Jiva Goswami: Biography and Bibliography: Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

Though Jiva Goswami was a prolific writer and his position as a leader of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas in the late 16th century is well-documented, there is little told about him that goes beyond either hagiography on the one hand or bare fact on the other. Jiva himself is the source of information about his family genealogy in his prëcis of Sanatan’s Vaiß∫avatoßa∫î (See fig. 1.1).1 This series of verses has also been quoted by Narahari Chakravarti in Bhakti-ratnåkara (BRK)2 and discussed by, amongst others, S. K. De, Naresh Jana and Neal Delmonico. Figure 1.1 indicates the salient features of this family tree, including some data found in a MS brought to
light by Sukumar Sen that apparently accounts for the existence of a lineage claiming descent from Jiva.