Excerpt from The Harmonist (Sree Sajjanatoshani) VOL.XXXII November 7, 1935 ,No. 5
The Gaudiya Movement
A great devotee Thakur Bhaktivinode took upon Himself the legacy of Lord Chaitanya and having created a new atmosphere through a service, of over thirty years retired to the quietude of Sree Mayapur, the birth-place of the great Prophet of love which as if through the wand of a magician had by this time taken a new body and frame. The vision of a new edifice one of the largest in the whole of Bengal has taken shape at this site as a symbol of the new creative spirit of love and service which has inspired the great Successor of Thakur Bhaktivinode, Paramahansa Sreemad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur in His apostolic Mission to spread to the farthest corner of the earth the gospel of a new realisation, as preached by Lord Chaitanya. If the spirit of surrender and silence as a reply to uncharitable and aggressive critics was a dominant principle of conduct on the part of Thakur Bhaktivinode, the broadcasting of the doctrine of pure Love and Devotion in the service of a personal God, seems to be the highest and noblest offer of Paramahansa Sreemad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur to the World. He is the seer of a super mundane (Aprakrita) plane where Krishna is the only and ultimate reality. Not through the senses with their aberrations (Pratyaksha), inferences with their fallacies, (Paroksha), transcendental or hearsays (Aparoksha) or even super sensual figuration (Adhokshaja), but through the realisation of a super mundane outlook that finds its spiritual reflex in earthly habiliments that one has to cognise the ultimate emporium of the fountain of an ever flowing love. Very few have cared to realise the centripetal formula of such a harmonised system which is professedly a revealer of an eternal truth. The Master of the great Gaudiya movement has envisaged this truth, the most abiding to remove the ills of today.
The Origin of the Movement
Summoned to take charge of the tiny villa where alone the sage Bhaktivinode hailed the spirit of Lord Chaitanya, Paramahansa Sreemad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur quietly went there and remained for a long period absorbed in devotional activities. A circle of his followers not more than half of a dozen in number headed by Bhagabatratna Acharyatrik Kunjavehari Vidyabhusan, the life and soul of the Gaudiya organisation, drew the Master’s attention to the vital necessity of His removing to Calcutta so that hundreds of other seekers of truth might profit by His presence. Accordingly in the year 1918 he removed to Calcutta where the first Gaudiya Math was established. There were not more than half a dozen inmates in the beginning. But, today nearly fifty centres established throughout the whole of India echo from day to day the new gospel of love as preached by devout missionaries. Within recent years their voices are being heard in the crowded centres of London and Berlin too.
Europe and Asia
The religion of love knows no limitation of race or clime. If Lord Chaitanya’s Message captivated the Muslim Governor of ancient Bengal, the bearer of His spiritual Message has also today succeeded in securing the benevolent support of Christian Governors of India. History repeats itself and it was only the other day that the Governor of Bengal paid a visit to Sree Mayapur, the ancient home of Bengal’s religion of Love. In fact this movement ensures the cementing of a new fellowship between the East and the West. As such the Gaudiya movement has not been slow to extend its influence beyond the borders of India, for it was the express wish of the Lord to disseminate His religion of Love so that each and every human being might share in its bliss and joy.
The Missionaries of India
In ancient days, Indian missionaries unlike those from other regions were always harbingers of peace, amity and goodwill. They went to enlist friendship of people living far away. The Gaudiya movement has followed in the foot-steps of the ancients and have sent Missionaries to Europe which is keen in getting enlightened with reference to the problems of the day. Tridandiswami Bhakti Hridoy Bon Maharaj, the young missionary of the Gaudiya movement has been cordially welcomed by Archbishops of Canterbury and York and has already addressed numerous gatherings. He has lectured in Oxford and Cambridge and already the Message of Lord Chaitanya has got echoed within the walls of many cultural centres of England. Germany has not been behind in the matter and Nazism has found something soothing and lovable in Bengal’s cult of Love and service.
The World Call
These preliminary efforts have created a new world-call for Vaishnavism and naturally Paramhansa Sreemad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Gosvami Thakur cannot keep quiet in this country after the ball has been set rolling. His presence in Europe would mean a new chapter in the cultivation of international amity and as a devotee and thinker—an Apostle of this peace movement from Bengal; His presence would be a divine dispensation in Europe. The leaders of the great Gaudiya movement, therefore, deserve the congratulation of the whole of India for having made it possible for their Master to undertake the arduous journey to a far off country in his old age. His magnetic personality and imposing presence is bound to have a marvellous effect in the West. It would be India’s proud day again to see that her religion of Love might again usher in a new order in a world torn asunder, as it is to-day, through a thousand struggles.