A Glimpse into the Life Of Thakur Bhakti Vinoda

Overview

“A Glimpse into the Life Of Thakur Bhaktivinoda” is a rare biography written in 1916 by Paṇḍita Sātkari Caṭṭopādhyāya Siddhānta- bhūṣaṇa, a friend of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. Written on behalf of the Bhaktivinoda Memorial Committee, this short text gives a summary of the Ṭhākura’s achievements during his lifetime.

• INTRODUCTION
• A GLIMPSE INTO THE LIFE OF THAKUR BHAKTIVINODE
• A Glance Behind
• Birth Of A New Faith
• Short Biography
• Birth & Ancestry
• Education
• Early Literary Efforts
• Visit To Ula
• The Maths Of Orrissa
• Burdwan Days, A Poet
• Becomes One Of The Great Unemployed
• A School For Logic
• Lecture On The Bhagabat
• Emancipation Of A Ghost
• Regulates The Puri Shrine
• A Religious Fanatic
• The Sajjan-toshani
• A Scholar’s Appreciation
• Sri Krishna Modernised

by Paṇḍita Sātkari Caṭṭopādhyāya Siddhānta-bhūṣaṇa

With an introduction by Babu Sarada Charan Mitra, M.A., B.L., Ex-Judge of the Calcutta High Court.

INTRODUCTION

I love to study biographies of great men. They generally contain true stories and not mythical, and they are far better instructors than dry moral and religious precepts. They inspire us.

“Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime”.

Whatever the department of thought, feeling or work, a colossal spirit stands as a hero, he commands our admiration and attracts us to a goal. Such was Thakur Kedarnath Bhakti Vinode, and the painting of his character, and exemplification of his piety, self-abnegation, devotedness and the earnestness with which he worked for impressing on his countrymen the principles of Bhakti as a means of salvation, cannot but be interesting.

The following pages give a sketch only which I think is insufficient for a grasp of a true ideal but there is much in it to inspire us, to attract. I knew Thakur Bhakti Vinode intimately—as a friend and a relation. Even under pressure of official work as a Magistrate in charge of a heavy subdivision, he could find time for devotional contemplation and work, and whenever I met him, our talk would turn in a few moments to the subject of Bhakti and Dwaitadwaitavad and the saintly work that they lay before him. Service of God is the only thing he longed for and service under Government, however honourable was to him a clog. The sketch that we have is worth careful perusal. It gives bones—a structure which every thoughtful reader should be able to clothe with flesh and blood. He will find a truly sacred life.

– SARADA CHARAN MITRA M.A., B.L.
(Ex-Judge of the Calcutta High Court)

Calcutta, the 1st August, 1916

A GLIMPSE INTO THE LIFE OF THAKUR BHAKTIVINODE

 A Glance Behind

It has truly been observed by a well known English writer that “the life a man in this world is for the most part a life of work.” Our Thakur Bhaktivinode led a life which was of incessant labour and activity, for Divine Sri Krishna and which produced such immense real good to the world as in the days of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, His Divine spiritual self, by the united efforts of His well-known disciples commonly known as Goswamis, Pandits and Thakurs.

Birth Of A New Faith

It was the spiritual attempt and divine writings of this individual that turned the scale and led the intelligent and educated community to believe in the noble precepts and teachings of the noblest and the highest, who made His appearance in the 15th Century in the heart of Bengal. If we look half-a-century back, we cannot but be astonished to find how degraded was the condition of the then Vaishnava faith which had its origin in so wide and masterly a spiritual philosophy as could not easily apprehended by the common run of so-called pandits. Incredulity born of the ignorance of uncultured men was at the root of the degradation of society to such an extent. It was by his sheer love for Divine Godhead that Thakur Bhaktivinode expounded the deep philosophy which remained concealed in of the Vedas and the Puranas and Bhagabat as taught in the school of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and gave it to the world by his action towards Divine service and also by his words in simple language to be easily understood by the readers in general. It is his writings and his divine unparalleled character that have helped to produce a class of educated and enlightened men who are now proud of their Vaishnava faith and of their acquisition of the spiritual knowledge of pure and sublime philosophy of Krishna on which the stern teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu are based. Great souls like Radhikanath Goswami, Charan Das Babaji, Shishir Kumar Ghosh and others, who are known as writers and preachers of the Vaishnavas of the present day, owe their spiritual inspiration to him and him alone, either directly to him or through his divine character and writings. Inspired by the fountain-head, they have on their part, brought to light, by their untiring endeavours and writings, the tenets of Vaishnava religion, which were hidden in unfathomed obscurity, but the mightiest soul, the source of spring, should not on that account be allowed to be effaced from the memory of truth-seekers but should be placed at the head of all. An account of his life will naturally be of interest to our readers, but as this is not the place to depict it elaborately, a short sketch of the life of that saint is given below.

