Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-30T22:37:44.744Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī: from Benares to Braj

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2009

J. K. Brzezinski
Affiliation:
School of Oriental and African Studies, London

Extract

Over the past several centuries, the town of Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh has celebrated the loves of the pastoral god Kṛṣṇa and his beloved Rādhā. Numerous saints and devotional authors have contributed to the rich cultural heritage of this Hindu holy land, all doing much to strengthen its position as a centre for one of the most important streams of religious feeling in India. However, despite the theological claims of universal liberation from mundane preoccupations said to result from such religious feeling, the Vaiṣṇavism of Vrindavan shows the same susceptibility to human rivalry that can be detected in other religious movements. This rivalry takes the form of controversies which have not yet been entirely resolved. In this article and another which follows it, I undertake to address a triad of such controversies, well aware that the matters are still sensitive ones for both the parties involved: the Rādhāvallabhī followers of Hita Harivaṃśa, and the Gauḍīyas, followers of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The chief matter contested by these devotees is the authorship of a book well-loved by both sects: the Rādhārasasudhānidhi (RRSN), ascribed to Hita Harivaṃśa by his followers in the Rādhāvallabhī tradition and to Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī by the Gauḍīyas. Before treating this question, however, one is obliged to confront two others: one concerns the identity of Prabodhānanda, the second that of Hita Harivaṃśa's relation to the Gauḍīya school. Both of these personalities are claimed by each of the sects to have, at one time or another, accepted allegiance to their own group.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Devakīnandanadāsa, . Vaiṣṇavavandanā, in Bhaktitattvasāra, Candra, Rasikalāl (ed.), Calcutta: 1850: 711; Sundarānanda Dāsa Vidyāvinoda (ed.), Nabadwip, 1961.Google Scholar
Nāgara, Iśāna. Advaitaprakāśa, Ghoṣa, Mṛṇālakānti (ed.), Calcutta: Ananda Bazaar Patrika Office, 2nd edn., 1929.Google Scholar
Bābājī, Kṛṣṇadāsa (Bābū, Lālā). Bhaktamāla, Mukhopadhyāya, Upendranāth (ed.), Calcutta: Vasumati Sāhitya Mandir, 1949.Google Scholar
Kavirāja, Kṛṣṇadāsa. Caitanyacantāmṛta [CC], Basāka, Gopīnātha (ed.), Nabadwip: priv. ptd., 1974Google Scholar
Manoharadāsa, . Anurāgavallī, Ghoṣa, Mṛṇālakānti (ed.), Calcutta: Ananda Bazaar Patrika Office, 1931.Google Scholar
Mukhopadhyāya, H. K. (ed.). Vaiṣṇavapadāvalī, Samsad, Sāhitya, Calcutta: rev. edn., 1980.Google Scholar
Nityānandadāsa, . Premavilāsa [PV], Rāmadeva Miśra (ed.), Berhampore: Rādhāramaṇa Press, 1911; Tālukdār, Yaśodālāla (ed.), Calcutta: Amrita Bazaar Patrika Office, 1930.Google Scholar
Vṛndāvanadāsa, . ṤriCaitanyabhāgavata, Pāla, Gaurāṅgahari (ed.). Calcutta: priv. ptd., no date.Google Scholar
Mudita, Bhagavat. Rasika Ananya Māla, Purohit, Lalitāprasād (ed.). Vrindavan: Veṇu Prakāśana, 1961.Google Scholar
Mudita, Bhagavat. Vṛndāvanaśataka, Bābā, Vaṃśīdāsa (ed.), Vrindavan: priv. ptd., no date.Google Scholar
Dāmodaradāsa, . Seyakavāṇī, published with Ṥrīhita Caurāsī (q.v.).Google Scholar
Harivaṃśa, Hita. Śrīhita Caurāsī [CP], Gosvāmī, Lalitācaraṇa (ed.), 2nd edn.Vrindavan: Veṇu Prakāśana, 1978.Google Scholar
Harivaṃśa, Hita. Sphuṭavāṇī, published with Śrīhita Caurāsī (q.v.).Google Scholar
