Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur's Childhood

[Guest guest]

The following is an excerpt from the book "Sri Chaitanya: His Life and Associates" by Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj.

 

namo bhaktivinodaya saccidananda-murtaye |

gaura-sakti-svarupaya rupanuga-varaya te ||

 

I offer my obeisances to you, O Bhaktivinoda, the form of eternity, knowledge and bliss, the incarnation of Gaura's potency and the best of the followers of Rupa Goswami.

 

Just as the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna's highest perfection is in his human activities in a human form, so similarly his eternal associates also act in human-like ways when they descend to the worldly platform for the benefit of the fallen living entities. Even though they appear to be ordinary human beings, they are in fact never touched by the illusory nature and always remain transcendental to it. They may be situated in householder life, but they are never entangled in material sensual desires like an ordinary conditioned soul because of their deep attachment and love for the Lord. They are simply engaged in a pastime whereby they imitate the activities of the rest of mankind for the sake of exchanging with them for the purposes of benefitting them. Those who have surrendered with sincerity to Vishnu and the Vaishnavas are able to recognize the non-material character of these personalities.

 

Bhaktivinoda Thakur's Childhood

 

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur accepted Anandacandra Datta and Jaganmohini Devi as his parents and appeared in Ula-Birnagar in the home of his maternal grandfather. It was the 352nd year after the birth of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Sunday, Sept. 2, 1838; the tithi was Sukla Trayodasi of Bhadra. His parents gave him the name Kedaranatha. Bhaktivinoda composed his first poem when he was only two years old.

 

This extraordinary display of talent gave an indication of his future vocation and the transcendental devotional songs he would write later in his life. Songs full of devotion for the Lord and sacred sentiment like his are not the result of any worldly scholarship or creativity, but are self-manifested in the eternally perfect associate of the Lord. The words of the residents of Vaikuntha are all not different from the object of their speech, the Supreme Lord. They can in no way be compared to any mundane sound vibration. Every word used by the Thakur is divine ambrosia which awakens the mood of love for the Lord and is full of the flavors of devotional sentiment.

 

At only six, had learned all the details of the historical epics, Mahabharata and Ramayaa. Is an ordinary six-year old capable of such a feat? Without divine mercy, it is impossible to understand the basis of all the devotional scriptures. They are not accessible to mere scholarship. The meaning of the scriptures was revealed in the heart of the Thakur on its own. Thus, there is a basic difference between the explanations of scripture given by him and those derived from a mundane scholarly analysis. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur began researching astrological texts when he was nine years old, but according to his autobiography, he began inquiring into spiritual truth at the age of ten. Though he was naturally fixed in spiritual truth at every moment, he displayed this pastimes in order to demonstrate the special character of human life. He began to mix with people in order to find out what preoccupied people and what they thought about.

 

With his sweet words and respectful attitude, he won over all those whom he encountered. Whenever he pointed out the flaws of anyone's argument, they would not feel angry or disappointed but rather joy. This was not within the capacity of an ordinary restless boy of ten years. The following is Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur's account of several childhood events from his autobiography: "I would go whenever a festival was held at someone's house. There were often such religious festivals at the Brahmachari's house. There was a nice temple on the outside, and inside a flower garden and a fire-sacrifice altar. The Brahmachari worshiped according to the Tantrik cult. He kept a human skull in a small, hidden room. Some people said that if you gave water and milk to a human skull, it will smile. I took the skull down and gave it water, but I saw no smile. "Nearby there was also an astrologer's house where I would listen to singing performances.

 

One old carpenter was engaged to paint backdrops for the image during the Durga puja. I sat near him while he worked and asked him many questions, which he always answered. I asked, "When does the spirit of the god enter into the image?' The carpenter answered, "When I paint its eyes, the god will come and take up residence in the image.' The day that he was actually going to paint the deity's eyes, I eagerly came but I never saw the god actually appear. I said, "Goloka Pal made this image. He first tied bundles of straw and then covered it with clay. You covered it with chalk and then painted it. There is no god anywhere in this statue at all, is there?' The old carpenter then said, "When the Brahmins consecrate the deity then the god incarnates and enters the form.' I observed this consecration ceremony carefully, but I was never able to see any divine manifestation. I thought that the carpenter was a fairly wise fellow and so I went to his house and asked him to explain again. He then said to me, "I have no faith in this worship of idols.

 

My belief is that the Brahmins simply use this as a means of deception for taking money from gullible people.' The carpenter's words brought me great pleasure and I asked him to tell me something about the Supreme Lord. He said, "Say what you will, I believe in nothing other than the one Supreme Lord, Paramesvara. The gods and goddesses are all imaginary. I worship the one God every day.' These words of the old man gave me faith. "I became even more inquisitive. The Muslim footman Golam Khan used to guard the treasury. Once in response to my questions, he said, "God's name is Khoda. At one time he was alone and there was no one and nothing but him. Then he took the dirt from his body and made a pancake out of it which he threw into the single ocean. The upper part of the pancake became the sky and the lower part became the earth. He then created humankind, starting with Adam and Eve. We are all the descendants of Adam and Eve.' After hearing this myth, I asked him, "Who do you think Rama is?' He said, Rama and Rahim are one. That is Khoda.' Then I learned from him about a spell which chases ghosts. Golam Khan said, "Ghosts are the descendants of Satan. They are afraid of the name of Rahim.' These teachings gave me great pleasure. "My maternal uncle Parasurama Mustaufi was studying law at that time.

 

At first, he had some faith in God, but later dismissed the idea. While he was a believer, my other uncles Raghu and Nasu were his followers. When he stopped believing in the personal god, he started calling Rama Mohana Raya his guru. I was very troubled because, being just an ignorant child, I was uncomfortable having a difference of opinion with him. Uncle Parasurama said, "Everything in the world is a product of natural forces. There is no such thing as a God outside of nature.' When I heard this, I went to see some Bhattacharya in his school and asked him to respond to it. His answers caused me to become more confused. Though I was confused, I never gave up chanting the name of Rama."

 

From all these stories, we can draw the lesson that rather than entering into the confusing business of establishing exact doctrines of the relation of the divine and the creation, one should chant the Holy Name with faith. At one point, Mahaprabhu also bound his books in their cloth wrappers and told his students to simply chant the Holy Name. Dogmatic truths will all be revealed through the Holy Name. Dogmatic spiritual truth is not arrived at through mental speculation; one is bound to arrive at a mistaken conception of God.

 

For more articles on a variety of devotional topics by and about Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj and other Vaishnava authors, kindly visit http://www.sreecgmath.org or the GOKUL website at http://www.gokul.org For more information, or to to our newsletter, write to bhakti@gokul.org