Short Biography

Though born with a silver spoon in his mouth, on the 2nd of September, 1838 A. D., Thakur Bhakti Vinode, who was given the name of Kedar Nath Dutt, had to meet many a vicissitude in his early life.

Birth & Ancestry

He was descended from the well-known Hatkhola Dutt family of Calcutta being eighth descent from Govinda sharan Dutt, the founder of Govindapur (1) one of the three clusters of villages that helped in the growth of the second city of the British empire and fourth in descent from Madan Mohan Dutt, (2) the illustrious and pious member of that family, whose noble, glorious and generous exploits are now household words in Bengal. It was to him that many a noble and wealthy family in Calcutta (3) and its environs, like that of Ram Dulal Sarkar, the father of famous Chhatu & Latu Babus, of Diwan Nanda Kumar Bose and others owed their rise and success. His mother’s side was equally illustrious.

His maternal grand father Ishwar Chandra Mitra Mustafi of Ula, a scion of the Rameshwar Mustafi family of noble fame, was a man of immense wealth and generous disposition and was, held next in esteem to the Nuddea Raja, as a munificent Zaminder of that district. His father’s mother was the daughter of Ray Rayan Jagannath Prasad Ghose the cousin of the well-known Maharaja Rajballabh of Murshidabad. (4)

(1) Vide Census report of 1901, Vol VII Part I (Calcutta foot note (b) at p. 12 (Published by Government); and Dutta-Vamsha Mala, 43 sloka of canto V, 226 P. of Edn. 1899.

(2) Madan Dutt, contemporary of Lord Clive-Merchant and Zamindar in Calcutta. His immortal work is the construction of stairs at Pretsila at a cost of several lakhs of rupees.

(3) Vide Girish Chandra Ghosh’s printed Lecture on the life of Ramdulal De delivered in the hall of the Hooghly College on the 14th March, 1868.

(4) Maharaja Rajballah-Diwan of the khalsha and was addressed as Ray Rayan of Bengal. He was the son of Maharaja Durlabh Ram Mahindra, commonly known as Ray Durlabh, the chief revenue officer at Murshidabad under Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah. Durlabh was for a time subah of Orissa and his father Maharaja Janakiram Mahindra was the Nawab of Bihar.

Education

His childhood was spent in his maternal grandfather’s house, from where he came to Calcutta, at the age of thirteen, sometime after the demise of his father, to get his education under the direct guidance of Kashi Prasad Ghosh(5), the literary luminary of the time, in whose atmosphere rose many a literary genius among who may be mentioned the names of Sambhu Chandra Mukherjee (6) and Krishna Das Paul. (7) Kashi Prasad was the common centre of the literary sphere of his time and the “Hindu intelligencer” (8) of which he was the Editor, drew many a writer to learn from him the art of writing English correctly. Major Richardson, commonly known as Shakespeare Richardson, (9) often met Kashi Prasad at his residence in Cornwallis Square and discussed literary subjects. It was our Thakur’s business to read to Kashi Prasad the articles which were presented to him to be passed as fit for publication in the magazines and newspapers. Within a short time he studied all the works in Kashi Prasad’s library and freely availed himself of the use of the “Public Library”. (10)

