Taking leave from Jagannatha Puri on special business, Thakura Bhaktivinoda returned to Bengal and there visited many places such as Navadvipa, Shantipura and Kalana. After his leave was over he put in charge of the sub-division Mahisharekha in the district of Naora.

After that he was transferred to Bhadraka. In August of 1878 the Thakura was put in charge of the subdivision of Naraila in the district of Yashohar.

While the Thakura was residing in Naraila his two famous books, Sri Krishna-samhita and Kalyana-kalpataru were published. Bhaktivinoda's Sri Krishna-samhita is such a profound and deeply moving work that it even attracted the attention of highly educated men of far-off lands.

The famous European Sanskrit scholar Dr. Reinhold Rost, in a letter dated April l6, 1880, wrote to Thakura Bhaktivinoda the following; “By representing Krishna's character and his worship in a more sublime and transcendental light than has hitherto been the custom to regard him in, you have rendered an essential service to your co-religionists, and no one would have taken more delight in your work than Goldstucker, the sincerest and most zealous advocate the Hindus ever had in Europe.”

In India many panditas and educated men, having read Bhaktivinoda’s Sri Krishna-samhita and Kalyana-kalpataru, became endowed with great faith for the Vaishnava-dharma and highly praised the Thakura for his work. The lines of Kalyana-kalpataru are extremely moving and decorated with the devotional ecstasies for a highly exalted soul who is absorbed in alloyed devotion to God.

In the year 1877 Thakura Bhaktivinoda’s fifth son, Varada Prasada, took birth. In 1878 the Thakura’s sixth son, Viraja Prasada, was born. Both of them appeared at Rana Ghata.

Although Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura is an eternally liberated associate of the Supreme Lord, still, for setting an ideal example of a human being, he accepted formal Vaishnava initiation.

According to the Vedic shastras one who has come to the human form of life must accept initiation from a bonafide guru spiritual master if one at all desires to cross the ocean of birth and death. By taking Vaishnava initiation from the acharya and executing his instructions one's eternal spiritual consciousness is easily revived.

Taking the ideal example of Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, the great servant of Lord Gaurasundara, Bhaktivinoda Thakura formally accepted Pancharatrika initiation from a descendant of the Jahnava family of Baghnapara. This Vaishnava family line is coming from Srimati Jahnava devi, the wife of Lord Nityananda.

At this time the Thakura’s seventh son, Lalita Prasada, took his birth at Rana Ghata.

In Naraila there were many people who had adopted the Vaishnava dharma and at this time when Bhaktivinoda was living there they would seek his association quite frequently.

They could not ascertain who was a pure Vaishnava and who was not. So the Thakura would instruct them on the chanting of the Holy Name and he gave them the understanding of what was pure devotion and what was mixed devotion.

From the year 1881 the Thakura began publishing his Vaishnava journal, the Sajjanatosani which proclaimed the divine teachings of Sri Caitanya to all parts of Bengal.

Previously in 1866 Bhaktivinoda had gotten out for a pilgrimage to Kashi, Prayaga, Mathura and Vrindavana. So now at the close of his stay at Naraila he desired to again see the land of Vraja Bhumi Vrindavana.

Desiring in this way he set out on a three-month pilgrimage to the holy place. In Vrindavana at this time there were many Gaudiya Vaishnavas residing there, amongst whom Jagannatha dasa Babaji was most prominent. He lived in his old age, six months in Vrindavana and six months in Navadvipa.

When Thakura Bhaktivinoda went to Vrindavana he obtained his first meeting with this greatly learned Vaishnava who he accepted as his eternally worshipable gurudeva.

While traveling to various holy spots in the Vraja area such as Radha Kunda and Govardhana, Bhaktivinoda came to know of the oppressive and wicked acts of a band of dacoits known as the Manjharas.

These wicked men would spread all over the roads of the Vraja area and would rob and murder innocent pilgrims to gain their own selfish ends. Through the Thakura’s undaunted will and untiring labor for several months the whole fact was brought to the notice of the Government and a special Commissioner was appointed to crush the activities of these powerful bandits.

The result was wonderful and the name of the Manjharas has forever been extirpated from the face of the earth. By this noble act Bhaktivinoda Thakura protected all of the residents of Vraja Dhama from further disturbances.

