Baladeva Vidyabhusana-His life and works

Gaudiya Vedanta Acarya Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana




Born in a Khandite (arguibly, vaisya)family at the end of the 17th century in a village nearby Remuna in the district of Balasore, Orissa, a boy of extreme sharp intellect and an exceptional talent for logical reasoning would later on by the blessings of our most beloved deity, Sri Govinda deva, become known as Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana, the author of ‘Sri Govinda bhasya’, the treatise that established gaudiya vaisnavism as a bona fide school of vedanta . In his childhood, he studied grammar, nyaya, alankara, etc. in a traditional pathasala on the bank of the Chilka lake. Having quickly mastered all the different subjects, he left for pilgrimage, in search of a guru who could impart to him the real import of the Vedic knowledge. In Mysore he eventually came in contact with a sannyasi from the Madhva sampradaya who strongly preached to him the tattvavada, convincing him not only to accept Madhvacarya’s siddhanta, but also to renounce the world and preach it. Concluding his studies of the Vedas, Vedanta and the Sarva-mula of Madhvacarya, the young sadhu left for Jagannatha Puri, where he challenged and defeated all the opponent scholars present there in very intense debates on sastra. By the divine providence, one day he attended a lecture given by a foremost disciple of the gaudiya vaisnava acarya, Srila Rasikananda, called Sri Radha-damodara. The lecture was on the famous treatise written by Srila Jiva Gosvami- the Six Sandarbhas. After several days hearing the sweet topics about Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s acintya-bhedabheda-tattva in such impressive and logical exposition, Baladeva surrendered himself unto Srila Radha-damodara requesting him to be accepted as a disciple and fully taught the gaudiya philosophy. Taking up the simple dress of a gaudiya vaisnava mendicant, he was given the name ‘Ekanti Govinda dasa’ . Being surcharged by the taste of the philosophy expounded by the six Gosvamis of Vrndavana- Rupa, Sanatana, Gopala, Jiva, Raghunatha dasa and Raghunatha Bhatta- he left for Vrndavana to dedicate his life to Lord Caitanya’s mission. At that time, the leader of the gaudiya vaisnava community was Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti, who being pleased with Ekanti Govinda dasa, taught him Srimad Bhagavatam and other vaisnava scriptures.

The Jaipur episode

Meanwhile, a series of historical incidents that were to take place would give Ekanti the opportunity to serve His beloved Lord to his best capacity, changing the very history of the gaudiya vaisnavism. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu had given three main orders to the six Gosvamis of Vrndavana- to write books on philosophy extensively quoting from the sruti and smrti to corroborate the acintya-bhedabheda siddhanta; to excavate Vrndavana in order to recover the lost sites of the pastimes of Bhagavan Sri Krsna and to establish temples for His worship. It is said that the great grand-son of Lord Krsna, Vajranabha, had carved three deities in an attempt to depict the Lord. They were called Govinda, Madana-mohana and Gopinatha. Govindaji was found by Srila Rupa Gosvami, who in 1590 installed Him in the most gorgeous temple ever built in north India, sponsored by Man Singh from Rajasthan. Madana-mohana was found by Srila Sanatana Gosvami and in 1580 installed in a temple built by a rich merchant on the Aditya Tila hill, by the bank of the Yamuna. Gopinatha was found by a disciple of Gadadhara Pandita called Paramananda Bhattacarya, who entrusted Him to his disciple Madhu Pandita. Unfortunately, the time came when the Moghul ruler, Aurangzeb, took the power and started his persecutions against Hinduism. In 1669 he gave an open order to his army to destroy all the main Hindu temples and deities within his domain. Under this threat, the vaisnava leaders in Vrndavana decided to appeal to the Rajputs of Rajasthan. With mutual cooperation, it was decided that the deities should be moved to Rajasthan. In 1670, the troops of Aurangzeb mercilessly desecrated the main temples in Vrndavana, but could not find anyone inside them. After moving from one place to another, Govindaji finally settled under the care of Maharaja Jai Singh, nearby the present Jaipur city. It happened that at that time the Ramanandi sampradaya, a branch of the Sri Ramanuja sampradaya founded by Sri Ramananda in north India, was in charge of the worship there, enjoying the favor of the king. The arrival of Govindaji and His gaudiya priests was a threat to the status of the Ramanandis. In an attempt to keep their prestige and royal favor, they plotted against them by raising doubts about the credibility of the gaudiya sampradaya on the following grounds:

1) They did not seem to be connected to a bona fide parampara in terms of philosophical affiliation, since they lacked a commentary on the Vedanta Sutra.