Early Literary Efforts

He began to contribute articles to the “Literary Gazette” and to the “Intelligencer” and composed the first two books of “The Poriade” in English verse, which he had a mind to complete in 12 books. These two books were written before he was eighteen. We are sorry to note that the first book of “The Poriade” is not available except in the British Museum, London. Daring his stay with Kashi Prasad Ghosh, he did not lose an opportunity to join the debating clubs and to exchange freely thoughts on spiritual and literary subjects with Maharshi Devendra Nath Tagore, with his sons Dwijendra Nath and Satyendra Nath, Keshab Chandra Sen, Tarak Nath Palit, Krishna pal and other eminent men who always valued and esteemed his discussions. It is a curious fact that each of the above group shone in his own sphere.

(5) Kashi prasad Ghosh, (1809-73) Poet and journalist.

(6) Shambhu Chandra Mukherjee, (1839-94) A journalist. Held appointment in several states and for a time was minister to the Tippera state.

(7) Krishna Das Paul, Rai Bahadur and C. I. E., (1838-84) orator and journalist. He was a prominent figure in political sphere of this time.

(8) The Hindu Intelligencer-weekly journal established by Kaliprasad Ghosh in Nov.1846. Discontinued in 1857 on passing of Lord Canning’s ‘Gagging Act.

(9) Major D.L. Richardson, (1801-65). A.D.C. to Lord Wm. Bentinck. Afterwards held various educational appointments. Literateur and journalist.

(10) Public library – now converted into The Imperial Library in “Metcalf-Hall”.

Visit To Ula

He had an occasion to go to Ula to see his mother when he vas much aggrieved to find the changed condition of that once wealthy and populous village, the place of his birth. It was then deserted, as it had been visited by an epidemic which bad taken away most of its inhabitants and the luxuriant pomp and grandeur which had once been a common feature of that village, had become a mere thing of the past. After his return to Calcutta, he had to start for Orissa, having been asked by his grandfather Rajballabh Dutt to be present at the time of his death. That gentleman had once been a conspicuous figure in the “city of palaces” and retired to a lonely place in Orissa to spend the rest of his life as an ascetic. He could predict the future and knew when he would die. He could commune with supernatural beings. Thakur Bhaktivinode was present at that eventful time when that great soul passed away, and received his instructions. Just after this occurrence, he entered the educational service and introduced English education into that tract of the land of the Oriyas which was still buried in darkness and after having worked in that capacity for sometime in Cuttack, Bhadrak and Midnapore, he came to to be employed there in the Collectorate with a better income.

The Maths Of Orrissa

While at Bhadrak he wrote a discourse on the “Maths of Orissause of which was made by Sir William Hunter (11) in his work called “Orissa”… Our Thakur’s habit of research from his very early age was marked by Sir William as he found him visiting all the large monasteries of Orissa at that early age. Sir William also observed our Thakur’s innate morality and religion, and thought them to be very prominent in him. We may quote here the words of that great Scholar.

“In 1860 a pamphlet was put forth by a native gentleman (Kedar Nath Dutt) who had visited all the larger monasteries of Orissa and who was himself a landholder in that province. With regard to a little monastery in his own estate, the author adopted an even more vigorous procedure. “I have a small village,: he says in the country of Cuttack of which I am the proprietor. (12) In that village is a religious house, to which was granted, by my predecessors, a holding of rent-free land. The head of the institution gave up entirely entertaining such men as chanced to seek shelter on a rainy night. This came to my notice; and I administered a severe threat to the head of the house, warning him that his lands would be cruelly resumed if in future complaints of inhospitality were brought to my knowledge.”

The above remarkable notice was made by a genius of Sir William Hunter’s calibre sometime prior to 1872, the year of the publication of his work “Orissa”. When he was staying at Midnapore he made acquaintance with Raj Narayan Bose as a fellow teacher.

(11) Sir, Willam Hunter (1840-1900) Bengal Civilian Appointed Director General Statistics in 1871. Compiled the Imperial Gazetteer and wrote many other works, .Vide pp. 118-19 of Orissa Vol I by W. W. Hunter (1872)

(12) Chhotimangalpur, six miles from Kendrapara on the Patamundi canal.