From Vraja Mandala Thakura Bhaktivinoda came to Calcutta where he purchased a house near Bidana Park at 181 Maniktala Street (the present day name is Ramesa Datta Street). He called this house 'Bhakti-bhavana' and it was here that he established the daily worship of Sri Giridhariji. At the end of his leave from government service he was again transferred and this time he took charge of the sub-division of Barasat.

At this time when Bhaktivinoda was staying at Barasat he met the well-known Bengali novelist Bankima Chandra, who at that time had just finished writing a book about Krishna. Bankima Chandra wanted to take this opportunity to show his work to Bhativinoda Thakura, who he knew was an authority on all subjects dealing with Krishna as well as an expert writer.

This book was full of Europeanized ideas and speculations and stated that Krishna was just a mundane person with some good qualities. For four straight days, taking very little food and hardly any sleep, Bhaktivinoda put forth arguments with shastric references, and in this way solidly proved and convinced Bankima Chandra to change his ideas and his book to agree with the divine teachings of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Thakura Bhaktivinoda use to say, “Knowledge is power”.

In 1886, the last year of his stay at Barasat, the Thakura, at the request of Babu Sarada Carana Mitra, ex-judge of the Calcutta High Court, undertook the task of publishing a good edition of theSrimad-Bhagavad-gita with the Sanskrit commentary of Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura and his own Bengali translation called Rasika-ranjana.

When published, this work was received by the public with the greatest delight and all the copies were soon exhausted. Bankima Chandra wrote the preface to this edition and acknowledged his own indebtedness to Bhaktivinoda with the remark that all Bengali readers will be very much indebted to the Thakura for his saintly work.

From Barasat Bhaktivinoda was transferred to Sriramapura. While residing here Thakura Bhaktivinoda visited the residence of the great associate of Lord Nityananda, Srila Uddharana Datta Thakura at Saptagrama. He also visited the place of Abhirama Thakura at Khanakula and the seat of another great devotee of Lord Caitanyadeva, Vasu Ramananda at Kulinagrama.

Here at Sriramapura he composed and published his masterly writing of Sri Caitanya-sikshamrita, Vaishnava-siddhanta-mala, Prema-pradipa and Manah-shiksha, etc. During this time he was also publishing the Sajjanato on a regular basis. In Calcutta during this period, the Thakura established a printing press at Bhakti-bhavana which he called ‘Sri Caintanya Yantra’.

This he established for the preaching of pure Hari bhakti by publishing Vaishnava literature. On that press Bhaktivinoda printed many books such as the famous Sri Krishna-vijaya by Maladhara, his own Amnaya-sutra and theCaitanyopanishad of the Atharva Veda.

In Bengal this Caitanyopanishad was very rare and hardly anyone had ever heard of it. In search of this book, Thakura Bhaktivinoda traveled to many places in Bengal. Hearing of his search, one devoted Vaishnava pandita named Madhusudana dasa, who had in his possession one old manuscript of the book, immediately sent it to the Thakura from his place at Sambalapura. By the request of the Vaishnava community, the Thakura wrote a Sanskrit commentary on the book and called it Sri Caitanya-caranamrita.

Madhusudana dasa Mahasaya also did a Bengali translation of the verses ofCaitanyopanishad and called the translation Amrita-bindu. After Bhaktivinoda brought out the first printing of Caitanyopanishad, the copies were soon exhausted.

With the encouragement of a few devotees, Thakura Bhaktivinoda, in the heart of Calcutta, established a society which he named Sri Visva Vaishnava Sabha. This society was set up for the preaching of the pure religion of bhakti as taught by Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu. To acquaint the public with the functions and aims of the society, the Thakura published a small booklet entitled Visva-vaishnava-kalpatavi.

During this period the Thakura brought out an edition of the Caitanya-caritamrita with his own Bengali commentary, called Amrta-pravaha Bhasya. At this same time he also introduced the Caitanyabda or the Caitanya era by which one calculates the year date beginning from the appearance of Lord Caitanya just as in the Christian world the year date is calculated from the birth of Jesus Christ. Thakura Bhaktivinoda also gave much assistance in the propagating of the Vaishnava almanac known as Caitanya Panjika.

