Jagat

Birnagar is good for me. My chanting and meditation are very good here, though I still don't do enough. I give class in morning and afternoon. Actually, in the morning from 7 to 9 I do kirtan and read Chaitanya Charitamrita and Bhaktivinoda Thakur's songs. In particular reading Kalyana-kalpa-taru, since that was published in 1879-80, which is a period of BVT's life that particularly interests me. In the evening we are going through Bhagavad-Gita. They have been doing while I was away, so even though I wanted to do Bhakti-Sandarbha, I have been continuing with the Gita. We are using the edition of Gorakhpur Gita Press, which has a very extensive commentary by Ramsukh Dasji. Maybe I will say more about that some other time. Prasad is good. There is lots of muri. The cows give good milk. Today the prasad was really fine... Someone paid to make nice prasad for the devotees. On special occasions people like to have prasad from the temple, so they make an order and we get...

Picture dated June 1896, glued to the handwritten manuscript by Lalita Prasad Thakur, who would have been 17 at the time. Among the many things I am trying to do at present is a revision of Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s memoir, written to his son Lalita Prasad Dutt in 1896. I have been promising to do this for a long time now and I finally had no way to escape. There is more work to do than I expected. Even though Shukavak’s translation and a revised edition are available, as I go through it I find that there is much left to be desired, not only stylistically, but often in matters of understanding the original text and properly translating it.  I was inspired to post this portion of the autobiography because it is about the Thakur’s own education. Since education and child abuse are a part of my current reflections, and our modern sensibilities are a recent development, not a wrong one mind you, but a part of developments that have only taken place during my own lifetime. One t...

This gives a partial view of the property that was occupied. The area was cleared of underbrush and two tin shacks put up, which were dismantled. Being next to the pukkur, it will perhaps make a nice spot for a bhajan kutir or two. Good news! Those who are interested in the situation at the Bhaktivinoda Thakur Janma Sthan in Birnagar will be happy to know that on Janmashtami, the boundary wall around the Dwadash Mandir property was completed and the encroachers evicted from the disputed section. Sri Hari Gopal Das Babaji Maharaj. Last week, Harigopal Dasji and a group of about twenty important members of the Birnagar community approached the new municipal vice-chairman, Govinda Poddar, about the situation. He gave a favorable response and a decision was taken to repossess the disputed portion of the land and to build the wall, despite the fact that the court has yet to make a decision. The next day, the Member of the Legislative Assembly and Superintendent of Police sat d...

Postscript to Bhaktivinoda Thakur's birthplace under threats from Land Mafias. I am thinking a little bit more about the idea that ISKCON might have a permanent presence in Birnagar. I will be quite frank, my gurudeva never wanted Dwadash Mandir to "fall into the hands" of the Gaudiya Math or ISKCON. He was not an ambitious man, my gurudeva, in the sense of wanting to become a great guru. He wanted a simple life that was reclusive in style. If he was a guru, he was a rural guru in the traditional Vaishnava manner. Totally Bengali Vaishnava, but with the stamp of Bhaktivinoda Thakur. He wanted to preserve Bhaktivinoda Thakur's tradition in the way that he himself did it, saw it, and wanted it. If this were to happen, the fear is that by running from the lion one will fall into the mouth of the tiger. If we run to ISKCON as our protector, will they turn into predators themselves, in their high-minded idea of appropriating some kind of monopoly on his legacy. I...

  I was greatly disturbed today to learn from my godbrother Hari Gopal Dasji Maharaj, the current president of the Bhaktivinode Gosthi, that the Birnagar birthplace of Bhaktivinoda Thakur is under attack. Some neighbors are claiming that they have ancestral rights over the land, even though the property was clearly given to our Gurudeva, Sril Sril Lalita Prasad Thakur, in the 1930’s and the ashram has the papers to prove it. It happens that the town of Birnagar has grown up around the Dwadash Mandir property, making it extremely valuable real estate. Dwadash Mandir for the most part is unchanged from 40 years ago before greed and development had become the de facto religion of this country. In the last few years, the population of the ashram has dwindled and made it vulnerable to this kind of attack. Land Mafias everywhere in India take advantage of such situations to their profit. When it became clear to the trustees of the Goshthi that the ashram was in danger, they...