Burdwan Days, A Poet

During his stay at Burdwan he wrote two Bengali poems, viz: Vijanagram & Sanyasi the style of which highly admired by Michael Madhusudan Dutt, A criticism of these two works appeared in the Calcutta Review of 1963, vol. 39, which is reproduced here for our readers. The time was full of bad taste and Bengali writings were generally considered as full of vitiating ideas and style which could hardly be read by chaste readers. The editor was really glad to see Bengali Books written in a good style and an exceptionable moral tone, and in spite of the fact that the Calcutta Review was not suitable for dealing with vernacular literature he unhesitatingly criticised them. He seemed to take a delight in finding a means for enlightening Hindu ladies by giving to their hands a work which is free from objectionable licenses of thought and expressions. The Review as follows:

“We have glanced at this little volume of Bengali verse, which we have no hesitation in recommending as suitable especially for Hindu women. We do not expect that such will read the Calcutta Review, but many, we trust, of our readers will be interested in knowing what books maybe safely recommended as good in style and exceptionable in moral tone, and with that object we intend, if duly assisted, to take an occasional survey of the field of vernacular literature. The Vijanagram, the first poem in this book, is an account of the desolation of the once populous village of Ula, near Ranaghat in consequence of the ravages of the late epidemic. It is pleasing in style and evidently on the model of Goldsmith and we would rather see a Bengali using his English studies to purify and improve the style of vernacular words rather than him composing imitation English epics about Porus and Alexander. The Sanyasi in two chapters is an abler production, and reflects much credit on the author. Of the minor poems, the description of spring and the translation from Carlyle are very fair specimens. We hope the author will continue to give his countrymen the benefit of his elegant and unassuming pen, which is quite free from those objectionable licenses of thought and expression which abound in many dramas recently published. The want of the day is the creation of literature for Hindu ladies; and we trust that many more educated natives will have the good sense to devote their time and abilities to the attainment of this most desirable end”.

One of the speeches he delivered at Burdwan drew the attention of Mr. W. L. Heiley I. C. S. who rendered him much assistance afterwards. He was first acquainted with that officer at Cuttack. It was through that gentle-man that he came in contact with Mr. H.I. Dampier and Sir Ashley Eden. The latter part of his stay as Burdwan was not a happy one for him as he had soon to meet adversity.

Becomes One Of The Great Unemployed

Ups and downs of life again made him to be employed temporarily for a year and a half as Head Clerk of the Judge’s Court at Chuadanga on a pay of Rs.150 p. m. and when that period was over he was actually thrown out of employment, but his energy and activity, which was a marked feature throughout his life, was not to be overlooked by the Govt. and he was offered shortly after an appointment as Sub Registrar of Assurance with the powers of a Magistrate, on Rs, 200/-p.m., in Saran and subsequently in Kishanganja and Purnea. On the re-organisation of the Provincial Civil Service in 1866 he was permanently transferred to that service and in that capacity, was employed in different districts of Bengal, Bihar & Orissa till his retirement in 1894 with a pension of Rs 4000/- a year. He was first stationed at Chapra in Saran where he had to crush the clique formed against him by the tea-planters for not having complied with their unjust requests.

A School For Logic

While at Saran he visited Gautamasram at Godana (13). This place attracted his attention as fit for the establishment of a school for teaching “Naya-shashttra“. With this noble object in mind, on returning to Chapra, he called a mass meeting where he delivered a speech on Gautam and gained the good wishes of the people of that place. Though subsequently he did not himself take any part in the movement of which he was truly speaking, the originator, his expectation was fulfilled sometime later with the public aid, and the foundation stone of the School was laid in 1883, by Sir Rivet’s Thompson, the then Lt. Governor of Bengal, after whom it was named. As he was not keeping good health at Chapra he obtained a transfer to Purnea where he recovered his health to some extent. His next station was Dinajpur.

