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Chandidas

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Hinduism and Tribal Religions

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Indian Religions ((EIR))

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Synonyms

Adi Chandidas; Ananta Badu Chandidas; Badu Chandidas; Dina Chandidas; Dvija Chandidas; Kavi Chandidas

The name Chandidas is common to more than one great lyrical poet in medieval Bengali literature. Renowned as a devotional poet of fifteenth-century Bengal, Chandidas was a pioneering exponent of the Sahajia Vaishnava cult. Primarily a humanist, Chandidas and emphasized the equality and sanctity of all humans, irrespective of caste, creed, race, religion, or gender. Chandidas’s religion was love. He stressed a passionate and absolute devotion to a personal God without any formal ceremony, rites, or rituals. One of the greatest Vaishnava poets of Bengal, Chandidas’s “padas,” or short love songs were written in praise of Krishna, the Dark Lord of Love. His poems primarily depict Radhabhavaor the myriad emotions experienced by Radha in her all-absorbing love for Krishna. Chandidas’s verses on Radha and Krishna, and their legendary love-play, form a significant part of Bengali...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English, Dr. Kanailal Bhattacharyya College (under University of Calcutta), Howrah, West Bengal, India

    Sutapa Chaudhuri

Authors
  1. Sutapa Chaudhuri
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Religion and Asian Studies, Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, PA, USA

    Jeffery D. Long

  2. The Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Rita D. Sherma

  3. Dept of Anthropology, The University of North Texas Dept of Anthropology, Denton, TX, USA

    Pankaj Jain

  4. Jamia Millia Islamia, Centre for the Study of Comparative Reli Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India

    Madhu Khanna

Additional information

All English transliterations and translations of Chandidas’s Bengali poems are by the author of this article.

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Chaudhuri, S. (2021). Chandidas. In: Long, J.D., Sherma, R.D., Jain, P., Khanna, M. (eds) Hinduism and Tribal Religions. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_37-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_37-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-024-1036-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-024-1036-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities

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