Almost five
hundred years after its composition, Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati’s
Viveka-satakam (A Hundred Verses of Wisdom) has been published for the first
time. Although an ancient manuscript of the text was listed among a private
collection in 1883, its whereabouts was unknown for many decades. After
locating the manuscript in the course of my research work, it was a joy to
verify that it was at least four hundred years old. Upon analyzing the text, it
became clear that it had many characteristics common to other works of Srila
Prabodhananda. Yet there was a difficulty – it was a poor transcription into
Bengali characters and a number of incorrect readings compromised the text
intelligibility to some extent. I was fortunate to come across a manuscript in
Devanagari that proved to be essential to determine the original readings.
In a
quasi-autobiographical tone, Srila Prabodhananda tells us some of his
experiences and impressions in life, his struggles in worldly affairs, his
anxieties in family life and above all, his burning desire to give up
everything to go to Vrindavan, which is glorified throughout the book. It is
clear that at the time of composition the author was already an adherent of Lord Caitanya’s
philosophy, as he expresses his desire to serve the Lord birth after birth,
declares that Krsna, the Lord of Gokula, is superior even to Lord Visnu, and mentions
Srimati Radharani’s name several times. He also mentions the name “Radha-ramana”
a few times, which hints that this name had special significance to him.
The
present edition features other two texts previously unknown among Srila
Prabodhananda’s works: Caitanya-citrastakam
and Nityanandastakam. Manuscripts of
these texts were subsequently located in different places in India, and each of
them is several centuries old. In these two texts, the author praises both
Lords with selected poetical words.
This
edition includes the original Sanskrit text in Devanagari, the transliterated
Roman text with diacritics, word-for-word meanings, an English translation, a foreword
by H.H. Bhakti Vikasa Swami, and an article by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakura about the life of Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati. It also includes an
extensive introduction that presents recent findings about Prabodhananda, and addresses
several misconceptions, such as the idea that he was previously known as
Prakasananda.
Foreword
by Bhakti Vikasa Swami
As if influenced by the worldwide dominance of sudra
culture, very few Gaudiya Vaisnavas today have even an inkling of the
tremendous scholarly heritage to which they are heirs. And even if informed of
it, very few take interest, as if it has nothing to do with them. But
factually, service to the literary contributions of the previous acaryas
is a major area of devotional service that if neglected by the whole Vaisnava
community constitutes a collective offense known as guror avajna,
neglecting the gurus.
There is practically unlimited work to do in collecting,
preserving, reproducing, translating, and commenting on old manuscripts, and in
many other scholarly fields also. It is regrettable that much of the Vaisnava
world today is more inclined toward adapting Krsna consciousness to mleccha
society rather than understanding and embracing our own glorious and fully
spiritual tradition.
Symptomatic of this is that despite the ongoing massive
recruitment achievements of Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and his
followers, only a very few within his community have shown serious interest in
Vaisnava scholarship – and most of those
few have opted to pander to the largely agnostic secular academia. Hence
appreciation is due to Dr. Baladeva Dasa for dedicating his
life to one major area of research—the legacy of Gaudiya Vedantacarya Srila
Baladeva Vidyabhusana—which he is conducting in the straightforward traditional
manner of a committed devotee, shunning the pretensions and prejudices of
secular academia.
From my own dabblings in
scholarly research, I came to learn what probably all serious researchers have
experienced: sometimes while exploring in one area, one stumbles across another
huge field of investigation in related or sometimes even distant topics. Thus
it is that Baladeva Dasa has taken an aside from his life’s focus on Srila
Baladeva Vidyabhusana to publish this important book, which brings to light
some largely unknown writings of Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati.
Particularly valuable
herein is Baladeva Dasa’s research and analysis concerning the identity of Srila
Prabodhananda Sarasvati, which sheds new light on a long-standing controversy
by making clear that the contention of certain polemicists has very little
credibility. Followers of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura glorify him
as rupanuga-viruddhapasiddhanta-dhvanta-hari, “the remover of the
darkness of faulty conclusions that oppose those of the followers of Srila Rupa
Gosvami” – which he did by establishing sat-siddhanta (proper
philosophical conclusions), down to the minutest detail. It is in this
tradition that Baladeva Dasa has compiled this book, and naturally in doing so
he also glorifies Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati and the subsequent acaryas
who have glorified him.
Srila Prabodhananda
Sarasvati’s poetic adoration of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Radha, Sri Vrndavana-dhama,
and Sri Navadvipa-dhama, in his famous works
Sri Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi, Sri Caitanya-candramrta, Vrndavana-sataka, and Navadvipa-sataka,
is unprecedented in its unique ebullience. Among his other works are Sangita-Madhava, Ascarya-rasa-prabandha, Sruti-stuti-vyakhya,
Gita-govinda-vyakhyana, Kama-bija-kama-gayatri-vyakhyana, and a commentary
on Gopala-tapani Upanisad. The present book is actually a trilogy of Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati’s writings
which were so far unknown to the public. In the longest of the three works, Viveka-satakam, the author repeatedly
expresses his ardent desire to go to Vrndavana. In Caitanya-citrastakam and Nityanandastakam he delightfully employs selected words of unalloyed
ardour for his worshipable Lords. Typical of Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati, his
devotional ecstasy as if leaps from his heart into his words and therefrom to
the heart of the sympathetic reader.
By traveling the length and breadth of India, often
accepting very austere conditions in the course of undertaking perseverant,
meticulous research, and by locating, translating, and publishing the manuscripts
featured herein, Dr. Baladeva Dasa has been able to perform this notable service of
adding to the known canon of Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati. Gaudiyas should be
grateful to him for these contributions. May our acaryas continue to bless
him in his ongoing endeavours. We look forward to more such publications from
him in the coming years.
