Glories of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's appearance day
7 September 2014

sri-gauranga-parisada thakura bhakti-vinoda
dina-hina patitera bandhu
kali-tamah vinasite anilena avanite
toma' akalanka purna indu

"Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur is an associate of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and a friend of all low and fallen souls—to dispel all darkness of this dark age, he brought to this earth you [Srila Saraswati Thakur], a spotless full moon."

If Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur had not come, we would not have got Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur who is spotless—even the moon has some spots, but he has no spot. This Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur writes very nicely about Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, I read it in Gaudiya:

[Below is a summary of the Bengali article:]

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur is the god of the Gaudiya sampradaya. He appeared in this world in the form of Srila Bhaktivinod, an ocean of mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. His name "bhakti-vinod" means one who distributes pure saraswati [pure knowledge]. Ultimately, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur compares him to Srimati Radharani.

The religion of Kali-yuga is Krishna Nam sankirtan, congregational chanting of the Holy Names of Krishna, but no one can distribute it, no one can preach about Mahaprabhu all over the world without being empowered by Krishna and Mahaprabhu. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur is that svarupa-sakti of Mahaprabhu. You can see the symptoms in Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur that he is able to distribute Mahaprabhu's Name, form, qualities, pastimes, associates, abode.

He tried so much, heart and soul, to establish Gaura's Name, Gaura's Dham, Gaura's associates, etc.—everything related to Mahaprabhu. There are other six goswamis who distributed Mahaprabhu's teaching before, but by the time Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur appeared, it gradually had gone down and become adulterated because of the immense power of Kali Maharaj and the sahajiya-vad and other misconceptions had become prominent.

Unless you have no ego, unless you reject jealousy, unless you see things from neutral perspective, you cannot understand what Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur has given to us. Only a rupanuga (follower of Srila Rupa Goswami) can understand the glories of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, otherwise it is impossible.

ঈশ্বরের কৃপা-লেশ হয় ত' যাহারে ।
সেই ত' ঈশ্বর-তত্ত্ব জানিবারে পারে ॥

isvarera krpa-lesa haya ta' yahare
sei ta' isvara-tattva janibare pare

"Only those who receive even a trace of the Lord's mercy, can understand the Lord."

(Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 6.83)

Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakur writes a sloka about Srimad Bhagavatam saying that everybody reads Bhagavatam (even all mayavadis read it—you can watch the television and see them read it), but they cannot understand Bhagavatam, Bhagavatam does not give its main gist to them just as a chase lady gives her love and affection only to her husband—she may speak to other people, but she gives her internal things only to her husband, nobody else. So, only those who know Bhagavatam can understand it.

There were so many obstacles in Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's devotional activities due to the power of Kali—there were so many thorns that it seemed impossible to proceed—the line of devotion was in a very difficult position at that time. The opposition of bhakti was so strong—people are simple-hearted, they cannot understand anything and can change very quickly, so very soon deception, knowledge, atheism, karma, penance, punya had become prominent and were passed off as devotion, but Bhaktivinod Thakur said no—he established the true conception of devotion.

Who could recognise Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur? Only very few did—that was Sarvabhauma Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj and Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj. Finally, who else could understand him? Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur and also our param-gurudev Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj who wrote about Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur,

srigauranumatam svarupaviditam rupagrajenadrtam
rupadyaih parivesitam raghuganairasvaditam sevitam
jivadyair abhiraksitam sukasivabrahmadi sammanitam
sriradhapadasevanamrtam aho tad datum iso bhavan

"What was sanctioned by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu by His descent was intimately known only to Sri Svarupa Damodara Goswami. It was adored by Sanatan Goswami and served by Rupa Goswami and his followers. Raghunatha Das Goswami tasted that wonderful thing fully and enhanced it with his own realization. And Jiva Goswami supported and protected it by quoting the scriptures from different places. The taste of that divine truth is aspired for by Brahma, Siva, and Uddhava, who respect it as the supreme goal of life. What is this wonderful truth? Sri radhapadasevana: that the highest nectar of our life is the service of Srimati Radharani. This is most wonderful. O Bhakti Vinoda Thakur, you are our master. It is within your power to allow them to bestow their grace upon us. You are in a position to bestow the highest gift ever known to the world upon us all. It is at your disposal. O Bhakti Vinoda Thakur, please be kind to us and grant us your mercy."

And,

গুরুদং গ্রন্থদং গৈরধামদং নামদং মুদা
ভক্তিদং ভূরিদং বন্দে ভক্তিবিনোদকং সদা

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

"I perpetually offer my obeisance unto Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur. Guru-dam: he is the bestower of Sri Guru (Bhagavan Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur). Grantha-dam: he is the author of numerous commentaries, treatises, articles, novels and songbooks. Gaura-dhama-dam: he is the revealer of the abode of Sriman Mahaprabhu. Nama-dam: he is the giver of the Name. Bhakti-dam: he is the granter of pure devotion. Bhuri-dam: he is the bestower of an abundance of divine fortune."

(Sri Laghu-chandrika-bhasya, 1.8)

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