Krishna-Chaitanya, His Life and His Teachings

"[5] Though the first Vamandas’ book on bhakti "Love of God" (1955) [6] frustrated Sadananda tremendously, making him write several hundred pages of corrections to it,[7] since it abounded in fundamental philosophical errors, "Krishna-Caitanya" was thoroughly rechecked by him and only stylistic moments gave rise to cause for complaint.

[11] After the release of the first edition prof. Ernst Benz (1907-1978) from the University of Marburg (Germany) wrote to Walther Eidlitz about his book “Krishna-Caitanya”:“I can only congratulate you sincerely that you have managed to combine the results of your rich studies in India and your insights into the sources – that are hardly or not at all available in Europe – into such a well fashioned overview.

Prof. Mircea Eliade (1907-1986) the historian of religion, writer and philosopher from the University of Chicago (USA), suggested to assist to publish the English translation of “Krishna-Caitanya”.

The layman reader has the definite impression that in these translations and in the other parts of the book the scientist and the poet have entered into a happy union… The author is not an unknown man.

It is the fruit of thirty years of research, nine of which were spent in India, where Eidlitz studied from native teachers, associated in close friendship with prominent representatives of the devotional tradition, to which Chaitanya belongs, and even during his long stay in our country was in constant contact with them.” [14] [English translation]Not only Indologists but also other followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavism warmly welcomed the book of Vamandas.

The famous guru and preacher of Gaudiya Vaishnavism in the West A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami (1896-1977) spoke highly of Walther Eidlitz's book and called it authoritative:[15]“You know that I have got already one German God-brother [Sadananda], and he has influenced another German scholar, Vamana dasa [Walther Eidlitz], who has written a very nice book on Lord Chaitanya, in German.”[16]In his review of the English edition of Krishna-Chaitanya, a Gaudiya Vaishnavism researcher and student of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Steven J. Rosen (born 1955) writes:“I remember reading, years ago, how the original German edition was used as a text at universities throughout Europe, and I noticed that it was quoted in numerous books by eminent scholars from around the world.

Indeed, it was one of the first and only books on Sri Chaitanya in a European language at the time, making Mahaprabhu and His teachings available to the Western world in both academic language and through the lens of a believing Vaishnava… So, it should be clear that Prabhupada [Bhaktivedanta Svami] thought fondly of both teacher and student, Sadananda and Eidlitz, and had even specifically praised Eidlitz’s work on Sri Chaitanya.