Svalikhita Jivani (Autobiography of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura)

(From "Books (Free!)" - click to read more from it.
You can also read the previous page: Vaishnava view on philosophy and morality without faith in God)

This autobiography is a 200 page letter which Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote in 1896 to his son, Lalita Prasad Datta, in response to a request for details of his father’s personal life. Lalita Prasad had the book published so that those who knew and loved his father could read and relish it.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura warned in the beginning of the letter that no one should misuse this information, a warning that was repeated in the Lalita Prasad’s preface.

The work is an intimate revelation of Thakura’s mind, covering such topics as: the time and place of his birth, early childhood remembrances, descriptions of his grandparents, the prosperity and happiness of the people of Ula, stories of his schooldays, boyhood mischief, early religious revelations, college studies, the deaths of his father and several siblings, his studies of world religions, his lectures in Calcutta, how he began to write books, his first trip to Vrindavana, his enthusiasm for hearing the glories of Sri Chaitanya, his studies of the Goswamis’ literature in Jagannatha Puri while serving as chief magistrate there, his chastisement of false devotees, the births of his many sons and daughters, his composing of many devotional literatures in English, Sanskrit and Bengali, the shifting of his headquarters back to Calcutta and eventually to the island of Godruma in Nadiya, his preaching the glories of the Holy Name in public by various means, his discovery of Sri Chaitanya’s birthplace and founding of a temple there in Mayapura, etc.

Another revelation, Prema-pradipa (A Lamplight on Divine Love) by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Check out the previous page too: Vaishnava view on philosophy and morality without faith in God. You will benefit from reading the whole work: Books (Free!).

And now listen to this sound >>

Harih Om Tat Sat.