BRC Receives Rare Urdu Bhagavad-Gita

On a recent visit to Mayapur, Hari Sauri Prabhu received a special gift for to the Research Library’s rare books catalogue, a century old Bhagavad Gita with translation and commentary in the Urdu language. It was kindly donated by Ravanari Prabhu, Srila Prabhupada’s first disciple from the Middle East. (Read more about him by clicking HERE).

Urdu is a Persian influenced language spoken primarily by Muslims in North India and Pakistan. It was originally published by a Pandit named Rai Bahadur Madan Dehlavi from Kashmir. 

The edition is replete with several beautiful illustrations, including many esoteric looking diagrams depicting various aspects of Vedic Cosmology annotated in both Sanskrit and Urdu. 

Our Head Librarian, Acyuta Prabhu, contacted a professor of Urdu language at the Univer-sity of Michigan who was provided with the scans. He informed us this edition was published in 1906. 

The first page of the book reads “Janaki Nath composes Persian couplets and quatrains (rubā’iyat) in order to recast the original content of the Gītā. Each verse is followed by Urdu commentary.” The translator added that the illustrations seemed to assign mystical significance to the number of verses found in each chapter. 

To our surprise, he pointed out there were actually two books within the binding, a practice common at that time. The second book, “The Devotion of Viṣṇu”, also composed in Urdu, was published in 1885 and authored by one Munshī Munna Lāl Ṣāheb. 

The Library staff commented how striking it is to hold in your hands old devotional Vaishnava texts written in the exotic cursive Arabic script. 

Laser Engraving Comes to BRC

BRC is happy to announce that a 2D laser engraver has been acquired. Engravings are produced directly from high-resolutions image of the originals, while the originals themselves are never manipulated in the process.

The adoption of this new technology in our library's conservation procedures will help expand the ways in which we preserve the original rare and delicate works in our collections. Through this method, we can make strong and lasting copies that may be shown in our library to guests, or in exhibitions to our patrons, members, and visitors.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura's Signature, "Nityashrivad," bestowing eternal blessings

Maha Mantra in Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura's own handwriting

Sri Advaitacharya's Descendents Donate Rare Vaisnava Manuscripts to BRC

BRC was blessed recently by a generous donation of a very special collection of over 40 rare manuscripts. They were given by Sri M K Goswami family of Bangalore, originally from Shantipur. They are direct descendants from Sri Advaitacarya (17th generation.)

This donation of very precious and rare Vaisnava manuscripts included Govinda Lilamrita by Ragunath Bhatta Goswami, Padyavali of Rupa Goswami, Stavavali of Ragunath das Goswami, and complete manuscripts of Chaitanya Charitamrita on handmade paper. They are in good to excellent condition. 

The collection was gifted in memory of Sri Nanda Gopala Goswami and Nirmalya Rani Goswami, Mr. Goswami's revered parents. 

After a tour of the BRC facility and library, Mr. Goswami was extremely satisfied that he had made a good decision to place his manuscripts in our care. “A great spiritual feeling was accrued after visiting the library,” he wrote in the guest book.

Sriman M. K. Goswami and his wife, Srimati Priti Rekha Goswami

Sadaputa Prabhu's Personal Collection Comes to BRC

We were delighted and honoured to receive the personal archives of Sriman Sadaputa prabhu at the beginning of this year. Sadaputa prabhu aka Dr. Richard L. Thompson, was a founding member of the Bhaktivedanta Institute in 1976 (seen here seated second from left with Srila Prabhupada and the other members during a visit to WDC in July 1976):

It was thanks to Sadaputa prabhu’s genius that we are now confident to present the S.B. 5th Canto cosmology in the Mayapur Temple of Vedic Planetarium. His ground-breaking book Vedic Cosmography and Astronomy was brilliant fulfilment of Prabhupada’s order to his Ph.d. disciples to present the Vedic view of the universe to the scientists and scholars of the world:

Letter to: Svarupa Damodara — Auckland 27 April, 1976

Now our Ph.Ds must collaborate and study the 5th Canto to make a model for building the Vedic Planetarium. My final decision is that the universe is just like a tree, with root upwards. 

…The planets have their fixed orbits, but still they are turning with the turning of the great tree. There are pathways leading from one planet to another made of gold, copper, etc., and these are like the branches. Distances are also described in the 5th Canto just how far one planet is from another.

