Shrila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was one of ten children born to Bhaktivinoda Thakura,
a great Vaishnava teacher in the disciplic-line from Lord Chaitanya Himself.
While living in a house named Narayana Chata, just near the temple of Lord
Jagannatha in Puri, Bhaktivinoda Thakura was engaged as a prominent Deputy
Magistrate and also served as the superintendent of the temple of Lord
Jagannatha. Yet in spite of these responsibilities, he served the cause of
Krishna with prodigious energy. While working to reform Gaudiya Vaisnavism in
India, he prayed to Lord Chaitanya, "Your teachings have been greatly
depreciated and it is not in my power to restore them." Thus he prayed for a
son to help him in his preaching mission. When, on February 6, 1874,
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was born to Bhaktivinoda and Bhagavati devi in
Jagannatha Puri, the Vaishnavas considered him the answer to his father's
prayers. He was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and draped
across his chest like the sacred thread worn by
brahmanas.
Six months
after the child was born, Bhaktivinoda arranged for his son to undergo the
annaprasana ceremony with the prasada of Vimala devi, and thereafter named the
boy Bimala prasada. Around the same time the carts of the Jagannatha festival
stopped at the gate of Bhaktivinoda's residence and for three days could not be
moved. Bhaktivinoda Thakura's wife brought the infant onto the cart and
approached the Deity of Lord Jagannatha. Spontaneously, the infant extended his
arms and touched the feet of Lord Jagannatha and was immediately blessed with a
garland that fell from the body of the Lord. Seeing this the priests chanted
the name of Hari and told the child's mother that the boy would certainly become
a great devotee one day. When Bhaktivinoda Thakura learned that the Lord's
garland had fallen on his son, he realized that this was the son for whom he had
prayed.
Bimala Prasada stayed in Puri for
ten months after his birth and then went to Bengal by palanquin on his mother's
lap, his infancy was spent at Nadia District's Ranaghat hearing topics of Shri
Hari from his
mother.
Bhaktivinoda
and his wife were orthodox and virtuous; they never allowed their children to
eat anything other than prasada, nor to associate with bad company. One day,
when Bimala Prasada was still a child of no more than four years, his father
mildly rebuked him for eating a mango not yet duly offered to Lord Krishna.
Bimala Prasada, although only a child, considered himself an offender to the
Lord and vowed never to eat mangoes again. (This was a vow that he would follow
throughout this life.) By the time Bimala Prasada was seven years old, he had
memorised the entire Bhagavad gita and could even explain its verses. His
father then began training him in proofreading and printing, in conjunction with
the publishing of the Vaishnava magazine Sajjana-tosani.
In 1881, in the course of excavating for
the construction of the Bhakti bhavana at Rambagan in Calcutta, a Deity of
Kurmadeva was unearthed. After initiating his seven year old son, Bhaktivinoda
entrusted Bimala with the service of the Deity of Kurmadeva.
On April 1, 1884, Bhaktivinoda was
appointed the senior Deputy Magistrate of Serampore, where he admitted Bimala in
the Serampore High School. When Bimala was a mere student in class five, he
invented a new method of writing named Bicanto. During this period he took
lessons in mathematics and astrology from Pandita Mahesacandra Cudamoni.
However, he preferred to read devotional books rather than the school
texts.
In 1892, after passing his entrance
examination, Bimala was admitted into the Sanskrit College of Calcutta. There
he spent considerable time in the library studying various books on philosophy.
He also studied the Vedas under the guidance of Prithvidhara Sarma. As a
student he contributed many thoughtful articles to various religious journals.
However he did not continue with his college studies for
long.
