Prabandhavali- Garland of Gaudiya Vaisnava Conclusions, Insights into Chaitanya's Teaching

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Gudrishna are the supreme explorers searching for TŚrī Krishna the absolute in his divine realm of Vrindavan. The doorway to that abode is the heart of great saints such as Srila Thakura Bhaktivinoda. By diving deep into the ocean of Prabandhāvalī, devotees can collect the invaluable gems of understanding the mind of Śrīla Ţhākura Bhaktivinoda.

Thakura Bhaktivinoda was the first ācārya to present the teach- ings of Gauranga Mahāprabhu in a modern context. He is the au- thor of hundreds of songs in Bengali, Sanskrit, and Brajaboli (a lan- guage combining Sanskrit, Bengali, and Odia) glorifying the Lord and His dear devotees. His song, "Jaya Rādhā-Madhava", was dear to Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, who sang it every day just before giving class on Śrīmad Bhagavatam.

Guru Dāsa, one of the early disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda's re- calls a conversation he had with his spiritual master that illustrates the profound influence Bhaktivinoda Thakura had on Prabhupāda:

"Prabhupāda and I were walking, just the two of us, in the misty, morning fog in Regent's Park near the Baker Street apartment in London. We were discussing transcen- dental literature. I mentioned that Bhaktivinoda Thakura was my second-favorite author.

Prabhupāda questioned, "Second?" Thakura Bhaktivinoda was a great devotee of the Lord and also a very inspiring and prolific writer. Perhaps Prabhu- pāda read my mind as I told him this little fib, because some- times I actually enjoyed the language and poetry of Thakura Bhaktivinoda's writings even more than Prabhupāda's.

We were silent for a while; then Prabhupāda said, "If I had one tenth the... [he was sobbing] of a Bhaktivinoda Thakura, I would be a great devotee.

Mand Land his literary contributions to the world. One of the contemporaries of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Śrī Sishi Kumar Ghosh, had eulogized the Thakura as follows:

"I have not yet seen the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan, but I con- sider you to be the Seventh Goswami."

From the time he started writing in his late teenage years, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Thakura's pen never rested till he retired in 1912, and disappeared from this world in 1914. His son, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhān- ta Sarasvatī Thākura Prabhupāda had written:

"Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Thakura is the Bhagiratha of Kaliyu- ga. Just as Bhagīratha brought the Gangā to this world, Śrīla Bhak- tivinoda Thakura manifested the current of pure bhak- ti in this world. All those who are aspiring for pure devotion are in- debted to him.