…It is not that we shall accept the theory that the sun is fixed up and the others are all going around the sun. That is not correct. …

So now you all Ph.D.s must carefully study the details of the 5th Canto and make a working model of the universe. If we can explain the passing seasons, eclipses, phases of the moon, passing of day and night, etc. then it will be very powerful propaganda."
---
His untimely departure in 2008 was a great blow to ISKCON but fortunately by the grace of his widow Smt. Devamrta dd, and the diligence of Sriman Stithadhi Muni dasa and Sriman Krsna Krpa dasa we received all his research materials and writings at the beginning of January 2012.

Special Report From Birnagar, Birthplace Of Srila Thakura Bhaktivinoda

On the 175th birth anniversary of the founder of modern day Gaudiya Vaisnavism, Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura, the BRC is very pleased to announce a major development from Birnagar, his birthplace — the scanning and preservation of their entire literary collection.

Birnagar, formerly known as Ulagram (a name of Durga), is situated only fifty minutes south of Sridham Mayapur and ten minutes from Ranaghat. At the time of the Thakura’s birth the family estate was large and opulent. In 1817–1918 his maternal great-grandfather, Sri Isvara Chandra Mitra, constructed a temple complex comprising one Durga-mandira, one Kali-mandira and ten small stupa-style Shiva-mandiras. To date the place is still known as Dvadasa-mandira (12 temples).

In Bhaktivinoda’s teens the place fell into hard times and was lost to the family. Decades later his seventh son Srila Lalita Prasada Thakura managed to recover approx. five acres including the temples and the actual birthsite of his father and today there is a small samadhi to mark the spot.

In 1972 Srila Prabhupada went to Birnagar with a few disciples to discuss the possibility with Lalita Prasada Thakura of ISKCON getting a lease on the birth site to develop a temple and preaching centre there.

He visited again in 1976 and although Lalita Prasada was favorable he was by that time 96 years old and things were being managed by a committee. Consequently nothing came of it.

There was however the beginnings of a literary collaboration. In 1972 through Acyutananda Swami Prabhupada came to know that there were many original hand-written manuscripts being kept in poor conditions and seriously deteriorating. He immediately dispatched Yadubara dasa to go there with instructions to photograph all the works, stressing the importance of his task:

 Letter June 12 1972 to Acyutananda:

“I have asked Yadubara to come there to Birnagar from Bombay for photographing all of the manuscripts in the possession of Lalita Prashad Thakura page by page very completely before it is too late. The pages are in very decrepit condition, so best thing is to request Lalita Prashad if we may take care of them by treating them against insects and storing them in a tight, dry storage place where they may be preserved for future generations of Vaisnavas to see the actual handwriting and words of such great saintly persons. Treat this matter very seriously and thoroughly, and take all precautions to protect this wonderful boon of literatures forever.

Yadubara may photograph every page, never mind Bengali or English or any other language, and later we shall see where to send the copies to different places. …

These items are very, very priceless and are a great treasure house of Vaisnava lore, so be very careful in the matter and take all precautions to guard them.”

Yadubara spent one week taking several hundred photos but could not complete the task. The bulk of the works remained untouched. (Yadubara’s film was eventually sent to the Bhaktivedanta Archives where it was recently digitized.)

At the beginning of 2013 a friendly contact was established between the BRC and the Bhaktivinoda Gosthi, a new committee of eight devotees with Sri Bamsidas Babaji as its President, which manages the affairs of the Dvadasa Mandira. 

After several mutual visits the committee members became convinced of the capability of the BRC and thus in April the Gosthi and the BRC signed an agreement allowing it to catalogue, scan and preserve their entire collection of manuscripts.

Thus after 41 years and in the 175th anniversary year of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, the desire of Srila Prabhupada has now been fulfilled!

BRC Uncovers Some of Srila Prabhupada's Previously Unknown Correspondences

We were excited to discover some previously unknown correspondence of our beloved Founder-acarya Srila Prabhupada in March while attending the Gaura Purnima festival. Together with Sriman Jananivasa prabhu we conducted a search of Srila Prabhupada’s quarters and found about 20 postcards sent to Srila Prabhupada in 1949–1950.

Along with these were two each original prints of Srimad-bhagavatam Canto 1 Part 1 and Part 2; an original Back To Godhead from 1957 and two editions of Hindi language Bhagavat Dharma from 1957; and the first ISKCON-era Indian edition of Back To Godhead in Hindi from 1970 which lists Los Angeles as ISKCON’s world headquarters and Gorakhpur as the only Indian center.

A special mention is due to Sriman Nrsimhananda dasa of ITV and Topanga Canyon Pyramid House fame for donating his entire and extensive collection of Back to Godhead magazines. He made the decision after seeing a power-point presentation of the BRC in Udipi in December.

