Vipinavihārī Gosvāmin and his Community

October 7, 2014

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1 The Gosvāmīs of Bāghnāpārā
Vipinavihārī Gosvāmin, the initiating guru (dīkṣā-guru) of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhā-
kura, was a member of a well-known and highly respected community of
Gosvāmins centered in the town of Bāghnāpārā in the northeast corner
(block Kalna-i) of West Bengal's district of Bardhaman. Most of the Gosvāmins
in that area trace their ancestry back to Vaṃśīvadana (16th cent.), a com-
panion of Śrī Caitanya. In fact, Vipinavihārī Gosvāmin was a ninth genera-
tion descendant of Vaṃśīvadana.1 This distinguished community of Gosvāmins
counts among it members and their disciples a number of authors of Vaiṣṇava
works in Bengali and Sanskrit and composers of Bengali songs of sentiment
and praise during its long history in Bāghnāpārā.
How a Śrīpāṭa or Vaiṣṇava holy place or “seat” came to be established
in Bāghnāpārā which means “neighborhood of tigers” and how the descen-
dants of Vaṃśīvadana came to settle there are interesting stories. The sto-
ries are told in an early work called the Muralī- or Vaṃśī-vilāsa by Rājaval-
labha (16th cent.), a member of the early community. Vaṃśīvadana lived
with his father Mādhavadāsa or Chakaḍi Chaṭṭo, as he was also known, in
the town of Kuliyā near Navadvīpa. Both father and son were bhaktas of
Śrī Caitanya. Mādhavadāsa was twenty years older than Śrī Caitanya and
Vaṃśīvadana was nine years younger. The Muralī-vilāsa records the story
that when Vaṃśīvadana was born, the nine-year old Nimāi (Śrī Caitanya's
nickname during his youth) came to visit him and:
The son of Śacī saw the baby boy
And took him into his arms.
His body covered with goosebumps,
He struck the threefold bending form
And said: “He is my flute.”
Kissing the baby's lotus-like face,
He took great pleasure in that.
That is the way of previous love
When encountered again later.
So sings Rājavallabha.2
1 Kānanabihārī Gosvāmī, Bāghanāpāḍā-sampradāya o Baiṣṇab Sāhitya, 125. (Kalkātā: Ravīn-

drabhāratī Viśvavidyālaya, 1993) Much of the information presented in this paper is from this
work by a scholar who is also a modern member of this community. He in turn takes much
of his information from the masterwork of Vipinavihārī Gosvāmī himself, the Daśa-mūla-rasam
(“Juice of the Ten Roots”). I will discuss this extraordinary work, which seems to be part phi-
losophy, part rasa text, part theology, part family history, and part anthology, in more detail
later in this article.
2 Rājavallabha, Muralī-vilāsa, Chap. 2, p. 20. (Kalkātā: Nandalāla Pāla, repr. 1962)

śacīr kumār dekhi sukumāra

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At Śrī Caitanya's request Vaṃśīvadana married and had two sons, Caitanya-
dāsa and Nityānandadāsa. After Nityānanda Prabhu's passing his childless
wife, Jāhnavā Devī, asked Caitanyadāsa if she might adopt his eldest son.
He agreed and later when Rāmacandra was born, he was given to Jāhnavā
to be raised as her own son. She initiated him, raised him, and educated
him in the teachings of the Gosvāmins of Vṛndāvana. All this is described
in the Muralī-vilāsa.3
After Rāmacandra, or Rāmāi, as he was also known, had grown up and
after he had toured the important sites in the east, Jāhnavā proposed that
they travel to Vṛndāvana.4 They made the journey to Vṛndāvana with Ud-
dhāraṇa Datta as their guide. They met the famous six Gosvāmins there
and visited all the holy sites. When they visited the sacred image Gopīnātha
in Kāmyavana, Śrīmatī Jāhnavā merged or entered into the sacred image
according to the text.5 Here is how the text describes it:

The lady circumabulated the sacred image

And coming around stood in front of him.
She placed a garland of jasmine flowers on his neck.
Then, when it was time to go outside of the temple,
Gopīnātha caught hold of the border
Of her sārī and drew her to him.
bālaka laiyā kole|
pulakita aṅga haiyā tribhaṅga
āmār muralī bale||
karaẏe cumban saroja vadan
katek ānanda tāẏ|
pūraba piriti pare sei rīti
e rājavallabha gāẏ||

3 ibid., Chaps. 3-4.

4 According to the Prema-vilāsa Rāmacandra's dates are 1534-1583. See Ramakanta
Chakrabarty, Vaiṣṇavism in Bengal 1486-1900, 260, fn. 4. (Calcutta: Sanskrit Pustak Bhan-
dar, 1985) Bimanbihari Majumdar finds in this trip to Vṛndāvana evidence that the Muralī-
vilāsa is inauthentic because the Prema-vilāsa says that Jāhnavā Devī visited Vṛndāvana after
the Kheturī festival. Ramakanta Chakrabarty has rejected Majumdar's argument because two
trips to Vṛndāvana are described in the Prema-vilāsa, one before and one after. If the first visit
was done when Rāmacandra was say 16-18, it is quite possible that he would have met the
Gosvāmins of Vṛndāvana. That would have placed his visit in the years 1550-52 CE. Rūpa and
Sanātana were alive in Vṛndāvana until 1554-5 CE. That visit, however, would not have been
the visit in which Jāhnavā passed away. The Muralī-vilāsa seems to have conflated the two
trips here.
5 This is a metaphor, of course, for dying. It is used, however, only for great saints. Thus,

Śrī Caitanya is said to have entered into Toṭa Gopīnātha in Purī. Mīrā Bāi is said to have
merged into Govinda. There are several other examples. One wonders what really happened.
It probably means that the person in question died in the presence of the sacred image. Since the
bodies are also said to have vanished, perhaps they were secretly buried or tombed somewhere
in or under the inner sanctum of the temple in question.

