Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura (1874-1937) is the founder of the Gaudiya Math and the direct spiritual master of Srila Prabhupada — the acharya through whom Bhaktivinoda Thakura's vision of a worldwide Krishna consciousness movement acquired an actual institution, a printing press, and a disciple capable of carrying it to America. Born Bimala Prasad, the son of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, he combined his father's reforming vision with a scholarly rigour and organisational discipline distinctly his own, and it is on his instruction — "Why don't you take the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and spread it in English?" — that the entire history of ISKCON ultimately rests, as this site's own account of that meeting describes.

Birth and a Prodigious Childhood #

He was born Bimala Prasad at 3:30 in the afternoon of 6 February 1874 in Puri, in the shadow of the Jagannatha temple, to Bhaktivinoda Thakura and his wife Bhagavati Devi. From an early age he displayed an extraordinary memory and capacity for study, reportedly able to recite the entire Bhagavad-gita from memory as a young boy and mastering Sanskrit grammar, astronomy and philosophy well ahead of his years. His birth and childhood are told in full here.

Education and Early Scholarship #

He studied at Sanskrit College in Calcutta, graduating in 1895, and his command of traditional Indian learning alongside Western subjects earned him, while still a young man, the honorific "Siddhanta Sarasvati" — "the pinnacle of wisdom" — from the learned circles of Calcutta. His education and the origin of that title are covered here.

Initiation from Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji #

In 1900 he sought out and received initiation from the reclusive mendicant ascetic Srila Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji, a decision that startled Calcutta's educated elite, who could not understand why so accomplished a scholar would take initiation from an illiterate-seeming wandering babaji. The story of that initiation, and what it reveals about both men, is told here.

Founding the Gaudiya Math #

After the deaths of his father in 1914 and his spiritual master in 1915, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati accepted the sannyasa order in 1918 — in the unorthodox manner of sitting before a photograph of Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji and investing the order upon himself — and founded the first centre of what would grow into the Gaudiya Math, an institution that eventually operated sixty-four branches across India and abroad. The founding and growth of the Gaudiya Math is described here.

The Printing Press as Preaching #

He was famous for the declaration that a printing press was a more effective mridanga (drum) for spreading the holy name than the instrument itself, and he built an extensive publishing operation to produce Vaishnava literature, journals and his own extensive commentaries. His approach to books and preaching through the printed word is covered here.

Confronting Caste and Deviation #

He was outspoken against what he saw as caste-based discrimination masquerading as scriptural authority among some brahmana communities, and equally uncompromising toward Gaudiya lineages he judged to have deviated from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's original teaching. This more combative side of his mission is discussed here.

Meeting the Young Abhay Charan De #

In 1922 a Calcutta college student named Abhay Charan De was brought to meet him, and the instruction Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati gave that day — to take Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's message and preach it in English — set in motion everything that would become ISKCON four decades later. That meeting is covered from this side of the relationship here, complementing Srila Prabhupada's own account of the same event.

Final Years and Disappearance #

He disappeared from this world on 1 January 1937, having two weeks earlier written to Abhay Charan De urging him to teach Gaudiya Vaishnavism in English — a letter Srila Prabhupada kept for the rest of his life. His final years and disappearance are told here.

Songs in the Vaishnava Song Book #

This site's own Vaishnava Song Book carries 2 songs attributed to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura — see the full author page here.