In 1897 he
started an autonomous Catuspathi (Sanskrit school) wherefrom monthly journals
entitled "Jyotirvid", "Vrihaspati", and many old treatises on astrology were
published. In 1898, while teaching at Sarasvata Catuspathi, he studied
Siddhanta Kaumudi under Prthvidhara Sarma, at Bhaktibhavana. By the time he was
twenty-five he had become well versed in Sanskrit, mathematics, and astronomy,
and he had established himself as the author and publisher of many magazine
articles and one book, SuryaA siddhanta, for which he received the epithet
Siddhanta Sarasvati in recognition of his
erudition.
In 1895 Sarasvati Gosvami
accepted service under the Tripura Royal Government as an editor for the
biography entitled Rajaratnakara, the life histories of the royal line of the
independent Tripura Kingdom. Later he was entrusted with the responsibility of
educating the Yuvaraja Bahadur and Rajkumar Vrajendra Kisore, in Bengali and
Sanskrit.
After a
short period of time, Siddhanta Sarasvati took up the responsibilities for
inspecting various ongoing activities in the royal palace for the state of
Tripura. However, after finding enviousness, malice and corruption surfacing in
ever corner of his inspection, Siddhanta Sarasvati very quickly developed an
aversion to state affairs and gave notice of his intention to retire to Maharaja
Radhakisore Manikya Bahadur. The Maharaja approved of Siddhanta Sarasvati's
plans for renunciation and awarded him full-pay pension. However, after three
years Siddhanta Sarasvati also renounced his
pension.
With his father, he visited many
tirthas and heard discourses from the learned panditas. In October 1898
Siddhanta Sarasvati accompanied Bhaktivinoda on a pilgrimage of Kasi, Prayag,
Gaya and other holy places. At Kasi a discussion was held with Ramamisra Sastri
regarding the Ramanuja Sampradaya. After this talk Siddhanta Sarasvati's life
seemed to take a turn, his inclination towards renunciation increased, and he
quietly continued to search for a
sadguru.
When Siddhanta Sarasvati was
twenty-six his father, understanding the mind of his son, guided him to take
initiation from a renounced Vaishnava saint, Gaurakisora dasa Babaji.
Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was the embodiment of vairagya and was very selective
about giving diksa. He lived beneath a tree near the bank of the Ganga and wore
the abandoned clothes of dead bodies as a waist band (kaupina). Generally he
ate plain rice soaked in Ganga water garnished with chili and salt. Sometimes
he utilized discarded earthen pots, after properly washing them he would cook
rice in them, offer it to Krishna, and then take prasada.
Following the advice of his father,
Siddhanta Sarasvati went to Gaurakisora dasa and begged to be accepted as his
disciple. Gaurakisora replied that he would not be able to give diksa unless he
received the approval of Lord Chaitanya. However, when Siddhanta Sarasvati
returned again, Gaurakisora said that he had forgotten to ask Lord Chaitanya.
On the third visit, Gaurakisora stated that Lord Chaitanya had said that
erudition is extremely insignificant in comparison to devotion to the Supreme
Lord.
Hearing this Siddhanta replied that
since Gaurakisora was the servant of Kapatacudamani (the Supreme deceiver) hence
he must be testing Sarasvati by with-holding his consent. However Siddhanta
Sarasvati remained firmly determined and remarked that Ramanuja Acarya had been
sent back eighteen times before he finally received the grace of Gosthipurna,
thus he too would wait patiently until the day that Gaurakisora would bestow his
benedictions upon him. Seeing the commitment of Sarasvati, Gaurakisora was
impressed and gave him diksa in the blissful grove of Godruma and advised him,
"to preach the Absolute Truth and keep aside all other
works."
In March 1900 Sarasvati accompanied
Bhaktivinoda on a pilgrimage of Balasore, Remuna, Bhuvanesvar, and Puri. As
instructed by Bhaktivinoda, Sarasvati gave lectures from Cc. with profound
purports. Through the initiative of Bhaktivinoda Thakura the flow of pure
bhakti again began to inundate the world. After Lord Chaitanya's disappearance
a period of darkness ensued in which the river of bhakti had been choked and
practically dried up. The end of the period was brought about by the undaunted
preaching of Bhaktivinoda Thakura. He wrote a number of books on suddha bhakti
siddhanta and published numerous religious periodicals. He inspired many to
take up the service of Lord Gauranga and instituted various Namahatta and
Prapannasrama (Gaudiya matha centers).