(13) Godana-Revelganj— The native name of the town is Godana apparently derived from the name of Gautama. A Sanskrit School was established here by public subscription between 1883-87. (Saran District Gazetteer, 1908, pp. 160.63)

Lecture On The Bhagabat

Here he delivered a speech on the Bhagabat which attracted the attention of many. He made the world know what hidden treasures pervade through every page of the Bhagabat which should be read by all persons having a philosophical turn of mind as it is the outcome of the deep philosophical thoughts of the maturest brain of Badarayana Vyasa and is the production of his old and ripe age. He was sorry that the Bhagabat did not attract the genius of Ram Mohan Ray. whose thought, mighty though it was, had unfortunately branched off the main line from the barren station of Shankaracharya and did not attempt to be an extension from the terminus of the great Bhagabat reformer of Nadia. We quote below a few lines from his speech showing how our Thakur himself became an admirer of that monumental work of philosophy which contains the doctrines of the Dwaitadwaita School:

“The Bhagabat has suffered alike from shallow critics both native and foreign. That book has been accursed and denounced by a great number of our young countrymen who have scarcely read its contents and pondered over the philosophy on which it is founded. It is owing mostly to their imbibing and unfounded prejudice against it when they were in school. The Bhagabat as a matter of course, has been held in derision by those teachers, who are generally of an inferior mind and intellect. This prejudice is not easily shaken when the student grows up unless he candidly studies the book and ruminates on the doctrines of Vaishnavism. We are ourselves witnesses of the fact. When we were in college, reading the philosophical works of the West and exchanging thoughts with the thinkers of the day, we had a real hatred towards the Bhagabat. That great work look like a repository of wicked and stupid ideas scarcely adapted to the 19th century, and we hated to hear any argument in its favour. With us a volume of Channing, Parker, Emerson or Newman had more weight than the whole lot of the Vaishnav works. Greedily we poured over the various commentations of the Holy Bible and the labours of the Tattwabodhini Sabha, containing extracts from the Upanishads and the Vedanta, but no work of the Vaishnavas had any favour with us. But when we advanced in age, and our religious sentiment received development, we turned out in a manner unitarian in our belief and prayed, as Jesus prayed in the garden. Accidentally we fell in with a work about the great Chaitanya, and on reading it with some attention in order to settle the historical position of that mighty genius of Nadia, we had the opportunity of gathering his explanations of Bhagabat, given to the wrangling Vedantist of the Benares school. This accidental study created in us a love for all the works which we find about our Eastern Saviour. We gathered with the difficulties the famous Karchas in Sanskrit written by the disciples of Chaitanya. The explanations, that we got of the Bhagabat from these sources were of such a charming character that we produced a copy of the Bhagabat complete and studied in texts (difficult of course to those who are not trained up in philosophical thoughts) with the assistance of the famous commentation of Sridhar Swami. From such study it is that we have at least gathered the real doctrines of the Vaishnavas. Oh what a trouble to get rid of prejudices gathered in unripe years”.

Emancipation Of A Ghost

From Dinajpur he went to Champaran. Here he freed a Brahmadaitya from bondage. This spirit, it was believed, lived on a banian tree and used to be worshipped by the people of the locality. One day the father of the famous Pandita Ramabai with the girl came to Thakur Bhakti-vinode for alms. He at once employed him in reading the Bhagabata under the shade of the banian tree which was proverbial as the abode of that spirit. Just at the end of a month, when the reading of the book was over, the main stem of the tree fell crushingly at the spot and it was perceived by all that the spirit was saved for good, and every one was thankful for this action, although a few, who used earn through dishonest practice in the name of that spirit, became dissatisfied.

Regulates The Puri Shrine

His next move was to Puri. The Commissioner Mr. T. E. Ravenshaw was much pleased to get him in his Division and asked him to watch the affairs of the temple of Jagannath from the side of the Government. It was through his exertion many bad practices at the temple were checked and the time for the offering of food before the Deity was regulated to its extreme punctuality. The measures he took during his stay there reduced the epidemic to nil. and he gave every comfort to the visitors that could possibly be given on behalf of the Government. The Raja of Puri was at that time also brought to his senses for obstructing him in the execution of his public duty.

