Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
And His Great Accomplishments
This is the inspiring story of the great accomplishments of this important and distinguished devotee of the Lord and what he did for spreading pure spirituality and the universal principles that are based on the teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. It shows why he was called “the God-sent pioneer of unalloyed devotion to God”.
On September 2nd, 1838 on a Sunday in the ancient village of Biranagara (Ulagrama) located in the district of Nadia, Thakura Bhaktivinoda took his birth in the family of Raja Krishnananda Datta, who was a great devotee of Lord Nityananda. He became known as the seventh son of Raja Krishnananda, the great grandson of Madana Mohana and the third son of his Godfather Anandachandra. In Thakura Bhaktivinoda's paternal family line, although some devotees of the Lord had appeared in the family lineage, there was not any great respect for Vaishnava-dharma and in his mother's family there was not any respect for Vaishnavism at all. Because of this, in the future he would be called daitya-kulera prahlada (Prahlada of the family of demons). Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Godfather, Anandachandra, named him Kedaranatha.
His Childhood
In the village of Biranagara (Ulagrama), amidst fabulous wealth, Kedaranatha Datta spent his infancy and boyhood while living in the large mansion of his maternal grandfather Mustauphi Mahashaya. In Biranagara he received his elementary education at the primary school started by his grandmother. Later he attended an English school at Krishnanagar that had been established by the King of Nadia, but after studying there a while he had to discontinue his lessons and return to Ulagrama upon the unexpected death of his older brother due to cholera.
When Thakura Bhaktivinoda was eleven years old his father passed away. At that tine the fabulous wealth of his maternal grandfather appeared to be non-existent. Upon the untimely death of his relatives the grant of land that had been conferred upon his grandmother under close supervision changed owners, thus the family was put into a condition of poverty. The young boy, Kedaranatha Datta facing all of these various troubles, passed over all of them with great endurance.
His Marriage and Studies in Calcutta
In 1850, when Kedaranatha Bhaktivinoda was twelve years old, by the efforts of his mother he was married to the five year old daughter of Madhusudana Mritra Mahasaya who was a resident of Rana Ghata.
About that same time Bhaktivinoda Thakura's uncle, Kasiprasada Ghosh Mahasaya Thakura, who was very advanced in British education, came to Ulagrama after the death of his maternal grandfather. He invited young Kedaranatha to come to his home in Calcutta and continue his schooling there. At first Bhaktivinoda's mother was unwilling to let her son go on the plea that it was not the right time for him, but gradually around his thirteenth year Bhaktivinoda, leaving his mother and sister at Ulagrama, went to Calcutta to live at his uncle's house which was located in the Heduya district of central Calcutta. Kasiprasada was the center of the literary circle of his time and the "Hindu Intelligencer", of which he was the editor, drew many writers to learn from him the art of writing correct English. It was young Kedaranatha's business to read to Kasiprasada the articles which were presented to him to be passed as fit for publication in the "Hindu Intelligencer". Within a short time Kedaranatha Bhaktivinoda studied all the literary works in Kasiprasad's library and freely availed himself of the use of the public library. There in Calcutta Bhaktivinoda Thakura attended high school at the Hindu Charitable Institution and after four years there he became expert at reading, writing and speaking English.
Becoming very ill due to the salty water in Calcutta, Bhaktivinoda had to return to Ulagrama and there on the medical advice of a Mohammedan soothsayer he recovered his health. At that time the soothsayer made one prediction. He said that very soon this village of Biranagara will become ridden with pestilence and epidemics and everything will become vanquished. He also told the young man, Kedaranatha Datta, that in the future he would become recognized as a great devotee of Lord Krishna!
Bhaktivinoda in College
In 1856, at the age of eighteen, Kedaranatha Bhaktivinoda began his first year of college in Calcutta. During this time he wrote many articles and essays and had them published in various English and Bengali journals and he also gave many lectures in both English and Bengali. He studied many books written in English and also taught the art of fine speech to one well known orator who was a member of British Parliament. At this time, amidst the years 1857-1858 he composed a two part English epic entitled Poried, which he had a mind to complete in twelve books. These two books, written in very lucid, clear and melodious English verse, described the wanderings of Porus who met Alexander the Great in pre-Christ days.
The eldest son of Maharshi Devendranatha Thakura, Dvijendranatha, was Thakura Bhaktivinoda’s best friend at this time. With his assistance, Bhaktivinoda purused through all of the religious books of the West. Out of affection, Bhaktivinoda would address his noble-minded friend as baro dada or big brother.
