In 1900, at Nabadwip, Srila Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji accepted a new disciple. He was Bimala Prasad Datta, the learned son of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji initiated him under the name Varshabhanavi-devi-dayita Dasa. Bimala Prasad would in time become known as Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, founder of the Gaudiya Math and the spiritual master of Srila Prabhupada. People at the time found this pairing very strange. Bimala Prasad was a young man already recognized in Calcutta's educated Vaishnava circles as a fine scholar. According to Srila Prabhupada's own account of him, he had earned the title "Siddhanta Sarasvati" for a written work on astronomical calculation. Yet he was seeking initiation from an old ascetic who outwardly appeared unable to read.
| Disciple accepted | Bimala Prasad Datta |
| Year of initiation | 1900 |
| Name given at initiation | Varshabhanavi-devi-dayita Dasa |
| Disciple's father | Bhaktivinoda Thakura |
| Place | Nabadwip, at Svananda-sukhada-kunja |
A Father's Instruction to His Son #
According to the biography at gaudiyahistory.iskcondesiretree.com, Bhaktivinoda Thakura had long treated Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji with deep respect, even though he was a householder and the babaji was a renounced devotee. This biography records that Bhaktivinoda Thakura directly instructed his son to seek initiation from the babaji: "You must take initiation from Babaji Maharaja, and don't return to this house if you don't." Srila Prabhupada recalled the same episode in a Montreal question-and-answer session on 26 August 1968. He put it more simply: Bhaktivinoda Thakura "saw him a pure devotee; therefore he recommended his son, Bimala Prasada."
Blocking the Path on a Bridge #
Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji, according to the same gaudiyahistory account, did not want disciples. He considered himself only a recipient of shiksha, or instruction, from Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and was reluctant to accept the householder's own son as a formal disciple. Bimala Prasad is said to have waited for him at a bridge he crossed daily and blocked his path, declaring, "If you don't give me initiation then I will finish my life by throwing this useless body off this bridge." Faced with Bimala Prasad's determination, and with Bhaktivinoda's own instruction, Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji finally agreed. In 1900 he gave Bimala Prasad the name Varshabhanavi-devi-dayita Dasa. He also gave him a tiger-skin cap and a basket of items for worship. Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji had himself received this same cap and basket years before from his own initiating babaji, Bhagavat Dasa Babaji.
Another Telling: Three Days at the Door #
Another devotional account tells the story of this same initiation quite differently. In it there is no bridge and no threat of suicide, but a three-day exchange at Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji's door. On the first day, when Bimala Prasad asked for bhagavati-diksha, Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji said only, "I shall ask Mahaprabhu about this, for without asking Him, I am in no position to tell you anything." On the second day he said he had forgotten to ask. Bimala Prasad pressed him: "If I do not get your mercy, I shall not maintain my life." On the third day Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji told him, "I inquired from Mahaprabhu, but He said, 'Good behavior and scholarship are extremely insignificant in comparison to devotional service to the Supreme Lord.'" Hurt by this, Bimala Prasad answered, "Because you worship Krishna, the crest jewel of hypocrites, are you thus not deceiving me? If I do not receive the mercy of your divine lotus feet, I shall give up my life. Goshthi Purna favored Sri Ramanujacharya after his request for initiation was turned down eighteen times. Certainly, I shall wait to be favored by you some day. This is my firm vow." Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji, greatly pleased, then sprinkled him with the dust of his own lotus feet and initiated him that same day at Svananda-sukhada-kunja.
The two accounts agree on the main facts. Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji was truly unwilling at first, and Bimala Prasad had to overcome this by sheer determination before he was accepted. Both accounts also say that the initiation happened in 1900 at Nabadwip. But they do not agree on how Bimala Prasad showed his determination, so both are reported here instead of being merged into one.
Diksha and Siksha: Two Kinds of Guru #
In the same 1968 Montreal exchange, a devotee asked Srila Prabhupada whether Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati had accepted both Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji as his spiritual master. Srila Prabhupada confirmed it. He explained that Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati accepted Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji as his diksha, or initiating, guru, and treated Bhaktivinoda Thakura as his siksha, or instructing, guru. Srila Prabhupada also said that both stood directly within the lineage of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This relationship with two gurus, and the events around it, are told from the other side in the companion page in Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's own section. See also the main page on Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.
After this initiation came Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji's own disappearance in 1915 and the unusual way his new disciple later took sannyasa. Both are told on that linked page.