A Religious Fanatic

He was specially entrusted by Mr. Ravenshaw to quell the rise against the Government, of one Bishikishen who declared him self as an incarnation of Maha-Vishnu. During the course of investigation he found him to be an unbeliever of God and a culprit of the charge brought against him and after the trial of his case sentenced him to imprisonment for year and a half, and it is said that the poor fellow died shortly in the Central Jail at Midnapur. This man was really possessed of unnatural powers as they were the outcome of something other than heavenly purity he had to submit to the Thakur Bhakti-Vinode when he wanted him do so. Bishikishan was held in dread by the common people and every one warned Bhakti-Vinode not to admonish him even far the sake of justice, in view of the serious consequences likely to follow. Bhaktivinode was not a man of ostentation and did not allow people to know of what mettle he really was and easily curled the mighty power of Bishikishan, under whose feet rested the heads of many chiefs. With the rise of Bishikishan as Maha-Vishnu, rose another Balaram at Khandagiri and other incarnations of God whose plans were similarly frustrated by Mr. W. C. Taylor, Deputy Magistrate and Deputy Collector at Khurda. Daring his stay at Puri Bhakti-Vinode devoted much of his time to the discussion of religious works and prepared notes of the Vedanta, the use of which was made by Sri Shyamlal Goswami in the edition which contained the Govinda Vashya. He also composed the Kalyan Kalpataru which may very truly be termed as an immortal work and stands on the same level as the Divine writings of Narottom Thakur.

The Sajjan-toshani

He left Puri in 1857 for Arraria whence he was transferred to Maheshrekha (Uluberia) and thence to Bhadrak. From the last named place was transferred to Narail where he started the well-known Vaishnav monthly periodical “Sajjan-toshani”. He also published here one of his best works “Sri Krishna-Samhita” which revealed to the world the underlying philosophy explaining the spiritual existence of Krishna. This book helped to open the eyes of the educated people and to teach them their true relation with God. It even attracted the attention of highly educated men of far off lands.

A Scholar’s Appreciation

The following is an extract from a letter from Dr. Reinhold Rost (14) dated 16th April, 1880, to our Thakur:

“By representing Krishna’s character and his worship in a more sublime and transcendent light than has hitherto been the custom to regard him in, you have rendered an essential service to your co-religionists, and no one would have taken more delight in your work than my departed friend Goldstucker  (15) the sincerest and most zealous advocate the Hindus ever had in Europe”. 

(14) Dr Reinhold Rost C.1.E, L.L.n, Ph.n. 1822-96). A great oriental scholar and one of the greatest linguist of his time.

(15) Theodore Goldstruker (1821-72). A great authority on ancient Hindu Law and literature.

Sri Krishna Modernised

After a short stay at Jessore he was transferred to Barasat where he relieved the well-known Novelist Bankim Chandra. This gentleman had at that time just finished his discourse on Krishna, and it was an opportune moment for him to show his work to one who was possessed of such talent as to pass authoritative opinion on his writings. It was full of Europeanised ideas and accordingly Thakur Bhakti-Vinode explained to Bankim Chandra the incongruity that inadvertently cropped up in his writings and after 4 days of discussion the whole book was modified; but, to his surprise, Thakur Bhaktivinode found when the book came out to the-public that his suggestions were not accepted in toto. The public functions in which he took part at Baraset brought an unjust criticism against him in the Reis Rayyat of which no notice was taken by Government and the man who caused this mischief was simply forgiven by the Thakur. During the last year of his stay at Baraset our Thakur undertook at the request of Babu Sarada Charan Mitra, Ex-Judge Of the Calcutta High court to publish a good edition of the Srimad Bhagabad-gita with the commentaries of Sri Bishwanath Chakravarti and his own translation. This work when published was received by the people with the greatest delight and all the copies were soon exhausted. The great Novelist Bankim Chandra in the preface to his Srimad Bhagabad-gita acknowledged his own indebtedness to our Thakur’s edition of the book with the remark that Bengali readers were specially indebted to Thakur Bhakti-vinode.