Harivaṃśa, Hita. Hitacaurāsī aur uskī Premadāsa kṛta Vrajabhāṣa tīkā, Siṃha, Vijay Pāl and Rāvat, Candrabhān (ed.), Kāśī: Nāgarī Pracārinī Sabhā, 1971.Google Scholar
Nābhājī, . Bhaktamāla, Saraṇa, SītārāmaPrasāda, Bhagavān (ed.), Lucknow: Tejakumara Press, 1962.Google Scholar
Gosvāmī, Bhaktisāraṅga and Puruṣottamadāsa, (ed.). Stavakalpadruma. Vrindavan: priv. ptd., 1959.Google Scholar
Gosvāmī, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa. Haribhaktivilāsa, with Sanātana's Digdarśanī commentary, Kaviratna, Śyāmacaraṇa (ed.). Calcutta: Beng 1318 (A.D. 1911).Google Scholar
Gosvāmī, Gunamañjarīdāsa. ŚrīGopālabhaṭṭaśataka, Gosvāmī, Rādhācaraṇa (ed.). Vrindavan: Rādhācaraṇa Gosvāmī, 1908.Google Scholar
Gosvāmī, Hita Harivaṃśa. Rādhāsudhānidhi, Bābā, Hitadāsa (ed.) Jabalpur: Sundaralāla Indurākhyā, 1950.Google Scholar
Gosvāī, Hita Harivaṃśa. Yamunāṣṭaka, in Bṛhatstotramuktāhāra, vol. 2. Ahmedabad: Gujarat Printing Press, 1916: 419–20.Google Scholar
Gosvāmī, Jīva. Bhāgavatasandarbha, Gosvami, Shyamalal (ed.). Vrindavan: Devakīnandana Press, 1908.Google Scholar
Gosvāmī, Jīva. Gopālacampū, Purīdāsa, (ed.). (2 vols.) Calcutta: Saćīnātha Rāya, 1947.Google Scholar
Gosvāmī, Jīva. Kṛṣṇasandarbha, Chattopadhyaya, Chinmayi (ed.). Calcutta: Jadavpur University, 1986.Google Scholar
Gosvāmi, Jīva. Saṅkalpakalpadruma, Beng. transl. and comm. by Gosvāmī, Ṥacīnandana (ed.). Vrindavan: Devakīnandana Press, 1907.Google Scholar
Karṇapūra, Kavī. Ānandavrndavanacamū, with Hindi transl., Śāstrī, Vanamālīdāsa (ed.). Vrindavan: Vanamālīdāsa Śāstrī 1975.Google Scholar
Karṇapūra, Kavī. Gauragaṇoddeśadīpikā, Beng. transl. by Rāmanārāyaṇa Vidyāratna. 5th edn., Miśra, Rāmadeva (ed.). Berhampore: Rādhāramaṇa Press, 1922.Google Scholar
Gosvāmī, Kṛṣṇacandra. Upasudhānidhi, Hindi transl. by Hitadāsa, Bābā (ed.). Jabalpura: Narmada Printing Works, 1950.Google Scholar
Līlaśuka, (Bilvamaṅgala). Kṛṣṇakarṇāmṛta, with three commentaries by Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, Caitanyadāsa and Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja. De, S. K. (ed.). Dhaka University, 1938.Google Scholar
Sarasvatī, Prabodhānanda. Āścaryarāsaprabandha [ARP], with Beng. transl. by Das, Haridas (ed.). Nabadwip: Haribola Kuṭira, 1944.Google Scholar
Sarasvatī, Prabodhānanda. Caitanyacandrāmṛta [CCA], with commentary by Ānandī, Beng. transl. by Gūhā, Maṇīndranātha. Panihati: pvt. publ., 1971. Also found in Stavakalpadruma, (q-v.)Google Scholar
Sarasvatī, Prabodhānanda. Gītagovinda (commentary), Das, Haridas (ed.). Nabadwip: Haribola Kuṭira, 1955.Google Scholar
Sarasvatī, Prabodhānanda. Gāyatrīmantra (commentary), published in Gitāgovinda, Das, Haridas (ed.).Google Scholar
Sarasvatī, Prabodhānanda. Kṛṇṣavallabha, [commentary on Gopālatāpanī Upaniṣad], Bābā, Kṛṇṣadāsa (ed.). Kusuma Sarovara: priv. ptd., v.s. 2021 (A.D. 1965).Google Scholar
Sarasvatī, Prabodhānanda [ascribed to]. Navadvīpaśataka, Vidyālaṇkāra, N. K. (ed.) Krishnanagar (W.B.): Nadia Gaudīya Mission, 1941.Google Scholar
Sarasvatī, Prabodhānanda. Nikuñjavilāsastava, no data. See, Rūpa Gosvāmī, Nikuñjarahasyastava.Google Scholar
Sarasvatī, Prabodhānanda. Rādhārasasudhānidhi, with transl. and comm. in Bengali by Bābājī, Anantadāsa (ed.). Radha Kund: Caitanya Sāstra Mandira, 1985.Google Scholar
Sarasvatī, Prabodhānanda. Saṇgitamādhava (Saṇg M), with transl. by Das, Haridas (ed.). Nabadwip: Haribola Kuṭira, 1956.Google Scholar
Sarasvatī, Prabodhānanda. Srulistutivyākhyā, śāstrī, Haridāsa (ed.). Vrindavan: Purana Kalidaha, no date.Google Scholar