2) According to the standard of the Sri vaisnavas, Lord Narayana is the original form of God and the source of all incarnations, and therefore He should be worshiped first. The gaudiyas, however, were worshipping Govinda before Narayana.

3) The ramanandis considered the worship of Srimati Radharani as unprecendented and irregular, and therefore they objected and even removed Her from the altar, thus separating Her from Govindaji.

Upon being requested, the mahanta of Sri Gopinatha temple, Shyam Charan Sharma, wrote a letter in reply to their challenges quoting from several scriptures to substantiate Lord Caitanya’s position as the Supreme Lord Krsna Himself and founder of the gaudiya vaisnava sampradaya. However, the ramanandis remained adamant. They quoted a verse said to belong to the Padma Purana:

sri-brahma-rudra-sanaka vaisnavah ksiti-pavanah
catvaras te kalau bhavya hy utkale purusottamat

“In kali-yuga, four vaisnava disciplic successions will emerge from Jagannatha Puri and purify the whole world: Sri-sampradaya, Brahma-sampradaya, Rudra-sampradaya and Kumara-sampradaya.”

With basis on this verse they were not ready to accept any sampradaya not proceeding from these four- Sri, Brahma, Rudra and the Kumaras- represented by their respective acaryas – Ramanuja, Madhva, Visnu Svami and Nimbarka. The gaudiyas had to go to Vrndavana to appeal to the senior most learned scholar at that time- Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti . Upon hearing that Radha and Govinda were split he started laughing and commented that this must be an amorous quarrel. Our acarya was in advanced age and would not be able to personally go to Jaipur to face the opponents, but he was convinced that Ekanti Govinda dasa was the right person to solve the case. Once in Jaipur, Ekanti presented himself to the king and the ramanandis for a debate. Upon seeing the boy in his early twenties and dressed like a vaisnava mendicant, they looked at him in disbelief. Without hesitation, he started substantiating the authenticity of the gaudiya sampradaya as a bona fide branch of the Madhva sampradaya, although remarkable philosophical divergences made each of them unique. But then which commentary on the Brahma-sutra do the gaudiyas follow? In reply to this, Ekanti explained that Sri Caitanya preached the study of Srimad Bhagavatam, this being the natural commentary on Vedanta written by the author himself, Sri Vyasadeva, as corroborated by the Garuda Purana:

artho ‘yam brahma-sutranam bharatartha-vinirnayah
gayatri-bhasya-rupo ‘sau vedartha-paribrmhitah

“Srimad-Bhagavatam is the meaning of the Vedanta-sutra and the purport of the Maha-bharata. It is the commentary on the Brahma-gayatri and it is fully expanded with all Vedic knowledge.”

So being, what need there should be of another commentary? This argument was not at all appealing to the panditas in the royal court, who demanded a Brahma-sutra commentary to accept the credibility of the gaudiya sampradaya, otherwise they should get ready to give up the worship of Govindaji and leave Jaipur. Being a staunch devotee of the Lord and fully relying on His mercy, Ekanti boldly affirmed that all he needed were some days to write down a full fledge commentary on the Vedanta-sutra. Before the assembly, the king accepted the proposal and requested him to present as soon as possible commentaries on Brahma-sutra, ten Upanisads and Bhagavad-gita. Ekanti went to see His beloved Govindaji and explained the whole situation for Him. In a dream, He appeared to him and assured him that there was no need to worry about anything, for He Himself would be dictating the whole commentary in his dreams. And it so happened, after which the commentary is called ‘Govinda-bhasya’. This was described by Baladeva himself at the end of the book:

vidya-rupam bhusanam me pradaya
khyatim ninye tena yo mam udarah
sri-govindah svapna-nirdista-bhasyo
radha-bandhur bandhurangah sa jiyat


“All glories to the graceful and handsome Lord Govinda, who is
the dear friend of Sri Radha, who kindly gave me the name
Vidyabhusana, and Who spoke this commentary to me in dreams”.