In
1905 Siddhanta Sarasvati took a vow to chant the Hare Krishna mantra a billion
times. Residing in Mayapur in a grass hut near the birthplace of Lord
Chaitanya, he chanted the mantra day and night. He cooked rice once a day in an
earthen pot and ate nothing more; he slept on the ground, and when the rainwater
leaked trough the grass ceiling, he sat beneath an umbrella,
chanting.
In 1912 Manindra Nadi, the
Maharaja of Cossimbazar, arranged to hold a large Vaishnava Sammilani at his
palace. At the specific request of the Maharaja, Sarasvati Gosvami attended the
Sammilani and delivered four very brief speeches on Suddha Bhakti on four
consecutive days. However, he did not take any food during the Sammilani
because of the presence of various groups of Sahajiyas. After fasting for four
days Sarasvati Gosvami came to Mayapura and took the prasada of Lord Chaitanya.
Later when Maharaja Manindra Nandy realized what had happened he was deeply
aggrieved and came to Mayapura to apologize to Siddhanta
Sarasvati.
During that time Bengal was full
of Sahajiya sects, such as Aul, Baul, Kartabhaja, Neda-nedi, Darvesa, Sain etc.,
who followed worldly practices in the name of spiritualism. Siddhanta Sarasvati
launched a severe attack against those irreligious sects and did not spare
anyone who deviated from the teachings of Lord Chaitanya. Even some well known
persons bearing the surname of Gosvamis patronized these Sahajiya sects during
that period.
Siddhanta Sarasvati was deeply
grieved to see these groups of Prakrita Sahajiyas, in the garb of Paramahamsa
Gosvami Guru's, misleading the people. Thus he completely disassociated himself
and resorted to performing bhajana in solitude. During this period of solitude,
one day Lord Chaitanya, along with the six Gosvamis, suddenly manifested before
Siddhanta Sarasvati's vision and said: "Do not be disheartened, take up the
task of re-establishing Varnasrama with new vigour and preach the message of
love for Shri Krishna everywhere. After receiving this message, Sarasvati
Gosvami was filled with inspiration to preach the glories of Lord Chaitanya
enthusiastically.
In 1911, while his aging
father was lying ill, Siddhanta Sarasvati took up a challenge against pseudo
Vaishnavas who claimed that birth in their caste was the prerequisite for
preaching Krishna consciousness. The caste-conscious brahmana community had
become incensed by Bhaktivinoda Thakura's presentation of many scriptural proofs
that anyone, regardless of birth, could become a brahmana-Vaishnava. These
smarta brahmanas, out to prove the inferiority of the Vaishnavas, arranged a
discussion. On behalf of his indisposed father, young Siddhanta Sarasvati wrote
an essay, "The Conclusive Difference Between the Brahmana and the Vaishnava,"
and submitted it before his father. Despite his poor health, Bhaktivinoda
Thakura was elated to hear the arguments that would soundly defeat the challenge
of the smartas.
On the request of
Madhusudana dasa Gosvami of Vrndavana and Visvambharananda deva Gosvami of
Gopiballavpur, Siddhanta Sarasvati traveled to Midnapur, where panditas from all
over India had gathered for a three-day discussion. Some of the smarta panditas
who spoke first claimed that anyone born in a sudra family, even though
initiated by a spiritual master, could never become purified and perform the
brahminical duties of worshiping the Deity or initiating disciples. Finally,
Siddhanta Sarasvati delivered his speech. He began quoting Vedic references
glorifying the brahmanas, and at this the smarta scholars became very much
pleased. But when he began discussing the actual qualifications for becoming a
brahmana, the qualities of the Vaishnavas, the relationship between the two, and
who, according to the Vedic literature, is qualified to become a spiritual
master and initiate disciples, then the joy of the Vaishnava-haters disappeared.
