The Life of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur

1) Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura (1838-1914) is a prominent preceptor acharya in our succession of

spiritual masters and disciples coming from Lord Krishna.
2) He was a pioneering spiritual leader, a householder, a magistrate working in colonial India under
the British rule, a prolific preacher, writer, and poet.
3) He wrote volumes of books reintroducing the pure teachings of Lord Chaitanya at a time when
those teachings had practically become lost.
4) He composed hundreds of devotional songs glorifying Krishna to uplift the consciousness of the
suffering people of this world.
5) He corresponded with philosophers, theologians, leaders, scholars, and professors of his time
and sent books, including The Life and Precepts of Lord Chaitanya, to university libraries in
foreign countries, planting the seeds for a worldwide movement of Krishna consciousness.
6) Bhaktivinoda Thakura discovered and excavated the birthplace of Lord Chaitanya. Along with his
devoted wife, Bhagavati Devi, he raised ten children, including the illustrious Bhaktisiddhanta
Saraswati Thakura, who would become a great spiritual leader in his own time and the spiritual
master of ISKCON's founder-acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
7) 1838. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who was named Kedarnatha Datta by his parents, was born
in opulent circumstances in Biranagara (Ulagrama) in the district of Nadia, West Bengal.
8) He was the seventh son of Raja Krishnananda Datta, a great devotee of Lord Nityananda. He
would be known as daitya-kulera prahlada, "Prahlada in the family of non-devotees," because
Vaishnavism (the worship of Vishnu or Krishna) was not very much respected in his family.
9) 1849. When he was 11 years old, his father passed away. Subsequently, the grant of land that
had been conferred upon his grandmother changed owners, and the family fell into poverty.

10) 1856. At the age of 18, Kedaranatha Datta entered college in Calcutta. He started writing
extensively in English and Bengali.
11) He decided to become a school teacher, establishing a school for English education in the village
of Kendrapara, Orissa.

12) After some time, he went to Puri and passed a teachers examination. He got a teacher's post in
a Cuttack school and later became headmaster of a school in Bhadraka and then in Medinipura.

13) Thakura Bhaktivinoda took Vaisnava diksa from Sri Vipinvihari Goswami in the line of Sri
Jahnava Mata. Afterwards, he received spiritual inspiration and direction from Srila Jagannatha
Dasa Babaji.

14) Always anxious to use every moment in loving service of Krishna, he followed a strict
austere daily schedule:

8 p.m.-10 p.m. Rest (two hours)

10 p.m.-4 a.m. Write

4 a.m.-4:30 a.m. Rest

4:30 a.m.-7 a.m. Chant Japa

7 a.m.-7:30 a.m. Correspondence

7:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m. Study sastras

9:30 a.m.-10 a.m. Bath,prasadam (half-liter milk, fruit, 2 chapatis)

10 a.m.-1 p.m. Court Duties

1 p.m.-2 p.m. Refresh at home

2 p.m.-5 p.m. Court Duties

5 p.m.-7 p.m. Translate Sanskrit sastras to Bengali

7 p.m.-8 p.m. Bath,prasadam (half-liter milk, rice, 2chapatis)

15) 3 MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS BELOW

(1) Wrote 100 authorized spiritual books. (2) Discovered appearance place of Lord Caitanya. (3)
Introduced preaching innovations. Besides books (in Bengali, Oriya, English) reviving and explaining
Mahaprabhu's message, he wrote hundreds of poems and songs full of spiritual sentiments and
sastrie siddhanta (philosophical conclusions).
Summary Daily Schedule:

16)

Sleep 3hours
Write 8.5hours
Japa,study 4.5hours
Work 6 hours

17)British Government had themselves build an railway track from his house to court to save his
valuable time so that he could solve more cases .

18) In the mood of innovation, in 1896 he sent to universities around the world a book of slokas, Sri
Gauranga-lila smarana which had a forty-seven page English introduction: "Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu: His Life and Precepts." This act rose from a keen desire to spread Lord Caitanya's
teachings in the Western countries.

19) Bhaktivinoda Thakura made three predictions concerning a person and a phenomena: "A
personality will soon appear," wrote Bhaktivinoda Thakura, "and he will travel all over the world to
spread the teachings of Lord Caitanya."

20) His second prediction: "Very soon the chanting of 'Harinama sankirtana will be spread all over
the world. Oh, when will that day come when people from America, England, France, Germany,
Russia will take up karatals and mrdangas and chant Hare Krishna in their towns

21)The third prediction: that day will come when the fair-skinned foreigners will come to Sri
Mayapur-dhama "

22) In 1914, on the tirobhava tithi (disappearance day) of Sri Gadadhara Pandit (the incarnation of
Sri Radha), Thakura Bhaktivinoda entered the eternal pastimes of Gaura-Gadadhara and Radha-
Madhava.

23) Sri-Sri Gaura-Gadadhara, the worshipable Deities of Thakura Bhaktivinoda, await to bless any
visitors to Svananda-sukhada-kunja. In Radha-Madhava's nitya-vraja lila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
takes the form of Kamala-manjari to serve Srimati Radharani. His pushpa samadhi is in his bhajana
kutir at Radha-kunda.

24) After sincere prayers of BHAKTIVINODA THAKUR he got an great devotee son an ray of Vishnu
who later was named BHAKTI SIDDHANTA SARASVATI THAKUR spiritual master of Srila
Prabhupada.

25 )In many ways, aspiring devotees of Krishna today owe a significant debt to Srila Bhaktivinoda
Thakura for charting the course and laying the foundation for the modern-day Krishna consciousness
movement