Krishnadasa Kaviraja and a translation of Bhagavata Purana in 1868 after an eight-year search. He became increasingly appreciative of the philosophical sophistication and ethical purity of Caitanya's teaching but struggled to reconcile it with the prevalent perception of Krishna, Caitanya's worshipable God described in the Bhagavata Purana, as "basically a wrong-doer". He came to the conclusion that both faith and reason have their respective, mutually complementary places in religious experience, and neither can be ousted from it altogether. Kedarnath describes the transformation he went through while reading the long sought-after scripture: Accepting Caitanya as the final goal of his intellectual and spiritual quest, Kedarnath soon started delivering public lectures on his teachings, culminating in his famous speech The Bhagavat: Its Philosophy, Ethics and Theology – his first public announcement of the newly found religious allegiance. In The Bhagavat, delivered in masterful English but directed at both the Western cultural conquest and the bhadralok it influenced, Kedarantha attempted to reconcile modern thought and Vaishnava orthodoxy and to restore the Bhagavata to its preeminent position in Hindu philosophy. His newly found inspiration in the teachings of Caitanya and Bhagavata made Kedarnath receive his next job transfer to Jagannath Puri as a blessing – Puri was Caitanya's residence for most of his life, and the shelter of the principal Vaishnava shrine, the Temple of Jagannath. Service in Puri (1870–1875) Following the annexation of the state of Orissa by Britain in 1803, the British force commander in India, Marquess Wellesley ordered by decree "the utmost degree of accuracy and vigilance" in protecting the security of the ancient Jagannath temple and in respecting religious sentiments of its worshipers. The policy was strictly followed, to the point that the British army escorted Hindu religious processions. However, under the pressure of Christian missionaries both in India and in Britain, in 1863 this policy was lifted, entrusting the temple management entirely to the care of the local brahmanas, which soon led to its deterioration. When Kedarnath was posted to Puri in 1870, he was already known for his honesty and integrity, and was consequently given the charge to oversee law and order in the busy pilgrimage site, as well as providing thousands of pilgrims with food, accommodation, and medical assistance on festival occasions. The government also deputed Kedarnath as a law enforcement officer to thwart the Atibadis, a heterodox Vaishnava sect that conspired to overthrow the British and