Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also known as Shri Krishna Chaitanya or Gauranga, was a 15th century Hindu sage, philosopher, and mystic from the state of Bengal, India. He was the founder of Achintya Bheda Abheda (existence of inconceivable oneness and differences, both at the same time), a branch of the Vedanta which incorporates both the Advaita and Dvaita schools of Hindu philosophies.
Chaitanya was born in 1486 in Nabadwip in the state of West Bengal on a full moon night at the time of a lunar eclipse. His father was Jagannath Misra, a humble Brahman and his mother’s name was Sachi Devi. He learned Sanskrit at an early age and was formally initiated at the age of 22 by his guru, Ishvara Puri in Gaya (present-day Bihar). It is said that after the initiation, Chaitanya changed from being a scholarly student to a blissed-out devotee of Lord Krishna. He went on to become a prominent leader of Vaishnavism, by propagating the Bhakti Movement in various parts of Bengal and Orissa.
His method of worshipping Krishna was dancing and singing songs of ecstatic devotion. He composed the Shikshashtakam, a devotional prayer with eight verses or stanzas (‘Shiksha’ means instruction/teaching and ‘Ashtaka’ means eight parts). He also popularised the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra as a powerful instrument to reach a state of trance-like devotional experiences. He is considered to be an incarnation of Krishna himself by his followers.