20250625 Lecture on Śrī Gadādhara Paṇḍita and Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.17.1

maitreya uvāca
niśamyātma-bhuvā gītaṁ
kāraṇaṁ śaṅkayojjhitāḥ
tataḥ sarve nyavartanta
tridivāya divaukasaḥ

Translation: Śrī Maitreya said: The demigods, the inhabitants of the higher planets, were freed from all fear upon hearing the cause of the darkness explained by Brahmā, who was born from Viṣṇu. Thus they all returned to their respective planets.

Purport: The demigods, who are denizens of higher planets, are also very much afraid of incidents such as the universe’s becoming dark, and so they consulted Brahmā. This indicates that the quality of fear exists for every living entity in the material world. The four principal activities of material existence are eating, sleeping, fearing and mating. The fear element exists also in the demigods. On every planet, even in the higher planetary systems, including the moon and the sun, as well as on this earth, the same principles of animal life exist. Otherwise, why are the demigods also afraid of the darkness? The difference between the demigods and ordinary human beings is that the demigods approach authority, whereas the inhabitants of this earth defy authority. If people would only approach the authority, then every adverse condition in this universe could be rectified. Arjuna was also disturbed on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, but he approached the authority, Kṛṣṇa, and his problem was solved. The conclusive instruction of this incident is that we may be disturbed by some material condition, but if we approach the authority who can actually explain the matter, then our problem is solved. The demigods approached Brahmā for the meaning of the disturbance, and after hearing from him they were satisfied and returned home peacefully.

* * *

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya with His associates came down in this Kali-yuga. And He was giving out what no one had ever done before. He was giving pure love of Kṛṣṇa. And within memory of time, no one has ever done this. We are very fortunate to be appearing just after Lord Caitanya! The Brahma-vairata Purāṇa, it states that 5000 years after Kali-yuga, there will be a special golden era, a ten-thousand year period will start when Kṛṣṇa consciousness will flourish. Lord Caitanya appeared 4500 years after the beginning of Kali-yuga. But Śrīla Prabhupāda appeared 5000 years after. So, now is the time for the Golden Age to start. We heard how Rādhārāṇī was playing on the flute and then Kṛṣṇa came and asked, “Who is playing on the flute so nicely?” How Kṛṣṇa said this, “You made such a nice dhāma for Me, so this will be non-different from Vṛndāvana!” So, we heard how Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa, combined and in this way took the form of Lord Caitanya.

Today, is the disappearance day of Gadādhara Paṇḍita. And he is also, Rādhārāṇī, is one of the Pañca-tattva, She disappeared today also. So Gadādhara Paṇḍita’s parents lived a couple of doors from Lord Caitanya’s, very close. And Gadādhara Paṇḍita’s mother lived close to Śacīmātā and she accepted Śacīmātā accepted like her sister. As a child, Gadādhara and Lord Caitanya would play together. But as Lord Caitanya grew up, then He became known as Nimāi Paṇḍita. So then, Gadādhara would see Nimāi and walk the other way. Because he did not like His debating Sanskrit grammar and other things. Caitanya Mahāprabhu would call Gadādhara, “Come here! Come here!” But he would take another path. At that time, how Gadādhara, he did not appreciate the argumentative līlās.

Then Lord Caitanya went to Gayā, did piṇḍī for his father and took initiation from Īśvara Purī. I say that Lord Caitanya has manifested His devotional ecstasy in Bihar. So He came back to Bengal and He was changed! So He called all the devotees together at the hut by the bank of the Ganges, of Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī. So at that place, Lord Caitanya called out to Gadādhara, “You have been a devotee since your birth, but I was very sinful! I wasted My life! But you were also worshiping Kṛṣṇa!” Like this, He was glorifying Gadādhara. So there were various līlās between Them.

One day Śacīmātā heard how Gadādhara Paṇḍita was pacifying Lord Caitanya in such a way, that He was controlled. So, Śacīmātā asked Gadādhara Paṇḍita, “Can you always stay with Lord Caitanya, and He will be peaceful, you know how to speak to Him during His ecstasies.” So, like that Gadādhara was a constant associate of Lord Caitanya during His devotional period in Navadvīpa. For instance, during the massive kīrtana of Lord Caitanya to the Chand Kazi, there were three leaders – Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, Haridāsa Ṭhākura, Advaita Ācārya and Lord Caitanya was the fourth leader and there was Nityānanda Prabhu on one of His sides and Gadādhara Paṇḍita on the other side. So like this Gadādhara Paṇḍita was a constant companion of Lord Caitanya.

Rādhārāṇī, She would always disagree with Kṛṣṇa. But when She gave Her quality to Kṛṣṇa and He became Lord Caitanya, She expands Herself as Rukmiṇī in Dvārakā and She is very submissive to Kṛṣṇa. So, Rādhārāṇī became Gadādhara who was very submissive. So, when Lord Caitanya was in Jagannātha Purī, Gadādhara went there also. Lord Caitanya wanted to go to Vṛndāvana, and Gadādhara followed Him. When He reached the edge of Śrī Kṣetra, then He reminded Gadādhara Paṇḍita of his vow as kṣetra-sannyāsī, he is supposed to stay in Śrī Kṣetra. But then He left Śrī-kṣetra and Gadādhara followed Him. So He said, “Okay, now you have proven your point, you broke your vow to follow Me!” Then Lord Caitanya ordered him to go back. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura had his temple in Godrumadvīpa has the Deities of Gaura Gadādhara.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he tried to find out books on Lord Caitanya. At that time, the Caitanya Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement had become convoluted with the sahajiyās. So at that time, the sahajiyās because of their bad habits, had brought disrepute to the teachings of Lord Caitanya. So, from the spiritual world, some associates of the Lord came down to reestablish Lord Caitanya’s movement.

So, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Kedārnātha Datta, he was one of those transcendental persons. He appeared in Bir Nagar in Nadia district. We have bought some land near the birthplace of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. And in negotiation to purchase a land just adjacent to the birthplace. So, when he appeared, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s family was very rich. But when he was eleven years old, his father passed away and somehow at that time his family fell into a condition of poverty. So when Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was twelve, his mother arranged for his marriage to the five-year-old daughter of Madhusūdana Mitra Mahāsaya, a resident of Ranaghat. So, Kedārnātha Datta was educated in English by his uncle. So, under his grandfather or someone, he learned the correct English. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura as a child, and a young man, he used to help Kāśī Prasāda by seeing the manuscripts of the different newspapers. He then attended the Calcutta Hindu Charitable School and became a student, teacher, lecturer of the college. He studied the different writings in English and rejected the writings of Śaṅkarācārya. At the end of 1858, he returned to Bir Nagar and found the place to be ruined and deserted. He brought his mother and paternal grandmother from there to Calcutta and after that he went to Orissa. So when Kedārnātha Datta with his maternal grandmother, he went to visit his paternal grandfather, his grandfather’s last instructions he received when he was 21, his grandfather left the world. So also being a householder he began to think how to make his living. He saw that trade or business was including dishonesty. For you, I am making no profit! So, he decided to be a schoolteacher. So this way in Orissa, he established an English school. So then seeing his good qualities, the British government offered him the position of Deputy Magistrate in the government of Bengal. In those days, magistrates on the one hand, they would be acting as a judge and other hand administer as well. So later he was staying in Ranaghata and then in Bardhaman. Like that he got various positions as a Deputy Registrar, Deputy Collector and Deputy Magistrate in the district of Chapra. He was an expert in Persian and Urdu languages. In 1866, he rendered the registry manual in Uttar Pradesh in Urdu throughout the provinces of Agra and Oudh. So, he was transferred to Purnia and then to Dinajpur, the place of Nitāi! So he got Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Caitanya-caritāmṛta and he read that again and again! So, then he developed a lot of faith in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I have been telling you many times that it is very important for all of you to read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Caitanya-caritāmṛta!

So, at one time, he was the manager from the government’s side of the Jagannātha Purī temple. He and his wife prayed to Lord Jagannātha that they could have a ray of Viṣṇu, an ācārya as their child! So, his fourth child was Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. He had like ten children. In 1897, he established the Nāma-haṭṭa. He systematically started the village level, congregational outreach. He trained lay preachers to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I was inspired by his starting the Nāma-haṭṭa and heard that Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura was also interested in it, but no one was doing it, so we started it in Eastern India! In 1898, he published the Navadvīpa dhāma Mahātmyā. He promoted dhāma-vāsa, residing in the holy dhāma as part of the spiritual practice. You are all living in the dhāma, right? So this is one of the aṅgas of spiritual life. Then he wrote Jaiva Dharma. This book is his magnum opus – it explains sambandha, abhideya, prayojana. So in Jaiva Dharma he has written how the women can be gurus and addressed ladies’ congregation. Then he wrote Harināma Cintāmaṇi, which is how you can progress to kṛṣṇa-prema by chanting the holy names. It says here he accepted the order of Bābājī. So, he intensively trained his son, who was later known as Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. He published Śrī Bhajana Rahasya which is for advanced sādhakas. He instructed his son, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura to preach vigorously. So, the last work he published is Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa-arcana-dīpikā and we should have this. This is a concise guidebook on Deity worship in the Gauḍīya tradition.

So, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura was empowered by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura who transferred his preaching to his son. On his son’s order, Śrīla Prabhupāda went all over the world. So Śrīla Prabhupāda, taught Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s teaching to ISKCON around the world. In 1973 in London, Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he was a gṛhastha and he had a son who was an ācārya. This way, Śrīla Prabhupāda said that his gṛhastha disciples to have ācāryas as disciples.

I went a little late, because anyway, today is a fast day! Today in the evening they are having a program around 4 pm in the Nāma-haṭṭa Bhavan and I will be going for that. The SGVA, Sarasvata Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Association, will be having a program there and whoever of you can attend that program, it will be very nice. I heard that Māyāpur residents don’t usually go! So, please come! You can see how great was Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura! I only spoke a little, I could not speak much! So, this is our attempt, Śrīla Prabhupāda told me to try to unite the descendants of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. So today we spoke a little about Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and a little on Gadādhara Paṇḍita. Haribol!

Today I go for dialysis! So I don’t know when I will finish. I will try to attend. Hare Kṛṣṇa!