As a result of his having studied all the different western schools of philosophy and many other systems of thought, the common people, unable to perceive his transcendental character, thought him to be a mere logician or rhetoritician. At this time Thakura Bhaktivinoda gave a lecture to the British - Indian Society concerning the evolution of matter through the material mode of goodness. He would show more respect to the school of Christian theology than to that of Hindu monotheism and he would spend long hours comparatively studying the books of Channing, Theodore Parker, Emerson and Newman.
Bhaktivinoda in Orissa
At the close of the year 1858 Bhaktivinoda journeyed from Calcutta to Ulagrama to visit with his mother. Upon arriving there he was very aggrieved to find the changed condition of that once wealthy and populous village which was the place of his birth. As the Mohammedan soothsayer had predicted the village had become deserted as it had been visited by an epidemic which had taken away most of its residents and its opulence and grandeur which had once been a common feature of that village but was now a mere thing of the past. After seeing this, Bhaktivinoda returned to Calcutta, bringing his mother and paternal grandmother with him. Shortly after returning to Calcutta he had to set out for Orissa to be with his paternal grandfather in his last days. Thakura Bhaktivinoda’s grandfather, Rajavallabha Datta, who was a very prominent personality in Calcutta, was living as an ascetic in the countryside of Orissa. He could predict the future and knew that his days in this world were soon coming to a close. Knowing this, he made a request to his beloved grandson to come to Orissa to be with him. At the beginning of 1859 when Bhaktivinoda was 21 years of age, his grandfather departed from this world. Bhaktivinoda was with him at this time and after receiving his grandfather’s last instructions he traveled to all the monasteries and temples in the state of Orissa.
Thakura Bhaktivinoda, having now finished his education, considered as to the means of his livelihood. Although the opportunity for earning good money within the business world was there, Bhaktivinoda Thakura refrained from such means of acquiring wealth after noticing the weakness of morality among the merchants and tradesmen of that time. Without at all thinking that a wicked life full of irreligiousness and falsehood would be dependable, he considered earning a living in an honest profession such as a school teacher to be the best thing for him. Upon deciding this he traveled to the village of Chutigrama. After staying there for a few days he obtained information of a country hamlet situated quite far from the general mass of people and he got an opportunity of seeing at that place what sort of oppression and power the big landlords forced upon the ignorant and innocent citizens living there. At this time in the village of Kendrapara, not too far from Chutigrama, Bhaktivinoda established a school for English education and thus took up the profession of a school teacher. In this way he became a pioneer in introducing English education in Orissa. After some time he came to Jagannatha Puri and there in Puri, passing a teachers examination, he got the position of a teacher in a school at Cuttack and gradually, working in the position of headmaster in a high school in Bhadraka and later in Madinipura, he drew the specific attention of the school board authorities.
While residing in Bhadraka, his first son, Annada Prasada (Acyutananda) was born. At this time in 1860 Thakura Bhaktivinoda wrote one book in English titled Maths of Orissa which gave a description of and report about all the various temples and Ashramas in the state of Orissa that he had traveled to. The well known British historian Sir William Hunter in his work "Orissa" has specifically praised Bhaktivinoda's moral and religious character in connection with this book.
His Investigation and Examination of the Bhakti-shastras
While staying in Medinipura as the headmaster of the high school there, Bhaktivinoda got the opportunity of examining various descriptions of different sectarian religious duties in spiritual discussion with the members of various religious communities. In the depraved and sinful so-called religious communities which were accustomed to the usage of intoxicants and animal slaughter, etc., there was no place for the mellows of pure devotion to God. This fact Bhaktivinoda had especially perceived from their cheap character and habits. He was also able to understand through research and investigation that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was the only one to truly preach the actual religion of bhakti in Bengal. At that tine in cultured society there was not any investigation into the area of pure devotional service to Godhead. Also at that time there was not an edition of Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, the most important book for understanding Sri Caitanya’s teachings to be found anywhere. Consequently, even through much research, Thakura Bhaktivinoda was unable to collect a copy of the book.
His Second Marriage and Acceptance of Government Service
At this time Thakura Bhaktivinoda's wife passed away and in the town of Jakapura he accepted in marriage a second wife whose name was Bhagyavati devi. In the year l86l, after having given up his work in the educational system, Thakura Bhaktivinoda accepted the post of a Deputy Magistrate under the government of Bengal. After some time, having noticed the corruptness of the peons, he gave up his post as a Deputy Magistrate and was offered the position of a Collectorate Officer. During this period he established an organization called the "Bhratr Samaja". In l863 he wrote an English book called “Our Wants” and at this time he constructed a home in Rana Ghata. In this same year of 1863, during his stay in Burdwan, the Thakura composed two very novel poems in Bengali. One was entitled Vijanagrama (a deserted village) and the other poem was called Sannyasa. The style of these two poems was highly praised and admired by many big literary men of that time. An article concerning these two poems appeared in the Calcutta Review of 1863, vol. 39 and runs as follows: "We have glanced at this little volume of Bengali verse, which we have no hesitation in recommending as suitable especially for Hindu women. We do not expect that such will read the Calcutta Review, but many, we trust, of our readers will be interested in knowing what books may be safely recommended as good in style and unexceptionable in moral tone, and with that object we intend, if duly assisted, to take an occasional survey of the field of vernacular literature.
