Bhaktivinoda Thakura on Christianity (from Tattva-viveka commentary)

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna, _/\o_

 

I hope not to offend anyone by taking a position of advocatus diaboli here.

 

> God Himself took birth in a humanlike form, took on His own shoulders the

> sins of His followers, and then died. All who follow Him easily attain

> liberation, and all who do not follow Him fall into an eternal hell. In

> this way God assumes a humanlike form, punishes Himself, and thus

> liberates the living entities.

 

To make a Vaishnava parallel: Sri Sri Gauranga-Nityananda in Their nara-lila

liberated Their followers and then left. Those who don't follow Them fall

into hell and samsara. In this way God plays a human role, makes a personal

sacrifice in His preaching (up to shedding the blood, in Nityananda Prabhu's

encounter with Jagai and Madhai) and liberated the living beings.

 

In a similar way as we distinguish original Vedic culture from degraded

Hinduism, Srila Bhaktivinode seems to describe the degraded state of

Christianity ("some moralist monotheists") with some unbiblical issues (soul

created at birth and finished at death, animals without soul, denial of

reincarnation which is present in Judaism) and mundane followers but doesn't

belittle Jesus and true saints. Srila Prabhupada did the same. If we look at

the lives of saints, we get a completely different picture. E.g. when

reading about the Desert Fathers I realized how similar were their

realizations with those of our Vaishnava acaryas.

 

Here is what I found about his developing relationship with Christianity:

 

In one anonymous biographical sketch on Bhaktivinoda Thakura it is said:

 

(1856-8, college years) "He was very taken by Christian theology, and found

it more interesting than Hindu monism."

 

(1858-61, Orissa) "As the headmaster of the Medinipura high school, KD

looked into the various religious sects, their philosophies and practices.

He could see that they were all cheap. He came to understand that the only

real religion that had ever been established in Bengal was that of Sri

Caitanya Mahaprabhu; unfortunately, His movement was not well-represented.

KD could not even get a copy of the C.C., despite all his efforts."

 

[note: KD = Kedarnath Datta, civil name of Srila Bhaktivinode]

 

Another anonymous bio sketch says: "The same year [1871] he writes an essay

To Love God wherein he gives a deep purport to the great commandment of

Jesus the Christ; "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy

mind, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and love thy neighbor as

thy self." He compares this commandment to the teachings of Vaisnavism,

demonstrating how Sri Caitanya further promulgated the teachings of Lord

Jesus."

 

He wrote Tattva-viveka between 1874-1893.

 

In his Svalikhita Jivani he mentions his encounters with Christianity:

 

"148. I studied the books and lectures of the Brahma Samaj. Belief in one

God was good and for many days I had confidence [in them]. But at no time

did I have any taste for the form of understanding of the Brahmos and the

type of worship [they performed]. There were many discussions with Dal Saheb

on the topic of theology. On his advice I was reading the Bible and various

other Christian books. Canning Saheb had many books and I studied all [he

had] on logic with the missionary associate of Rama Mohan Roy. In those days

I was interested in books about religion and I went so far as to read Sale's

Koran [1734]. I made a thorough study of all the books of Theodore [?]

Parker and Newman. Previously I had read only books on philosophy but now I

liked to read books on religion. Somehow, in this fashion, I developed a

deep faith in Jesus Christ. Whatever I read I did not fail to discuss with

Dvijendranath."

 

[note: Dvijendranath Tagore, brother of Rabindranath T.]

 

"185. In those days my thoughts on religion were to the effect that dry

knowledge was best, and that the religion of the Brahmos was not good. I

thought the brotherly philosophy taught by Jesus Christ was excellent. The

taste [derived from such worship] was [due to the Christian] devotion [to

Jesus]. I read all the books written by Theodore Parker and others, and

books on Unitarianism I got from Calcutta. Because of [these books] my mind

was attracted toward the devotion of Jesus. From the time of my childhood I

had faith in bhakti. During the time I was in Ulagram hearing Hari Kirtan

produced bliss [in me]."

 

"187. There was some substance in the Vaishnava dharma: there was

bhakti-rasa and therefore I had faith therein. There were base practices in

the Sakta dharma and the Brahmos were bereft of religion and rasa. This kind

of understanding gradually took its place in my heart. When I went to

Calcutta I would meet with Baro Dada and Satur, hear a little of the Brahmo

dharma, read all their books and Tattva Bodhini Patrika, but there was a

natural aversion towards the Brahmo dharma in my mind. I would have much

deliberation and conversation with Dal Saheb and with other missionaries,

and in comparison to the Brahmo dharma the Christian dharma was far

superior."

 

"203. Therefore they said to me, "You resolve the two views." One day,

pointing out the mutual relationship between Brahmo philosophy and Christian

philosophy, I proposed a meeting between the members of both groups, but

both sides became extremely angry with me. Padre Stern made one or two

hostile speeches about me. I made one or two speeches in reply. I

established the Bhratri Samaj. Chandra Babu and other Brahmo men were not

pleased about this. Their group split and some of them began to come to my

society."

 

It would be helpful to find more about Srila Bhaktivinode's study of

Christianity. I believe Shukavak Prabhu's book "Hindu Encounter with

Modernity: Kedarnath Datta Bhaktivinoda Vaisnava Theologian" or others could

shed more light on this issue. If anyone has it, could you please quote

relevant parts?

 

ys bh. Jan

 

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