The Fearless Acarya

Glimpses from the life of the great teacher who established Krishna consciousness all over India

By Purushottama Nitai Dasa

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, considered to be an eternal associate of Lord Chaitanya, appeared in this world on February 6, 1874 at 3:30 pm in Jagannatha Puri to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Bhagavati Devi. He is known as simha-guru (“lion guru”) because he fearlessly preached the message of sanatana-dharma to re-establish the mission of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in this fallen age of Kali-yuga.

Dark Phase Of Gaudiya Vaishnavism

After the disappearance of great Vaishnava acaryas like Narottama Dasa Thakura, Syamananda Pandita and Srinivasa Acarya in the sixteenth century, Gaudiya Vaishnavism saw a dark phase. During this period, many pseudo-religious sects sprung up like weeds. They are called apa-sampradayas because their followers dress like Vaishnavas and claim to follow the teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, but in reality they do not follow any of the principles given by Mahaprabhu. And then there were sahajiyas who cheaply imitated the pastimes of Radha and Krishna and kept illicit relationship with women. Because of this, educated class of people considered Vaishnava religion a religion of sex and kept themselves away from it.

The phase also saw the dominance of caste gosvamis and caste brahmanas. Caste gosvamis (jata-gosashis) were those who claimed that they were descendants of Lord Nityananda Prabhu or belonged to the same family lineage of the Six Gosvamis of Vrindavan. Their conduct was despicable, they did not carry even a tinge of the quality of a Vaishnava and would break the regulative principles of no meat eating, no gambling, no intoxication and no illicit sex. But still they awarded themselves the title of Gosvami because they professed that this title is hereditary. Similarly, the caste brahmanas would assert that they are only authorized to become gurus, give initiation and worship the deities. During this period, only few genuine Vaishnavas remained who practiced devotion to Krishna as per the guidelines of Lord Chaitanya in spite of these challenges.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura’s Great Victory

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, a great Vaishnava acarya and the father of Bhaktisiddhanta, was doing his best to uproot the apa-sampradayas, expose the sahajiyas and defeat the doctrine of the caste gosvamis and caste brahmanas. He was being ably assisted by his son, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, in this mission. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta openly condemned these caste gosvamis. He strongly opposed their practice of levying temple entry fee and charging money for doing kirtan or reciting Srimad-Bhagavatam. Going inside their den, he would openly expose their hypocrisy and malpractices, because he was determined to re-establish the pure teachings of Lord Chaitanya all over the world. For the last three centuries these caste gosvamis continued with their nefarious practices unopposed. But now they felt threatened.

They decided to come together to defend their position. They published a paper Purva-paksha-nirasane (“Refutal of the opposing argument”). In the paper they claimed:

l Only a Vaishnava born in a brahmana family is qualified to give initiation.

l Narottama dasa Thakura and Syamananda Prabhu acted against the Vedic scriptures by giving initiation.

l Only a Vaishnava born in a brahmana family is qualified to worship salagrama-sila.

l Only those teachings of Hari-bhakti-vilasa should be accepted that are in line with the smritis.

It created furore among the genuine Vaishnavas because it was a direct attack on their faith. Questioning Hari-bhakti-vilasa and the authority of acaryas like Narottama dasa Thakura and Syamananda Prabhu shook them from within. They needed someone who could refute these arguments strongly and logically. They immediately petitioned Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura for help and guidance. But unfortunately, he was indisposed because of rheumatism. In desperation, he called out, “Is there no one in the entire creation who could defeat these false arguments?” Understanding this an instruction, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta wrote an essay Brahmana o Vaishnavera Taratamya-vishayaka Siddhanta (“Conclusion concerning the comparison of brahmanas and Vaishnavas”). Bhaktivinoda Thakura, upon reading the essay, was delighted. He spontaneously sat up on the bed and declared that Bhaktisiddhanta will be successful in defeating the unholy doctrine.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta presented his paper in a conference organized in Balighai, Midnapore, West Bengal on 8 September 1911. Amongst the presence of genuine Vaishnavas and the opposing parties, he conclusively established through scriptural evidence that a Vaishnava is a true brahmana, he is qualified to give initiation, is eligible to worship salagrama-sila. The argument that one is a brahmana by birth does not have sastric evidence. Emboldened by the argument of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, many Vaishnavas spoke how Lord Chaitanya himself did not believe in caste rigidity. For example, he gave the title of namacarya to Srila Haridasa Thakura, who was Muslim by birth. Similarly, he entrusted upon Srila Rupa Gosvami along with his elder brother Sanatana Gosvami to reestablish the glories of Vrindavan by writing books and building temples. Rupa and Sanatana were rejected brahmanas because they had worked under a Muslim king who had forced them to adopt Muslim names. Also, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would hear pastimes of Krishna from Ramananda Raya, who was considered born in a sudra family.