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 Pulling on her sārī he gazed at her with delight.
Smiling, Gopīnātha himself drew her in.
Thus I have described the visit to Gopīnātha
And how he drew her to him by her garment.
Whoever hears of this sport with faith
Floats in Kṛṣṇa's love and
Meets his boat over the ocean of existence.6
Everyone who saw this was naturally surprised. Rāmacandra began to
cry out loudly in lamentation. The Gosvāmins became filled with divine
love. Rāmacandra, astonished, turned to the Gosvāmins and asked them
why this has happened. In response Rūpa told him what he had already
heard from Śrīmatī Jāhnavā herself,7 that she was no one other than Rādhā's
younger sister, Anaṅgamañjarī, and composed an octet of verses of praise
in her honor. Only the first verse is given in the text:

She was previously in another birth

Rādhikā's younger sister, Anaṅgamañjarī;
Her vine-like body adorned with kumkuma
Puts golden lotuses to shame.
Her daily clothes are like Śeṣa's [i.e. blue]
Her fragrance makes blooming lotuses desirous.
6 Rājavallabha Gosvāmin, ibid., Chap. 16, p. 136:
pradakṣiṇa kari devī sammukhe dāḌ ̐ ālā
mallikā mālatī mālā gale parāilā|
mandir bāhire tabe āsibār kāle
ākarśilā gopīnātha dhariẏā añcale|
vasane dharite tini ulasi cāhilā
hāsi gopīnātha nija nikaṭe lailā|
ei ta kahinu gopīnātha daraśana
śrīmatīr kailā yaiche vastra ākarśaṇa|
śraddhāyukta haẏe yebā śune ei līlā
kṛṣṇapreme bhāse tār̐ e mile bhavabhelā|

7 She admits she is Anaṅgamañjarī in Chap. 9, p. 67:

anaṅgamañjarī kothā hailā prakaṭa|
śrīmatī kahen ti ̐ha rāi sahodarī
rādhikā-vilāsa aṅga anaṅga-mañjarī|
śrīsūryadāser gṛhe ti ̐ha janamila
jāhnavā baliyā nāma vidita haila|
Where has Anaṅgamañjarī appeared?
Śrīmatī [Jāhnavā] replied: “She is Rādhā's
Younger sister, Rādhikā's sportive part.
She was born in Sūryadāsa's house
And is known by the name Jāhnavā.

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 May she bless me with good fortune,
The daughter of Sūryadāsa.8

Rāmacandra later wrote a work called Anaṅgamañjarī-sampuṭikā (“Anaṅga-

mañjarī's Jewel Box”) in which he describes the nature of Anaṅgamañjarī
and identifies her with Śrīmatī Jāhnavā.9 Though many Sanskrit verses are
cited in that work, this one is not.
After the disappearance of Śrīmatī Jāhnavā, Rāmacandra stayed in Vraja
for a while and Uddhāraṇa Datta went back to Bengali with news of Jāh-
navā's passing. After a while Śrīmatī Jāhnavā began to appear in Rāmacan-
dra's dreams and order him to return to Bengal. One day he dreamed of
beautiful images of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. The next day while in the Ya-
munā those images of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma came floating towards him.10
He stayed a bit longer in Vraja and received more instruction and encour-
agement from the Gosvāmins there. Then he returned to Bengal with those
two sacred images.
When he returned to Bengal Rāmacandra settled in a wild, tiger-infested
tract of land now called Bāghnāpārā near Kātwā.11 Eventually Rāmacandra's
younger brother Śacīnandana settled in Bāghnāpārā and since Rāmacandra
was a lifelong celibate, most if not all of the present-day Gosvāmīs of the
center are his descendents. Śacīnandana had three sons, Rājavallabha, the
author of the Muralī-vilāsa, Śrīvallabha, and Keśava. Vipinavihārī Gosvāmī
was a descendant of Śrīvallabha.
The community of Gosvāmīs that grew up in Bāghnāpārā out of the
descendents of Vaṃśīvadana produced many fine literary talents. Vaṃśī-
vadana himself is considered to rank among the finest songwriters of the Cai-
tanya tradition. Many of his songs are found in the standard anthologies of
Vaiṣṇava songs. His father, too, Mādhavadāsa is considered a fine composer
of songs about Śrī Caitanya and about the sports of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. The
8 ibid., p 137:
rādhikānupūrvamanyajanyanaṅgamañjarī
kuṅkumāktasvarṇapadmanindidehavallarī|
śeṣanityavāsaphullapadmagandhalobhinī
śantanotu mayyadhīśā sūryadāsanandinī
This verse is either corrupt or not very well composed. If the latter, it is unlikely to have been
written by Rūpa. Nitāi Chānd Gosvāmī in his book Śrī Śrī Nityānanda Śakti Mā Jāhnavā cites
the same verse in the same condition, but claims it comes from Svarūpa Dāmodara's Kaḍacā or
Notes. See p. 12. (Navadvip: Sanātana Gosvāmī, 1983)
9 Rāmacandra Gosvāmin, Anaṅgamañjarī-sampuṭikā, sampādaka Sundarānanda Dāsa. (Ka-

likātā: Karuṇā Dāsa, 1964)

10 Rājavallabha, ibid., p. 145.
11 The Muralī-vilāsa recounts three miracles that are meant to demonstrate the spiritual power

of Rāmacandra and his authority to establish a Śrīpāṭa at Bāghnāpārā.

