| Summary: | Śrīdhara Svāmī’s commentary on the <i>Bhāgavata Purāṇa</i>, called <i>Bhāvārtha-dīpikā</i> and composed sometime between the mid-fourteenth to the mid-fifteenth centuries, has exerted extraordinary influence on later <i>Bhāgavata</i> commentaries, and indeed, on Vaiṣṇava traditions more generally. This article raises a straightforward question: “Why Śrīdhara?” Focusing on the Caitanya Vaiṣṇava tradition, particularly Jīva Gosvāmī, for whom Śrīdhara is foundational, we ask, “What is it about Śrīdhara Svāmī’s commentary—both stylistically and theologically—that made it so useful to Caitanya Vaiṣṇavas and other <i>Bhāgavata</i> commentators?” This question, to the extent that it can be answered, has implications for our understanding of Śrīdhara’s theology as well as the development of the early Caitanya Vaiṣṇava tradition, but it can also lend insight into the reasons for Śridhara’s influence more generally in early modern India.
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