There is divergence regarding how long it took him to write it down; some say seven days, some say one month. In any case, after a short period of time, Baladeva presented his commentary before the assembly of scholars in the court and defeated all possible objections raised by them, thus establishing the gaudiya vaisnava philosophy as bona fide as that of the other vaisnava sampradayas. He also substantiated that Lord Govinda is the original form of Lord Narayana and that Srimati Radharani is His eternal consort. Being fully satisfied with his presentation, Jai Singh Maharaja awarded him the title ‘vidyabhusana’ (adorned with knowledge). The ramanandis requested him to initiate them in the gaudiya sampradaya, but Ekanti refused explaining that they were already initiated in a bona fide vaisnava sampradaya and it would be an insult to Sri Ramanujacarya to reinitiate them. Back to Vrndavana, Baladeva became the leader of the vaisnava community and kept on writing. The following is a partial list of the works attributed to him:


Complete works attributed to Baladeva Vidyabhusana:

1. Isopanisad; (Krishnadas Baba), (Sarasvata Gaudiya Mission), (Shyam Lal,3 comm.), (Bhaktivinoda)
2. Aisvarya-kadambini; (Haridas Shastri), (Haridas das)
3. Kavya-kaustubha; (Haridas das), (Haridas Shastri)
4. Gopala-tapany-upanisad-bhasya; (Haridas das)
5. Candraloka-tika, (supposedly lost)
6. Chandah-kaustubha-tika; (Haridas das), (Haridas Shastri), (Vrindavan Research Inst.)
7. Tattva-dipika (manuscript, Jaipur Palace Library)
8. Tattva-sandarbha-tika; (Harinam Press), (Haridas Shastri), (Nityasvarupa), (Jadavpur), (Acyuta-grantha-mala), (Krishnachandra Bhagavataratna), (Shyam Lal)
Commentary on five other Sandarbhas; (supposedly lost)
9. Nataka-candrika-tika; (supposedly lost)
10. Pada-kaustubha, (unpublished manuscript)
11. Prameya-ratnavali; (Haridas Shastri), (Gokul Chandra Goswami), (Sanskrit Parisad), (Kanai Lal), (Gaudiya Math), (Gour Krishna Goswami)
12. Brahma-sutra-karika-bhasya, (manuscript, Jaipur Palace Library)
13. Bhagavad-gita (gita-bhusana); (Krishnadas Baba), (Gaudiya Mission), (Vidyananda), (Kasinatha S. Agase and Baba S. Phadake)
14. Laghu-bhagavatamrta-tika (saranga-rangada); (Haribhakta das), (Ramanarayana Vidyaratna), (Venkatesh Press), (Atul Krishna Gosvami), (Gaurasundar Bhagavata)
15. Visnu-sahasra-nama-tika (nama-sudhartha); (Krishnadas Baba)
16. Vedanta-sutra-Govinda-bhasya; (Sarasvata-Gaudiya Mission), (Harinam Press), (Krishnadas Baba), (Shyam Lal Goswami), (Krishnagopal Bhakta)
17. Vedanta-sutra-suksma-tika; (Sarasvata-Gaudiya Mission), (Shyam Lal Goswami)
18. Vedanta-syamantaka; (Haridas Shastri), (Umesh Chandra Bhattacharya, Lahore), (Kalidasnath), (Nalinikant Gosvami), (Pancavati, Nasik), (Shyam Lal Goswami), (Sri Vrindavan/Gourkrishna?)
19. Vyakarana-kaumudi; (unpublished manuscript)
20. Srimad-bhagavata-bhasya (vaisnavanandini); prathama skandha, (Haridas das);
dasama skandha (Krishna-Shankar Shastri, incomplete), (Nityasvarupa/Manindra Bahadur)
21. Syamananda-sataka-tika, (Haridas das), (Gopala-Govindananda Goswami)
22. Sahitya-kaumudi; (Haridas Shastri),(Rastriya Sanskrit Samstham),(NirnayaSagar Press)
23. Siddhanta-darpana; (Haridas das), (Gaudiya Math), (Sajjana-tosani)
24. Siddhanta-ratna; (Krishnadas Baba), (Gopinath Kaviraj), (Shyam Lal Goswami), (Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti), (Adimohana Goswami), (Gaurasundar Bhagavata)
25. Stava-mala-tika; (Nirnaya Sagar Press), (Ramanarayana Vidyaratna)

Books wrongly attributed to BV:

Krsna-bhavanamrta-tika, (Krsnadeva Sarvabhauma)
Gupta-dhama-chatra, (Kanai Lal)
Gopala-campu-tika, (Viracandra Gosvami)
Padyavali-tika (rasika-rangada), (Viracandra Gosvami)
Bala-tosani, (Hare Krsna acarya)
Samsaya-satini, (Raghunandana Gosvami)
Sadananda-vidhayini-tika , (Vrndavana Cakravarti)
Stavavali-kasika, (Vangesvara Vidyabhusana)

