Srimad Bhakt Kevala Audulomi Maharaja
Srimad Bhakti Kevala Audulomi Maharaja was among Srila Sarasvati Thakura’s first disciples but, having taken an extended hiatus in secular life, one of the later sannyasis.
Born in 1895, Sri Pramoda Bihari was from early childhood exceptionally intelligent and devotionally inclined. At school he was always top in every subject and especially excelled in Sanskrit. Even in young age he was so sworn to truthfulness that his friends called him Yudhisthira or Bhisma. At age seventeen he fell deathly sick, and after all medical assistance had failed, in a delirious dreamlike state he chanted the maha-mantra and was delivered. During his school years he founded a religious assembly for promoting kirtana, scriptural study, and character building. In 1913, at age eighteen, an impelling urge arose in his heart to find a sad-guru to direct him on the spiritual path. His desire was fulfilled upon visiting Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati at the rented estate in Kalighat. Soon thereafter he was awarded harinama and diksa, with the name Patita Pavana dasa.
One or two days later, Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati sent Patita Pavana Brahmacari with a letter for Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura at Bhakti Bhavan. Engaged in bhajana when Patita Pavana arrived, the Thakura had him sit and wait. Bhaktivinoda Thakura was bearded from observing Catur-masya, and wearing only a kaupina. After some time he called the boy into his presence. He motioned for Sriman Patita Pavana to sit and others to leave. Smiling slightly, in a cheerful mood and deep voice he instructed him, “There is no scripture like Srimad-Bhagavatam, nothing comparable to Srimad-Bhagavatam. You must read it. You must study it.” This was the first time Patita Pavana had ever heard of
Srimad-Bhagavatam. Then with his fingers, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura lifted his eyebrows, which due to age had drooped over his eyes, and surveyed Patita Pavana from head to toe.
During that period Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati was engaged mostly in writing, especially in preparing his Anubhasya on Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. Once Patita Pavana was sitting with him when the compositor brought a proof for checking. Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati indicated that it be shown to Patita Pavana. The compositor doubted that this callow youth could understand such high-level Sanskrit, yet Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati affirmed, “This boy knows Sanskrit better than many panditas.” Thus Patita Pavana was inducted into proofreading.
In 1919 Patita Pavana received a degree with honors from Calcutta University, after which he spent some time in Banaras to study Vedanta, putting up at the Ramakrishna Mission branch there. Subsequently he returned home to care for his widowed mother and junior siblings. He began teaching and soon was promoted to headmaster. He also undertook various humanitarian activities and became the area leader of Gandhi’s movement.
In 1923 Patita Pavana welcomed to his village his guru-maharaja and thirty godbrothers. But because it was during Durga-puja, the local inhabitants were too busy slaughtering sheep and buffalos to pay attention to the Vaisnavas in their midst.
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Although well respected in his village, Patita Pavana felt no peace or satisfaction and thus resolved to dedicate his life for the real welfare work of preaching suddha-bhakti. Hence, shortly after his mother’s demise in 1933, he proceeded to Puri to reside at Sri Purusottama Matha. This news was intimated to Srila Sarasvati Thakura by letter, upon reading which he immediately wrote a reply ordering that Patita Pavana be put in charge of the Matha—which shocked Patita Pavana as much as the other matha-vasis. As a natural leader and organizer, Patita Pavana soon greatly improved the condition of the Matha by celebrating festivals elaborately, constructing new quarters for the matha- vasis, and endearing himself to all by his sweet modest nature and captivating scholarly lectures in both Bengali and English.
On the final day of Urja-vrata in 1934 in Mathura, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati awarded Patita Pavana Prabhu sannyasa, with the name Tridand Svami Srimad Bhakti Kevala Audulomi Maharaja, and told him, “Had you stayed in the mission all these years the history of the Gaudiya Matha would have been different.” Thereafter Srimad Audulomi Maharaja was sent to deliver lectures
at the Delhi Gaudiya Matha, and those discourses attracted the educated pious people of the locality.