HG Pradyumna Prabhu Helps Identify Important Documents

We were graced for several days in December 2012 by the presence of Sriman Pradyumna prabhu, Srila Prabhupada’s Sanskrit editor since 1968. Pradyumna prabhu traveled with Srila Prabhupada more than any other disciple and is probably the foremost scholar on Gaudiya Vaisnava literature in the world today.

He spent considerable time in the library, offering much useful advice and information. However his most exciting contribution was his discovery of a rather battered-looking folder containing some hand written letters and drafts of articles from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura as well as some letters written by some leading disciples such as Sripad Bhakti Pradipa Tirtha Maharaja, Bhakti Hrdaya Bon Maharaja, Sripada Bhaktisaranga Goswami, and others.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati signed his letters [above] “Nityashirvadaka Siddhanta Sarasvati,” i.e., “Your ever-wellwisher” [nitya – eternal; ashirvad – blessings or well-wishes; daka – I am].

The above letter is from Bhaktipradip Tirtha

who was sent along

with Sambidananda dasa to

London in the 1930s to preach.

BRC Acquires a First Class Scanning Machine

Our chief goal this year was to obtain a professional, high resolution scanner. With nearly 15,000 books in our catalogue this was a top priority. We are extremely happy to report that on July 24 2012 after six months of fund raising, we took delivery of a Bookeye 4 scanner (see photo above) by a German company ImageAcess.

Thanks to the enthusiastic support we received since we launched our scanner appeal in January we were able to purchase a better scanner than the Atiz Bookmini mentioned in our last newsletter. Costing almost 15 lakhs (approx. $27,000.00) the Bookeye 4 is a state-of-the-art machine capable of scanning 600 pages per hour.

It has a scanning area of 16×26″ (full newspaper size), a flat/V-shaped cradle, Self Service Scanning to USB, touch screen controls, Integrated 19″ preview screen, and 600 DPI software with OCR for very high resolution searchable images. Readers interested in seeing the technical details can do so here.

Along with the Bookeye 4 we also purchased a dedicated computer plus upgraded our on-line uninterruptable power backup system. The Bookeye can be used as a self-contained kiosk for quickly scanning documents, or with the additional computer it becomes part of our main server system with 5 terabytes of storage.

After receiving two days training our staff have now begun serious scanning, beginning with the multiple bound copies of Nadia Prakash, the daily newspaper of the Gaudiya Matha from the late 1920s.

Images will be uploaded to our website brcindia.com as they become available.

A Sampling of BRC's Rare Acquisitions of Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura

Highlights of the Sundaranand Vidyabinode Collection related to the great devotional works of Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura:

The section is entitled Thoughts on Popular Topics or Occasional Notes by Baboo Kedar Nauth Dutta Dy. Collector and Magistrate (see picture above).

It includes his famous poem about the perils of drink:

Alas for those that spend their days

in festive mirth and joy!

The dazzling, deadly liquid forms

Their hearts for e‘er employ!

Also included are the full ten verses of his poem, Stanzas on the Samaj of Haridas on the Sea Shore at Puri, about Srila Haridasa Thakura which contains the famous verse #9:

He reasons ill who tells that Vaishnavs die

When thou art living still in sound?

The Vaishnavs die to live and living try

To spread a holy life around!

Another book discovery is a full commentary by Bhaktivinoda Thakura on Bhagavad Gita:

Haridas was the son of a Cazee who lived within a few miles from Delhi. While yet a boy, the religious sentiment received a very great development in him and he could understand that pure spiritual love was the only absolute religion of man. He was very much averse to cruelty to animals and turned out a Vaisnava in preference to the faith of his race. The Cazees and others met together and ordered him to be beaten very hard in the bazaars of Delhi. We read it in the “Chaitanya Bhagbat” that when he was being cruelly beaten, he was praying God that his enemies might be pardoned.

It is said that Haridas after leaving Delhi came to Bengal and lived for sometime in Santipur, on the banks of the Ganges. The great “Chaitanya Provoo” of Nuddea was born long after Haridas had come to Santipur. But when “Caitanya Provoo” came to age and began to preach the highest truth of Vaisnavism Haridas very gladly enlisted himself as a follower of the “Provoo.” In a short time Haridas accompanied him to Puri of Jagannath and there lived till the time of his death. His remains were interred by “Caitanya Deba” on the sea shore.

A large portion of the beach at Puri goes by the name of “Chakra-tirtha” in which the Samaj or tomb of Haridas is found. Popularly the place is considered sacred.

Finally, the following page has a few lines of handwriting, which after comparing to a known sample, we believe to be of the great Thakura:

All are welcome to our BRC Library in Kolkata to see these amazing works in person.