The Solution to All Problems

Lord Rsabhadeva instructed His hundred sons before renouncing the kingdom to become an avadhuta



From the small insects up to Brahma-loka, there is an innumerable variety of living entities in different levels of consciousness, but all of them share two common propensities: they want to avoid suffering and obtain happiness. The more the living being progresses in the evolutionary cycle of consciousness, the more he uses his intelligence to accomplish these two purposes. According to the species of life, the conception of happiness and suffering changes, as well as the methods to prevent one and get the other. Although the human form of life is specially endowed with higher intelligence and discriminative knowledge, usually they are misused due to a wrong understanding of what real happiness is and how to end suffering for good. However, by the proper use of these tools it is possible to solve both problems.

The existence of pain is admitted and experienced by everyone, therefore the solution to this problem has been the subject of thought in all religions and philosophical systems since the creation of the universe. Sankhya is considered one of the most ancient schools of thought and it starts exactly from this point:

duhkha-trayabhighataj jijnasa tad-apaghatake hetau
drste sa’partha cen naikantatyantato’ bhavat

“From the torment caused by the three kinds of misery proceeds a desire to inquire about the means for extinguishing them. If it be said that the inquiry is superfluous since visible means do exist, we reply: It is not so, because in the visible means there is no certainty nor permanency.” (Sankhya Karika 1)

If there were no suffering, there would be no inquiry, but once there is inquiry, there is possibility to achieve a definite conclusion . Otherwise, one is baffled in life, as Lord Rsabhadeva declares:

parabhavas tavad abodha-jato
yavan na jijnasata atma-tattvam
yavat kriyas tavad idam mano vai
karmatmakam yena sarira-bandhah

“As long as one does not inquire about the spiritual values of life, one is defeated and subjected to miseries arising from ignorance. Be it sinful or pious, karma has its resultant actions. If a person is engaged in any kind of karma, his mind is called karmatmaka, colored with fruitive activity. As long as the mind is impure, consciousness is unclear, and as long as one is absorbed in fruitive activity, he has to accept a material body.”

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 5.5.5

The next questions would be: Is it possible to solve all kinds of suffering or only some? And for all the time or only temporarily? Are the means available to all or only to some selected people? Different people will find different answers and try to apply them in their lives. To combat adhyatmika-klesa one may take medicines, but so far no medicine has been found that is able to counteract all bodily and mental suffering. To avoid adhibhautika-klesa is practically impossible, for even if one goes to live in a cave, still there will be insects and animals disturbing. And also adhidaivika-klesa is completely out of our control, as any natural calamity may happen at any moment. All attempts of science to fight these elements are just childishness, and suffering reigns supreme in the world.

On the other hand, the search for happiness has also been a failure, since it is mostly based on sense gratification- gross or subtle- and the very nature of the senses and the mind is to remain insatiable. Huge enterprises are made to provide everything each sense may desire, but we have never heard of someone who became happy in this way. As Lord Vamanadeva says :

sri-bhagavan uvaca
yavanto visayah presthas
tri-lokyam ajitendriyam
na saknuvanti te sarve
pratipurayitum nrpa

“The Personality of Godhead said: O my dear King, even the entirety of whatever there may be within the three worlds to satisfy one's senses cannot satisfy a person whose senses are uncontrolled.”

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 8.19.21

Less intelligent people will keep on trying, just like an ass running after a carrot hanging in front of its nose, but at a certain point one who is even a bit sober will inquire: “What is wrong here”? And if he is fortunate enough to take instructions from guru, sastra and sadhu, he will get the correct answer. That is given by Lord Rsabhadeva:

rsabha uvaca
nayam deho deha-bhajam nrloke
kastan kaman arhate vid-bhujam ye
tapo divyam putraka yena sattvam
suddhyed yasmad brahma-saukhyam tv anantam

“Lord Rsabhadeva told His sons: My dear boys, of all the living entities who have accepted material bodies in this world, one who has been awarded this human form should not work hard day and night simply for sense gratification, which is available even for dogs and hogs that eat stool. One should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service. By such activity, one's heart is purified, and when one attains this position, he attains eternal, blissful life, which is transcendental to material happiness and which continues forever.”

