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When Vaiṣṇavas in 16th century Bengal first recognised Kṛṣṇa Caitanya (1486–1533) as divine, they attributed to him all the forms of the purāṇic Kṛṣṇa, starting with the yugāvatāra as the corrective for the ills of the Kali age. These and related martial forms quickly yielded to more comforting and benign images of divinity that ultimately emphasised the erotic sentiment in the play of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, embodied in Caitanya as the androgyne. With Mughal ascendancy, the political landscape seemed to run counter to the successful implementation of the yugāvatāra’s mission until Satya Pīr—a figure with allegiance to both Vaiṣṇava and Sufi ideals—arrogated to himself that now-vacated rôle. In this new form of devotion, Vaiṣṇavas and Sufis were united in finding a common solution to the decline. Though Satya Pīr was only a fictional character, his tales circulated widely, prompting numerous attempts to reconcile Hindu and Muslim theologies. One example each from the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries will illustrate the novel strategies as authors tried to imagine a world wherein the multiple religious traditions of Bengal could share the land with a common cosmology and a common devotion, an innovative speculation that is subjunctive in its impulse yet explicit in its suggested solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]