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Vaṃśī-śikṣā attributes six Sanskrit verses to him which are considered the
theological foundations of the Rasarāja theology which is the specialty of the
Bāghnāpārā school.12 Mādhavadāsa may be the author of the Kṛṣṇa-maṅgala
as well, a major work in Bengali on the sports of Kṛṣṇa. Rāmacandra, too,
was a writer of songs and his songs also appear in many of the standard
anthologies. His other works are the previously mentioned Anaṅgamañjarī-
sampuṭikā and another work which is well known in the world of Vaiṣṇava
literature, the Pāṣaṇḍa-dalana, or “Dispelling the Heretics.” He was also a
writer of songs, a few of which appear in the anthologies. His nephew and
disciple, Rājavallabha, wrote the Muralī-vilāsa, “The Play of the Flute” which
I have been citing frequently in this essay. A later writer in the tradition
was Premadāsa Miśra who wrote the Vaṃśī-śikṣā in 1717 CE. Though he
does not mention the name of his immediate guru he refers to Rāmacan-
dra as his great, great, great guru (parātpara-guru).13 Premadāsa Miśra is
also famous for his Śrī Caitanya-candrodaya-kaumudī, a Bengali translation
of Kavi Karṇapūra's play, the Śrī Caitanyacandrodaya-nāṭaka on the life of
Śrī Caitanya. Other works are attributed to him as well.
Perhaps the strangest work belonging to the catalog of literary works
creidtable to the community of Gosvāmins from Bāghnāpārā is the famous
Sahajiyā text, the Vivarta-vilāsa by Akiñcanadāsa. According to Kānanavi-
hāra Gosvāmī, Akiñcanadāsa was initiated by one of the Bāghnāpārā Gosvāmīs.
In his estimation, the initiating Gosvāmin was Vihārīlāla Gosvāmin, the mid-
dle son of Gopālakṛṣṇa Gosvāmin by his second wife. Vihārīlāla was born
about 1670 and was known during his lifetime as Rasikavihārī.14 This would
place him at about the right time to be Akiñcanadāsa's initiating guru. Akiñ-
canadāsa wrote his Vivarta-vilāsa in the middle of the 18th century. Presum-
ably, he got his Vaiṣṇavism from Vihārīlāla Gosvāmin and his Sahajiyāism
from some other source. There are other works that might be mentioned
here, but these are the main literary productions connected with the Bāgh-
nāpārā Vaiṣṇava community. It was into this most literary tradition that
Vipinavihārī Gosvāmin was born.

2 Vipinavihārī Gosvāmī
Vipinavihārī Gosvāmin was born to Dīnanātha Gosvāmin and Narmsakhā
Devī in 1850 at Bāghnāpārā.15 When he was only two and a half years old
he lost his mother. From that time forward he was cared for by a servant
12 Give references.
13 Premadāsa Miśra, Vaṃśī-śikṣā, p. 2. Cited in Kānanavihārī Gosvāmī, 432-3 and fn. 10.
14 ibid., 504.
15 This account is taken from Kānanavihārī Gosvāmī, pp. 526-32.

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in his father's house named Aparṇā. His early education was at the tradi-
tional Sanskrit school (catuṣpāṭhī) of Paṇḍita Maheśacandra Tarkapañcānana
in Bāghnāpārā. When he was older he studied with Paṇḍita Kailāsacandra
Gosvāmin and Paṇḍita Brahmavrata Sāmādhyāyī. In 1863 he was married
to Kṛṣṇakāminī Devī, daughter of Rāmakṛṣṇa Bandhyopādhyāya of Ambikā-
Kālnā. At the passing of his father in 1864, he went to Telenīpārā in Hugli
for work. There, under the influence of Navakumāra Bābu of the Brāhma
Samāja, he became a practicing member of the Samāja by 1872. On the
advice of the leading Gosvāmins of Bāghnāpārā and especially og his fa-
ther's friend, Anupacandra Gosvāmin, Vipinavihārī left Telenīpārā and the
Brāhma dharma and returned to Ambikā-Kālnā to study with Siddha Bha-
gavāndāsa Bābājī. For nine years he studied the Vaiṣṇava scriptures with
Bābājī and came to understand the secret methods of worship and doctrines
of the tradition. He also studied the principles of Vaiṣṇavism with Siddha
Caitanyadāsa Bābājī in Navadvīpa. Those two profoundly learned and ex-
perienced bābājīs were his instructing (śikṣā) gurus. Vipinavihārī, however,
received mantra initiation in 1872 from Yajñeśvara Gosvāmī who was a sixth
generation descendent of Keśavacandra Gosvāmin, nephew of Rāmacandra.
His guru-lineage was thus Keśavacandra, Rudreśvara, Dayārāma, Maheś-
varī Ṭhākurāṇī, Śrī Guṇamañjarī, Rāmamaṇi Ṭhākurāṇī, Yajñeśvara, and
Vipinavihārī.16 His wife, Kṛṣṇakāminī was a disciple of Bhuvanamohinī
who was in turn a disciple of Rāmamaṇi Ṭhākurāṇī, Vipinavihārī's param-
aguru. Vipinavihārī was a practitioner of mañjarī-sādhana.17 His guru's mañ-
jarī name was Yūthikā-mañjarī and his own name was Vilāsa-mañjarī. After
his initiation, Vipinavihārī began to publish essays on the Caitanya Vaiṣṇava
tradition in journals such as Saṃvāda-pūrṇacandrodaya, Premapracāriṇī, and
the Education Gazette.
In 1877 Vipinavihārī moved to Vardhamān (Burdhwan) and while there
gave readings of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa at Rākhāldāsa Sarkār's house that
continued for a period of two and a half years. As a result of those read-
16 What is interesting about his guru lineage is that there are two possibly three (Śrī Guṇa-

mañjarī) women in it. Most guru lineages that we know of only have men in them. Perhaps
this is to be expected, however, in a lineage founded by a woman, Śrīmatī Jāhnavā Devī.
17 Mañjarī-sādhana is a form of passion-pursuing bhakti (rāgānugā bhakti) in which the form

of perfection, or, the form one desires to achieve (siddha-deha) in the cultivation of one's loving
relationship with Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, is that of the mañjarī. A mañjarī, or “flowering bud,” is a
young (12 to 13 years old) cowherd girl who is both a friend (sakhi) and a servant (dāsī) of
Rādhikā and who is thus allowed more intimate access to her in her loving interactions with
Kṛṣṇa than Rādhā's friends are. In the practice (sādhana), one participates imaginatively adopt-
ing the guru-given identity of a mañjarī in the daily activities of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa as visualized
in their immortal abode of Vraja. The practice is based on the poetic descriptions of the daily
activities of Kṛṣṇa and the cowherd boys and girls in eternal Vraja by Caitanya Vaiṣṇava poets
such as Kavi Karṇapūra, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja, Viśvanātha Cakravartin, and others.