Siddhanta Sarasvati conclusively proved from the scriptures that if one is born
as a sudra but exhibits the qualities of a brahmana then he should be honoured
as a brahmana, despite his birth. And if one is born in a brahmana family but
acts like a sudra, then he is not a brahmana. After his speech, Siddhanta
Sarasvati was congratulated by the president of the conference, and thousands
thronged around him. It was a victory for
Vaisnavism.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura passed
away in 1916(1914?) on the day of Gadadhara Pandita's disappearance. On the eve
of his death Bhaktivinoda instructed his son to preach the teachings of the six
Gosvamis and Lord Chaitanya far and wide. He also requested that Siddhanta
Sarasvati develop the birthsite of Lord Gauranga. Mother Bhagavati devi died a
few years later. Before her death, she held the hands of Sarasvati Gosvami
imploring him to preach the glories of Lord Gauranga and His dhama. Accepting
the instructions of his parents as his foremost duty, Sarasvati Gosvami took up
this task of preaching with intense enthusiasm and
vigour.
With the passing away of his
father, and his spiritual master a year later, Siddhanta Sarasvati continued the
mission of Lord Chaitanya. He assumed editorship of Sajjana-tosani and
established the Bhagvat Press in Krishnanagar. Then in 1918, in Mayapur, he sat
down before a picture of Gaurakisora dasa Babaji and initiated himself into the
sannyasa order. At this time he assumed the sannyasa title Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja.
Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati was dedicated to using the printing press as the best medium for
large-scale distribution of Krishna consciousness. He thought of the printing
press as a brhat mrdanga, a big mrdanga. The mrdanga drum played during kirtana
could be heard for a block or two, whereas with the brhat mrdanga, the printing
press, the message of Lord Chaitanya could be spread all over the
world.
Rohinikumar Ghosh, a nephew of
Justice Candramadhava Ghosh of Calcutta High Court and originally a resident of
Bhola in Barisal (now in Bangladesh), decided to renounce the world and engage
himself in Haribhajana. With this purpose in mind he came to Kulia in Navadvipa
where he led the life of a Baul. However, he despised the practices of the
sevadasis prevalent amongst the Baul sect. One day Rohini Ghosh happen to come
to the Yogapitha when Sarasvati Gosvami was lecturing there. Rohini was
delighted to see the luminous appearance of Sarasvati Gosvami and fascinated by
his words. Late that night, after spending the whole day listening to Sarasvati
Gosvami's teachings, Rohini returned to his Baul Guru's asrama at Kulia.
Without taking any prasada, Rohini took rest contemplating the lessons on
Suddha Bhakti which he had heard that day. In his dream Rohini saw a Baul and
his consort appear before him in the form of a tiger and tigress which were
about to devour him. Trembling in fear Rohini desperately called out to Lord
Chaitanya. Suddenly Rohini found himself being rescued from the clutches of the
tigers by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. From that day Rohini left the Baul guru
forever and took shelter at the feet of Sarasvati
Gosvami.
Annadaprasad Datta, the elder
brother of Sarasvati Gosvami, suffered with severe headaches shortly before his
death. On the day of Annada's death Sarasvati Gosvami remained by his side all
through the night, chanting Harinama. Before Annada passed away he briefly
regained consciousness and began apologizing to Sarasvati Gosvami, who simply
encouraged him to remember the holy name of the Lord. Suddenly the tilak mark
of the Ramanuja sampradaya became clearly visible on Annada's forehead. Annada
explained that in his past birth he had been a Vaishnava belonging to the
Ramanuja sect. But due to committing an offense at the feet of Sarasvati
Thakura, Annada had to be reborn. However, as a result of his past merit he was
fortunate enough to be born into Bhaktivinoda's family. After finishing his
account Annada breathed his last.
