Sri Sri Guru Gaurangau Jayatah!
Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math
His Divine Grace 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.
The sampradaya's 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.) Devotees of the Brahma-Madhva-Sarasvata-Gaudiya sampradaya pay
their respects daily to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur as follows:
suddha-bhakti-pracarasya mulibhuta ihottamah |
sri-bhaktivinodo devas tat-priyatvena visrutah ||
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 t! hroughout the world has come from Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur.
Discovery of Mahaprabhu's birthplace
In 1887, Srila Bhaktivinod visited the most important Shiva-li"ga 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 Kuja. 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 V! ihari 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 connexion, 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.