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ings he became particularly well known. As a result of that, the king of
Vardhamān, Mahātāpacānda came to hold him in high esteem and asked
him to compose a work on the principles of Vaiṣṇava bhakti called Har-
ināmāmṛtasindhu (“Ocean of the Ambrosia of Hari's Name”). In 1881, after
the death of Mahātāpacānda when the prince Āftābcānd became the king of
Vardhamān Vipinavihārī became an honored guest at the royal palace. At
that time the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Samāja honored Vipinavihārī with the title
Bhaktiratna (“Jewel of Bhakti”). Around this time he started a work called
Arcanāmṛtasāra (“The Essential Ambrosia of Image Worship”), a work on
practical Vaiṣṇava rituals, but was unable to finish it.
Vipinavihārī Gosvāmin at this point in his career became a resident of
Kolkata. In 1883 the service of the images at the temple of Mādhavadāsa
in Hāṭakholā in North Kolkata was given to him. He renovated the temple
and maintained a high level of service for the images housed in the tem-
ple: Baladeva, Gopīnātha, Rādhā, Gaura, Nityānanda, and the rest. In 1896
he complete two of his major poetic writings: Daśa-mūla-rasa (“The Flavor
of the Ten Roots”) and Madhura-milana (“Sweet Meetings”). In 1902 he
complete his Sanskrit work on Vaiṣṇava ritual practice Hari-bhakti-taraṅginī
(“Wave-filled Ocean of Bhakti for Hari”). In 1909 he became the presi-
dent of the Kṛṣṇacaitanyatattvapracāriṇī Society which was founded by Dr.
Priyanātha Nandī and with the cooperation of Gosvāmīs from Vṛndāvana,
Navadvīpa, Pābnā, Bai ̐cī, and Bāghnāpārā drafted a presciption for the im-
provement of Vaiṣṇava society. In 1911 at Bālighāi in the district of Me-
dinipura at a great religious meeting established under the leadership of Viś-
vambharānanda Gosvāmī, the son of Rādhākṛṣṇānanda Gosvāmī, the leader
of the Vaiṣṇava seat (Śrīpāṭa) at Gopīvallabhapura, Vipinavihārī defeated
the ritualists (smārta) in scriptural discussions and established superiority
of Vaiṣṇava dharma. In 1919, a short while after the birth celebration of
Vaṃśīvadana, which was well attended by the Gosvāmis of Bāghnāpārā,
was observed at his birth site in Navadvīpa-Kuliyā under the leadership of
Vipinavihārī, this great practitioner-poet and leader of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava
community went to the eternal abode.

3 Vipinavihārī's Literary Works

The names of some of Vipinavihārīs works have already been mentioned
along with their dates and the circumstances of their composition. To get a
better sense of the breadth and quality of Vipinavihārī's writings each text
will be briefly discussed here. Since many of the works are unavailable to me
I will base some of the following descriptions and excerpts on Kānanavihārī
Gosvāmī's discussion of them. Some, however, have made availabe online

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for anyone with the appropriate languages skills to read.18

3.1 Daśāṅka-nāma-saṃkīrtana
Vipinavihārī, like his ancestors, was a talented writer of songs. As an exam-
ple of this, Kānanavihārī includes the following song in his book on the Bāgh-
nāpārā Vaiṣṇava community. The song is entitled Daśāṅka-nāma-saṃkīrtana
(“Praising the Holy Names in Ten Numbers”):

One is non-dual Brahman,

Kṛṣṇa, the eternally pure,
Full of all powers, shelter of all selves.
Unseconded truth is Hari everlasting
The Lord beyond becoming,
Liberator from all sufferings,
Text19 beyond the three strands,
Rescuer of the young,
Eye and controller of the universe,
Uplifter of the fallen.
Surpassing the four Vedas,
Fascinating four-headed Brahmā,
Śiva's form and object of worship
Pleasing to Śiva's wife.
Bewildering love's five arrows,
Stirring up mind-stirring cupid himself,
Teacher of five-faced elequence,
Full, enchanting the god of love,
Untouched by the six states
True essence of all six-limbed bodies,
Knower of the six,20 free of the six,
Protector of the people's world,
Giver of results of the seven strings,
Pleaser of the seven sages.
Creator of the seven-horsed sun.
Destroyer of all blimishes.
Object of meditation of the eight Vasus,
Eighth son, Viṣṇu formed by eight elements,
Confuser of ignorance,
18 See www.archive.org where scanned versions of at least two of Vipinavihārī's books are

available. Hopefully, his masterpiece, the Daśa-mūla-rasam will be available someday, too.
19 Tantra. Not sure which of its meanings apply here.
20 The seasons or philosophical schools.

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 Nine-formed best of men, son of Nanda,
Nara and Nārāyaṇa, meek,
Blocker of the way to hell,
Bowed to by the protectors
Of the ten directions,
Crusher of the progeny of Danu,
Suppressor of the south,
Dark blue, lover of Śrī Rādhā,
This son of Master Dīnanātha
Floats in the joy of praising
The names by the ten numbers.21

This is a clever composition organizing the names of Kṛṣṇa by their con-

nection to the first ten numbers or by alliteration based on those names.
Kānanavihārī does not mention how prolific Vipinavihārī was in writing
songs.