The appearance day celebration of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the principle fast day in the Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya and is now observed with great respect. This was made possible by the Thakura’s sincere efforts in the matter during this time in Calcutta.

Giving lectures and readings on books like Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu is various Vaishnava societies, Thakura Bhaktivinoda gave the chance for the seed of pure devotion to grow in many people’s hearts. He published in the Hindu Herald, an English periodical, a detailed account of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s life. At this time the learned society of Vaishnavas gave Kedaranatha Datta the title of ‘Bhaktivinoda Thakura’ and from that time onward he has been known by that name.

In the year 1887 Thakura Bhaktivinoda thought within himself, “Quickly taking leave from government service I will go to some forest in Vraja on the sandy banks of the Yamuna and perform bhajans with Bhaktibhringa Mahashaya till the end of life.” In this way the Thakura continuously reflected within himself this desire.

One time on some government service he went to the town of Tarakeshvara. There in Tarakeshvara one night Bhaktivinoda had a dream in which the Supreme Lord in his form as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared to him and spoke. The Lord said to Bhaktivinoda, "You will certainly go to Vrindavana, but first there is some service you must perform in Navadvipa, so what will you do about that?" Upon saying this, the Lord disappeared and the Thakura awoke. Bhaktibhringa Mahasaya, upon being told of the dream by Bhaktivinoda, advised the Thakura to apply for a government transfer to the district heardquarters at Krishnanagara, which was right near Navadvipa. The Thakura made great endeavors to get a transfer to the land of Lord Caitanya and to gain this end he even declined to accept the offers of the personal assistant to the Chief Commissioner of Assam and the office of the Minister of Tiperrah State.

He even applied to the government for pension with a view to retire from government service, but the application was not accepted. Thus failing in his efforts to be relieved of his official duties, he at last arranged in December of 1887 a mutual exchange with the Deputy Magistrate of Krishnanagara, Babu Radha Madhava Vasu and thus went to Krishnanagara to execute his mission given to him by the Lord.

While stationed at Krishnanagara Thakura Bhaktivinoda would go again and again to the present day city of Navadvipa and search in various places for the birth site of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

One time, in the dead of night, Bhaktivinoda sat on the roof of the Rani Dharmashala in Navadvipa chanting the Holy Name on his beads and as he looked out toward the north he spotted a very tall Tala tree with some very strange substance attached to it. Near the tree was a small building which gave off a remarkable effulgence. Seeing this vision, the Thakura became extremely eager to find the true place of Mahaprabhu’s appearance.

With this in mind he went to the Krishnanagara Collectory where he began to study some very old manuscripts of Caitanya-bhagavata and Narahari Sarakara Thakura’sNavadvipa Dhama Parikrama as well as some old maps of the district of Nadia. Going to the nearby village and inquiring from many of the elderly people there, Bhaktivinoda came to know of many facts about the modern-day town of Navadvipa and the old Navadvipa on the eastern banks of the Bhagirathi River.

After this, through much research and endeavor, Thakura Bhaktivinoda was able to understand that the place he had seen that night on the roof of the dharmashala was the actual site of Sri Caitanya’s birth. The year was 1887 and this discovery was a shining landmark in the history of Vaishnavism in India. Thakura Bhaktivinoda had brought to light the divine place of Caitanya’s birth and his discovery was confirmed by Jagannatha dasa Babaji, the then religious head of the Gaudiya Vaishnava community in Nadia. On that eventful day thousands of visitors were present at the spot where a grand Vaishnava festival was held.

Jagannatha dasa Babaji was so old at the time that he had to be brought there carried in a basket. He could not walk but once he came in contact with the spiritual atmosphere at Sri Caitanya’s birthplace, he literally jumped in the air in ecstasy, confirming the significance of the location. The result of this discovery was the production of a book by Bhaktivinoda entitled Navadvipa Dhama Mahatmya.

Earlier in 1887 when Thakura Bhaktivinoda first came to Nadia as magistrate, he again met Jagannatha dasa Babaji who was then living in a very old house at Ravasghata. Bhaktivinoda renewed the house and repaired it using his own money. When he took leave from office for two years, he acquired a plot of land at Sri Godrumadvipa, commonly known as Svarupaganja. On that land he built a house for performing his bhajana after retirement from government service.