The opposing parties were speechless; they had lost the argument. This was the first public victory of genuine followers of Lord Chaitanya after almost three centuries. The members of the august assembly and the audience were overwhelmed with joy and emotions. Everyone wanted to take the dust of the lotus feet of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, declaring him to be an incarnation of Srila Sukadeva Gosvami. After being defeated in Midnapore, soon the caste brahmanas tried to undermine the position of Lord Chaitanya. They started propagating that there is no scriptural evidence to prove that Lord Chaitanya is the Supreme Lord. Again, it came upon Srila Bhaktisiddhanta to establish that Lord Chaitanya is the Supreme Lord, and he proved this by giving evidence from Vedas and Upanisads.

Challenge In Vrindavan And Threat To Life

But the rivalry did not end here. In later years too, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta faced stiff opposition from caste brahmanas. For example, Bhaktisiddhanta and his disciples found the doors of seven main temples closed when they arrived in Vrindavan. Even the shopkeepers had closed their shops, and some people threw stones at the parikrama party. The local Panditas and the orthodox brahmanas were upset because Bhaktisiddhanta had awarded brahmana thread and even sannyasa to many who were not just non-brahmanas but also belonged to the lower castes. When the local panditas had come to meet Bhaktisiddhanta for a discussion regarding this, he had strongly argued and defeated them by emphasizing that caste by birth is not a Vedic injunction but a distortion. He gave reference of various scriptures and proved that one should be considered a brahmana not by birth but by qualities. He quoted verses from Srimad-Bhagavatam that tells that even if one is born in the family of a sudra but acts like a brahmana he should be accepted as a brahmana, and if one is born in the family of a brahmana but acts like a sudra then he should be considered a sudra.

But still the opposition continued. Once when Bhaktisiddhanta was taking devotees for Navadvipa-dhama-parikrama then there was an attempt to murderous him and the devotees. The caste gosvamis had hired local goons not just to frighten the devotees but actually to kill Bhaktisiddhanta, who was now the undisputed leader of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Another time, they bribed a local policeman so that with his help, they could kill him. But the policeman, out of respect for Bhaktisiddhanta, revealed the plan so that Bhaktisiddhanta could escape.

A Lasting Contribution

In spite of threat to his life, he remained undeterred and continued to preach fearlessly. He established sixty-four Gaudiya Mathas in India and centres in Burma, England and Germany. Service to the deity and preaching the message of Lord Chaitanya were the two most important activities of these Gaudiya Mathas. He laid great emphasis in publishing and distributing Vaishnava literatures because he said that this is the best way to enlighten the ignorant masses. For this, he opened printing press in Kolkata, Mayapur, Krishnanagar and Cuttack. 

It is because of the fearless preaching of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura that today we see millions of people, irrespective of caste, creed and nationality practicing devotion to Krishna, following the teachings of Lord Chaitanya and visiting Vrindavan and Mayapur Dhams. The devotees of Lord Chaitanya will remain eternally grateful to this great acharya for establishing that Lord Chaitanya is the Supreme Lord and by following his teachings we can perfect our lives and return back to the spiritual world. He is verily called Lion Guru.

Reference: Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava by HH Bhakti Vikas Swami Maharaj

Purushottam Nitai Das is a member of congregation at ISKCON Newtown, Kolkata. He writes at https://discoverursupersoul.com/