Vaishnava songs of Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura

Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura, born into Bengali royalty as son of the zamindar of Gopalpur, gave up his inheritance to study under Srila Lokanatha Gosvami and later Srila Jiva Gosvami in Vrindavana before returning to Bengal to spread congregational chanting. His Kheturi festival, held on his family estate after installing six deities of Gauranga, Krishna, and Their associates, drew Vaishnavas from across Bengal and is remembered as a turning point in unifying the wider Gaudiya community. The thirteen songs gathered in this chapter are drawn chiefly from his two collections, Prarthana and Prema-bhakti-candrika — the latter also known as Rupanuga-gita for how closely it distills Srila Rupa Gosvami's teaching — and include some of the most widely sung compositions in the entire Gaudiya tradition: Gauranga Bolite Habe, Je Anilo Prema Dhana, and Hari Hari Biphale Janama Gonainu among them, songs of self-examination and hankering for the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Nityananda Prabhu that remain in constant use in kirtana today, centuries after they were written.