A perfect householder paramahamsa-Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

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O Pure Devotee

Pioneer of Preaching Krishna Cosciousness

Please give us your mercy on this blessed day of your divine appearance.

gopaldas

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Srila Sachchidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakur, the nineteenth century pioneer of Krishna consciousness, was born in 1838 in Bengal. He worked tirelessly to preserve the spiritual tradition and literature of India; he composed, edited, and published more than 100 books in Sanskrit, Bengali, and English.

 

The pioneer of pure devotion, it was Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur who foretold that people the world over would join under the banner of Sri Chaitanya Maharabhu's Harinama Sankirtan [congregational chanting of the holy names of Lord Krishna

 

By his profuse writings, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur infused the current which was to be the renaissance of a devotional civilization, which had become overgrown with spurious interpretations und misrepresentation.

 

He advocated exclusive surrender [saranagati] to the service of the Supreme Lord's pure devotees as the life of devotion, and to this end he composed a great stream of books, prayers, poems, and commentaries in Sanskrit, Bengali, Hindi, English, and other languages, which are now revered by the genuine devotees as scripture.

 

His style of presentation was chiefly analytic, simple, and appealing. He taught that the apparently sophisticated philosophies and doctrines which deviate one to materialism, salvation, voidism, etc. [karma, jnana, sunya-vada, etc.] must be abandoned by the true aspirants of devotion; yet, he acknowledged that from the universal standpoint such "charming" distractions served to segregate the insincere from the sincere.

 

Thus he foresaw that inevitably the intelligentsia of the world must come to appreciate the all-attractive path of divine love given by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

 

The Thakur inaugurated the worship of Lord Chaitanya at the holy site known as Sri Yoga-Pith, the advent location of Sri Chaitanyadeva in the holy Sri Dham Mayapur.

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The sampradayas debt to Bhaktivinoda Thakur

 

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur is the root of the daily activities in the Chaitanya Math, the Gaudiya Math, the Chaitanya Gaudiya Math, the Gaudiya Missions, etc. The Gaudiya Math institutions cannot be separated from Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur. These institutions are entirely indebted to his sublime contributions.

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur has written, "Devotees in the line of Srila Rupa Goswami do not preach faith in their own powers, but rather direct attention to the source of their spiritual strength. We also do everything for the sake of Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Sri Rupa, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur and our divine spiritual master." (From Patravali, Srila Prabhupada's letters, vol. 3, p. 89.)

 

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur is a transcendental personality who is the root of the preaching movement of pure devotion. He is renowned as one who is dear to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

 

Bhaktivinoda's unequalled contribution

 

Vedavyasa and the scriptures he wrote are the foundation of all those who claim to follow the Sanatan Dharma. He himself practiced and preached the means by which humankind can attain the supreme peace. Vedavyasa compiled and divided the Veda, wrote the eighteen puranas and the Mahabharata including the Bhagavad-gita, but remained unsatisfied. Finally, while at Badarikasrama, Narada Muni instructed him to glorify the activities of Sri Krishna in order to attain his pleasure.

 

After writing the twelve cantos of the Srimad Bhagavatam, Vedavyasa finally found the peace he had been looking for. Mahaprabhu Sri Chaitanya preached the Bhagavat religion which is found in this text. After the disappearance of Mahaprabhu and his associates, however, the path of pure devotion became covered with thorns until Bhaktivinoda Thakur appeared to write many books and to preach the pure doctrine of devotional service to Krishna.

 

Through his tireless efforts, all the heretical doctrines were shown to be empty, the path of supreme auspiciousness and compasision was shown to all the world. These efforts can only be said to constitute an unequalled and certainly unsurpassed contribution. Without being empowered by Krishna himself, the message of pure devotion cannot be spread. Such a display of empowerment could not be possible were he not a direct associate of Gauranga Mahaprabhu, Sri Krishna.

 

Externally he was a householder with family obligations, a government servant engaged in the administrative service, but despite these responsabilities he was still able to write over a hundred books in several different languages. One cannot fail to be impressed by this monumental achievement. Every word of his writing is scripture; every word awakens the spirit of devotion to him who is beyond the grasp of the material senses and mind.

 

Mundane scholars would never be able to achieve the kind of synthesis that he did. His every thought was perfectly reasonable and never far-fetched. His writings are a permanent display of compassion to the fallen souls. His Divine Grace Bhakti Dayita Madhava Maharaj used to say to his disciples, "You need do nothing else other than translate Bhaktivinoda Thakur's books into the world's various languages and you will have done the greatest act of welfare for the people of the world." In fact, everything that is done in the Gaudiya Maths throughout the world has come from Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur.

