Articles from Gaudiya History

Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana Biography

2011- 08- 31 09:08:38 Sevak
Baladeva Vidyabhusana.
Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana was born in t he early part of t he 18t h cent ury
(1720-1790) in a village near Remuna, Balasore Dist rict of Orissa. Even t hough
he was t he son of a 'vaisHya' (f armer), in his yout h he received a very
t horough educat ion in 'Sanskrit ', rhet oric, logic and VaisHnava script ure. He
accept ed 'sannyasa' int o t he 'Madhwa-sampradaya' at a very young age, and
st ayed at Jagannat ha Puri. He became a renowned scholar and t ravelled
around India t o all t he holy places. During his t ravels Baladeva came t o Puri in
Orissa (Ut kala), and met wit h one disciple of t he f amous Rasikananda Prabhu
of t he name Sri Radha Damodara Deva Goswami (1710-1760 A.D.). It was t o
t he surprise of everyone t hat Baladeva was convert ed t o Gaudiya
VaisHnavism by Radha Damodara Deva Goswami, who f irst explained t he
philosophy of Sri Chait anya Mahaprabhu, in accordance wit h t he t enant s of
Vedant a Sut ra and Srimad Bhagavat am, t hen init iat ed him as his f ormal
disciple. Under his direct ion he st udied Jiva Goswami's Sat -Sandarbha, and he
quickly became prominent in all int ellect ual circles.
This Radha Damodar Deva Goswami, alt hough not promenent as a member
of t he 'parampara' he wrot e Vedant a Syamant aka in six chapt ers dealing wit h
t he 'Pramanas' t o be accept ed, t he f ive 'Prameyas' viz. Gos, Jivas, Prakrt i,
Time and Karma, and quot es Madhvacharya prolif ically (Brahama Sut ra
Bhasya, page 14.), and pleads vigoursly f or t he dist inct ion of t he Jivas and
'Brahman' and repudiat es t he doct rine of 'Avacyat va' of 'Brahman' (page 21.).
(B.N.K. Sharma. Hist ory of t he Dvait a School of Vedant a. page 528.)
There is an int erest ing st ory which shows t he surrendered mood of
Baladeva and his sincere desire t o please his spirit ual mast ers.Once, when
Vishvanat ha Chakravat i was t oo old t o t ravel, he sent Baladeva t o a
conf erence t o represent Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Baladeva was required t o
prove t he validit y of Gaudiya Vaishnavism t o t he rest of t he Vaishnava
communit y f rom a script ural point of view, and t hus become duly aut horized
t o speak on mat t ers pert aining t o rit uals ('puja') and Vaishnava religion.
Though he was preaching f uriously no-one was prepared t o accept his
st at ement s according t o Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy, alt hough suf f icient
evidence was t here. The reason ot hers would not accept his st at ement s was
because t here was no est ablished comment ary of Brahma Sut ra or Vedant a
Sut ra t o support Gaudiya Vaishnavism at t hat t ime. Some were saying t hat in
every ot her 'sampradaya' t he f ounding or ref orming 'acarya' had made some
f orm of comment ary on Vedant a Sut ra Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhwa,
Vallabha, et c. Even t hough Lord Chait anya explained Vedant a Sut ra
(Chait anya Charit amrt a, Adi Lila, 7:138-146.) t ouching t he main subject mat t er,
not hing was writ t en.
Some members of t he Sri Sampradaya (t he 'Ramanandis') began t o raise
t his argument in t he court of t he King at Jaipur. They complained t hat as t he
Gaudiya Vaishnavas had no comment ary on t he Vedant a Sut ra, t hey were not
qualif ied t o worship t he Deit y, and t heref ore all of t he worship should be
t urned over t o t he Sri Sampradaya. They also object ed t o t he worship of
Srimat i Radharani along wit h Sri Govinda and Sri Gopinat ha as not being
aut horised anywhere in t he shast ras.
The king, Sadachari Raja, was init iat ed wit hin t he 'Gaudiya-Sampradaya'.
