Today is the auspicious appearance day of Śrī Vāmana-deva and Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, and tomorrow is the appearance day of Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.

In honor of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s day tomorrow, I’m beginning a humble attempt to offer a concise and broad glimpse into the treasure trove of songs he composed. Each verse within every song is brimming with profound depth, beyond mortal comprehension. So it would be disingenuous to claim that I have an understanding of their contents.

In an article by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda, he strongly cautions us:

Those who suppose they understand the meaning of his [Bhaktivinoda’s] message without securing the guiding grace of the ācārya are disposed to unduly favour the methods of empiric study of his writings. There are persons who have got by heart almost everything that he wrote without being able to catch the least particle of his meaning. Such study cannot benefit those who are not prepared to act up to the instructions lucidly conveyed by his words.

There is no honest chance of missing the warnings of Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda. Those, therefore, who are misled by the perusal of his writings, are led astray by their own obstinate perversity in sticking to the empiric course which they prefer to cherish against his explicit warnings. Let these unfortunate persons look more carefully into their own hearts for the cause of their misfortunes.

The personal service of the pure devotee is essential for understanding the spiritual meaning of the words of Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda. The editor of this journal [Śrīla Sarasvatī Ṭhākura is referring to himself], originally started by Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda, has been trying to draw the attention of all followers of Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda to this all-important point of his teachings.

So although I am grossly unqualified to summarize the thousands of transcendental verses of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, my intention in doing this is to provide a very basic navigational map to help you know where you are when exploring his boundless ocean of songs.

Four Songbooks

Among the one hundred books that Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura penned in Sanskrit, Bengali, Oriya, Hindi, Urdu and English, four of them were comprised of Bengali kirtans:

1. Kalyāṇa-kalpataru (62 songs)
2. Śaraṇāgati (50 songs)
3. Gītāvalī (70 songs)
4. Gīta-mālā (80 songs)

Apart from these, he also wrote many well-known Bengali songs throughout other books like 12 songs for the verses of Śrī Manaḥ-śikṣā, Bāul-saṅgīta (12 songs), Dālaler-gīta, the aṣṭa-kālīya-līlā songs in Śrī Bhajana-rahasya (8 songs), as well as Sanskrit stotrams like Śrī Godruma-candra-bhajanopadeśa (20 verses) and Śrī Gaurāṅga-līlā-smaraṇa-maṅgala-stotram (104 Verses). In total, he composed fifteen books comprised of Bengali verse, with the most famous among them being the four previously mentioned songbooks, Harināma-cintāmaṇi, Navadvīpa-dhāma-māhātmya, and Navadvīpa-bhāva-taraṅga.

[For a list of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s books and a beautiful glorification by Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja, take a look at his preface to Jaiva-dharma.]

In the above-mentioned article, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda stated:

That day is not far distant when the priceless volumes penned by Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda will be reverently translated, by the recipients of his grace, into all the languages of the world.

Today, through the grace of the great emissaries within the lineage of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, such as Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda and Śrīla Gurudeva Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja, we find ourselves living within the very manifestation of Śrīla Sarasvatī Ṭhākura's prediction. How fortunate we are to have access to these invaluable treasures of his kirtans!

Whenever I find myself feeling especially weak and dull in my spiritual practice, it’s likely because I haven't dedicated sufficient time to singing or contemplating the prayers of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. So, I’m beginning this attempt only for my own purification. I will try to send a summary of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda’s Kalyāṇa-kalpataru next Ekādaśī.

📣 Two announcements

I've got some thrilling updates to share with you in regard to these kīrtanas. We're currently working on two projects aimed at making the abundant songs of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda and other ācāryas readily accessible to all: (1) a massive edition of the Śrī Gaudīya Gīti-guccha and (2) a fresh iteration of the Gaudiya Kirtan app.

There is so much to say about both projects, but I'll try to keep it brief for now. (If you'd like to stay up-to-date, sign up to the Gaudiya Kirtan mailing list.)

