Kavi Karṇapūra did not reveal his own identity in Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā, but from what he has said of his own parents’ identity, we can surmise that he too is an associate of Kṛṣṇa in Vraja. In the Vaiṣṇavācāra-darpaṇa, we learn:

Kavi Karṇapūra was the sakhī Guṇacūḍā in Vraja. He is a branch of Caitanya who lived in Kachra Para. He was given the name Purī Dāsa and accumulated great spiritual power from Mahāprabhu when he placed the Lord’s big toe in his mouth.

Kavi Karṇapūra appeared in 1527 in the town of Kanchan Palli or Kachra Para. His father named him Paramānanda Dāsa, Paramānanda Sena or Purī Dāsa. He was the youngest of Śivānanda Sen’s three sons. His older brothers were named Caitanya Dāsa and Rāma Dāsa. All three brothers were devotees of Lord Śrī Caitanya. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 1.10.62)

Śivānanda Sena’s entire family was blessed with the Lord’s unlimited mercy. The Lord Himself showed His other associates just how dear this family was to Him when He ordered that as long as Śivānanda and his family stayed in Purī, they should receive His remnant prasāda. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 3.12.53)

Kavi Karṇapūra received the name Paramānanda Dāsa from Mahāprabhu Himself. The Lord also jokingly called him Purī Dāsa. It is said that he was born as a result of Mahāprabhu’s blessing:

The Lord asked Śivānanda Sena the youngest son's name; Sena answered, “Paramānanda Dāsa.” The previous time Śivānanda Sena had visited the Lord, the Lord had said to him, “This time, when your son is born, name him Purī Dāsa.” Śivānanda’s wife was pregnant at the time and she gave birth after Śivānanda returned home. He named the child Paramānanda Dāsa in accordance with the Lord’s wishes, and the Lord jokingly called him Purī Dāsa. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 3.12.45-9)

The next year, when Śivānanda Sena brought the baby to Mahāprabhu, the Lord showed the child much mercy by placing his big toe in his mouth. When Purī Dāsa was only seven years old, the Lord Himself gave him the title Kavi Karṇapūra upon hearing the wonderful poetry that the child was capable of composing. This has been described by Krishnadas Kavirāja Gosvāmī in the sixteenth chapter of the Antya-līlā of Caitanya Caritāmṛta.

One year, when Śivānanda and his wife were in Purī for the Ratha-yātrā, they came with Purī Dāsa to see the Lord. The child paid obeisances to Mahāprabhu, and the Lord said to him, “Say the name of Kṛṣṇa! Say Kṛṣṇa!” Though the Lord asked him repeatedly to chant, the boy refused to utter the Holy Name. His embarrassed father also tried to get him to chant, but the child was steadfast in his refusal. Mahāprabhu was astonished at his stubborn attitude and said, “I have made everyone in the universe, even the non-moving beings, chant the Names of Kṛṣṇa, but have been unable to make this little child do so.”

Svarūpa Dāmodara suggested: “You have instructed him in Kṛṣṇa mantra. Because it is forbidden to repeat the mantra one has received from the guru aloud, he is only chanting it mentally. I would guess that this is what he is thinking.”

The Lord was happy to see that such a young boy was aware of this scriptural injunction. In his Anubhāṣya, Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura has explained: “The mantra that one has received from the guru is not to be revealed to anyone else, otherwise it will lose its potency. We have seen this previously from the life of Gadādhara Paṇḍita.”

This is why Purī Dāsa would not repeat the mantra that Mahāprabhu had given him. Mahāprabhu asked Purī Dāsa to recite a verse in order to make him break his silence. The child recited the following verse of his own composition:

śravasoḥ kuvalayam akṣṇor
añjanam uraso mahendra-maṇi-dāma
vṛndāvana-ramaṇīnāṁ
maṇḍanam akhilaṁ harir jayati

All glories to Hari, the ornament for all the beautiful maidens of Vṛndāvana, a blue lotus for their ears, black collyrium for their eyes, and a necklace of blue sapphires to decorate their chest. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 3.16.74)

All those who were present were charmed by the lovely verse. A small boy of seven who had barely commenced his education was yet able to recite a verse of such quality! The demigods like Brahmā and Śiva are unable to understand Mahāprabhu’s mercy, what to speak of an ordinary jīva!

Though Kavi Karṇapūra received the mantra of Kṛṣṇa’s Name from Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he nevertheless followed the social custom of taking initiation from Śrīnātha Paṇḍita, a sub-branch of Advaita Ācārya on the Caitanya tree. Karṇapūra paid his obeisances to Śrīnātha Paṇḍita in the introduction to his own work Ānanda-vṛndāvana-campū. Some people say that Śrīnātha Paṇḍita’s deities are still being worshipped in Kumarhatta or Kachra Para.

In another introductory verse to Ānanda-vṛndāvana-campū, Kavi Karṇapūra glorified Caitanya Mahāprabhu as his family deity, saying that Mahāprabhu adopted Śivānanda Sena’s entire family as His own.

The following is a list of Kavi Karṇapūra’s compositions: Caitanya-caritāmṛta-mahākāvya, Ānanda-vṛndāvana-campū, Alaṅkāra-kaustubha, Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭaka, Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā, Bṛhad-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā, Ārya-śataka, Āhnika-kaumudī, a commentary on the Tenth Canto of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-sahasra-nāma and Keśavāṣṭaka. He was still writing books in 1577 AD.

Kavi Karṇapūra was dear to the Lord and became a writer of books in which he revealed the Lord’s blessings on Sanātana Gosvāmī. (Bhakti-ratnākara 1.657)