A Glimpse into the Life of Thakura Bhaktivinoda

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A Glimpse into the Life of Thakura Bhaktivinoda

 

 

Srila Bhaktivinoda Pranati

 

namo bhaktivinodaya sac-cid-ananda-namine

gaura-sakti-svarupaya rupanuga-varaya te

 

namah -- obeisances; bhaktivinodaya -- unto Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura;

sat-cit-ananda-namine -- known as Saccidananda; gaura -- (of) Lord Caitanya;

sakti -- energy; svarupaya -- unto the personified; rupa-anuga-varaya -- who

is a revered follower of Srila Rupa Gosvami; te -- unto you.

 

I offer my respectful obeisances unto Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda, who is

transcendental energy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He is a strict follower of the

Gosvamis, headed by Srila Rupa.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SVA 1: Srila Bhaktivinoda Pranati

 

 

A Glimpse into the Life of Thakura Bhaktivinoda

 

Thakura Bhaktivinoda led a life of incessant labor and activity for Sri

Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He effected such immense good in

the world that his work is only to be compared with the unbounded works of

Sri Caitanya Himself and the Gosvamis. It was the spiritual attempts and

divine writings of this individual that turned the scale and led the

intelligent and educated community to believe in the noble precepts and

teachings of Lord Caitanya.

 

If we look back one century, we cannot but be astonished to find how

degraded was the condition of the Vaisnava faith which had its pure origin

in the deep and majestic spiritual philosophy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Even

vastly learned panditas could not fathom the superexcellent precepts of Lord

Caitanya's philosophy, yet due to incredulity born of the ignorance of

uncultured men, the Vaisnava faith had been degraded and was considered a

beggar's excuse for living at the expense of society. It was by sheer love

for the Godhead that Thakura Bhaktivinoda expounded the deep philosophy

which had remained concealed in the pages of the Vedas, the Upanisads, the

Puranas, and the Bhagavatam. By his action toward divine service and also by

his words, set in simple language to be easily understood by readers in

general, he has given this philosophy to the world. It is his writings and

his divine, unparalleled character that have helped to produce a class of

educated and enlightened men who are now proud of their Vaisnava faith and

of their acquisition of the spiritual knowledge of the pure and sublime

philosophy of Krsna, on which the stern teachings of Sri Caitanya are based.

 

Though born in opulent circumstances (on September 2, 1838), Thakura

Bhaktivinoda, who was given the name Kedaranatha Datta, had to meet many

difficulties in his early life. His childhood was spent at his maternal

grandfather's house at Birnagar (Ulagram), from where he came to Calcutta at

the age of thirteen, after the death of his father. After he completed his

education, he was requested to be present at the time of his paternal

grandfather's death. His grandfather, Rajavallabha Datta, had been a famous

personality of Calcutta and had retired to a lonely place in Orissa to spend

his last days as an ascetic. He could predict the future and knew when he

would die, since he could commune with supernatural beings. Thakura

Bhaktivinoda was present at the eventful time when that great soul passed

away, and after receiving his grandfather's instructions, he visited all of

the major temples and asramas of the state of Orissa.

 

Bhaktivinoda Thakura then entered the educational service and introduced

English education into the state of Orissa for the first time. He wrote a

small book about all the asramas of the state and mentioned an asrama which

was on his ancestors' property. "I have a small village Chotimangalpur in

the country of Orissa of which I am the proprietor," he wrote. "In that

village is a religious house which was granted by my predecessors to the

holy men as a holding of rent-free land. The head of the institution

entirely gave up entertaining such men as chanced to seek shelter on a rainy

night. This came to my notice, and I administered a severe threat that his

lands would be cruelly resumed if in the future complaints of inhospitality

were brought to my knowledge." Bhaktivinoda Thakura later took to the

government service and was transferred to Bengal. In one town he gave a

historic speech on the Srimad-Bhagavatam which attracted the attention of

thousands. He made the world know what hidden treasures pervade every page

of the Bhagavatam, which should be read by all persons having a

philosophical turn of mind. He was transferred some years later to a town

called Champaran. In this town there was a brahma-daitya living in a great

banyan tree, and he was being worshiped by many degraded people. (A

brahma-daitya is a type of ghost.) One day the father of a famous girl

scholar came to Bhaktivinoda for alms, and Bhaktivinoda Thakura at once

employed him in reading the Bhagavatam under the shade of the banyan tree

which was the abode of the ghost. After one month, the Bhagavatam was

completed, and then and there the tree crashed to the ground, and the ghost

was gone for good. Everyone was thankful for this act except the few

dishonest persons who were worshiping the ghost.

