Haridasa Thakur

Who is Haridasa Thakur?

Haridasa Thakur was a prominent Vaishnava saint, instrumental in the early appearance and spread of the Hare Krishna movement. He is considered to be the most famous convert of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, apart from Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami themselves, and the story of his heroism in the face of torture is told in Chaitanya Charitamrta, Antya lila. Besides being an ex-Muslim, he is famous because of his dedication to the religious practice of constantly chanting the names of God. Haridasa Thakura and Advaita Acharya are two senior and well-respected religious personalities of Gaudiya Vaishnavism in the local area of Mayapur, prayed for the descent of the yugavatara, believed to be Chaitanya. As an associate of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he is named the acharya of the holy name and he embodied concern for others. Its believed that Chaitanya himself installed Haridasa as His nāmācarya, meaning the 'teacher of the Name', disregarding the fact that he was Muslim-born. Haridasa Thakura, was a devotee of God Krishna and had practiced chanting the names of the Lord, Hare Krishna, 300,000 times daily. The Muslim name of Haridasa is not known.