I am too split in various directions still. At my age, it is disconcerting to see me entering into the last phase of life with so many things unfinished. I have perhaps been too ambitious and now find myself in the unfortunate position of having bitten off so much more than I can chew that much of what I have done is inevitably going to remain incomplete. (1) Swami Veda Bharati's Yoga Sutra  Currently I am in Rishikesh working on the Yoga Sutra for Swami Veda Bharati. Comment: Swamiji is 82 and in poor health, going through period crises related to his heart condition. Yesterday after evening meditation he called me into his room and told me that he was not certain that he would be able to live to complete the Yoga Sutra project. In many ways I am indebted to Swamiji personally and I have given him my word that I will help him to finish his magnum opus, the four volume series of Yoga Sutra with reference to 22 commentaries and his own experience of the oral traditions...

I would find it quite normal if someone who read the last post were puzzled by what seems like a tremendous change in my direction. After all, the famous Sahajiya and “mundane scholar,” Jagadananda Das could hardly at this point represent the great Bhaktivinoda Thakur, nor his son Lalita Prasad Thakur, and yet that is precisely what I am setting out to do. Well, not exactly, let us say that I intend to serve them. After all these years, all these changes, to return to a situation from what is now a quite distant past, and one that would look quite unpromising to most people, strikes even me as a bit strange. The decision to commit to Lalita Prasad Thakur’s bhajan sthali itself caught me a bit by surprise. Maybe not quite as great as it seems at first glance, but nevertheless I think it requires some explanation. This is probably going to take more than one post. Part of my decision comes as a result of my slowly maturing understanding of Guru-tattva, which is indeed a grand and f...

Harigopal Dasji and Vamshi Dasji. So I did not finish reflecting on the visit to Dwadash Mandir. Some came out today in a bit of a poetical form, which can be seen here . Let me quote the relevant parts, which is actually most of the poem: It was a visit to a distant past, my guru's ashram. Strangely unchanged, though changes are coming, like everywhere, like a cancer they spread through every artery in the shape of fallen trees and piles of bricks in various shapes and forms, usually square and shapeless, devoid of love or art. ...  But Dwadash Mandir sits in obliviousness to the norms of the modern world. It is dangling with cobwebs the spaces are just nooks, the women are just cooks. And the bell rings and the gong chimes and one or two voices sing the mangal arati waking up the rest, who slowly drag themselves into their daily routine of cooking and cleaning the men are dragging long tubes or piles of wood, or bringing in mangoes from the orchard...

Construction and Renovation The Bhaktivedanta Charity Trust has given around Rs 4.5 lakhs for various renovation and construction projects around the ashram. The work is currently halted as another two lakhs is being sought to complete the work that has been begun. It seems also that there is a prosperous element in the local community that wishes to see the archeological heritage of the town preserved and restored, and some of that money has come to the mandir, particularly where the Shiva temples and Kali temple are concerned. Kali mandir seen as one comes into the mandir grounds. The BCT money is mostly going to the construction of a guest rooms and a dining hall. I find most of it aesthetically dubious and without a clear vision, but there is little that can be done about it now. This criticism applies to some of the earlier construction, such as the toilets and bathrooms built just off the ten Shiva temple area. The last thing you see as you close the toilet door is Prabhu...

The first draft of this article was written ten days ago when I first arrived with Hari Gopal Dasji in Birnagar. I have been experiencing a number of technological setbacks on this trip -- the loss of the camera being the first major hassle. It took a few days to get some photos taken and finally I am posting a revised version along with a few photos that were taken by other people. There were also numerous computer keyboard and internet connection problems. We will be leaving tomorrow to return to Vrindavan via Kolkata, and there is a lot more to say than what is here. In Kolkata we stayed two nights with a couple of bhaktas, disciples of a disciple of Bhakta Ma, Kanti Chakravarty Bhakti Hridaya, whom I don't know, but who apparently is engaged in preaching widely in Bangla Desh. He will, I think, be coming to the meeting in Birnagar today, or perhaps tomorrow. I look forward to seeing him, as it will be good to have many branches connected to the Bhaktivinoda tree all coming t...