Bhaktivinoda Thakur

Bhaktivinoda Thakur Biography

Bhaktivinoda Thakur, born as Kedarnath Datta was a prominent figure among the Gaudiya Vaishnavas of Bengal. He has also served as High Court judge in Jagannath Puri in Odisha. He is also known as a writer who published over one hundred books belonging to Sanskrit, Bengali, Oriya, Hindi, Urdu and English languages. Hari-katha: Topics of Lord Hari was published in the year 1850 and he continued publishing till 1907 with Svaniyama-dvadasakam being the last one. Among his seven kids, Bimal Prasad who later came to be known as Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was his son. His son Lalita Prasad Thakur too was famous and believed in father’s principles of vaishnavism, though both the siblings had difference in opinion how the spiritual heritage was to carry forward.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur was one among the first scholars to present the teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and revived the Sankirtan Movement started by him. Bhaktivinoda took initiation (diksha) from Bipin Bihari Goswami, a companion of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. His followers believe that Thakura predictions laid the foundation of the worldwide spread of the bhakti yoga movement. From the very beginning of Chaitanya's bhakti movement in Bengal, both Hindus and Muslims participated in it. Bhaktivinoda Thakura's broad-minded vision in the late 19th century acted as a catalyst in this movement.

He predicted coming of the day when non-Indian Vaishnavas would perform Harinama Sankirtan across the world. This prediction was fulfilled by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, disciple of his son Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. Bhaktivinoda later accepted his siksa guru as Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaj. He accepted the babaji vesh in 1908 and adopted his lifestyle also. He travelled between Kolkata and Puri until 1910. Later till his death, he spent his life at his home.

Published: N/A

Updated: March 12, 2014