3.2 Madhura-milana (“Sweet Meetings”)

Although Vipinavihārī wrote this work in 1898 it was not published until
1906. The publisher was one of his sons, Gauragovinda Gosvāmī. Another
of his sons, Lalitārañjana Gosvāmī, wrote in the introduction to the book:
21 Kānanavihārī, ibid., 528:
ekādvaita brahma kṛṣṇa nitya nirañjana|
sarva-śakti-paripūrṇa sarvātmā-śaraṇa||
dvitīyarahita satya hari sanātana|
bhagavān bhavātīta duḥkhavimocana||
tinaguṇātīta tantra taruṇatāraṇa|
jagacchakṣu jagadīśa patitapāvana||
cāri vedātīta caturmukha-vimohana|
śivarūpa śivārādhya śivānītoṣaṇa||
pañcabāṇa-vimohana manmathamathana|
pañcānanaguru pūrṇa madanamohana||
ṣaḍbhāvātīta sarva ṣaḍaṅgasvarūpa|
ṣaḍabhijña ṣaḍvargahīna janabhūpa||
saptatantu phaladātā saptarṣirañjana|
saptāśva-savitā dhātā kalaṅkabhañjana||
aṣṭavasudhyeya deva aṣṭama nandana|
aṣṭadhāturūpa viṣṇu avidyāmohana||
navarūpa narottama śrīnandanandana|
naranārāyaṇa namra narakabāraṇa||
daśadikpālanamya danujadalana|
dakṣiṇadamana śyāma śrīrādhāramaṇa||
prabhu dīnanāthātmaja e vipinadāse|
śrīdaśāṅka-nāma-saṅkīrtana-sukhe bhāse||

10
“My father wrote Sweet Meetings following the examples of bhakti poets like
Caṇḍīdāsa and others.”22 The poem is based on the bhakti-rasa of sweetness
(madhura), the erotic or amorous experience arising from the interactions of
Kṛṣṇa and the cowherd girls. The secret, amorous meetings of Rādhā with
Kṛṣṇa disguised in various female personas such as that of a garland-maker
in poets like Ghanaśyāma and Narahari, or the foreign woman, the gypsy,
lady barber (nāpitinī), and others in Caṇḍīdāsa's songs. Taking his cue from
all those songs, Vipinavihārī describes the meetings of Rādhā with Kṛṣṇa in
different situations and disquised as a cowherdess, forest girl, gypsy, fortune
teller, naḌinī, sales woman, Vaiṣṇava woman, foreign woman, female yogi,
Śākta woman (bhairavī), and so forth. In these songs the flavor of drama
and the flavor of poetic song are blended together.
To give an example:

In the first period23 of the day.

Śyāma dresses up as a cowherdess
And goes to the house of Jaṭilā
Where (s)he finds much to please him (her).
In the second period of the day,
Śyāma dresses up as a forest goddess
And goes to Āyān's residence
In order to fulfill his desires.
In the third period Kṛṣṇa
Dresses as a gypsy and goes
To Rādhā's house, relishing his own joy.
Sometimes he dresses as a fortune-teller.
This I have heard from the lips of my guru.24
22 ibid., 528-9.
23 Muhūrta: a period of 48 minutes.
24 ibid., 529:

prathama muhūrte śyāma sāji goyālinī|

jaṭilābhavane yāna yathā vinodinī||
dvitīẏa muhūrte vanadevī sāje śyāma|
āẏāna-āvāse yāna pūrāite kāma||
tṛtīẏa muhūrte kṛṣṇa vedinī sājiẏā|
rādhār bhavane yāna svarase rasiẏā||
daivajñā sājiẏā kabhu karen gamana|
gurumukhe ei kathā karinu śravaṇa||

11
3.3 Daśa-mūla-rasam
Vipinavihārī's masterpiece was the Daśa-mūla-rasa (“Juice of the Ten Roots”)
which is at one and the same time an exposition of the principles of Vaiṣṇava
rasa (sacred rapture), an anthology of songs belonging to the Bāghnāpārā
community, and a history of the Vaiṣṇava seat or center at Bāghnāpārā.
The book was completed in 1898 and published in 1904 by Lalitārañjana
Gosvāmī. In writing the book Vipinivihārī, drew from at least fifty sources,
including śruti, the Mahābhārata, the Bhāgavata Purāṇa and so forth. Like
his ancestor Rāmacandra, Vipinavihārī at the beginning of his book presents
the subject matter of each of the chapters of the book in a Sanskrit verse of
his own composition.
To bestow the rasa25 of the ten roots
He himself wanders on the earth hidden
With the form of the guru
That Gaura do we thoroughly honor.
Śrī Rāma, the lover of Revatī,
Kṛṣṇa, the delighter of Gokula,
After bowing to them with my head
And with bhakti I begin to discuss
The best means of gaining knowledge.
Whose complexion's like a new cloud,
Who's the king of all rasas,
Whose garland's given by a bhakta
Worship him the son of Nanda.26
The main subjects considered in the “ten roots” of this book are the fol-
lowing:
1. First Root: determination of the valid means of knowing and qualifi-
cation for reading the book.
2. Second Root: the nature of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, description of bhakti and pre-
man.
25 Rasa = juice, flavor, essence, joy.
26 ibid., 530.:
daśamūlarasaṃ dātuṃ channaścarati medinīṃ|
yaḥ svayaṃ gururūpeṇa taṃ gauraṃ samupāsmahe||
śrīrāmaṃ revatīkāntaṃ kṛṣṇaṃ gokularañjanaṃ|
praṇamya śirasā bhaktyā pramāṇaṃ kathyate mayā||
navīnābhrarūpaṃ sarvarasabhūpam|
bhaktadattamālaṃ bhaja nandabālam||