 

Bhaktivinoda's next move was to Puri. The government commissioner was much

pleased to get him in his division, and he asked him to watch the affairs of

the temple of Jagannatha on behalf of the government. It was through

Bhaktivinoda's exertions that many malpractices were checked and the time

for the offering of foods before the Deity was regulated to its extreme

punctuality. Thakura Bhaktivinoda was especially entrusted to quell the rise

against the government of one Bisikisena, who declared himself to be an

incarnation of Maha-Visnu. During the course of his investigation, Thakura

Bhaktivinoda found him to be a hoax and a culprit and charged him with

transgressing government injunctions. After his trial the fellow was

sentenced to imprisonment for a year and a half, but he died shortly after

in jail. This man was really possessed of unnatural powers, but as they were

the outcome of nonspiritual practices, he had to submit to the Thakura when

the latter wanted him to do so. Bisikisena was held in dread by the common

people, and everyone warned Srila Bhaktivinoda not to admonish him, even for

the sake of justice, in view of the serious consequences that the yogi would

inflict. But although the Thakura was not a man of ostentation and did not

allow people to know his true qualities and spiritual strength, he easily

cut down the demoniac power of the impostor. With the fall of Bisikisena

there rose an impostor Balarama at another village, and there were also

other so-called incarnations of God, but their plans were similarly

frustrated.

 

During his stay at Jagannatha Puri, Thakura Bhaktivinoda devoted much of his

time to the discussion of spiritual works and prepared notes on the

Vedanta-sutras which were published with the commentaries of Baladeva

Vidyabhusana. He also composed the Kalyana-kalpataru (from which Vibhavari

Sesa, one selection, appears in this book). This may very truly be termed an

immortal work, and it stands on the same level as the divine writings of

Narottama dasa Thakura. In 1877 he left Puri on government service, and in

1881 he started a well-known spiritual journal called the Sajjana-tosani

("The Satisfaction of Pure Devotees"). He also published the Sri

Krsna-samhita, which revealed to the world the underlying philosophy

explaining the spiritual existence of Krsna. This book opened the eyes of

educated people to teach them their true relationship with God. It also

attracted the admiration of many German scholars, for although the public

regarded Krsna as a poetic creation of erotic nature, Srila Bhaktivinoda

revealed Krsna as Parabrahman, the Supreme Transcendental Person, the

Absolute Being, on the basis of Vedic evidence.

 

At the close of his stay at the village of Narail, he visited Vrndavana.

There he had to encounter a band of dacoits known as Kanjharas. These

powerful bandits spread all over the roads surrounding the holy place and

used to attack innocent pilgrims. Bhaktivinoda Thakura brought this news to

the government and after many months of struggle extirpated the bandits from

Vrndavana forever. From this time on, Thakura Bhaktivinoda preached

extensively in large gatherings, explaining all of the precepts of the

sankirtana of the holy names, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare

Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

 

While staying at Barasat, Thakura Bhaktivinoda met the famous Bengali writer

Bankimacandra. This novelist and playwright had just finished writing a book

on Krsna, and knowing Srila Bhaktivinoda to be an authority on topics of

Krsna, he gave the manuscript to Bhaktivinoda Thakura to see. It was full of

mundane Western-stylized speculations and ideas, but after four days of

discussion, Bhaktivinoda had the whole text revised by Bankimacandra to

accommodate the pure supramundane precepts of Lord Caitanya. During his last

year at Barasat, Bhaktivinoda was requested by a noted high court judge to

publish an authoritative edition of the Srimad Bhagavad-gita with the

commentaries of Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura as well as his own

(Bhaktivinoda's) translation. The preface, written by Bankimacandra,

expressed his gratitude to the Thakura for his endeavor, and when it was

published, the copies were soon exhausted. Then Thakura Bhaktivinoda

published a unique work entitled Sri Caitanya-siksamrta ("The Nectarean

Teachings of Lord Caitanya"), which dealt with Lord Caitanya's theistic

philosophy and the philosophies of the Western speculators. This book

defeats every other philosophy point for point and establishes the

philosophy of Lord Caitanya as supreme. In 1885 he started a society named

Sri Visva-vaisnava-raja-sabha for the propagation of pure hari-bhakti. Many

eminent citizens of Calcutta joined the society, and several committees were

organized with assigned duties.

 

Bhaktivinoda Thakura was so anxious to see the land of Lord Caitanya that he

applied many times for a transfer to any town nearby. Upon not receiving the

desired transfer, he formally submitted a resignation from public service,

but it was refused. Then, to his great rejoicing, he obtained a transfer to

Krishnanagar, twenty-five miles from Navadvipa, Mayapur. Once stationed at a

place near Navadvipa, he did not let a single free moment pass without

visiting the land of Navadvipa. He at once made inquiries about the exact

whereabouts of the different places of Lord Caitanya's pastimes. He soon

discovered that the then city of Navadvipa was a town of only a hundred

years' standing, so he was curious to locate the actual birthplace of Lord

Caitanya. He was convinced that the town of Navadvipa was not the authentic

location, and he at once commenced a vigorous inquiry to find the truth of

the matter. But he could not easily escape from the people who tried to make

him believe that the birthplace of Caitanya was at that town. Then, after

careful inquiry, he was told that the site was lost under the shifting

course of the Ganges. Not satisfied with this explanation, he himself set

out to discover the yoga-pitha (birthplace). After great difficulties, he

came to know of a place which was being adored by many realized souls as the

true birthplace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and which was then in the

possession of the Muhammadans. Local inquiry and corroborative evidence from

ancient maps of the latter part of the eighteenth century which showed the

name "Sri Mayapur" at last helped him to discover the real site of the

birthplace. The discovery led to the publishing of a valuable work called

Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmya. (Chapter Five of this book has appeared in

ISKCON's Bengali Back to Godhead magazine.)

