38 Facts About Bhaktivinoda Thakur

Bhaktivinoda Thakur tackled the task of reconciling Western reason and traditional belief, by accommodating both modern critical analysis and Hindu mysticism in his writings.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur dedicated himself to the study and practice of Chaitanya's teachings, emerging as a leader within the Chaitanya Vaishnava movement in Bengal.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur opposed what he saw as apasampradayas, or numerous distortions of the original Chaitanya teachings.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur led the spread of Chaitanya's teachings in the West, in 1880 sending copies of his works to Ralph Waldo Emerson in the United States and to Reinhold Rost in Europe.

The revival of Gaudiya Vaishnavism effected by Bhaktivinoda Thakur spawned one of India's preaching missions of the early 20th century, the Gaudiya Matha, headed by his son and spiritual heir, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur felt unconvinced by conventional explanations and started doubting the reality of the many Hindu gods and goddesses worshiped in village temples.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur's maternal uncle Kashiprasad Ghosh, a graduate of the Hindu College of Calcutta, was a champion of Westernisation, the editor of the English-language Hindu Intelligencer, a journal which propagated the ideas of the bhadralok, and a patriotic poet praised even by the British.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur made regular visits to his mother and sister in Ula for recovery and convalescence.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur's finances improved, allowing him to dedicate more time to studying, writing, and lecturing.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur's birth was followed by the death of Kedarnath's wife ten months later.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur would become his companion and the mother of his other thirteen children.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur authored an article on Vaishnavism as well as a book, Our Wants.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur showed himself a linguistic savant, within a short time learning Urdu and Persian, required for his government duties.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur mastered Sanskrit for his Vaishnava pursuits, enough to be able to read the Bhagavata Purana with traditional commentaries and to write his own Sanskrit poetry.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur gained a reputation for remembering passages from a book on a single reading, and learned enough to compose his own poetry in Sanskrit.

On 4 October 1894, at the age of 56, Bhaktivinoda Thakur retired from government service and moved with his family to Mayapur to focus on his devotional practice, writing and preaching.

In 1908 Bhaktivinoda Thakur formally adopted the lifestyle and practice of a babaji at his house in Calcutta, absorbed in chanting the Hare Krishna mantra until his death on 23 June 1914.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur's remains in a silver urn were interred at his house in Surabhi-kunj.

From 1874 till his departure in 1914 Bhaktivinoda Thakur wrote, both philosophical works in Sanskrit and English that appealed to the bhadralok intelligentsia, and devotional songs in simple Bengali that conveyed the same message to the masses.

In defense of the tenets of Vaishnavism, Bhaktivinoda Thakur's Krishna-samhita employed the same rational tools of its opponents, complete with contemporary archeological and historical data and theological thought, to establish Krishna's pastimes as transcendent manifestations of morality.

Undaunted by the criticism, Bhaktivinoda Thakur saw Krishna-samhita as an adequate presentation of the Gaudiya Vaishnava thought even for a Western mind and in 1880 sent copies of the book to leading intellectuals of Europe and America.

Soon Bhaktivinoda Thakur received a favorable response from an eminent Sanskrit scholar in London, Reinhold Rost, and a courteous acknowledgement of the gift from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

In 1886 Bhaktivinoda Thakur published another important work, Chaitanya-siksamrita, which summarises the teachings of Chaitanya and includes Bhaktivinoda Thakur's own socio-religious analysis.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur published Amnaya-sutra, Vaishnava-siddhanta-mala, Prema-pradipa, his own Sanskrit commentaries on the Chaitanya-upanisad and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Siksastakam, and two parts of Chaitanya-caritamrita with his own commentary, entitled Amrita-pravaha-bhashya.

In Jaiva-dharma, another key work, published in 1896, Bhaktivinoda Thakur employs the fictional style of a novel to create an ideal, even utopian Vaishnava realm that serves as a backdrop to philosophical and esoteric truths unfolding in a series of conversations between the book's characters and guiding their devotional transformations.

At the request of his son Lalita Prasad, in 1896 Bhaktivinoda Thakur wrote a detailed autobiography called Svalikhita-jivani that covered 56 years of his life, from birth up until that time.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur did not display much concern for how this account would reflect on his status as an established Gaudiya Vaishnava spiritual leader.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur edited and published over 100 books on Vaishnavism, including major theological treatises such as Krishna-samhita, Chaitanya-sikshamrita, Jaiva-dharma, Tattva-sutra, Tattva-viveka, and Hari-nama-cintamani.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur contributed to the development of Vaishnava music and song in the 19th century.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur composed many devotional songs, or bhajans, in Bengali and occasionally in Sanskrit, that were compiled into collections, such as Kalyana-kalpataru, Saranagati, and Gitavali.

In 1886 Bhaktivinoda Thakur attempted to retire from his government service and move to Vrindavan to pursue his devotional life.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur attempted to restore the once strong and unified Chaitanya movement from the motley assortment of sects that it came to be towards the end of the 19th century.

Gradually Bhaktivinoda Thakur directed criticism at various heterodox Vaishnava groups abounding in Bengal that he identified and termed "a-Vaishnava" and apasampradayas : Aul, Baul, Saina, Darvesa, Sahajiya, smarta brahmanas, etc.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur did not stop short of making practical efforts to implement his vision.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur preaches that human thought should never be allowed to be shackled with sectarian views.

In 2023 the Bhaktivedanta Research Centre established an endowment to the Department of Sociology, Presidency University, Kolkata, in honour of Bhaktivinod Bhaktivinoda Thakur, who was a student of Hindu College in 1853.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur wrote an autobiographical account titled Svalikhita-jivani that spanned the period from his birth in 1838 until retirement in 1894.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur died in Calcutta on 23 June 1914 at age 75.