He called the place ‘Surabhi Kunja’ and in the year 1890 he established at that place the ‘Nama Hatta’ (market place of the Holy Name) for preaching the glories of Harinama for the welfare of all. Jagannatha dasa Babaji sometimes came to stay there and have kirtana. Previously Lord Nityananda had established His Nama Hatta at this same place in Godruma. Therefore, out of humbleness, the Thakura always considered himself a mere street sweeper of the Nama Hatta of Lord Nityananda.

After the discovery of Mahaprabhu’s birth place at Mayapura, Jagannatha dasa Babaji and Thakura Bhaktivinoda began worshiping Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu there. Once one of the Thakura’s young sons was suffering from a skin disease and Jagannatha dasa Babaji told the boy to lie down at the birth site of Lord Caitanya. The boy followed his instructions and the next day he was cured.

As he was not keeping good health at Krishnanagara, Bhaktivinoda requested the government to transfer him to a good healthy station. Thus in the winter of 1888 he took charge of the village of Netrakona in the district of Mayamanasimha. From Netrakona he came to Tangaila and from there he was transferred to the district of Vardhamana.

At the time when Bhaktivinoda was staying in Vardhamana he would have kirtana with the devotees of Amalajora headed by Ksetra Babu and Vipina Babu. After composing his kirtana poems likeSoka-satana, he would have them sing the poems in their kirtans.

In June of l890, having been put in charge of the sub-division of Kalana, Bhaktivinoda would often go visiting many various holy places in Bengal such as his place in Godrumadvipa, the city of Navadvipa, Capahata, Samudragara, Cupi, Kasthasali, Idrakapura, Baghanapara, the place of Nakula Brahmacari at Piyariganja and the place of Vrindavana dasa Thakura at Denura. After his stay at Vardhamana, Bhaktivinoda was transferred for a few days to Ranaganja from where he again came to Dinajapura.

In Dinajapura Bhaktivinoda's youngest son, Sailaja Prasada, was born. When Bhaktivinoda was stationed in Dinajapura he took up writing his Vidvad-ranjana commentary and translation of theBhagavad-gita and in 1891 he published it along with the Sanskrit commentary of

Srila Baladeva Vidyabushana.

In 1891 Thakura Bhaktivinoda took leave from government duties for two years with the aim of preaching Harinama [the chanting of the Lord’s Holy Names, such as Hare Krishna] for the benefit of all souls. During that time he made his base of activities for Nama Hatta in Sri Godrumadvipa. He visited places such as Ghatala and Ramajivanapur and in those places he lectured in many different societies, clubs and organizations.

With great enthusiasm he continued his word for the Nama Hatta by lecturing on the Holy Name and the teachings of Sri Caitanya in many highly respectable societies in Krishnanagara. In March of 1892 the Thakura, accompanied by several other Vaishnavas preached the Holy Name in different places in the Basirahata district of Bengal.

As, on the one hand, he was busy with his pen, so on the other he was equally engaged in preaching Harinama and Vaishnava philosophy by making circuits of several districts. He opened many branches of Nama Hatta in different districts ofBengal to preach Harinama regularly, and the names of God rang loudly everywhere in the ears of the people.

It was a grand project and it proved a great success, for the tide continued for many years, even long after the period when the Thakura was called back by the government to perform his responsible public duties and when he could himself devote little attention to his own mission, in spite of his strong desire to do so.

From the district of Rasirahata, Thakura Bhaktivinoda set out on his third trip to Vrindavana and along the way he stopped in Amalajora to celebrate the Ekadashi day with Jagannatha dasa Babaji. Upon reaching Vraja Mandala, Thakura Bhaktivinoda, in great ecstasy, visited all the forests and places of Lord Krishna’s pastimes, such as Bilvavana, Bhandiravana, Manasa-sarovara, Gokula, Madhuvana, Talavana, Kumudavana, Shantanu Kunda, Bahulavana, Giriraja Govardhana, Radha Kunda and Syama Kund, etc. From Vrindavana Bhaktivinoda returned to his Bhakti-bhavana in Calcutta and from there he began to give lectures and readings on the Holy Name of Krishna in various places.

