Should I learn Bengali because God speaks it?

[Guest guest]

?

[stonehearted]

If you have the time and facility, you may want to learn Bengali to read Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita and [sri Chaitanya Bhagavat in their original language (Jaiva Dharma, too). However, these books have all been presented in English and other languages by my spritual master and his servants, so you may want to save yourself some time. If you have a strong attraction for learning Bengali, though, you'll probably do so anyway. Have fun! /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

With our very limited time and short life I think it becomes a matter of what is most important for us. We can spend 20 years studying a language and its grammar, or we can spend 20 years performing sadhana, chanting Krishna's names, absorbing our intelligence in studying Bhagavad Gita, etc.

 

Learning Bengali won't purify your heart and mind any more than learning English. It's a question of what you study. If you study Prabhupada's Bhagavad Gita in English it will be much better than studying some useless literature in Sanskrit or Bengali (for example kama sutra, or so many mundane books). Of course you can also utilize your bengali knowledge to study Chaitanya Bhagavat or Chaitanya Charitamrita and that will help you spiritually. But the question is how much time are you willing to spend in pursuing academic subjects that aren't necessarily purifying. In my opinion there are much more important things to do than learn one of these languages, especially if you are already over 20 years.

 

But for a few people studying these languages has proven rewarding. It's all a matter of personal dedication and focus.

[krsna]

 

 

 

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BY NAYANA-RANJANA DAS

 

EDITORIAL, Apr 24 (VNN) — Srila Bhaktisiddhanta told the sannyasis and brahmacaris, "Don't keep many books with you. Don't have big big libraries: Just three or four books are sufficient."

 

Sarasvati Thakura said that there were four books that every Gaudiya Vaisnava should read: Caitanya Bhagavata by Vrndavana Dasa Thakura, Dasa Mula Siksa by Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Sri Krsna Bhajanamrta by Narahari Sarkara and Prema Bhakti Chandrika by Narottama Dasa Thakura. He said that Caitanya Bhagavata should be read 100 times.

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“Sarasvati Thakura read both C.C. and C.B. 108 times and told others to do likewise, expecting everyone to do that.”

 

 

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Sarasvati Thakura read both C.C. and C.B. 108 times and told others to do likewise, expecting everyone to do that. Of course, it's doubtful if anyone did, but the idea was meant to read again and again and absorb the mind in Gauranga just as Mahaprabhu liked to hear the stories of Dhruva and Prahlada Maharaja. Sarasvati Thakura said to read C.B. first then C.C., and then S.B.

 

The reason being that C.B is very easy reading for Bengali people because it has no difficult philosophy and is mostly lila. C.C. is also very attractive with some very difficult sections also. In the Srimad Bhagavatam the language is difficult Sanskrit.

 

Once, when Jotisekhara was new in the Math, Sarasvati Thakura asked him if he was reading C.B., when he said "No", he told him he should read it early in the morning, before mangalarati, at 5.00am (Footnote: Jotisekhara said it would be difficult for him to read so early, because he had a bad cough).

 

"Starting from tomorrow, you read from 4.00am - 5.00am. Read it clearly and loudly and it will clear any cough in your throat." Sarasvati Thakura said the C.B. and C.C., even though in Bengali verse, are full of all sastric conclusions, and he recommended them, along with S.B. (especially the sections on Dhruva Maharaja, Prahlada-charita, the story of Prahlada, and Kapiladeva's instructions). He recommended all of these to be read 100 times.

 

He did not recommend reading the Gita and S.B., but C.B., except learned scholars, whom he would recommend to read the Gita and S.B. For the ordinary Bengali he recommended C.B. and Krsna Prema Tarangini, a Bengali verse edition of S.B. by Bhagavatacarya, a disciple of Lord Caitanya.

 

Gaudiya Vaisnava scholars generally consider Caitanya-caritamrta to be the most important biography of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, even more so than Caitanya Bhagavata, in as much as it deals with: (a) the philosophy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu in great detail and (b) the highest ecstasies of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, which are referred to only somewhat in Caitanya Bhagavata.

 

Sarasvati Thakura himself would generally explain philosophy very deeply, but he said that Caitanya Bhagavata is more important than Caitanya-caritamrta for the common man because it is a lila-grantha. Without describing so much about philosophy, it describes the lila of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and is therefore easy for the common man to follow and understand the philosophy. Even though Sarasvati Thakura himself mostly explained philosophy, he said that philosophy is only for the greatly learned people, and for the common men Caitanya Bhagavata is more important.

 

So he said, "Read Caitanya Bhagavata from time to time." If anyone came to him he would ask them if they had read Caitanya Bhagavata. He often asked people this, including non-devotees. He recommended that for ordinary people, the first Vaisnava literature they read be Caitanya Bhagavata. This was, of course, because he was preaching mostly in Bengal and Orissa, so this was special advice for them. He recommended to everyone to first read Caitanya Bhagavata, then Prema Bhakti Chandrika, then Srimad Bhagavatam. He recommended that Prema Bhakti Chandrika be translated and published and distributed in different languages of the world. He said that in Prema Bhakti Chandrika all of the siddhantas of the Goswamis were expressed.

 

O.B.L. Kapoor, being a learned scholar from Allahabad, the Hindi speaking part of India, was instructed by Sarasvati Thakura to learn Bengali, so as he could study the original Bengali texts of the Caitanya Bhagavata and the Caitanya-caritamrta, etc. Sarasvati Thakura liked other Gaudiya Math members who were also learned and non-Bengalis, to learn Bengali for this reason.

 

In Cuttack, Sarasvati Thakura was searching for Caitanya Bhagavata in 1920.

 

He searched through many mathas but couldn't find it. Nowadays, the Caitanya Bhagavata is available everywhere in bookshops, but at that time it wasn't.

 

The sahajiyas didn't like the Caitanya Bhagavata, and called it a dry book.

 

They like Caitanya Caritamrta, Srimad Bhagavatam, etc., because they deal with Radha Krsna lila, but Sarasvati Thakura published Caitanya Bhagavata - Caitanya lila. At that time Caitanya Bhagavata was very rare in India. Even available editions were full of errors. So, before Sarasvati Thakura's edition there was no proper one.]

 

Once, in Dhaka, he told Sundarananda Vidyavinoda to give a series of lectures on the Gita in colleges. Although generally he would have people go to the Bhagavatam or Vaisnava literatures immediately (of course the Gita is also a Vaisnava literature but it is considered to be for beginners) - the books which deal exclusively with bhakti and which are not used by other schools, as the Caitanya Bhagavata, Prema Bhakti Chandrika, Srimad Bhagavatam. These books Sarasvati Thakura recommended to people to go to directly. (However, we should always remember that Sarasvati Thakura was preaching in Orissa and Bengal, where most of the people who came to him already had some background, or at least some understanding of Vaisnava philosophy. His understanding was that the Gita was for the people in varnasrama; karmis, jnanis, yogis; then they may come to bhakti. But in the case of the people amongst whom he was preaching, he wanted them to take directly to bhakti - don't get hung-up.)

 

From Bhakti Vikasa Swami's notes on BSST

[krsna]

EVERYONE WILL LEARN BENGALI!!!

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami, the eminent Vedic scholar, teacher and saint who predicted, "The time will come when the people of the world will learn Bengali to read Sri Caitanya-caritamrta."

[Guest guest]

Sankrit is the mother of bengali, learn that!!