Thus he quiet ly sent word t o Vrindavan, inf orming t he Devot ees t here of what
had happened. At t he same t ime t he king was obliged t o remove Radharani
t emporarily f rom t he Deit y room, as well as t o suspend t he Bengali Gaudiya
Vaishnava pujaris f rom part aking in t he Deit y worship.
"May He Who so mercif ully and munif icent ly was kind
t owards me, and best owed His f avour by ordering me in
a dream t o writ e down His own comment ary, which He
would compose, and which at t ained such renown
amongst t he learned circles t hat t hey best owed upon
me t he t it le 'Vidyabhusana'; may t hat dear Friend of
Srimat i Radharani, who holds Him dearer t han Her own
lif e, be glorif ied. May t hat Sri Govinda be glorif ied." (in
t he image: Sri Govindaji, beloved Deit y of Srila Rupa
Goswami).
As we have just st at ed, at t hat t ime Srila Visvanat ha Cakravart ipada was
very aged, so it was not possible f or him t o make t he arduous journey t o
Jaipur. In his place he sent his st udent , Sri Baladeva, who was f ully conversant
wit h t he 'shast ras' and t hus able t o compet ent ly f ace t he challenge. In a great
assembly he posed such f orcef ul argument s t o t he f ollowers of Ramanuja
(t he Ramanandis) t hat t hey could not reply t o t hem. He f urt her explained t o
t hem, "The originat or of t he Gaudiya Vaishnava 'sampradaya', Sri Chait anya
Mahaprabhu, has accept ed Srimad Bhagavat am as t he nat ural comment ary
on t he Vedant a Sut ra, as composed by Srila Vyasadeva Himself . This is
proven in t he Sat -sandarbha." Srila A.C.Bhakt ivedant a Swami has
comment ed on t his point saying t hat , "The reason t hat Sri Chait anya
Mahaprabhu didn't make a comment ary on t he Vedant a Sut ra was because
t hey came in t he line t hrough Vyasa t o Madhwa, who had already made t heir
comment aries, so why should t hey make t heirs. Sri Chait anya Mahaprabhu
and t he Goswamis were quit e happy t o f ollow in t he f oot st eps of t he previous
Acaryas." (A.C.Bhakt ivedant a Swami Prabhupada. NY Jan 67 San Francisco,
C.C. Madhya Lila 22:21/28.)
The scholars in t he assembly however ref used t o accept anyt hing ot her
t han a direct comment ary on t he Vedant a sut ra. Having no ot her recourse,
Baladeva promised t o present t hem wit h one. They gave Baladeva eight een
days t o have his comment ary ready f or discussion. The mood of t he
Ramanandis was quit e aggressive, much like "Put up or shut up," which made
Baladeva t ranscendent ally anxious.
Feeling very aggrieved in t his manner, Sri Baladeva t ook shelt er of t he Lord
and came t o Sri Govindaji's Temple in Jaipur. Af t er of f ering his prost rat ed
obeisances, he inf ormed Sri Govinda of everyt hing t hat had happened. That
night a wonderf ul t hing happened, t he Lord appeared t o him in a dream and
inst ruct ed him t o writ e a comment ary on t he Vedant a sut ra. The Lord said,
"You just writ e, and I will dict at e t o you what t o writ e, and t heref ore no one will
be able t o ref use t o accept it ."
Having seen such a wonderf ul dream, Srila Baladeva was t ot ally enlivened
and f elt renewed st rengt h f low int o his heart . Thus he began t o writ e, and
wit hin a f ew days complet ed t he comment ary which was t it led 'Sri Govinda
Bhasya'.
vidya rupam bhusanam me pradaya kyatim nitya tena yo mamudarah
sri govinda svapna nirdista bhaso radha bandhubandhurangah sa jiyat
"May He Who so mercif ully and munif icent ly was kind t owards me, and
best owed His f avour by ordering me in a dream t o writ e down His own
comment ary, which He would compose, and which at t ained such renown
amongst t he learned circles t hat t hey best owed upon me t he t it le
'Vidyabhusana'; may t hat dear Friend of Srimat i Radharani, who holds Him
dearer t han Her own lif e, be glorif ied. May t hat Sri Govinda be glorif ied."
