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Shrila Sachchidananda Bhakti |
Shrila Bhakti Vinode Thakur, the son of Sri Ananda Chandra Dutta (belonging to the famous lineage of the descendants of Sri Purusottam Dutta) and Srimati Jagat-mohini Devi, was born on Sunday September 2, 1838, in Birnagar, Nadia District, West Bengal in the house of his rich and famous maternal grandfather Sri Iswar Chandra Mustanphi. His parent named him ‘Kedarnath'. Having lost his father at an age of 11 year, he was brought up at his maternal place. Right from his childhood, he was extraordinarily brilliant and he was a favorite student of Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar. He used to have debate with Vidyasagar against the dogma ‘God is formless'. He took up the post of headmaster of a high school at Bhadrak district of Orissa and during this period he wrote a book in English titled ‘Maths of Orissa'. After completing his law degree, he joined as a Deputy magistrate in Dinajpur district. After coming contact with Shrila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj in Vrindavan, he became renowned in the Vaishnava community. When he made-up his mind to settle down at Vrindavan after retiring from Government service, one night Tarakeswar Mahadev (Lord Shiva) appeared in his dream and asked him to take shelter of Sri Navadwip Dham. He became initiated from Sri Bipin Behari Goswami, a direct descendent of Sri Bangshi Badanananda Thakur who was an associate of Sriman Mahaprabhu. During his tenure as Deputy Magistrate in Krishnanagar, with the help of Shrila Jagannath Das Babaji he discovered Mayapur Dham., the brith place Lord Chaitanya. He tirelessly endeavoured to is preach and spread the massage of Lord Chaitanya through powerful writing in different magazines and books. He was titled as the ‘Seventh Goswami' by a contemporary scholar Sri Sishir Kumar Ghosh. On June 23, 1914, on the disappearance day of Sri Gadadhara Pandit Goswami, Shrila Bhakti Vinode Thakur left this material world to enter the afternoon pastime of Sri Sri Radha Krishna. |
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