12
 3. Third Root: Kṛṣṇa's possessing all powers, consideration of the nature
of Bhagavān, refutation of the theory of illusion (māyāvāda).
4. Fourth Root: the nature of rasa, Śrī Kṛṣṇa as an ocean of all rasas, Śrī
Rādhā as the source of all powers, the eternal nature of divine sports.
5. Fifth Root: the living being, refutation of nondualism.
6. Sixth Root: the difference between the living being and the lord, the
meaning of the word “kṛṣṇa.”
7. Seventh Root: the living being's as a distinguishable portion (vibhin-
nāṃśa) and other traits.
8. Eighth Root: the cause of the difference between the living being and
the lord, the superiority of prema-bhakti.
9. Nineth Root: the characteristics of practical bhakti, passion-pursuant
bhakti, the permanence of rule-motivated bhakti, acts and rites favor-
able to bhakti, service in the shelter of the holy name.
10. Tenth Root: the seven secondary rasas, the five main rasas, trans-
formations of the manifestation of divine love, the ocean of divine
love for Kṛṣṇa, the sport of Kṛṣṇa's dream, the sport of Rādhā's dream,
description of Śrī Vaṃśīvadana, the history of Bāghnāpārā, the autobi-
ography of the author, his lineage of gurus, his accomplished lineage
(siddha-praṇālī), the conclusion of the book.
As one can see, in this work all the topics related to the practice, philoso-
phy, and tradition of Caitanya Vaiṣṇavism are treated. The main objectives
of the author is the refutation of non-dualism (advaita-vāda), the establish-
ment of the truths of inconceivable-difference and non-difference, setting
forth the superiority of bhakti, pointing out the method of practice in the
Bāghnāpārā community, and describing the family lineage of Vaṃśīvadana.
To demonstrate Vipinavihārī's knowledge of sacred text and the straightfor-
ward nature of his language a piece of the text is given from the Fourth Root
on Śrī Kṛṣṇa as the essence of Brahman as bliss. It is in the form of a guru's
instruction to his inquisitive disciple:
In conformity with the order
Of the text: “The great consists of all bliss,”
I tell you all bliss is his.
Bliss is Brahman's form; this is the reason.
The Vedas and traditions proclaim it with deceit (?).
Ānandaṃ brahmaṇo rūpam,27
27 “Bliss is the form of Brahman.”

13
 The main meaning of this Vedic statement
I will tell you, dear disciple. ...
Bliss as rasa is the erotic (śṛṅgāra).
For that reason, the erotic image (śṛṅgāra-mūrti)
Is the son of Nanda.28

3.4 Hari-bhakti-taraṅginī
Vipinavihārī wrote a number of books in Sanskrit, too. Among those are the
Hari-nāmāmṛta-sindhu (“Ocean of the Nectar of the Name of Hari”) (1879)
and the Arcanāmṛta-sāra (“Essence of the Nectar of Ritual Worship”) (1883)
which have been mentioned earlier. The first is a garland of Kṛṣṇa's names
and a discussion of the greatness of the holy names following the previous
poets of the Bāghnāpārā community.29 The second work is a collection
of Vaiṣṇava ritual texts for performing ritual worship. Since the second
work was left incomplete, Vipinavihārī later wrote the Hari-bhakti-taraṅginī
(“Ocean of Bhakti for Hari”), a complete text on Vaiṣṇava practice and rules
of conduct. The book was written on the model of Sanātana Gosvāmī's (or
Gopāla Bhaṭṭa's) well known work on Vaiṣṇava rules (smṛti), the Hari-bhakti-
vilāsa (“The Sport of Bhakti for Hari”). In composing the work Vipinavihārī
cited many earlier texts like the Aṣṭa-viṃśati-tattva-smṛti (“The Law of the
Twenty-eight Principles”), the Bhāgavata, Viṣṇu, and Padma Purāṇas, the
Gautamīya-tantra, Manu-saṃhitā, and so forth. Many verses illumating the
primary intentions of the verses on valid means of knowing, relating to the
worship, initiation, and methods of practice of the Bāghnāpārā community,
and ascertaining other practices are composed by Vipinavihārī. Along with
this there is a Bengali translation called Marma-prakāśa (“Elucidation of the
Core”) by the author's middle son, Lalitārañjana Gosvāmī.
The work is complete in three “waves.” In the first “wave” virtuous con-
duct (sadācāra), bhakti, surrender (śaraṇāpatti), a description of the object
of worship, and so forth are discussed. In the second “wave” the primary
subjects are the rules for various daily practices, practices at the junctures of
28 ibid., 531:
“sarvānandamayaṃ vibhuḥ” śāstrājñānusāre|
sakali ānanda tār̐ kahinu tomāre||
ānanda brahmer rūpa ei ta kāraṇa|
śrutismṛtigaṇa dambhe karen kīrtana||
“ānandaṃ brahmaṇo rūpaṃ” śrutivākya yei|
tāhār mukhyārtha vatsa kahilām ei|| ...
ānanda raser nāma haẏa ta śṛṅgāra|
se hetu śṛṅgāramūrti śrīnandakumāra||

29 ibid.

14
the day, offerings of water, and so forth. The third “wave” is the longest. In
it nearly one hundred and fifty topics are considered including the methods
of worship of various Vaiṣṇava gods and goddesses, the purificatin of the
beads, the method of mantra recitation (japa), and the secrets of Vaiṣṇava
conclusion. The whole book demonstrates the breadth of Vipinavihārī's
knowledge of Sanskrit and his deep mastery over Vaiṣṇava texts on bhakti.

3.5 Bhāva-saṅgraha
The Bhāva-saṅgraha is a text written in Sanskrit on the question of the rela-
tionship of Rādhā and the gopīs with Kṛṣṇa: is it svakīya or parakīya? Svakīya
means marital and parakīya means extra-marital. This has been a source of
disagreement and debate almost from the beginning of the tradition.

3.6 Sāra-saṅgraha
The Sāra-saṃgraha is another Sanskrit work written by Vipinavihārī Gosvāmin.
This is not to be confused with the work of the same name attributed to Rū-
pakavirāja, an early follower of the Caitanya tradition. Vipinavihārī's book
has the following topics: the true nature of Rādhikā, Kṛṣṇa's nature as bliss
and brahman, the inconceivable oneness and difference between the liv-
ing being and brahman, refutation of the non-dualist view, and the truth
of Kṛṣṇa as the overseer of māyā (the creative and illusory power). Most
of these topics are also discussed in the Daśa-mūla-rasam (“Juice of the Ten
Roots”).