Bringing t he comment ary wit h him, Srila Baladeva again came t o t he
assembly of t he Ramanandi scholars. Af t er reading t he comment ary t hey
were simply speechless. Thus t he vict ory of t he 'Gaudiya-sampradaya' was
announced f ar and wide, and t he king, as well as t he ot her Devot ees, began
t o f loat in t he ocean of bliss. This assembly t ook place in t he year 1628
Sakabda, at Golt a near t he present cit y of Jaipur.
Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana inst alled t he Deit y of Vijaya Gopala t here at
Golt a Temple, but t he whereabout s of t his Deit y are at present not known.
From t his day on, t he Maharaja of Jaipur announced, "Sri Govinda's 'arat i'
would be perf ormed f irst , and t hen t he ot her Temples could perf orm t heir
'arat is'. It is always we have f ound, best t o keep one's words sweet . As you
never know when you will have t o swallow t hem! Thus af t er accept ing def eat ,
t he Ramanandi scholars expressed t heir desire t o accept init iat ion f rom Sri
Baladeva Vidyabhushana. However he declined t heir request by st at ing t hat
amongst t he f our aut horized 'sampradayas', t he 'Sri Sampradaya' was highly
respect able and t he f oremost adherent of 'dasya-bhakt i' (devot ional service
in t he mood of servit orship). If t here was any cause of loss of respect t o t he
sampradaya t his might be considered an of f ence. In t his way he would not
init iat e t hem.
According t o t he opinion of some
Devot ees, t he Deit ies of
Shyamananda Prabhu, Sri Sri
Radha - Shyamasundara, were
inst alled by Sri Baladeva
Vidybhushana.
Ret urning f rom Jaipur t o Vrindavan, Sri Baladeva present ed t he cert if icat e
of vict ory t o Srila Vishvanat ha Chakravart i Thakura and narrat ed all of t he
event s t hat had t ranspired. All t he Devot ees were in great ecst asy t o receive
t his news and Chakravart i best owed his f ull blessings on Sri Baladeva. At t his
t ime, Sri Baladeva Vidyabhushana began t o writ e a comment ary on Srila Jiva
Goswami's Sat Sandarbha.
The Deit ies of Sri Jaya and Sri Vijaya Govinda, residing at Gokulananda
Mandira in Vrindavan, were worshiped by Baladeva Vidyabhushana personally.
According t o t he opinion of some Devot ees, t he Deit ies of Shyamananda
Prabhu, Sri Sri Radha Shyamasundara, were inst alled by Sri Baladeva
Vidybhushana.
Af t er Sri Vishvanat ha Chakravart i Thakura f inished his past imes in t his world,
Sri Baladeva Vidyabhushana became t he next 'acarya' of t he 'Gaudiya
Vaishnava sampradaya'. At t he end of Radha Damodar Deva's Vedant a
Shyamant aka Sri Baladeva Vidyabhushana acknowledges his spirit ual mast er
t husly: "I have been sent here t o Vrindavan by one 'brahmana guru', Sri Radha-
Damodara Deva, t o present a composit ion named Vedant a Shyamant aka,
composed by his mercy f or t he pleasure of Srimat i Radharani."
Srila Baladeva Vidybhushana became known lat er as Sri Govinda dasa. He
had t wo well known disciples Sri Vidya dasa and Sri Nandan Mishra, but
many ot hers also. Baladeva Vidyabhushana lived by t he meaning of t he
f ollowing verse, knowing everyt hing t hat had come t o him was only t he Lord's
mercy, and all t hat he had achieved was by t hat same grace.
vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham
"By all t he Vedas I am t o be known, indeed I am t he compiler of t he Vedant a,
and I am t he knower of t he Vedas."(Bhagavad Git a 15:15.)
Some of Baladeva Vidyabhusana's most important works are:
1. Govinda-Bhasya, which is Vedant a Sut ra comment ary (and t hree ot her
works dealing wit h t he Brahma sut ras of Vyasa.
