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.


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 
Bisakisena, 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. Bisakisena 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 Bisakisena 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 fulfillment 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