In April of 1893, at the request of Sir Henry Cotton, the then Chief Secretary to the Government of Bengal, Bhaktivinoda rejoined the office at Sasarama where he had to tide over a political difficulty, which then appeared in the province, in quelling disturbances which arose out of animosity between the Hindus and Muslims for the killing of cows by the latter. He had to try that case under difficult circumstances but finally he obtained thanks from the Lieutenant Governor and was reposted to Krishnanagara during the winter of that year.

In February of 1891 during Thakur Bhaktivinoda’s leave from official duties, he was invited to speak in Krishnanagara before a large congregation of highly learned men from various places in Bengal. He gave a lecture concerning his investigation and research into the actual site of Sri Caitanya’s birth place at Sri Mayapura. After hearing his discourse they all became extremely delighted and unanimously applauded the Thakura for his noble work.

Out of that assembly the Sri Navadvipa Dhama Pracarini Sabha was formed for spreading the glories of Navadvipa Dhama and Sridhama Mayapura. Later on that year, on the full moon appearance day of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, a large sankirtana festival was held in which the deities of Lord Caitanya and Vishnu Priya [Sri Caitanya’s wife] were installed at Mahaprabhu’s birth site.

The installation was held with great pomp and splendor and thousands of Vaishnavas attended from all parts of India. At this time all the learned panditas of the Navadvipa area, considering all of Bhaktivinoda’s evidence, accepted beyond a doubt that this was the true place of Sri Caitanya’s appearance.

In October of 1894, at the age of fifty-six, Thakura Bhaktivinoda, against the wishes of his family and the government authorities, retired from his post as Deputy Magistrate. He felt it was too much of an inconvenience on his work of preaching the Holy Name and the glories of Sridhama Mayapura. After his retirement, he came to stay at Surabhi Kunj in Godruma from where he engaged himself in preaching the divine philosophy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. At this time he revised his old writings and gave to our hands the highest form of ideas that a man can have of the knowledge of the Supreme Being. He devoted himself to Harinam without any break, avoiding the influence of materialism and the hypnotism of Maya.

He was living at Navadvipa and sometimes in Calcutta writing his books. While inCalcutta he went from door to door determined to beg a rupee from each and every Hindu gentleman for the noble purpose of building a temple for Lord Gaura and Vishnu Priya at the Yogapitha in Mayapura. His efforts were a success and he then arranged for the construction of a magnificent temple at the birth site of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

In July of 1896 Bhaktivinoda traveled to the mountainous state of Tripura by the strong desire of the king of that state who was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. Bhaktivinoda stayed in the capital of Tripura for four days and preached the glories of the Holy Name to the people there. On the first day he lectured on the eternal principle of bhakti and the true spiritual form of the Holy Name of Krishna.

His lecture was full of deep philosophical thoughts and innumerable and unheard of before Vedic evidence supporting all his points. Upon hearing this lecture all the panditas and highly learned gentlemen present were stunned with amazement and they could now easily perceive the transcendental beauty of Hari-bhakti and the Harinama. On the next two days there the royal family and the general public obtained great ecstasy by hearing the Thakura speak on the pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Returning from Tripura to his Nama Hatta work in Godruma, Bhaktivinoda Thakura began to execute his preaching work by going to all the villages in the vicinity of Calcutta and Kumara Hatta chanting the Holy Names. At this time in 1896, in a pioneering spirit, he sent the teachings of Sri Caitanya beyond the tiny borders of India and to the West in the form of a small booklet he had written in Sanskrit called Sri Gauranga-lila-smarana-mangala-stotram. It had a Sanskrit commentary by a renowned pandita of Nadia, Srila Sitikantha Vacaspati, and for English knowing people the book contained an introduction in English called Caitanya Mahaprabhu, His Life and Precepts.

This booklet found its way into the library of McGill College in Canada, the library of Royal Asiatic Society of London, and a few other highly respectable institutions. The following remarks appeared in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of London: “Under the title of Sri Gauranga-lila-smarana-mangala-stotram, the well-known Vaishnava Sri Kedaranatha Bhaktivinoda, M.R.A.S. has published a poem in Sanskrit on the life and teachings of Caitanya. It is accompanied with a commentary, also in Sanskrit, in which the subject further elucidated is preceded by an introduction of sixty-three pages in English in which the doctrines taught by Caitanya are set out in somewhat full detail.