 

Discovery of Mahaprabhu's birthplace

 

In 1887, Srila Bhaktivinod visited the most important Shiva-liÏga in Bengal at Tarakesvara where Shiva appeared to him in a dream and said, "You want to go to Vrindavan, but there is much work left to do in Nabadwip Dhama nearby. What have you done there?" Later that year, he was transfered to Krishnanagara. Then, while visiting Kuliya, the modern city of Nabadwip, he was standing on the roof of the Ranira Dharmasala overlooking the Ganges.

 

At about ten o'clock at night, he saw an illuminated building on the other side of the river. His son Kamala Prasada who was there with him also saw this light. On inquiry, they learned that this place was Ballaladighi. When he made inquiries from the elderly residents of Ballaladighi, they told him that this was the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

 

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur continued to research old maps and documents and was able to establish conclusively that Mahaprabhu's birthplace was indeed there. He continued to maintain his Calcutta home where he installed a Giradhari Sila given him by Jagannath Das Babaji, but in 1888 purchased the property in Godrumadvipa known as Surabhi Kunja. While working at Krishnanagara he was also able to visit his birthplace at Ula.

 

In Magh 1399 (February, 1893), Bhaktivinod held a kirtan festival at Godrumadvipa at which Jagannath Das Babaji was the guest of honor. Later that spring, on the 20th of Phalguna (March, 1893), Jagannath Das indicated the exact spot where Mahaprabhu had first appeared in this world.

 

At this time, the Thakur had an argument with a certain member of a Goswami family who held that one of Mahaprabhu's closest associates was a Sudra. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur was very displeased when he heard this and warned him with the words:

 

vaisnava-caritra, sarvada pavitra, jei ninde himsa kari |

bhakativinoda, na sambhase tare, thake sada mauna dhari ||

 

The character of a Vaishnava is always spotless. Bhaktivinoda will not talk to anyone who criticizes a Vaishnava out of spite, but always remains silent.

 

Also at about this time, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur wrote down his guru-parampara and hung it on the outside of Bhakti Bhavan.

 

In January of 1894, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur held another large meeting at the A.V. School in Krishnanagara. At this meeting it was decided that deities should be installed at Mahaprabhu's birthplace. At the same time, the Nabadwip Pracarini Sabha was formed to preach the newly discovered birthsite.

 

Nafar Chandra Pal Bhaktibhusana, the zamindar of Natudaha in Nadia district, was elected executive secretary of the of the Sabha. Dvarika Babu, Nafar Babu, and other members of the Sabha decided that a thatched cottage would be constructed on the site would house deities of Gaura and Vishnupriya. These deities were consecrated on Friday, March 21, 1894 (Chaitra 9, 1300 Bengali), on the Phalguni Purnima, in the midst of a rousing kirtan during a lunar eclipse.

 

For the maintenance of the deities, a committee was formed (Sri Mayapur Seva Samiti) which had many distinguished Vaishnavas as its members, including Syamalal Goswami, Sasibhusana Goswami, Radhikanatha Goswami, Vipina Vihari Goswami, Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit Ajitanatha Nyayaratna, Mahendranatha Bhattacharya Vidyaranya, Satyajivana Lahiri, Raja Vanamali Raya Bahadura or Tarasa in Pabna district, Sisira Kumara Ghosh, Matilal a Ghosh, Yatindranatha Chaudhuri, Mahendranatha Majumdara, the advocate Kisorilala Sarkara, Nalinaksa Datta, Kanailala De Bahadura, Deputy Magistrate Navina Candra Sena, and Jagaccandra Raya.

 

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur preached that the rules of the Daiva-varnasrama dharma should always be followed. Thus, he upheld the directives of the Sat-kriya-sara-dipika in giving the sacred thread to Jagadisa Bhaktipradipa (who after taking sannyas from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur became Bhaktipradipa Tirtha Maharaj), Sitanatha Mahapatra, Vasanta Kumara Ghosh, and Manmathanatha Raya.

 

In this connection, it is worth examining the Thakur's following words: "The Varnasrama dharma which is current in society is distinct from the transcendental religion of exclusive devotion to Krishna. The practice of Varnasrama dharma on its own does not result in full surrender to the Lord.

 

The ultimate instruction of the Bhagavad-gita is to discard all the principles related to the varnas and asramas, in short all activities based on bodily identification, and to engage in a cultivation of devotional activities based on the natural emotional constitution of the soul, which is pure and without ulterior motive. Dedicated scholars such as Raghavacari have no understanding of this glorious characteristic of Gaudiya Vaisnavism's concept of pure devotion."