 

The year 1895 was the most eventful year in the history of the Vaisnava

world, and Bhaktivinoda Thakura was the prime mover of the events. It was in

this year that he officially memorialized the birthsite of Sri Caitanya and

brought its true identity and importance before the public eye. Thousands of

visitors were present at a function held at the spot.

 

Just after retiring from government service, Thakura Bhaktivinoda himself,

in a spirit of perfect humility and with a view to giving a firm standing to

the discovery, went from door to door to raise funds for a temple. In the

Amrita Bazar Patrika newspaper, on December 6, 1894, the following article

appeared: "Babu Kedaranatha Datta, the distinguished Deputy Magistrate who

has just retired from the service, is one of the most active members.

Indeed, Babu Kedaranatha Datta has been deputed by his committee to raise

subscriptions in Calcutta and elsewhere and is determined to go from house

to house if necessary and beg a rupee from each Hindu gentleman for the

noble purpose. If Babu Kedaranatha Datta sticks to his resolution of going

around with a bag in hand, we hope that no Hindu gentleman whose house may

be honored by the presence of such a devout bhakta as Babu Kedaranatha will

send him away without contributing his mite, however humble it may be, to

the Gaura-Visnupriya Temple fund." Truly, Thakura Bhaktivinoda honored the

houses of many persons for the furfillment of the noble object he had

undertaken. He went to persons to whom he would not have gone for any

purpose but for this mission of Lord Caitanya, and his efforts were not

fruitless, since the sum collected contributed to the construction of a

building on the holy site of Lord Caitanya's appearance.

 

The work of preaching the holy name was also in full swing, and it spread

fast into the distant corners of the globe. The

Gauranga-smarana-mangala-stotra, with a preface in English containing the

life and precepts of Sri Caitanya, came out from Bhaktivinoda's pen soon

after the discovery of Lord Caitanya's birthplace and found its place in all

the learned institutions of both hemispheres.

 

The more the names of Lord Caitanya and Lord Krsna were preached, the

merrier was Thakura Bhaktivinoda. He thereafter made annotations of Sri

Brahma-samhita and Sri Krsna-karnamrta and gave to the world his immortal

and precious works Sri Harinama-cintamani and Bhajana-rahasya. He also

edited, with commentary, Srimad-bhagavatarka-marici-mala, which contains all

the most prominent slokas of the Srimad-Bhagavatam pertaining to the

Vaisnava philosophy. His pen never tired, and it produced many other

Vaisnava philosophical works. He would begin his writings very late at

night, after completing his government work, and stay up until one or two

o'clock in the morning composing songs and literatures. Most of his works

appeared in the Sajjana-tosani magazine. He was equally engaged in writing

and in preaching the holy name in many districts of Bengal. His personal

appearances at villages had marvelous effects on the people. To maintain the

center at Nadia he built a house at Sri Godrumadvipa which is called Sri

Svananda-sukhada-kunja. Here in this abode the preaching of hari-nama

continued in full swing.

 

It was at the beginning of the twentieth century that he chose to live at

Puri and build a house on the beachfront there. Many honest souls sought his

blessings and readily obtained them when he accepted the renounced order of

life by taking babaji initiation from Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji in 1908.

Though he was leading the life of a renounced soul, he could not avoid the

men of all description who constantly visited him. All of them received

oceans of spiritual training, instructions, and blessings. In 1910 he shut

himself up and remained in a perfect state of samadhi, or full concentration

on the eternal pastimes of the Lord. In 1914 he passed on to the blissful

realm of Goloka on the day which is observed as the disappearance day of Sri

Gadadhara. Here we quote a stanza written about the samadhi of Haridasa

Thakura which Srila Bhaktivinoda wrote sometime in 1871 to explain what

influence a Vaisnava carries in this world even after his departure:

 

He reasons ill who tells that Vaisnavas die

When thou art living still in sound!

The Vaisnavas die to live, and living try

To spread the holy name around!

 

Srila Bhaktivinoda predicted, "Soon there will appear a personality who will

preach the holy name of Hari all over the world." It is clearly understood

that His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is that

personality. I offer my prostrated obeisances first unto all the devotees

that have surrendered unto his divine lotus feet and next unto the devotees

who will in the future take shelter of his lotus feet, and I then offer my

humble obeisances unto his lotus feet again and again. May he bless this

first translation attempt so that it may be accepted by the Lord Sri Krsna,

and may he engage me in the service of the six Gosvamis of Vrndavana, Lord

Caitanya, and Radharani.

 

Acyutananda Svami

August 20, 1972

Disappearance Day of Srila Rupa Gosvami

Radha-Damodara Temple

Seva-kunja, Vrndavana

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SVA: A Glimpse into the Life of Thakura Bhaktivinoda