati
Hemalata in the village of Budhaipara on the western bank of the Bhagirathi,
where he served her with utmost care. There are no records available about
Yadunandana's marriage or children. He was a versatile genius, composing
numerous songs and translating many books into verse. He wrote a book of poetry
named Kunjarastava. His translated poetry books are as follows:
Govindalilamrta, Krsnakarnamrta, Karnamrta (the original one), Gauralilapada
and Krsnalila padas, etc.



YADUNATHA

A resident of Kulinagrama who belonged to the sakha of Lord Caitanya (CC.
1.10.80, Vaisnava Vandana of Jiva 268, Devaki 129, Vrndavanadasa 128).

In Padakalpataru there are sixteen padas containing the bhanita of Yadunatha.
Editors Jagadvandhu Bhadra and Satisacandra Raya consider that the poet Yadu
and Yadunatha are the same person and the author of Govinda-lilamrta. However,
since no supporting evidence is cited for this argument, B.B. Majumdar in CCU
p. 675 argues that the above mentioned persons were different people.



YADUNATHA KAVICANDRA

He belonged to the sakha of Lord Nityananda (CC. 1.11.35). Some believe that he
hailed originally from either Burunga village of Srihatta or Daksinagrama of
Dhaka and later settled at Kulinagrama. His father was Ratnagarbha Acarya.
Yadunatha had two brothers namely Krsnananda and Jiva. Yadunatha's father and
Lord Gauranga's father were residents of the same village. Yadunatha was a
contemporary of Lord Gauranga (CBh. 2.1.296-300)



YADUNATHA DIGVIJAYI

According to Prema-vilasa 24 this Yadunatha entered into arguments with
Haridasa Thakura and after acknowledging defeat surrendered and sought refuge
at the feet of Haridasa.



YADUNATHA VIDYABHUSANA

He was a disciple of Narottama Thakura. At first he was a staunch critic of
Narottama, but later he became a devout Vaisnava. (Prema-vilasa 19) (See also
"Rupanarayana")



YAMUNA

She was the daughter of Srinivasa Acarya. (Anuragavalli 7)



YAMUNACARYA

He was the guru of Ramanuja and a noted exponent of Visistadvaitavada. His
other name was Alavandar. Some of the slokas composed by him under the title
"Stotra-ratna" have been accepted with great respect by Gaudiya Gosvamis.



YASOBANTA DASA

Yasobanta Dasa was one of the five associates of the panchasakhas. According to
Udaya Kahani, Yasobanta was born in the village Arabanga, near Jagatsinghpur in
the district of Cuttack in 1487 A.D. His father's name was Jagu Mallik and
mother was Rekha Devi. Some scholars are of the opinion that he was a Ksatriya
or Mahanayaka. He came in contact with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu when he went to
Orissa. It is said that Yasobanta was initiated by Caitanya Mahaprabhu at Puri.
After his initiation he returned home and began to lead a life of religious
meditation and wrote books on the science of bhakti as taught by Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu.

The following is a popular story about Yasobanta:

<B>When Yasobanta was in his teens, he was watching over the cornfield to keep
out deer and wild boars when the Lord suddenly appeared before him and said,
"Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is My incarnation, thus you should accept initiation
from Him and serve His feet. Thereafter you shall preach the message of
Mahaprabhu and save the fallen souls from their sinful lives." The Lord
vanished and Yasobanta set out to find his master. After some time he saw Lord
Gauranga, the son of Saci, and fell prostrate at His feet. Mahaprabhu embraced
Yasobanta and addressed him as Svarupa Tirtha. He initiated Yasobanta into the
name of Hari, and named him Suvaher<M> (Isvara Dasa's Sri Caitanya Bhagavata,
compiled by A.B. Mohanty, Utkal University, Chapter XLVI).

It is also mentioned in Sri Caitanya Bhagavata (by Isvara Dasa) that Yasobanta
was a constant singer in the sankirtana party. In Cuttack he joined the
sankirtana party which was engaged in a Mahautsava organized by King
Prataparudradeva. In Chourasi Ajna it is mentioned that he was present at the
time of the demonstration and took a major role. During the demonstration Sri
Caitanya, King Prataparudradeva and Sarvabhauma were present (Sudarsana Dasa's
Chourasi Ajna manuscript preserved in Utkal University Library, Chapter
XLIII).

Taking initiation from Sri Caitanya had a great impact on him and thus he wrote
a number of books revealing the teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Among
these works, Premabhakti Brahmagita elucidates the path of prema-bhakti in
great detail. Previously he had been a follower of jnanamisrabhakti.



YASORAJ KHAN

He acquired fame as the first poet to compose poems in Vrajvuli.



YAVANA ACARYA

He was the provincial Muslim ruler referred to in the following entry "Yavana
Cara" (CC. 2.16.178-199). For details see entries under "Mahapatra" or
"Visvasa")



YAVANA CARA

He worked as a spy under one of the provincial rulers of King Prataparudra of
Orissa. When Lord Caitanya arrived at the border of Orissa on His way to
Vrndavana, Yavana Cara, knowing that the Lord drew large crowds wherever He
went, wanted to avoid any political difficulties. Thus he approached the Lord
to inquire about His intentions and was very moved by this meeting (CC.
2.16.168)



YOGESVARA PANDITA

He was the eldest son of Nilambara Cakravarti and a resident of Belpukhuria,
Navadvipa. (Prema-vilasa 7)


