BACKGROUND
Within 300 years of the disappearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the devotee incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the year 1534, the glorious and pristine Vaiṣṇava tradition known as Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism had hit the abyss in regards to its purity and reputation among people in general owing to a plethora of malpractices by pseudo followers of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism. At best, it was known as a beggar’s excuse for living. The quintessential devotional conclusions of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu were almost completely lost.
At that time, a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa named Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura descended into this world in the province of Bengal by the supreme desire of Lord Govinda. He grew up to be a very respectable government magistrate and by his influence he widely propagated the hidden treasure of Kṛṣṇa consciousness to the people at large from authentic scriptures like Bhagavad-gītā and the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. He was greatly saddened at the sorry state of affairs of the Vaiṣṇava cult and single-handedly curbed the deviant practices of pseudo-Vaiṣṇavas and impressed upon the higher classes of society, the glory of the teachings of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Through extensive travels, a tireless pen topped by an exemplary character, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura managed to bring Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism back to the fore.
BIRTH & CHILDHOOD
In order that the preaching work go on unimpeded even after his departure from this world, he prayed to Lord Caitanya to send him an assistant and successor from the Lord’s personal staff of preachers. In answer to that prayer, a son was born to him on February 6th, 1874 while he was serving as the government magistrate in the holy city of Jagannātha Purī in Orissa. Through various signs and omens, it became crystal clear that this was the great soul that had been sent by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to carry on the preaching work that Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura had started.
One day, when the boy was only about 3 years old, he ate a mango that was supposed to be offered to the family Deity of Lord Kṛṣṇa. When Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura found out, he chastised him saying that it is not proper for a Vaiṣṇava to eat anything without offering first to Kṛṣṇa. The boy then vowed that he would never eat mango again as a self-imposed punishment. Throughout his whole life he kept this vow very faithfully. Whenever offered a mango he would say, “No, I cannot take, I am a great offender.”
At the age of only seven, Bimalā Prasād Datta, who was later to be known as Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, had memorized all seven hundred verses of the Bhagavad-gītā and could explain each and every one of them. At the age of ten, he was initiated by his father into the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and a Nṛsiṁhadeva mantra. Later on he attended a special Sanskrit college where he became expert in Sanskrit grammar, Vedic śāstra and different views of philosophy. Due to his lifelong celibacy he had such a clear memory that even in his last days he could reproduce word for word any passage of any book he had read fifty years back. He was known as a walking encyclopedia.
ASTRONOMICAL SCHOLAR
At college he read all of the books in the library and made private studies into higher mathematics, international history, philosophy and Vedic astronomy. At that time he attended a cultural association in Calcutta called August Assembly and in which the study of various philosophical and theological topics was conducted. He was such a powerful debater that no one’s arguments could stand up against his vast erudition and scholarship.
He was much accomplished in Vedic astronomy. He even ran a school to teach it and published several authoritative documents on Vedic astronomy such as the Sūrya-siddhānta which he had authored himself. He was then offered the title ‘Siddhānta Sarasvatī’. Since 1895 he started attending the meetings of his father’s Viśva Vaiṣṇava Rāja Sabha in Calcutta. He also wrote extensively on Kṛṣṇa consciousness for local magazines.
FORMAL INITIATION
In 1901 Śrīla Bhativinoda Ṭhākura requested his son to become initiated in the Gāyatrī mantra and accept a spiritual master. The Ṭhākura had one very beloved disciple, Śrīla Gaurakiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, a very renowned Vaiṣṇava saint of Navadvīpa. The Ṭhākura requested his son to take initiation from him. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura then approached him, but Gaurakiśora dāsa Bābājī, who had no disciples, out of his infinite humbleness refused to accept such an erudite paṇḍita as Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, when he himself could not even write his own name. So, disappointed, Sarasvatī Ṭhākura went back to his father and related to him what had happened, but Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda sent him out again, and again Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta came back with the same news. So this time the Ṭhākura told his son, “Unless you take initiation from Gaurakiśora dāsa Bābājī your life is useless and no longer may you enter this house.” Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī then set off with great determination, and meeting Śrīla Gaurakiśora dāsa Bābājī, told him that he would drown himself in the river if the Bābājī did not accept him as a disciple. He said to him, “My father has told me that human life is worthless without a spiritual master, so if you refuse to accept me as your disciple I must kill myself”. Upon seeing the young man’s sincerity of purpose, the Bābājī accepted him as his only disciple.