4 Vipinavihārī Gosvāmī and Bhaktivinoda

In 1879 the Deputy Magistrate and Deputy Collector of Yaśohara-Naḍāil,
Kedāranātha Datta along with his wife, received initiation from him. Kedāranātha
Datta was a descendant of Govindaśaraṇa, the king and founder of the vil-
lage of Suṭānuṭī-Govindapura in old Kolkātā. Kedāranātha was born in 1838
and his father's name was Ānandacandra. For a long time Kedāranātha had
been searching for a sadguru (true or authentic teacher). After three years of
corresponding with Vipinavihārī Gosvāmin on matters of Vaiṣṇava bhakti,
he took initiation from him. He had a premonition of his taking Vipinav-
ihārī as his guru. In his autobiography Kedāranātha wrote: “In a dream I
received something of a premonition. A few days later gurudeva wrote a

15
letter to me. Gurudeva had come and my initiation was performed.”30
With Kedāranātha's help Vipinavihārī Gosvāmī founded a religious jour-
nal called the Sajjanatoṣaṇī (“Pleasing to Good People”). In that journal
he published many essays on Vaiṣṇava scripture and his translation of the
Viṣṇusahasranāma (“Thousand Names of Viṣṇu”). Seeing his devotion to-
ward writing books on bhakti and in maintaining the purity of Vaiṣṇava
dharma, in 1886, through Vipinavihārī's initiative, the Gosvāmins of Bāgh-
nāpārā bestowed the title of “Bhaktivinoda” (“one who delights in bhakti”)
on Kedāranātha. In the letter bestowing the title on Kedāranātha, the fol-
lowing Sanskrit dedication was found:

Victory to Śrī Rāma and Kṛṣṇa!

The title “Bhaktivinoda” is bestowed with grace on the disciple,
bhakta Kedāranātha Datta, by the Gosvāmīs who live in the Śrī-
paṭa Bāghnāpāḍa. That bhakti which those who are dear to Bha-
gavān forever wish to attain you, fortunate one, hold in your
heart, dear servant. Bhakti alone in the most important way
of living for the living being. Therefore, please accept the title
“Bhaktivinoda.“31

Bhaktivinoda wrote in his autobiography: “I gave the following reply to

the kind letter of the Prabhupādas:

Victory to Rāma and Kṛṣṇa,

the ornaments of Bāghnāpallī,
loved by Jāhnavī,
the essence of Rāmacandra's fame!
At the lotus-like feet of those lights of the family of Lord Vaṃśī-
vadanānanda, who are in agreement with the Ācāryas, who are
all my teachers and masters, by even a pinch of whose grace I was
decorated with the title “Bhaktivinoda,” I offer my eight-limbed,
stick-like bow.32
30 Kedāranātha Bhaktivinoda, Svalikhita-jīvanī, 155-6: svapne ekṭu ābhāsa pāilām| ... dui-
ekadina pare gurudeva āmāke patra likhilen| ... gurudeva āsilen| dīkṣākārya haiẏā gela|
31 ibid., 176: śrīrāmakṛṣṇau jayataḥ|| śrīpaṭṭavāghanāpāḍānivāsibhirgosvāmibhiḥ śrīkedāranātha-

dattāya bhaktāya śiṣyāya kṛpayā bhaktivinodopādhiḥ pradattaḥ|

yāṃ bhaktiṃ labhituṃ śaśvat vāñchanti bhagavatpriyāḥ|
tāṃ bhaktiṃ hṛdaye dhṛtvā dhanyo'si priyasevaka||
jīvasya jīvanopāya ekā bhaktirgarīyasī|
ato bhaktivinodākhya upādhiḥ pratigṛhyatām||

32 ibid., 177:

16
 Though Bhaktivinoda was clearly very dear to Vipinavihari and they
cooperated with each other on a number of projects and endeavors, their
relationship ended on a sour note. When Bhaktivinoda claimed that a place
called Miyāpura on the bank of the river opposite to Navadvīpa was the
old “Māyāpura” (the actual birth place of Śrī Caitanya), his initiating guru's
view differed from his and their relationship became strained. The guru dis-
owned the disciple. The connection between Vipinavihārī and Bhaktivinoda
became weak. Bhaktivinoda went off on an independent path rejecting the
succession of previously received teachings and established the Sārasvata
Gauḍīya Mission. However, he kept the title “Bhaktivinoda” given to him
by the Gosvāmīs of Bāghnāpārā with pride the rest of his life. Vipinavihārī
made public his rejection of Bhaktivinoda to the Vaiṣṇava world in a let-
ter published in 1326 Baṅgābda [1918] in the Āśvina (September-October)
issue of the journal Gaurāṅga-sevaka.33

5 Conclusion
By briefly surveying the four hundred year history of the Vaiṣṇava Gosvāmī
community centered at Bāghnāpārā and by focusing specially on the mem-
bers of the community who were alive and active just before or during the
lifetime of Bhaktivinoda one can get some sense of why a creative spirit
like Bhaktivinoda may have been drawn to it. It was a lively and creative
tradition even before its founding at Bāghnāpārā, that prized the creative
impulse when directed to and focused on praising the divine. The commu-
nity produced a number of fine poets and writers during its long history,
but the most iconic representation of what the community prized and stood
for can be found the founding father of the tradition himself, Vaṃśīvadana.
Vaṃśīvadana was believed by his followers and descendents to be an incar-
nation of Kṛṣṇa's flute. Kṛṣṇa's flute is famous for its sweetness and attactive
power. The music made by Kṛṣṇa's flute steals the hearts of all who hear it
and cause them to forget their quotidian and mundane concerns. The music
made by Vaṃśīvadana and his descendents is thought to embody those same
qualities. Bhaktivinoda, too, was a composer of songs and imaginative lit-
erature in both Bengali and Sanskrit and occasionally in English. Both also
jayataḥ śrīrāmakṛṣṇau vāghnāpallīvibhūṣaṇau|
jāhnavīvallabhau rāmacandrakīrtisvarūpakau||
śrīvaṃśīvadanānandaprabhorvaṃśapradīpakān|
ācāryānumatān sarvān maddesikavarān prabhūn||
yeṣāṃ kṛpālavenāpi bhūṣita'hamupādhinā|
teṣāṃ pādasaroje me sāṣṭāṅgadaṇḍavannatiḥ||