 

Bhaktivinoda Thakur's entry into the eternal pastimes

 

A few days before his disappearance, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur left Godrumadvipa to come to Bhakti Bhavan. On June 23, 1914, on the disappearance day of Gaura-sakti, Srila Gadadhara Pandit Goswami, in his Calcutta home, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur entered the midday pastimes of Sri Sri Radha and Govinda at Radha Kund. Six years later, the worshipable Mata Thakurani, his wife Sri Bhagavati Devi, went to join him.

 

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The descent of Sri Krishna as Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the sixteenth century flooded the people with devotional ecstasy.

 

However barely three hundred years after His departure, the yuga dharma of sankirtan (chanting the name of the Lord) was almost extinct and was generally regarded as the religion of immoral beggars by those who had any knowledge of this.

 

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura restored the worship of Krishna to its proper, central place in the lives of cultured Indians practically single handedly. He also sowed the seeds of its propagation throughout all the nations of the world.

 

http://d168293.u26.nexxpowered.com/BhaktivinodThakur.html

 

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SRILA BHAKTIVINODA THAKURA, THE PERFECT HOUSEHOLDER PARAMAHAMSA

 

In our disciplic line we have the example of a perfect householder paramahamsa-Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. He was the father of the sankirtana movement within the last two hundred years. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was a responsible officer and a householder, yet his service to the cause of expanding the mission of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is unique. Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote many devotional songs. In one song he has written, “One day while performing devotional practices, I saw my house transformed into Goloka Vrndavana, the spiritual world.” Whenever a householder glorifies the Supreme Lord in his home, his activities are immediately transformed into the activities of Goloka Vrndavana, spiritual activities taking place in the Goloka Vrndavana planet of Krsna. We also can change our homes into Vaikuntha. That is not difficult: we simply have to follow the authorized process of Krsna consciousness. How to do this is explained by Bhaktivinoda Thakura: “Giving up all sinful activities, carry on your worldly duties only in relation to Lord Krsna.” You cannot associate with God if you are sinful. In the Bhagavad-gita Krsna says, “Only one who is completely free from sinful life can worship Me with firm determination.”

 

Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura of Calcutta always engaged in nama-bhajana and certainly did not live anywhere but Vrndavana. Presently, the members of the Hare Krsna movement throughout the world live in materially opulent cities, such as London, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Moscow, Zurich and Stockholm. However, we are satisfied with following in the footsteps of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and other acharyas. Because we live in the temples of Radha-Krsna and continuously hold hari-nama-sankirtana-the chanting of Hare Krsna-we consequently live in Vrndavana and nowhere else.

 

In our Krsna consciousness movement we do not recommend that you give up your occupation, give up your wife and children, and become a sannyasi, a renunciant. No, that is not our movement. Among us are not only sannyasis but also brahmacaris [celibate students], grhasthas [married people], and vanaprasthas [retired people]. Everyone is welcome. Everyone can worship Krsna. There is no rule that only a certain class—brahmanas or sannyasis or brahmacaris or Hindus—can take part. No. Krsna is open to everyone. Krsna is open even for a person born in a lower-grade family. One simply has to adopt the means to approach Him—namely, giving up sense enjoyment and practicing the purifying process of Krsna consciousness.

 

To eradicate the illusion of material life, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has brought the sankirtana movement, and He requests everyone to accept and distribute it. A person who is actually a follower of Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura must immediately accept the request of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu by offering respectful obeisances unto His lotus feet and thus beg from Him the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. If one is fortunate enough to beg from the Lord this Hare Krsna maha-mantra, his life is successful.

 

There is no profit in a life devoid of devotional service to Krsna. therefore all the religiosity and irreligiosity of a living being bewildered by false worldly designations is useless.

 

Mysticism, performance of Vedic sacrifices, severe austerities, impersonal meditation, renunciation of the world, and cultivating knowledge of impersonal Brahman, in the forms of various spiritual paths, all are causes of the souls further bondage to this world.

 

Take this advice of Thakura Bhaktivinoda: give up all these various paths. Shelter pure love of Krsna within your heart, for this alone is transcendental to all mundane designations and qualities. (Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura)

 

I offer my respectful obeisances unto Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda, who is the transcendental energy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He is a strict follower of the Goswamis, headed by Srila Rupa.

 

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare

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In the spirit of a true Vaishnava,

Bhaktivinoda Thakura will live for eternity

through his words, writing

and thousands of his followers

in the disciplic succession.