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Srila Sacchidananda Bhakti Vinod Thakur

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Srila Bhaktivionda Thakur

Pranam mantra

vande bhaktivinodam sri-gaura-sakti-svarupakam
bhakti-sastrajna-samrajam radha-rasa-sudha-nidhim

“I offer my obeisance unto Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur, the embodiment of Sri Gaurasundar’s potency. He is the king of all knowers of the scriptures of pure devotion and an ocean of the nectar of devotion to Srimati Radharani.”

guru-dam grantha-dam gaura-dhama-dam nama-dam muda
bhakti-dam bhuri-dam vande bhakti-vinodakam sada

“I offer my obeisance forever with joy unto the Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur who is the prolific giver of Sri Guru, the scriptures, the abode of Sri Gaura, the Holy Name, and pure devotion.”

A brief biography

Srila Sachchidananda Bhakti Vinod 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 Bhakti Vinod Thakur who foretold that people the world over would join under the banner of Sri Chaitanya Maharabhu’s Hari-nam-sankirtan [congregational chanting of the Holy Names of Lord Krishna]. By his profuse writings, Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur infused the current which was to be the renaissance of a devotional civilisation, which had become overgrown with spurious interpretations and 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, sunyavada, 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 Chaitanyadev in the holy Sri Dham Mayapur.

On the Appearance Day of Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur

Sunday, 17 October 1955, Sri Gaudiya Darshan, Volume 1, Issue 3 By Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate giri
yat krpa tam aham vande sri guru dina-taranam

“I offer my obeisance unto Sri Guru, the deliverer of the destitute, by whose mercy a mute speaks and a cripple crosses a mountain.”

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Sri Gundicha Marjan Lila

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Gaudiya Gosthipati Srila Sri Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami

The cleansing of the Guṇḍichā Temple is summarised by Śrīla Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj Goswāmī in Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta.

sri-gundicha-mandiram atma-vrindaih
sammarjayan kshalanatah sa gaurah
sva-chitta-vach chhitalam ujjvalam cha
krishnopavesaupayikam chakara
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita: Madhya-lila, 12.1)
“Sri Gaurasundar swept and cleansed the Gundicha temple with His devotees, making it as cool and bright as His own Heart and a befitting sitting place for Sri Krishna.”

Sriman Mahaprabhu cleansed the temple with brooms, waterpots and His own cloth, accompanied by hundreds of devotees.

premollase sodhena, layena krishna-nama
bhakta-gana ‘krishna’ kahe, kare nija-kama
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita: Madhya-lila, 12.85)
The Lord swept in the ecstasy of prema while calling the Holy Name of Krishna. The devotees also called out, ‘Krishna!’ as they engaged in their service.

dhuli-dhusara tanu dekhite sobhana
ka̐ha ka̐ha asru-jale kare sammarjana
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita: Madhya-lila, 12.86)
The body of the Lord became covered with dust and dirt and was beautiful to behold. The Lord cleansed some areas of the temple with His tears.

trina, dhuli, jhinkura, saba ekatra kariya
bahirvase lana phelaya bahira kariya
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita: Madhya-lila, 12.88)
Combining all the grass, dust and sand into a pile, the Lord began to gather it into His outer cloth and throw it outside.

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Glories of Sri Gauranga

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Herein lies the secret of secrets which the living entities bound by Maya cannot discern. One who does not attain love of God after worshipping Krishna birth after birth has certainly committed heaps of offenses. For only by chanting Krishna’s name without offenses can one attain incessant Krishnaprema. Sri Chaitanya’s incarnation, however, is most uncommon. By His mercy, a serious person, though filled with offenses, can quickly obtain love of God. When someone calls out the names of Nitai and Chaitanya, Krishna-prema comes looking for him. Offenses do not hinder his progress, and he soon sheds tears of ecstasy out of pure love of God. By the mercy of Sri Chaitanya, all the offenses quickly flee away, the heart becomes pure, and love of God fully blossoms. Because people in Kali-yuga commit unlimited offenses, which are difficult to check, there can be no means of deliverance other than Gauranga’s name. Therefore, in Kali-yuga, I see no alternative to Sri Gauranga. This is also the proclamation of the scriptures.

— Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya

Souls a quality of independence.

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Srila Bhaktivionda ThakurSrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s
Vaisnava-siddhanta-mala

Q. Why don’t souls remain in their true position, free from material designations?

A. Those souls who accept nothing other than service as their eternal occupation do not give up their transcendence to material designations, which is natural in their true position (svarupa). Their attraction to facing Krsna is everlasting. But those who consent to the notion of selfishly seeking the enjoyment of their own so-called happiness turn away from Krsna, and for this reason they are shackled within the prison-house of the material world made of maya.

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About other types of religion.

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Srila Bhaktivionda ThakurSrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s
Vaisnava-siddhanta-mala

Q. These truths of Sri Krsna-tattva are the religious principles of the Vaishnava-dharma. What about people who are involved with other types of religion?

A. Different religions have different instructions for the worship of either Isvara (the personal God), Paramatma (the localised Supersoul in the heart) or Brahma (His all-pervading impersonality) – but all three of these types of religions are ultimately pointing in the direction of Krsna-Tattva. After the jivas evolve upwards through their various courses of development, they eventually will attain Krsna Bhakti in the end. Even though they attain the incompleteness of their various religious paths, Sri Krsna Bhakti is still available to them. The awareness of the supreme nature of Sri Krsna-tattva is the ultimate knowledge inherent within each and every living entity.

Bhagavata-dharma taught by Sri Caitanya

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If we were to prepare a list of worldly religions born of human knowledge, and if according to that list we analyzed how they formed their conceptions and conclusions, we would understand that other than the sanatana-dharma taught in Srimad-Bhagavatam – the religion Sri Caitanyadeva preached – all other man-made religious systems are full of imagination, concoction, and cheating. Only bhagavata-dharma, or Sri Caitanyadeva’s pure atma-dharma, is free of cheating. Bhagavata- dharma is the eternal Vedic religious system, approved and followed by the supremely nonenvious, swanlike saints. The religious systems of today are imagined by men; they are created by the human mind. None of them is atma-dharma. Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 25.45) states:

caitanya-gosani yei kahe, sei mata sara
ara yata mata, sei saba charakhara

“Whatever meaning Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gives is perfect. Any other interpretation is only a distortion.”

Vaktitavali by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Thakura Prabhupada

Instruction of reading literature

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What is Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s instruction to those who are fond of reading literature?

Do not remain confined simply by the discussion of literature. Rather, you should approach saintly persons and Vaisnavas and understand from them the distinction between sdadhana-bhakti, bhava-bhakti, and prema-bhakti. The science of Vaisnavism is not confined within books. The word nirgrantha defines the spiritual master and the Vaisnavas as beyond the books. Therefore the science of Vaisnavism is a mystery, because it has to be understood only from devotees. (Sajjana Tosani 6/2)

Sri Bhaktivinoda Vani from Sri Bhaktivinod Vani Vaibhav

Tolerance

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Tolerance

What kind of compassion is indicated by the phrase “more tolerant than a tree”?

The phrase “more tolerant than a tree” indicates that although a tree is cut, it does not protest. Rather, it helps others by its shade, fruits, and flowers. Similarly, Krisna’s devotees should show greater compassion than a tree by helping everyone whether friends or enemies. Such compassion is the ornament of the non envious devotees who chant the holy names.
(Sikshastakam)

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