Bhaktivinoda Institute Mission Statement

On 18th August 2012, on the occasion of his Vyāsa Pūjā, Śrīla Bhakti Gaurava Narasiṅgha Mahārāja announced to the devotees that he had a strong desire to create a website called “Bhaktivinoda Institute” in honour of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and his teachings in order to preserve and propagate them.

“Śrīla Prabhupāda did not invent anything. He brought many things, and one of the very important things that he brought were the songs of Bhaktivinoda. The nature of those songs is of the deepest devotion and the highest knowledge. It has been said by many senior Vaiṣṇavas that if all the śāstras in the world were lost by some great accident, if just the songs of Bhaktivinoda remained, nothing would be lost! We would not be at a loss to understand the process of understanding the Supreme being and the Absolute Truth – that would still be with us!

“What Prabhupāda brought goes back more than 5000 years, then it goes back to Caitanya Mahāprabhu 500 years ago. But in modern times, in the last 200 years, the most important person is actually Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākur. What Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura did, no other ācārya had done before him. He clarified some of the most difficult points from the Upaniṣads, the Vedānta, the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and the Bhagavad-gītā. He made them crystal clear, whereas in previous times, such things were explained but they were a little cloudy. When Bhaktivinoda completed his work, nothing remained unexplained. Next, Bhaktisiddhānta established a system (sannyāsa, preaching, āśramas, temples, books) where the message and teaching of Bhaktivinoda could spread all over the world. Then Śrīla Prabhupāda carried that message through that system to the west. So in his teachings, Bhaktivinoda represents Kṛṣṇa and Mahāprabhu. In that sense, we understand Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura to be at the root of the expansion of this modern Kṛṣṇa cosnciousness movement.

So I want to make an announcement – for the pleasure of Prabhupāda and to further the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement in a humble capacity, today we are starting a new web-based institution called ‘The Bhaktivinoda Institute’. The purpose is to make available Bhaktivinoda’s books, quotes, articles, songs and the memories of him that we have received from Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta, Sarasvatī Ṭhākur, Śrīla Prabhupāda, Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja, Śrīla Purī Mahārāja and from other disciples of Bhaktisiddhānta. This is to help so that these things are not lost. We have a history and to preserve the history of who we are and what is the teaching that we follow, we will register the website as – bhaktivinodainstitute.org.”

Unfortunately however, due to many other services and responsibilities in our mission, the plan to create the Bhaktivinoda Institute was not possible to achieve during the manifest pastimes of our Guru Mahārāja. Now, eight years later, we are making a humble attempt to fulfill his desire to glorify Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and his teachings.