Once on
the day preceding Janmastami in the Bengali month of Bhadra, Sarasvati Gosvami
was engaged in bhajana at Mayapura but was feeling disturbed as he was unable to
arrange for milk to be offered to the Deity. As soon as he began to think in
this way he chastised himself: "Have I thought like this for my own sake? That
is wrong." Because it was the monsoon season, Lord Chaitanya's birth site was
covered with water and was totally inaccessible except by boat. However, that
afternoon, one milkman turned up there wading through water and slush carrying a
large quantity of milk, ksira, butter, cottage-cheese etc. Apparently a
zamindar named Harinarayana Cakravarti, guided by Lord Chaitanya, had sent the
milkman with all the items.
After offering
everything to the Deity the devotees partook of the prasada joyfully. Sarasvati
Thakura was surprised to see so much prasada and the devotees explained what had
happened. After taking prasada Siddhanta Sarasvati humbly appealed to the Lord:
I am very sorry to have caused You so much trouble. Why did I have such an
uncalled for thought? To fulfill my desire You have inspired another person and
arranged to send these things."
The world
was amazed to see the supernatural power of Sarasvati Gosvami. Many educated
persons from highly respectable families were attracted to him and thus
dedicated themselves to the service of Lord Gauranga. Between 1918 and 1937
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati founded sixtyA four Suddha Bhakti Mathas at the
following places: Navadvipa, Mayapura, Calcutta, Chaka, Mymensingh, Naryanaganj,
Chittagong, Midnapore, Remuna, Babasore, Puri, Alalanatha, Madras, Covoor,
Delhi, Patna, Gaya, Lucknow, Varanasi, Hardwar, Allahabad, Mathura, Vrndavana,
Assam, Kuruksetra, and outside India in London, and Rangoon. Sarasvati Gosvami
instituted Gaurapadapitha at Nrsimhacala on the top of the Mandara hill, and at
several places in South India. He initiated twenty five highly educated persons
into Bhagavata Tridandi sannyasa.
He
published the following periodicals on Suddha Bhakti in different
languages:
1.
Sajjanatosani (a fortnightly Bengali)
2. The
Harmonist (an English fortnightly)
3. Gaudiya
(a Bengali weekly)
4. Bhagavata (a Hindi
fortnightly)
5. Nadiya Prakasa (a Bengali
daily)
6. Kirtana (an Assamese
monthly)
7. Paramarthi (in
Odiya)
In addition he published a large
number of Vaishnava books. In fact, he heralded a new era in the spiritual
world. He deputed well-disciplined Tridandi sannyasi's to preach the message of
Lord Gauranga all over the world. For six years he continued to supervise this
preaching work and when he found that his mission had attained its goal, to a
reasonable extent, he decided to pass into the eternal service of Lord
Gauranga.
A few days before his death
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati called his foremost disciples and showered his
blessings upon all his devotees. He gave them the following instructions: "
With the utmost enthusiasm preach the message of Rupa Raghunatha. Our ultimate
goal is to become a speck of dust touching the lotus feet of the followers of
Rupa Gosvami. All of you remain united in allegiance to the spiritual master
(Asraya-vigraha) in order to satisfy the senses of the Transcendental Entity of
Non-Dual Knowledge. Do not give up the worship of Hari even amidst hundreds of
dangers, hundreds of insults or hundreds of persecutions. Do not become
unenthusiastic upon seeing that the majority of people in this world are not
accepting the message of Krishna's sincere worship. Never give up the
glorification of the topics of Krishna, they are your own personal bhajana and
your very all and all. Being humble like a blade of grass and tolerant like a
tree, constantly glorify Hari.
In the early
hours of the day on January 1, 1937 Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami passed
away.
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Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
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Hare Krishna 🙏
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