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 5.5.1

The great danger of sense gratification is that it is immediately appealing- instant heaven- while the process of tapasya is very painful and may take a long time to fructify. But in due course of time we can judge by the results- phalena pariciyate. As stated by Lord Krishna:

yat tad agre visam iva
pariname 'mrtopamam
tat sukham sattvikam proktam
atma-buddhi-prasada-jam

“That which in the beginning may be just like poison but at the end is just like nectar and which awakens one to self-realization is said to be happiness in the mode of goodness.”

visayendriya-samyogad
yat tad agre 'mrtopamam
pariname visam iva
tat sukham rajasam smrtam

“That happiness which is derived from contact of the senses with their objects and which appears like nectar at first but poison at the end is said to be of the nature of passion”.


>>> Ref. VedaBase => Bg 18.37-38

It is not very difficult to have a practical experience of both and then decide which one is the best course of action. From childhood I had the strong impression that there must be something wrong in the way most people try to become happy, to the point that when I was fifteen I decided to take another direction, lest I end up in the same path. Although not properly guided externally, my first insight was that I needed to practise austerities some way or other. Then I started to do fasting, to sleep on the floor, to take cold baths, and to study religious books like Bhagavad Gita, The Bible, Dhammapada, Tao Te Ching, etc. Although not following any systematic program, the short term result was that I was mentally much more satisfied than ever, and the long term result was to come closer to the ultimate reality, or Krishna consciousness. Austerity is simply a means of purification, and after purification one is ready for the next step- accept instructions from a mahatma and serve him, as advised by Lord Rsabhadeva:

mahat-sevam dvaram ahur vimuktes
tamo-dvaram yositam sangi-sangam
mahantas te sama-cittah prasanta
vimanyavah suhrdah sadhavo ye

“One can attain the path of liberation from material bondage only by rendering service to highly advanced spiritual personalities. These personalities are impersonalists and devotees. Whether one wants to merge into the Lord's existence or wants to associate with the Personality of Godhead, one should render service to the mahatmas. For those who are not interested in such activities, who associate with people fond of women and sex, the path to hell is wide open. The mahatmas are equipoised. They do not see any difference between one living entity and another. They are very peaceful and are fully engaged in devotional service. They are devoid of anger, and they work for the benefit of everyone. They do not behave in any abominable way. Such people are known as mahatmas.”

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 5.5.2

For the benefit of the inhabitants of this planet, Srila Prabhupada revealed himself as the best and most accessible of the mahatmas. He is ‘sama-citta’, completely equipoised, giving the same chance for everyone, everywhere, without any consideration of colour, caste, creed or nationality; he is ‘prasanta’, very peaceful, not disturbed even in the most adverse conditions, but simply absorbed in his bhajana; he is ‘vimanyu’, devoid of material anger, being always satisfied in Krishna consciousness; he is ‘suhrda’, a friend whose work is meant for the benefit of all, building a hospital where everyone can get the best treatment for the material disease; he is ‘sadhu’, setting the standard of saintly behaviour in every small action.

Now, one may argue that we may accept instructions from Srila Prabhupada, but could we serve him? Better to hear his own answer:

“To serve the topmost devotee means to hear from him about the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 4.22.22

“If there is no chance to serve the spiritual master directly, a devotee should serve him by remembering his instructions. There is no difference between the spiritual master's instructions and the spiritual master himself. In his absence, therefore, his words of direction should be the pride of the disciple.”

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Adi 1.35

“To serve the Spiritual Master's word is more important than to serve him physically.”

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Syamasundara -- Los Angeles 19 July, 1970

Thus Srila Prabhupada is giving to the world the opportunity to serve him by appreciating his words, following and distributing them.
Every object has its own purpose and only when it is specifically employed in its natural function- svadharma- it can really be attributed with value. The purpose of the human body is to attain self-realisation, therefore if it is employed in any other business, it will never lead one to happiness, but rather it will just be a source of constant misery, for oneself and for others too. Therefore, by taking to the process of devotional service to Krishna, as elaborately described in Srimad Bhagavatam by Srila Prabhupada on the light of all acaryas of our parampara, we can at one stroke accomplish what everyone has been trying since time immemorial- to get rid of all miseries of material existence and to obtain eternal, transcendental, blissful life.







This essay was originally submitted for assessment during the fourth and last year of the Bhakti-vaibhava course at VIHE, Fifth Canto of Bhagavatam, in October of 2005.