Śrī Gauḍīya Gīti-guccha

There will be two new versions of the Gauḍīya Gīti-guccha:

1. an expanded and revised edition of the current abridged version, which we are striving to release in time for Gaura Pūrṇimā.
2. a monumental edition containing over double the number of songs found in the abridged version.

While we don't have a set date for the release of the latter, I'm quietly hoping we'll have it ready by Kārtika next year.

New Gaudiya Kirtan app

We are currently in the process of building a new version of the Gaudiya Kirtan app for Android, iOS, and your web-browser (accessible via gaudiyakirtan.com). You can expect a plethora of new enhancements, like swifter loading times, playlist creation capabilities, customization options for tailoring the app to your specific saṅga, as well as a multitude of fresh recordings, songs, and translations. We’re aiming to have it ready to offer to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda (and share with the world) on his 150th Vyāsa-pūjā, which is approximately five months from today.

Would you like to join in this offering?

Because our team is short on manpower, we're planning to bring in some extra help from third-party developers to tackle specific parts of the app. That's why we're relying on the generous support of devotees to make sure we can get this offering ready in time. If you'd like to contribute, you have a few options: you can find various payment methods on gaudiyakirtan.com, send a donation through PayPal to gaudiyakirtan@gmail.com, or if you're in India, you can use my UPI ID: madhukardas@axisbank or my mobile number: 7895939316. If you run into any problems or have other ways you'd like to help, feel free to drop me an email at madhukar.das@gmail.com.

Vāmana Dvādaśī is a great day to give in charity. In the Vāmana-deva arcana section of the Bengali Arcana-dīpikā, there’s even a special dāna-mantra for making a donation! 😉 Otherwise, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s day tomorrow is equally perfect.

Thanks for allowing me to do that. I feel uneasy requesting financial contributions from devotees, but until another expert devotee developer comes forward, I don’t know any alternative means to bring this app to fruition.

To conclude this post, below are some verses extolling Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's generous contribution in the form of his literary treasures.

sahaja-sarala, amṛta-varṣiṇī,
bhāva-bhāṣā bharā tomāra lekhanī
prati patre chatre, siddhānta-sammaṇi,
śāstra-sindhu chāni’ karecho cayana

[O Bhaktivinoda] Your writings, full of transcendental emotion, are in a language that is natural, simple and like a shower of nectar. On every page and on every line, you have gathered exquisite gems of conclusive truth (bhakti-siddhānta), having examined the ocean of śāstra.

‘śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṁhitā’, ‘sajjana-toṣaṇī’,
‘śikṣāmṛta’, ‘harināma-cintāmaṇi’,
śrī-śaraṇāgati’, – śrī-kṛṣṇākarṣaṇī,
‘jaiva-dharme’ jīver svarūpa-sthāpana

[Those beautiful gems are contained in Your literary works such as] Śrī Kṛṣṇa-saṁhitā, Śrī Sajjana-toṣaṇī, Śrī Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta, Śrī Harināma-cintāmaṇi. Śrī Śaraṇāgati attracts even the all-attractive Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and with Jaiva-dharma, you established the intrinsic nature (svarūpa) of the jīva.

‘mahāprabhura śikṣā’, ‘gītāvalī’-gāna,
‘gītamālā’, ‘prema-pradīpa’ ākhyāna
‘kalpataru’-rāje, birāje kalyāṇa,
apāra ananta tava bhūri-dāna

Śrī Mahāprabhura-śikṣā, the songs of Śrī Gītāvalī and Śrī Gītamālā, the narration of Śrī Prema-pradīpa, the shelter of [Kalyāṇa-] kalpataru, in which kalyāṇa, eternal auspiciousness, exists – these abundant gifts of yours are unlimited and everlasting.

– Verses 6–8 from Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura Viraha-guṇa-gāna. Author unknown. Published in the Bengali edition of Śrī Gauḍīya Gīti-guccha and translated by Rays of the Harmonist team.