33 Kānanavihārī Gosvāmī, op. cit., 528.

17
seemed to be concerned with the health of Vaiṣṇava community and felt
that some important reforms were needed. His interests and the interests
of his guru seem to fit together quite neatly. It is too bad therefore that
Bhaktivinoda's creative impulses and imagination seem to have carried him
too far even for his creative and imaginative guru. This brings up another
question concernng the relationship of the guru and his disciple.
What happans to someone who is rejected by his guru? This isn't a ques-
tion about what happens to a rejectee after death. The sacred texts are
full of fulminations on the subject none of which show the authors of those
texts in a very good light. The more important question is what happens
to the rejected disciple and to his rejecting guru as they continue on their
lives. One answer appears to be erasure, the one seems to have been erased
from the life of the other. Though they worked closely together on several
projects like the journal they co-founded, Sajjanatoṣaṇī, among Bhaktivin-
oda's disciples and admirers Vipinavihārī's name was erased. His part in
Bhaktivinoda's development as a bhakta, his encouragement of Bhaktivin-
oda in his writing efforts, and even the honor of the title “Bhaktivinoda”
that was bestowed on him through the efforts of Vipinavihārī Gosvāmī are
forgotten. It was as if Bhaktivinoda sprang up out of nowhere with no prece-
dents. As an example of this one cite the presentation of Bhaktivinoda's life
and work given by one of Bhaktisiddhānta's disciples, Niśikānta Sanyāl, in
his book Sree Krishna Chaitanya:
It is the life-work of Thākur Bhaktivinode to re-discover the true
history of Sree Chaitanya and make the same available to the
present generation. The magnitude of this service to his coun-
try, to humanity, and to all animate beings time alone will show.
The eternal religion taught and practised by Sree Chaitanya have
been made intelligible to the modern reader by the labours of
Thākur Bhaktivinode. It is bound to re-act most powerfully on
all existing religious convictions of the world and make possi-
ble the establishment of universal spiritual harmony of which
the whole world stands so much in need. Most of the works
of Thākur Bhaktivinode were, however, written in Bengali and
Sanskrit. The present work is a slight attempt to present in the
English language an outline of the Life and Teachings of Sree
Chaitanya made known by Thākur Bhaktivinode, the pioneer of
the movement of pure devotion in the present Age, which aims
at re-establishing in practice the eternal religion of all animate
beings revealed in the Scriptures and taught and practised by
Sree Chaitanya.34
34 Nisikanta Sanyal, Sree Krishna Chaitanya, vol.1, 27. (Madras: Tridandi Swami Bhakti Hri-

18
There is not a word here about Vipinavihārī. Instead Bhaktivinoda is (mis-
)represented as “re-discovering” the “true” history of Śrī Caitanya, as if it
had somehow gotten lost and needed rediscovery. Bhaktivinoda is called
a “pioneer” as if no one before him ever did anything to make known the
life and teachings of Caitanya. This is not an unusual example. A little
book published by the Caitanya Maṭh on the life of Bhaktivinoda entitled
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura which contains a brief account of his life and
teachings does not mention Vipinavihārī anywhere. It simply says that he
took initiation in the branch or lineage of Jāhnavā Devī in order to teach
ordinary folks [like us] the importance of initiation.35
On the other side the case is less clear. What does one do with the books
written by one's disciple after he has fallen into heresy? Do the books and
works done under the watchful and approving eye of the guru continue to
be accepted and respected? Are they still to be embraced as they once were?
Or, is the poison of heresy that eventually drives a disciple to madness and
causes him to go astray already there hidden in his earlier workings? It
would be interesting to see what Vipinavihārī said about Bhaktivinoda in
that letter announcing his rejection published in Gaurāṅga-sevaka in 1919.
Unfortunately, that letter is not at present available to me.
Perhaps the best evidence for how the Bāghnāpārā community reacted
to Bhaktivinoda's apostasy and rejection by Vipinavihārī can be found in
the way Kānanavihārī Gosvāmī a member of that community treats Bhak-
tivinoda. After recounting Vipinavihārī's rejection of Bhaktivinoda and the
reason for it, he spends two and half pages, about what he has spent on many
of the other literarily active members of the community, describing Bhak-
tivinoda's connection with Vipinavihārī, his receiving the title Bhaktivinoda
from the Bāghnāpārā community, and listing all of his books. He even notes
that Vipinavihārī includes a verse of Bhaktivinoda's in his major work the
Daśamūlarasam.36 Clearly, in spite of his going astray later, Bhaktivinoda
was still regarded as an important and valuded member of the tradition.
Nevertheless, when Kānanavihārī describes Bhaktivinoda's death in 1914
he uses the words paralokagamana karen, “he went to the next world,” in-
stead of the words he used to describe Vipinivihārī's death, nityadhāmagata
han, “he went to the eternal abode.” Bhaktivinoda has not been erased by
the Gosvāmīs of Bāghnāpārā. They continue to regard him with awe and
respect. They simply don't believe his journey is complete yet.

Works Consulted
daya Bon, 1933)
35 Paramānanda Vidyāratna, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, 14. (Māyāpura: Śrīcaitanyamaṭha,

2nd ed. 490 [1976])

36 Kānanavihārī, ibid., 543.

19
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Gosvāmī, Nimāicād ̐ . Śrī Śrī Nityānanda Śakti Mā Jāhnavā. Navadvīpa: Sanā-
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