Vrindavana Dasa was born in Mamgachi in the Navadvipa area of West Bengal. His mother was Narayani, the niece of Srivasa Pandita, a direct follower of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Vrindavana Dasa’s father, Vaikunthanatha Vipra, was from Sylet in East Bengal.
However, it is said that his father died before he was born and so his mother moved to the house of Srivasa in Mayapura.
In his youth Vrindavana Dasa took initiation from Nityananda, one of the main associates of Chaitanya and he was apparently the last disciple that Nityananda accepted. In 1535, Vrindvana Dasa wrote the, a biography of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Initially, the was named Chaitanya Mangala.
However the poet Lochana Dasa also wrote a work with this title.
Therefore, the leading Vaishnavas in Vrindavana met and decided that henceforth Vrindavana Dasa"s book would be known as the, and Lochana Dasa’s book would remain as the Chaitanya Mangala. Vrindavana Dasa is considered by Gaudiya Vaishnavas as the Vyasa of Chaitanya’s pastimes, since he was the first to reveal that Chaitanya was God himself and not just an incarnation of Godhead.
lieutenant would seem that the was the only major work written by Vrindavana Dasa. There are a number of other works attributed to him but their authorship has not been validated.