Sarasvatī, Prabodhānanda. Vṛndāvanamahimāmrta [VMA], with Hindi transl. by Śyāmalāla Hakīma, (ed.). In four volumes. Vrindavan: Sri Harināma Saṇkīrtana Maṇḍala, 19641978.Google Scholar
Dāsa, Raghunātha. Vilāpakusumāñjali, in Stavāvali, 2nd edn., Miśra, Rāmadeva (ed.). Berhampore: Rādhāramana Press, 1922.Google Scholar
Gosvāmī, Rūpa. Bhaktirasāmrtasindu, with commentaries of Jīva, Mukundadāsa and Visvanātha and transl. in Bengali by Das, Haridas (ed.). Nabadwip: Haribola Kutira, reprint 1980.Google Scholar
Gosvāmī, RūpaLaghubhāgavatāmrta or Saṅksepabhāgavatāmrta, Tīrtha, Bhaktivilasa (ed.), 2nd edn. Māyāpura: Caitanya Matha, Caitanya year 488 (A.D. 1973).Google Scholar
Gosvāmī, Rūpa. Nikuñjarahasyastava, [published as] Nikuñjarahasyagītikā, comm. and Beng. transl. by Rādhikānātha Gosvāmī. Calcutta: 1918. See also, Gosvāmī, Bhaktisārariga (ed.), Stavakalpadruma.Google Scholar
Gosvāmī, Rūpa. Padyāvalī, De, S. K. (ed.). Dhaka University, 1934.Google Scholar
Gosvāmī, Rūpa. Ujjvalanīlamani, with Beng. translation by Haridas, (Das (ed.), 2nd edn.Nabadwip: Haribola Kutira, 1963.Google Scholar
Gosvāmī, Sanātana, Bṛhadbhāgavatāmṛta, Śyāmalāla Hakīma, (ed.). Vrindavan: Śrī Harināma Sarṅkīrtana Maṇḍala, 1975.Google Scholar
Vidyākara, , Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa, Kosambi, D. D. and Gokhale, V. V. (ed.). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1957.Google Scholar
Chakravarti, Ramakanta. Vaisnavism in Bengal (1486–1900). Calcutta: Sanskrit Pustak Bhandar, 1985.Google Scholar
De, S. K. Early history of the Vaisnava faith and movement in Bengal. Calcutta: General Printers and Publishers, 1942.Google Scholar
Entwistle, A. W. Vraja, centre of Krishna pilgrimage. Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 1987.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farquhar, J. N. The religious quest of India. Oxford-London: Oxford University Press, 1920.Google Scholar
Gosvāmī, Lalitācaraṇa. ŚrīHita Harivaṃśa: sampradāya aur sāhitya. Vrindavan: Veṇu Prakāśana, 1957.Google Scholar
Gosvāmī, VāsudevaBhaktakavi Vyāsajī. Mathura: Agrawāl Press, 1953.Google Scholar
Growse, F. S.Mathurā: a district memoir. Allahabad: NW Provinces and Oudh Government Press, 1874.Google Scholar
Hardy, Friedhelm. ‘Mādhavendra Purī: a link between Bengal Vaisnavism and South Indian bhakti’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, London, 1974.Google Scholar
Hawley, John S. (ed.). The Divine Consort: Rādhā and the goddesses of India. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1984.Google Scholar
Keay, F. E. Hindi literature. London, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1920.Google Scholar
Majumdar, Biman Bihari. Caitanyacaritera upādāna. University of Calcutta, 1931.Google Scholar
Mītala, Prabhudayāla. Vraja ke dharma sampradāyoṅ kā itihāsa. Delhi: National Publishing House, 1968.Google Scholar
Mukherjee, Tarapada. ‘Caitanyacaritāmṛter racanākāla evaṃ Brajer Gauḍfyasampradāya’, Sāhityapariṣat Patrikā (Calcutta), 1, 1987, 1639.Google Scholar
Snataka, Vijayendra. Rādhāvallabhasampradāya: siddhānta aur sāhitya, Delhi: Hindi Anusandhān Pariṣad, 1958; 2nd edn., Delhi: National Publishing House, 1968.Google Scholar
Snell, Rupert, ‘The Caurāsī Pada, a Rādhāvallabhī text in medieval Hindi’, Ph.D. thesis, SOAS London, 1984 (now published as The eighty-four hymns of Hita Harivaṁśa: an edition of the Caurāsī Pada. London: SOAS; Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1991).Google Scholar
White, Charles. S.J. The Caurāsī Pad of Srī Hit Harivaṃś. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii, 1977.CrossRefGoogle Scholar