This position, and more especially as against Shanka and the Advaita Vedantists, is explained at length. The little volume will aid our knowledge of this remarkable reformer and we express our thanks to Bhaktivinoda for giving it to us in English and Sanskrit rather than in Bengali, in which language it must necessarily have remained a closed book to European students of the religious life in India.”

The Thakura’s Caitanya Mahaprabhu, His Life and Precepts, though in itself a small work, continued to be admired by the western thinkers and writers. This is evident from the following comments made by the erudite European scholar Mr. R. W. Fraser, late of the Madras Civil Service.

“Five hundred years have passed away since the time Caitanya spread a faith in the saving grace of Krishna throughout the land, nevertheless to the present day, the same spirit that inspired Caitanya continues still to dwell among his followers.

“In an interesting account of the life and precepts of Caitanya lately published by his devout and aged follower, Sri Kedarnatha Datta Bhaktivinoda, it can be read how this spirit preserves its vitality undiminished amid the changes that are sweeping over the land. This exponent of the hopes of the present followers of the teachings of Caitanya declares his firm faith, that from a devoted love to Krishna, a love like that of a girl for a loved one, shown by constant repetition of His name, by ecstatic raptures, singing, calm contemplation and fervour, a movement will yet take place to draw to the future church of the world ‘all classes of men, without distinction of caste or clan to the highest cultivation of the spirit. This church it appears, will extend all over the world, and take the place of all sectarian churches which exclude outsiders from the precincts of the mosque, church or temple.

“The spirit that is to animate this new church is to be found on the principle that ‘spiritual cultivation is the main object of life. Do everything that keeps it and abstain from doing anything which thwarts the cultivation of the spirit.’ A devoted love to Krishna is to be the guiding light, as preached by Caitanya. Have a strong faith that Krishna alone protects and none else. Admit him as your only guardian. Do everything which you know Krishna wishes you to do and never think that you do a thing independent of the holy wish of Krishna. Do all you do with humility. Always remember that you are a sojourner in the world, and you must be prepared for your own home.’”

“The simple piety of this latest preacher of the teachings of Caitanya holds that Caitanya showed His character, and preached to the world the purest morality as an accompaniment of spiritual improvement. Morality as a matter of course will grace the character of a bhakta or one who has faith.”

During the rainy season of 1896, because of the wish of the Maharaja of Tripura, Thakura Bhaktivinoda spent some days preaching in Darjiling and Karsiyam.

In 1897 the Thakura traveled and preached in many villages and towns such as Medinapura and Sauri. In this way, by spreading Sri Caitanya’s message, Thakura Bhaktivinoda was delivering the people of Bengal from the darkness of materialism and atheistic philosophies.

Mahatma Sisira Kumara Ghosa, founder of the Amrita Bazaar Patrika and author of Sri Amiya Nimai-carita, had a great respect and reverence for Thakura Bhaktivinoda and regarded him as a true Vaishnava mahajana. Having read some of the Thakura’s books such as Sri Krishna-samhita, he became very attracted to the pure devotional mood of Bhaktivinoda. Because of a letter he had received from Bhaktivinoda while the Thakura was living in Puri and because of getting the opportunity of Bhaktivinoda’s personal association, Sisira Kumara Ghosa came to accept Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as his one and only Lord.

Inspired by Thakura Bhaktivinoda, Sisira Kumara Ghosa, in great eagerness, would preach the glories of the Holy Name throughout Calcutta and in many villages throughout Bengal. His journal, Sri Vishnu Priya O Ananda Basar Patrika, was first published under the editorship of Bhaktivinoda. Sisira Kumara Ghosa had such a high regard for Bhaktivinoda that he wrote in one of his letters to the Thakura: “I have not seen the six Gosvamis of Vrindavana but I consider you to be the seventh Gosvami.”

