Every account says that Baladeva's conversion to Gaudiya Vaishnavism happened at Jagannatha Puri. It happened during his travels as a Tattvavada debater, not at the end of them. He had come to Puri still identified with the Madhva line. There he met Radha-Damodara Gosvami, a disciple of Rasikananda Prabhu. Rasikananda was himself a leading follower of Shyamananda Pandita, one of the associates of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
An Unplanned Meeting #
The two men fell into a discussion of devotional philosophy. Radha-Damodara Gosvami spoke to Baladeva about Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's teachings and about the Gaudiya understanding of Vedanta-sutra and Srimad-Bhagavatam. Several biographies preserve a further detail. He is said to have told Baladeva how Mahaprabhu had once explained these very topics to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya. Sarvabhauma was the great Nyaya scholar of Puri, and he himself had been converted from Mayavada philosophy after hearing Mahaprabhu explain Vedanta. Whatever exactly was said, its effect on Baladeva was immediate and deep. He did not need to be persuaded for long. Within days of first hearing Radha-Damodara Gosvami speak, he asked for and received initiation into the Radha-Krishna mantra.
Baladeva was an experienced dig-vijaya debater, a man whose living and reputation depended on never losing an argument. The biographies find it remarkable that such a man could be turned around so quickly. Radha-Damodara Gosvami did not defeat him in argument on Tattvavada's own ground. Instead, the devotional force of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's teaching, and the way it explained the Vedanta-sutra and Srimad-Bhagavatam together, appears to have answered a question. It was a question Baladeva had not fully settled within Madhva philosophy itself. The sources agree that this was a change of heart, not just a change of the group he belonged to.
A New Course of Study #
Diksha truly changed the direction of his life. It was more than a change of name or label. Under Radha-Damodara Gosvami's guidance, Baladeva began studying Jiva Gosvami's Sat-sandarbhas, the six treatises that explain Gaudiya Vaishnava theology step by step. He quickly stood out in this new field, just as he had in Tattvavada logic. He was not made to unlearn his training in Madhva Vedanta. In fact, later observers such as the Dvaita-school historian B.N.K. Sharma noted that Baladeva's Gaudiya writings still cited Madhvacharya's own commentaries prominently. Baladeva's typical devotional mood is described as a blend of sakhya (friendship), dasya (servitude) and vatsalya (parental affection). This mood is sometimes traced to his Madhva roots.
Sent Onward to Vrindavana #
After Baladeva had studied under him for some time, Radha-Damodara Gosvami told him to continue his education at the source of Gaudiya theology, Vrindavana. There he was to study under Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura, who was already recognized as one of the greatest living scholars of the sampradaya. Baladeva travelled first to Navadvipa and from there on to Vrindavana. The accounts agree that Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura was struck by the newcomer's humility, learning and renunciation. He kept Baladeva close and personally taught him the achintya-bheda-abheda philosophy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the finer points of Gaudiya siddhanta.
We should be clear about what this relationship was and was not. Baladeva's diksha, his formal initiation, had already been given by Radha-Damodara Gosvami at Puri. What he received from Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura in Vrindavana was instruction, siksha, of an unusually close and personal kind. Srila Prabhupada described this bond in a lecture. He called Baladeva a disciple of Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura in an informal and affectionate sense: "he happened to be just like his disciple." Every source agrees that from this point on, Baladeva gave all his intelligence and energy to the Gaudiya sampradaya. This dedication would soon be tested at the royal court of Jaipur.
A Convert Who Kept His First Training #
This conversion did not mean pretending that Baladeva's years among the Tattvavadis had been wasted or wrong. Gaudiya Vaishnavism itself traces its own philosophical lineage back through Madhvacharya, as part of the wider Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya line. So a scholar who already knew Madhva Vedanta well was, in a real sense, already partway home. He was not starting from nothing. Baladeva's own later writings show this. His Prameya-ratnavali opens by honoring Madhvacharya directly. His commentaries continue to draw on Madhva source texts, even while they argue for clearly Gaudiya conclusions about Krishna, Radha and devotional service. We do not know exactly how his heart changed at Puri. But the sampradaya he joined did not ask him to give up the careful philosophical training of the sampradaya he was leaving. That training is exactly what Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura would later put to use.