“The Vijanagrama, the first poem in this book, is an account of the desolation of the once populous village of Ula, near Rana Ghata, in consequence of the ravages of the late epidemic. It is pleasing in style, and evidently on model of Goldsmith; and we would rather see a Bengali using his English studies to purify and improve the style of vernacular verse than find him composing imitation English epics about Porus and Alexander,
“The Sannyasi in two chapters is an abler production, and reflects much credit on the author. Of the minor poems, the description of spring, and the translation from Carlyle are very fair specimens. We hope the author will continue to give his countrymen the benefit of his elegant and unassuming pen, which is quite free from those objectionable licenses of thought and expression which abound in many dramas recently published, the want of the day is the creation of a literature for Hindu ladies; and we trust that many more educated natives will have the good sense to devote their time and abilities to the attainment of this most desirable end."
The rhyme and style in which those two books were written showed a complete departure from the then existing mode of writing and they gave birth to a new way of writing poetry in the Bengali language.
In the Post of Deputy Magistrate
In the year 1866 Kedaranatha Bhaktivinoda was employed in the district of Chapara in the position of Deputy Register with the power of a Deputy Collector and Deputy Magistrate. At this time he became quite fluent in Persian and Urdu. At Chapara in Saran, Bhaktivinoda had to crush a clique formed against him by the tea planters for not having complied with their unjust requests. While at Saran he visited the Gautamashrama at Godana. This place attracted his attention as fit for the establishment of a school for teaching nyaya-shastra. With this object in mind, on returning to Chapara, he called a mass meeting where he delivered a speech on Gautama (The Gautama Speech, 1866) and gained the good wishes of the people of that place. Though subsequently he did not take any part himself in the movement of which he was truly speaking, his expectation was fulfilled sometime later with the public aid, and the foundation stone of the school was laid in 1883 by Sir Rivers Thompson, the then Lt. Governor of Bengal, after whom the school was named.
Also in this year of 1866, Thakura Bhaktivinoda prepared an Urdu translation of the Manual of the Registration Department (Balide Registry), of which was gladly accepted by the government and circulated throughout the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh.
Gradually from Chapara Bhaktivinoda was transferred to Purniya at Krishnaganja and in the year 1868, taking responsibility of the government and judicial departments, he was transferred from Purniya to Dinajapur in West Bengal, where he was employed as the deputy magistrate. While the Thakura was residing in Dinajapur, he received from Calcutta a copy of the Caitanya-caritamrta and the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
Bhaktivinoda as a Preacher of the Gaudiya Vaishnava Dharma
Becoming attracted to the philosophy of Vaishnavism, Thakura Bhaktivinoda would read the Caitanya-caritamrta again and again and thus he became endowed with greater faith and respect for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In this way he applied his mind very intently to the examination and study of Vaishnava philosophy. In one place in his autobiography the Thakura has written "From this time my respect and reverence for Sri Caitanyadeva was born. That seed of faith for the Vaishnava-dharma which was implanted within my heart soon sprouted. Now I love to study the Sastras dealing with Krishna both day and night." At this time with a pained heart he would incessantly submit his prayers to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna and on the strength of his pure devotion, having received the mercy of the Lord, he realized the supreme majesty and power of the one and only Absolute Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna.
At this time his song about the glories of Sri Caitanya, which was titled Saccidananda- premalankara, was published. In the year 1869 at the age of 31 while the Thakura was serving as deputy magistrate under the government of Bengal in Dinajapur, he delivered a speech in the form of a treatise he had written on the subject matter of Srimad-Bhagavatam to a big congregation of the public consisting of many prominent men of letters, religion and culture who had come from many parts of India as well as some from England.
The Emancipation of a Ghost
During this time he was transferred from Dinajapura to Camparana. At the time of going from Dinajapura to Camparana, his second son, Bimala Prasada took birth. While Bhaktivinoda was residing in Camparana he noticed many people worshiping a ghost who was living in a banyan tree. These dishonest people worshipped the ghost because he had the power to change the mind of the judge in the court to give the decision to favor the person who had worshiped him and the tree. Coming to know of this, Thakura Bhaktivinoda wanted to stop this nonsense mundane worship.