Rare Documents at BRC Related to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura

As we were indexing the Sundarananda Vidyabinode collection, we found a single hand written sheet entitled Last wishes of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada dated 31st December 1936 at 10.30 A.M. – in effect a record of his will, witnessed by three disciples. Of the thirteen items #2 stands out. It reads: "form a Governing body of 10 to 12 persons for management of Mission’s work, but Kunja Babu will manage as long as he lives."

We also found two copies of what was intended to be the second volume of a six volume series entitled Sarasvati Jay Sri, an extensive biography of Srila Sarasvati Thakura. The first volume was published in 1935 but the rest never made it to print. The second volume was printed in draft form and given to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta to correct, but was never published. It comprises of interviews taken with him in which he describes his childhood and upbringing, so it is virtually an autobiography. The BRC will be publishing this work in due course. It includes His Divine Grace’s birth chart, as shown above.

Another bit of nectar we cataloged was this government map of Burdwan and Nadia districts from 1917-18. This is the year that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura took sannyasa and began his preaching through the Gaudiya Matha.

Present day Mayapur was in those days called Miapur bil and was simply rice paddies — seen here above, north of the Jalangi/Ganges confluence.

This small collection of books pictured above is the most complete set of astronomical works of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura we believe to exist. These books do not exist even in Kolkata National Library. 

Two of the volumes are bound editions of his astronomical magazine Jyotir Vid. There is also Srila Bhaktisiddhanta’s commentary on Bhaskaracarya’s commentary on Surya Siddhanta entitled Siddhanta Siromani.

Meetings with the Ghosh Family

In November 2010, we were fortunate to meet with Srimati Srilekha Bose, the daughter of eminent Bengal politician Sri Tarun Kanti Ghosh, and grand-daughter of Mahatma Sishir Kumar Ghosh, at her home in Mumbai.

Sri Sishir Kumar Ghosh was a prominent Vaisnava, publisher and personal friend of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura.

It was he who named Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur the ‘seventh Goswami’. From 1890 to 1898 he published Sri Visnu Priya O Ananda Bazar Patrika under the editorship of the Thakura on a fortnightly basis, and later it became a monthly.

In 1897 Sishir Kumar Ghosh published a two volume glorification of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu called Lord Gauranga or Salvation for All. Smt. Srilekha Bose very kindly donated her personal set of this long-out-of-print book plus two other rare volumes by her grandfather to the BRC.

HH Bhakti Charu Swami receives the rare books from Smt. Srilekha Bose, with BBT Trustee Bhima Dasa and Juhu Temple President Braja Hari prabhu looking on:

Then, in mid-December we were fortunate to have further discussions at the BRC with Smt. Rita Dutta and Sri Tamal Kanti Ghosh, the great-grand children of Sishir Kumar Ghosh.

The Ghosh family at one time had an extensive library inherited from Sri Sishir Kumar Ghosh, but it has now become scattered. Rita and Tamal Kanti have vowed to help us track down the collection and our hope is that we may find some rare Vaisnava books by the Mahatma and other Vaisnava authors and even correspondence or works connected directly to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura.

BRC is Entrusted with Sundarananda Vidyavinoda's Private Collection

BRC's first significant and very exciting acquisition has been the gift of the private collection of Sri Sundarananda Vidyavinoda. Sundarananda Vidyavinoda was a Sanskrit professor, disciple, and leading editor of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, the Founder/ Acarya of the Gaudiya Matha. He was responsible for the publishing of the "Gaudiya," the monthly publication of the Gaudiya Mission.

By the very generous and magnanimous gesture of His Holiness Bodhayan Maharaja, the current Acarya of the Sri Gopinatha Gaudiya Matha, the BRC was extremely fortunate to be given custody of this priceless collection consisting of over 2,500 items.

This achievement has been possible as the result of six years of negotiation by Pranava das from Sweden as part of his research on the life and works of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. 

Krishnabhishek das was essential in settling the terms of the custody agreement and access to many precious titles belonging to the private collection of Srila Bhakti Promode Puri Maharaja, who was one of the editors of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura's newspapers and magazines. 

Krishnabhishek das also collaborated with the State Central library, Kolkata for professional digitization of some of the important journals and newspapers. Among the SVV collection, we found some rare treasures and out of print titles.

top image (above): Bhaktivinoda Thakura's edition of Padma Purana in Sanskrit 

bottom image (above) : an original print of Bange Samajikata, the first book written by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati in 1899 (aside from his astronomical works)

top image: 400 year-old hand written copy of a page of Chaitanya Charitamrita Madhya Lila

bottom image: samples of the handwriting of Bhaktivinoda Thakura