At the beginning of the twentieth century Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura returned to Jagannatha Puri. When his son, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, was residing at Puri as a naisthika brahmacari [completely celibate brahmana] and was engaged in his bhajana at the Gandharvika Giridhari Math, one of the seven mathas near the samadhi tomb of Haridasa Thakura, Bhaktivinoda, for helping his son’s worship, had this monastery repaired and cleaned. When Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati left Puri to reside at Sri Navadvipa Mayapura, Bhaktivinoda gave up all connection with the Gandharvika Giridhari Matha and constructed his own place of bhajana on the sea beach there. He called this place Bhakti Kuti.

At this time the Lord sent the Thakura a nice assistant and disciple in the form of Sri Krishnadasa Baba. He became very dear to Bhaktivinoda Thakura and was the Thakura’s constant attendant right up till the last moment of Bhaktivinoda’s life. Manifesting at Puri, his place of bhajan at Navadvipa, Svananda Sukhada Kunja, the Thakura would perform his bhajana in solitude.

At this time many impious men tried to disturb him, but happily their efforts proved futile. Many good souls got spiritual inspirations from him and were saved. Men of all description visited him there, but none went away without receiving the Thakura’s blessings.

In the year 1908 just three months before Thakura Bhaktivinoda took sannyasa, one of his sons, who at that time was working at the writer’s building in Calcutta, came home one day and informed his father that Sir William duke, who was the Chief Secretary to the governor, was in Calcutta. Thakura Bhaktivinoda had worked under this gentleman when he was a magistrate.

The next day Bhaktivinoda made an appointment with him and went down to the writer’s building to see him. Just outside the building Sir William Duke met Thakura Bhaktivinoda personally and taking him into his office with folded hands, he made a plea to the Thakura: “My dear Kedaranatha, when you were District Magistrate I wanted to take you out of the office. I thought that if there were many men as qualified as yourself inBengal, then the English would have to leave.”

Sir William Duke used to read the judgments that Thakura Bhaktivinoda would make on his court cases and he always became amazed. He would also come to the house of Thakura Bhaktivinoda and study his actions. He saw that he was always writing. At that time he was writing the Caitanya-siksamrita. Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s wife, Bhagyavati, would feed Sir William Duke with puris, luchi and sweets every time he came to their house. William Duke was always so amazed at how Bhaktivinoda was so active.

In this way Sir William Duke admitted that he wanted to do some harm to Bhaktivinoda without letting the Thakura know, but now he was begging for the Thakura’s forgiveness. The English custom is that when a man becomes aged he would approach anyone who he had committed some offense to beg their pardon so that when he died he could pass away very peacefully.

After Thakura Bhaktivinoda heard this apology he said, “I consider you to be a good friend and well-wisher all along.” The Thakura admitted later that he was astonished that this man was seeking the opportunity to harm him. Because of Sir William Duke’s noble and honest conduct Thakura Bhaktivinoda became very much pleased with him and gave William Duke all his blessings.

In 1908 Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura formally accepted the dress of a paramahamsa by taking sannyasa at the place in Jagannatha Puri known called Satasana. At this time he was still writing some books and staying sometimes in Navadvipa and sometimes in Calcutta.

In the year 1910, for being constantly engaged in the service of the Divine Couple of Vraja Dhama [Sri Sri Radha-Krishna], the Thakura shut himself up, pretending to be afflicted with paralysis, and entered into a perfect state of samadhi. These days were very happy for him as he could thus shun the turmoil and bustle which are the concomitant parts of worldly existence.

On the day of the commencement of the sun’s southern course, June 23, 1914, corresponding to the disappearance of Sri Gadadhara Pandita, just before noon in Jagannatha Puri, the dearly beloved of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura, having satisfied himself that his mission bore at least some good to the world, departed from this mundane plane for his eternal services to Radha and Krishna in the divine realm of Sri Vrindavana Dhama located far beyond the tiny vision of the conditioned souls of this world.

Thakura Bhaktivinoda’s samadhi ceremony was delayed till the sun began its northern course. At that time his last remains were placed at his home in Godruma in the midst of sankirtana of the Holy Name. It was a pleasant clear day and a grand Vaishnava festival was held with the greatest solemnity in which thousands took part and the Thakura’s divine presence amidst them was perceived by all.