2. Siddhant a-Rat na,
3. Vedant a-Syamant aka
4. Prameya Rat navali
5. Siddhant a-Darpana (Siddhant arat na was t o reinf orce Govinda Bhasya.)
6. Aisvarya Kadambini
7. Samhit ya Kaumudi
8. Chandah-Kaust ubha
9. Kavya Kaust ubha
10. Bhagavad Git a Bhasya
11. Vaisnavanandini Tika (comment ary on Srimad Bhagavat am)
12. The Ten Upanishads, comment aries on each.
He also wrote commentaries on previous 'acarya's' works which are:
12. Tat t va Sandarbha
13. St ana Mala
14. Gopala Tapani
15. Visnu Sahasra Nama
16. Laghu Bhagavat amrt a
17. Nat aka Candrika
18. Syamananda Sat aka
In each of his works he bows t o f irst t o Sri Rupa and Sanat an calling t hem
"verit able clouds in dispelling t he dust orms of 'mayavad' (B.N.K. Sharma. 1986.
Hist ory of t he Dvait a School of Vedant a. page 530.)
In Baladeva's writ ings, his mood or 'rasa' is a mixt ure of 'sakhya' (f riendship),
'dasya' (servit orship) and 'vat salya' (parent al love of Godhead), showing his
root s in t he Madhva line. In his works he not only quot es t he Goswami
lit erat ure of t he Guadiya line, but prolof ically cit es t he works of Madhva
(Brahma Sut ra iii:2:28; iv:4:19.) and Vyasa Tirt ha, t aking his present at ion of
'Visesha' f rom Vyasa Tirt ha's Nyayamrt a (Dr. Nandi.; B.N.K. Sharma. Hist ory of
t he Dvait a School of Vedant a. page 530-531.), despit e B.N.K. Sharma's
squirming, and despirat e ref usal t o accept t hat Baladeva had accept ed t he
Madhva line, or philosophy (B.N.K. Sharma. Hist ory of t he Dvait a school of
Vedant a. page 531.)
There is st ill a small Temple of Baladeva Vidyabhushana just out side t he
pink cit y of Jaipur in Rajast han. At t hat place called Galt a he has his Deit ies,
and about one hundred amazing Shaligram Shilas. It was here t hat he f irmly
est ablished Gaudiya Vaishnavism by def eat ing all t he at t acks on Gaudiya
philosophy t hrough his present at ion of Govinda Bhasya. This is t he incredible
place where nearby t he Ganges river miraculously appears f rom a rock in t he
f orm of a wat erf all. Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana lived his lif e f rom t his t ime
on respect ed great ly f or his learned underst anding of t he conclusions of Sri
Chait anya Mahaprabhu. In lat er lif e he ret ired t o Sri Vrindavana Dhama where
he st ayed t o a ripe old age.
As we have ment ioned here, t here are some f ollowers of Madhvacharya who
say t hat Baladeva Vidyabhushana had no connect ion wit h Madhva previously,
yet he himself claims dif f erent ly. In his "Premeya Rat navali" (para 3.), he says,
"Let t hat ascet ic be ever vict orious, whose name is Ananda Tirt ha, who is t he
abode of joy, who is t he ship t o cross t he ocean of t ransmigrat ory exist ence,
and whom t he wise ever praise in t his world." In Para 4, he aligns himself t o
t hat lineage. "Those Devot ees who are f ree f rom all f ault s should const ant ly
medit at e on t he f ault less disciplic succession of t eachers and disciples,
because by such medit at ion one's single point edness of devot ion is obt ained,
by which one receives t he mercy of t he Lord t hrough t he 'parampara'." Then
at t he end of Prameya Rat navali, in his epilogue, he st at es how t hese
principles were t hose of Sripad Madhvacharya and not his own, and in t he f inal
verse he says, "This Prameya Rat navali should be kept in t heir heart s by t he
wise, as it cont ains t he nine gems ('rat nas') of proposit ions well proven
('prameya'), as t hey were composed by Ananda Tirt ha (Sripad
Madhvacharya)."
Next comes Uddhava dasa Babaji t he disciple of Baladeva Vidyabhushana.
Uddhava dasa Babaji Maharaja's disciple was Madhusudana dasa Babaji, t hat
much we know, and his disciple was Vaishnava Sarvabhauma Jagannat ha
dasa.