In 1935 Srimad Audulomi Maharaja was appointed to teach the elder students of the Thakur Bhakti Vinode Institute at Mayapur, and for some time served as its rector. During this period he contributed to the Nadia Prakash several philosopical articles marked by their simplicity of style and depth of realization. He was also deputed by Srila Sarasvati Thakura to explain the intricacies of suddha-bhakti to the Western devotees present in Mayapur. Appointed as curator of the Thakur Bhakti Vinode Research Institute after its founding in 1936, Srimad Audulomi Maharaja painstakingly collected from various places many old manuscripts and maps for the institute library and had some of them published. At the time of Srila Sarasvati Thakura’s passing from this world, Srimad Bhakti Kevala Audulomi Maharaja was matha-raksaka in Madras. In 1954 he became the institutional acarya of the Gaudiya Mission, the smaller of the two groups cleaved out of the original Gaudiya Mission.
In order to prove that spiritual practice may need a lot of adjustment within our lives, Srila Bhakti Kevala Audolumi Goswami Maharaj, a spiritual descendent of Lord Caitanya’s lineage, appeared on the 9th of December 1895, on the eighth day of the waning moon cycle in the village of Vanaripara, Barishal district in current day Bangladesh. His father and mother were Sri Sarat Chandra Guha and Srimati Bhuvanmohini Devi, respectively. His parents and other family members named the newborn baby, Pramodebihari.
Since childhood, Pramodebihari’s intellectual ability was attractive in every aspect, academically and spiritually. In academics, he always came out on top of all classes. In 1919, Pramodebihari graduated from Calcutta University.
In 1913, at the age of 18 years old, he met with Sri Bimala Prasad Brahmachari, later known as Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupada (Srila Prabhupada), at a Bhagwat discourse program in Kalighat, Kolkata. After three or four days of hearing Srila Prabhupada’s discourses, Sri Pramodebihari got inspired to be connected to the Vaishnava lineage, and Srila Prabhupada happily gave him first and second initiation. He received the initiation name Sri Patit Pavan Das Brahmachari.
According to Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, Sri Patit Pavan Prabhu went to get blessings from Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur, personally. Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur gave him the benediction to read Srimad Bhagwatam which is the most authentic scripture for devotional practices.
Due to the loving affection of his mother, Sripad Patit Pavan Prabhu felt reluctant to join Srila Prabhupada’s mission, fully. Eventually, his mother, Bhubanmohini Devi, physically passed away and then, Sripad Patit Pavan Prabhu decided to follow a renounced life. In a short period of time, Srila Prabhupada gave him the devotional title, ‘Vidyarnav,’ which means ocean of knowledge. On 17th of November 1934, Srila Prabhupada gave him sannyas initiation and he got the name Sri Bhakti Keval Audulomi Goswami Maharaj. After sannyas initiation, Srila Prabhupada appointed him as the principal of Sri Thakur Bhaktivinode Institute, Mayapur and simultaneously, engaged Srila Audulomi Goswami Maharaj in preaching to foreign visitors in Mayapur.
On the 1st of January 1937, Srila Prabhupada’s physical departure put all his disciples in deep separation. In order to follow the instructions of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur, he started to preach extensively all over India under the shelter of Srila Puri Das Thakur, who was previously known as Sripad Ananta Basudeva Prabhu. After Srila Bhakti Pradip Tirtha Goswami Maharaj’s physical departure, according to the order of Srila Puri Das Thakur, Srila Audolumi Goswami Maharaj took off his saffron robe (sannyas color outfit) and wore white robes which is known as the fifth stage of the vaisnava renounced order known as Babaji dress. After an unavoidable incident, on 16th of February 1954, Srila Bhakti Kevala Audolumi Goswami Maharaj was appointed by Srila Puri Das Thakur as Acharya of the entire Gaudiya Mission. Also, in this time, spontaneously, his eternal identity, ‘Sri Vinodini Manjari’ was revealed in his heart.
In 1958, Srila Audulomi Goswami Maharaj established an ecstatic devotional temple in the name of ‘Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Gaudiya Math’ just next to Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur’s Bhajan Kutir in Godrumdwip, the island that represents the performance of sankirtan. For almost 28 years, Srila Bhakti Kevala Audulomi Goswami Maharaj ecstatically ran devotional programs under his supervision amongst all branches of Gaudiya Mission. On the 6th day of January 1982, the truth of the mortal world manifested; on this day, the visible, transcendental physical body of Srila Audolumi Goswami Maharaj passed away from us. His holy body was buried (samadhi) in the temple campus of Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Gaudiya Math, Godrumdwip.