From that year, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta traveled with Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda in his pilgrimages to all the principal holy places in India. During this time he compiled a Vaiṣṇava encyclopedia named Vaiṣṇava-mañjuṣā. In 1900 he was staying in Purī where he began to publicly preach the holy precepts of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
THE GREAT VOW
In 1905, at the age of 31, he began his great vow, following the example of Nāmācārya Haridāsa Ṭhākura, of chanting 300,000 holy names per day, that is, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare on a rosary comprising 108 beads, repeated 192 times every single day. He determined that at the rate of 300,000 names daily, it would take about 9 years to complete one billion names. In order to invoke the blessings of Lord Kṛṣṇa for propagating a worldwide Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, he took up this Himālayan vow. He resided in a grass hut at the Yogāpīṭha for four years, and in February of 1909 he built a cottage near the Yogāpīṭha at Vrajapaṭṭana. He strictly followed his vow and observed cāturmāsya (a special vow observed in the 4 months of the rainy season), cooking rice (which had been dried in the sun) in ghee and eating it from the floor in the manner of a cow. He would take rest lying on the ground, never using any pillows and constantly chant and study the scriptures.
THE INVINCIBLE PREACHER
In 1905, during this period of intense austerity, he travelled to the far southern provinces of India lecturing, preaching, writing, debating, fully absorbed in the fire of propagating the message of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In the South he traveled to places such as Simhācalaṁ, Madras, Tirupatī, Kāñcīpuraṁ and many other places of pilgrimage. His strong preaching gave him such a reputation that his very name would strike terror into the hearts of his philosophical adversaries. The perverted and immoral so-called religious activities of different nonsense cults and sects were doomed forever in the presence of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. He was known all over as Siṁha-guru or the lion guru owing to his uncompromising and bold preaching style.
In 1911 at an All-India Conference of paṇḍitas at Midnapore, presided over by Paṇḍita Viśvambharānandadeva Gosvāmī, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta, taking the place of Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda who was ill at the time, lectured to an astounded audience on the comparative position of a brāhmaṇa and a vaiṣṇava. After the discourse all the people came forward to offer him respect and touch his lotus feet. The president of the conference called him the other self of Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī. The lecture was subsequently published as a book in Bengali.
In 1912 Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta traveled and preached in different parts of Bengal. In 1913 he established the Bhāgavata Press and altogether he published, edited and wrote about sixty-one works and eight different journals. He was also publishing a daily devotional newspaper called Nadīyā Prakāśa. Once when he was asked how it was possible to publish a journal every day just about God, he replied that here in this world there are thousands of newspapers and magazines reporting the stale repetitious happenings of this limited space, so for reporting the news of the unlimited spiritual realm of the eternal, ever-fresh Supreme Personality of Godhead, we could publish a magazine every second, what to speak of daily. He always stressed the importance of publishing and distributing Vaiṣṇava literature as a means of educating the mass of ignorant humanity and in order to facilitate the printing of books and journals he established four printing presses. He called these presses the big mṛdaṅgas (clay drums used for large congregational singing groups) because the sound (the message) that they would produce would be heard far and wide without limit.
In 1914 on the disappearance of Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda from this mortal world, the task to carry on the movement of Śrī Caitanya now lay in the hands of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda. He took over as the editor of his father’s journal, the Sajjana Toṣaṇī, a monthly Vaiṣṇava paper in Bengali. Later on in 1927 he converted it into an English fortnightly called The Harmonist.
