BVT 10 :: Lalita Prasad Thakur
As has already been stated, Bhaktivinoda Thakur's Jīvanī was addressed to Lalita Prasad Thakur. Naturally Bhaktivinoda gave some priority to matters related to the person to whom he wrote the book. He says that there were special circumstances surrounding this child’s birth: a sadhu whom he recognized as Narada Muni, came and glorified the baby and said he would become a great mahā-puruṣa.
"You were born in Ranaghat on the 15th of Ashwin 1880. I saw auspicious signs on your body that indicated that you would grow up to be particularly religious. ... You were born on the day of Sri Ekadasi. In a dream I saw an ugly monkey which came to me and said, 'This child is very wicked and will not live.' Immediately afterward, Sri Narada appeared in the dream and said, 'That monkey was Kali. Do not heed his words. This boy is born on Harivasara [ekadasi]. He will be initiated into the pure Vaishnava religion and will preach that dharma. No one will be able to kill him.'
"O Lalita! I hope that you will fulfill the prediction of Narada Goswami. In this world there is no wealth that can compare to the wealth of dharma. The body lives for just a moment; it is here today and gone tomorrow. Our most merciful Prabhu has kindly given this world the treasures of His name and of prema. When you are older, you should understand this from the sadhus and the Guru. The books Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta are priceless gems in this world. Make some effort to study these books. There is no need to make a show of knowledge to worldly people, rather give them the treasure of bhakti. Live a sinless life according to religious principles and earn money to support your family and yourself. But never forget the holy name of Krishna at any time." [165-167]
Bhaktivinoda makes several other references to Lalita Prasad, calling him by the nickname "Lalu," often in relation to minor matters, such as grateful comments for some service the boy had rendered to his father. When still less than a year old the Thakur took Lalita Prasad with him on a pilgrimage to Vrindavan in 1881 . The Thakur recalls,
"You were still a little baby. You rolled around on the ground in the Madan Mohan temple and ate the prasad you picked up from the ground. And when you came out of the temple you urinated." [169]
A bit later, mention is made of a trip from Krishnagar to Birnagar, to the Thakur's place of birth:
"The year I was in Krishnagar, on the full moon of Vaishakh, that is to say in the month of Jyaishtha, I took a horse carriage with my boys to visit Ula. I was very happy to see the place of my childhood after such a long time. After seeing all the temple buildings, the pond called Kali Sagar, and my birthplace, I went and stayed at the house of Dashu Mama, i.e., "the old house." I saw the community poojas and entertainments and gave a speech at the school. In the evening we ate and took rest at the house of Varanasi Babu's family. The next day Kamal and I took the carriage back to Krishnagar, while the other boys took a boat from Ranaghat to Calcutta." [191]
It does not appear that Lalita Prasad Thakur was on this trip, since his father does not mention him and tells a few pages later that he came to Krishnagar in 1894 to go to school.
"You went to Krishnagar in the month of December and in February were admitted to college there. The time of my retirement was rapidly approaching, so I sent you to Calcutta during the rainy season." [207]
Nevertheless, in the 1920's it was Lalita Prasad who was able to recuperate the historical property and to make some improvements and thus establish Bhaktivinoda Thakur's birthplace as a site of pilgrimage and spiritual sadhana in an extended Godrumadvipa.
It does not appear that Lalita Prasad Thakur had yet received initiation at the time the Autobiography was written. but he did indeed preserve his father’s dīkṣā lineage along with the esoteric aspects known as ekādaśa bhāva, which he also passed on to his worthy disciples. The siddha-praṇālī is the listing of the ekādaśa bhāva, i.e., the siddha names, etc., of the gurus in one's disciplic succession, in their form as the guru-rūpā sakhī.
As mentioned above, in song #8 of Siddhi-lālasā, Bhaktivinoda Thakur reveals the eleven characteristics of his own spiritual identity. Suffice it to say that these eleven characteristics of the siddha-deha, including the name of Kamala Manjari, were given to him by his spiritual master, Bipin Bihari Goswami.
baraṇe taḏita, bāsa tārābalī,
kamala mañjarī nāma
sāḏe bāra barṣa, baẏasa satata,
sbānanda-sukhada-dhāma
My name is Kamala Manjari.
