Sanatana Goswami (1488-1558 CE) was born in Jessore in East Bengal. Initially his name was Santosha. He was the eldest son of Mukunda. He studied Vedanta from Vasudeva Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya. When his father died he was forced to take up the post of a treasurer to the new ruler of Bengal, Alauddin Hussein Shah. He was an expert in logic. He had learned Arabic and Persian as he had to work as revenue minister in the court of Hussain Shah.
Sanatana and Rupa met Chaitanya at Ramakeli in 1510. Thereafter After meeting them, Chaitanya gave them the names Rupa, Sanatana and Anupama. Due to this meeting, the brothers decided to renounce the world and join Chaitanya and his entourage. As Sanatana refused to serve the Nawab any more he was sent to prison. While in prison, he received a letter from his brother Rupa telling him that Chaitanya had left Puri to go to Vrindavan. Sanatana managed to bribe the jailer with money and then crossed the Ganga River and reached Vrindavan.
Thereafter when he came to know that Chaitanya had left Vrindavan, then he went to Benares. There Chaitanya gave him instructions realting to sambandha-jnana. He his teachings to Sanatana by summarizing them: sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana. Later when Sanatana went to Puri he met Chaitanya once again. He was instructed by Chaitanya: to write books teaching Bhakti yoga, to discover the places in Vrindavan where Krishna had his pastimes, to establish service of deity of Lord Krishna in Vrindavan and to compile a book that would explain the proper behaviour for devotees of Krishna in order to create the foundations of a Vaishnava society.
Sanatana Goswami located various lost holy places. He established the worship of the deity of Madana-mohana. Thereafter a rich officer in the Mughal army named Krishna Dasa Kapura built a temple for Madana-mohan that later became one of the seven principal temples of Vrindavan. He died in the year 1558 CE and his tomb is located next to the Madana-mohana temple.
Literary Contributions of Sanatana Goswami:
He has composed four books that are based on Gaudiya Vaishnava Philosophy.
Brihat-bhagavtamrita: This consists of 2,500 verses that are divided into two parts. The first part explains the ontological hierarchy of the devotees of Lord Krishna. The second section deals with the soul`s journey to eternal realm of Lord Krishna.
Hari-bhakti-vilasa: This was a joint work between Sanatana Goswami and Gopala Bhatta Goswami. It deals with the rituals and conduct of Gaudiya Vaishnavas. He has also written an auto-commentary on Hari-bhakti Vilasa.
Krishna-lila-stava: This consists of 432 verses that speak of Krishna`s pastimes as mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana.
Brihad Vaishnava Toshani: This is an extensive commentary on the Tenth Canto of the Bhagavata Purana. It is also known as the Dasama-tipanni.