In 1918 at the age of forty-four, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī accepted the title Gosvāmī Mahārāja by taking the renounced order of life, sannyāsa. On that same day he established his first Vaiṣṇava monastery, the Caitanya Maṭha at Śrīdhāma Māyāpura which became his preaching headquarters. In quick succession after that he spread his Gauḍīya Mission to every part of India attracting thousands of disciples to the banners of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In reply to a very favorable comment on the Gauḍīya Maṭha temples by one gentleman, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta replied, “My real business is to establish temples in everyone’s heart.”
From the years 1919-1929 he was constantly traveling all over India lecturing to crowds of thousands, debating, destroying various bogus religious sects and performing parikrama (walks to the holy places) with his disciples to different sacred sites, seeking to improve and preserve them. His tours during the years 1926-1928 marked a very important place in the Gauḍīya movement of Śrī Caitanya and in the history of India as well. He brought about changes and improvements in various ways in all the sacred places as well as brought many followers of different religious sects all under the banner of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s saṅkīrtana movement. Wherever Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura would go he was received as a savior and prophet by all. In some states he was received as an honored state guest.
All these tours were highly successful, but were not without their problems. Because many of Śrīla Sarasvatī Ṭhākura’s disciples, although initiated as brāhmaṇas and sannyāsīs, were not born in brāhmaṇa families, along the way while traveling, the so-called brāhmaṇa shopkeepers would close their shops and refuse to sell provisions to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta and his disciples. Śrīla Sarasvatī Ṭhākura would always preach very strongly against the nonsense philosophy of these proud and arrogant caste brāhmaṇas. He always emphasized the needlessness of material qualifications to receive spiritual life. Anyone, regardless of caste, sex, nationality, past background, etc., who was sincere to have spiritual life, he would give it to them.
These caste brāhmaṇas were very much in an uproar about his turning those not born in brāhmaṇa families into better brāhmaṇas than them. The Nityānanda-vaṁśas especially plotted to assassinate him and went to the local police magistrate to bribe him so he would not apprehend them after the murder. The police magistrate told them that although he usually accepts bribes, he could not be connected with the killing of a sādhu, a holy man. The police magistrate then immediately informed Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta and in this way Śrīla Sarasvatī Ṭhākura’s life was saved.
INNOVATIVE PREACHING TECHNIQUES
In 1930 and 1931 Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda demonstrated the import and teachings of the Vedic literature by means of huge exhibitions in which pictorial representations by means of dioramas and dolls in life-like manner were employed. These wonderful exhibitions would draw at least one hundred thousand visitors daily during a month-long period.
In 1933, eager to spread Lord Caitanya’s message beyond the borders of India, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Ṭhākura sent some of his sannyāsa disciples to England to preach and open up Gauḍīya Maṭhas in the West, but not being able to convince the Westerners to take up spiritual life, they returned to India unsuccessful after 3 years. Fortunately for the benefit of all people of the world, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda’s most beloved disciple, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda later on carried out his Guru Mahārāja’s order and has spread Lord Caitanya’s nama-saṅkīrtana movement to every corner of the globe, and is now being assisted by thousands of his disciples in this preaching work.
UNSTOPPABLE TILL THE END
Disregarding the requests of his medical advisors, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura continued to deliver the message of the Supreme Lord to all people up to the last moment of his life. This was the only purpose of his divine appearance in this world. His whole life was absorbed in a mood of loving devotion to the Lord. He was fully devoted to the propagation of the teachings of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The noble example of his life and conduct, his powerful speeches and numerous publications are evidence to this fact.
On January 1st, 1937, 5:30a.m., at the age of 62, he left this mortal world and re-entered the loving pastimes of Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in the spiritual kingdom.
At the time of his passing from this world he had opened 64 Gauḍīya Maṭhas for the propagation of spiritual life and Bhāgavata philosophy. In all these Maṭhas he established the worship of the arcā-vigraha (Deity) form of the Lord. This deity worship was executed according to the principles of Sanātana Gosvāmī’s book of Vaiṣṇava activities, Śrī Hari-bhakti-vilāsa. (end)