My age is twelve-and-a-half, never changing
and I reside in my home at Svananda Sukhada Kunj.
karpūra sebā, lalitāra gaṇa,
rādhā yūtheśbarī hana
mameśvarī-nātha, śrī nanda-nandana,
āmāra parāṇa dhana (2)
śrī rūpa mañjarī, prabhṛtira sama,
yugala sebāya āśa
abaśya se-rūpa, sebā pāba āmi,
parākāṣṭha subiśvāsa (3)
I always desire to execute conjugal service similar to that which is rendered by Sri Rupa Manjari and her associates. Thus I will certainly get utmost conviction and faith.
kabe bā e dāsī, saṁsiddhi labhibe,
rādhā-kuṇḍe bāsa kari
rādhā-kuṇḍa-sebā, satata karibe,
pūrba smṛti parihari (4)
In the last chapter of Hari-nāma-cintāmaṇi's last chapter, footnote 29, Thakur Bhaktivinoda recounts how this authorized system which he accepted is transmitted from guru to disciple:
"When on examining the disciple’s natural tendencies, the spiritual master verifies that he truly has the qualifications for serving in the śṛṅgāra-rasa, he informs him of the eternal form that he should cultivate as a manjari in Lalita’s sub-group of Srimati Radharani’s yūtha of gopis. Then the spiritual master explains the mutual relation between the eleven components of that spiritual identity necessary for the practice and the object of that practice, the pastimes the Lord enjoys throughout the eight periods of the day (aṣṭa-kālīya-līlā). He especially shows the disciple his spiritual name, form, qualities, and principal service. Furthermore, the spiritual master tells him in which home in Vraja the practitioner will take birth and with which cowherd she will be married. He then goes on to explain how, as a gopi, she will reject the conventional morality of the Vedas and become a protected servant under the tutelage of one of the Lord’s prominent mistresses, a yūtheśvarī, whom she will serve through the daily cycle of pastimes. The aspirant then accepts this identity and enters the next stage, that of contemplation, smaraṇa-daśā. This is the aspirant’s actual birth as a gopī in Vraja. One should here remember and follow the words of the Bhagavatam: yāḥ śrutvā tat-paro bhavet— “When one hears these pastimes of the Lord, one becomes absorbed in them.” (HNC_15.2)
in this way. Sri Lalita Prasad Thakur writes his own ekādaśa bhāva in a small booklet called Svīya śrī-siddha-bhajana-praṇālī, which was normally shared only with his initiated disciples, where he says, mama siddha bhāba yāhā guru ājñā kaila tāhā, "My guru's order created my siddha nature." (verse 10)
"I have been initiated in the teachings of Bhaktivinoda Thakur, and in that I find the fulfillment of my innermost desire. Holding my guru's feet in my heart, I take exclusive shelter of him, and so remain always in the bliss of divine loving service." (Verse 1)
As my revered God-brother Gadadhhar Pran Das writes:
"Now how did Lalita Prasad attain such mercy? We shall say that it was his guru-niṣṭhā, deep faith in his father (in his form as the guru-rūpa sakhī), for he believed firmly that she could award him Radha Krishna's nitya-sevā. But there is something equally important that we cannot overlook: that Lalita Prasad also had strong faith in his father's guru, Bipin Bihari Goswami, whose name is Vilasa Manjari. Because he knew very well that only by the mercy of her mañjarī paramparā that descends from Ananga Manjari--will Kamal Manjari, Lata Manjari and their followers receive the privilege to perform Radha Krishna's nikunja sevā." (Another side of Thakur Bhaktivinoda_1)
This becomes clear from reading Svīya śrī-siddha-bhajana-praṇālī.
Bhaktivinoda Thakur's disciplic succession
[Vamsivadanananda Thakur, 1494-1548]
1. [Nityananda Prabhu] Jahnava Mata (d. ca. 1590, Vaishakh shukla 9).
2. Ramachandra Goswami (1549-1610)
3. Rajavallabha Goswami
4. Keshavacandra Goswami
5. Rudresvara Goswami
6. Dayarama Goswami
7. Mahesvari Goswamini
8. Gunamaïjari Goswamini
9. Ramamani Goswamini
10. Yajïesvara Goswami
11. Bipin Bihari Goswami (1850-1919)
12. Kedarnath Datt Bhaktivinoda Thakur (1838-1914)
13. Lalita Prasad Thakur (1880-1980)
Other articles in the introduction
BVT 1-2 : Invocation and Introduction to the Autobiography
BVT 3 :: Modern Scholarship on Bhaktivinoda Thakur
BVT 4 :: Bhaktivinoda Thaku and his thirst for knowledge.
BVT 5 :: Bhaktivinoda Thakur and Christianity
BVT 6 :: Bhaktivinoda Thakur in Jagannath Puri
BVT 7 :: Bhaktivinoda and the Meat-eating issue
BVT 8 :: Initiation from Bipin Bihari Goswami
BVT 9 :: Bipin Bihari Goswami in the Thakur's Writings
BVT 10 :: Lalita Prasad Thakur
BVT 11 :: Bhaktivinoda Thakur and Sampradaya
BVT 12 :: Innovation and Tradition
BVT 13 :: The Authenticity of the Autobiography
Other articles inspired by the Autobiography:
A Bengali Zamindar's education in the 1840's
Bipin Bihari's testimonial to his best disciple Kedarnath Datta
Longfellow and Bhaktivinoda Thakur's poems
And also,
Hari-nama-cintamani related posts
Siddhi-lalasa
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