Saranagati

Songs of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura are widely known, respected and relished by all the Gaudiya Vaishnava Devotees - practitioners as well as advanced stalwart devotees, who have attained perfection, all around the world. Śrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura composed songs for all classes of people. They are very instructive and practical for people of all ages, of all castes, and of all religions. By means of these songs, he hopes to attract everyone to the path of devotional service.

Śrī Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura appeared in 1838 in a wealthy family in the Nadiya district, West Bengal. He revealed that he is an eternal associate of Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu by his extraordinary preaching activities and prolific writing. Living as a, mahābhāgavata Vaisnava, he stayed in the grhastha asrama until the last few years of his life. Then he renounced everything, became a babaji, and entered samādhi, totally absorbed in the loving service of Gaura-Gadadhara and Radha- Madhava.

"He had a responsible government position as the District Magistrate (high court judge), maintained a Krsna conscious family, and wrote almost one hundred books on Krsna consciousness. At the same time, he served the Supreme Lord in so many ways. That is the beauty of his life. After a full day of government service he would sleep four hours, get up at midnight and write until morning. That was his daily program." (Śrīla Prabhupada)

Thakura Bhaktivinoda took Vaisnava diks from Sri Vipinaviharl Goswāmī in the line of Śrī Jahnavā Mātā. Afterwards, he received spiritual inspiration and direction from Srila Jagannatha Dasa Babaji. Holding an exalted government post, vast erudition, and spiritual accomplishment never disturbed Bhaktivinoda Thakura. He remained prideless, always humble, friendly to all. Charity seekers at his home always left happy and satisfied. A well-wisher to everyone, he never kept grudges, even with opponents to his preaching. In fact, he never spoke a word that would hurt another's feelings.

Songs of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura are widely known, respected and relished by all the Gaudiya Vaisnava Devotees - practitioners as well as advanced stalwart devotees, who have attained perfection, all around the world. Śrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has written countless songs which are divided into four books.

Fathomless eternal mercy of Sri Sri Guru-Gauranga has descended to enable the present publication of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's four famous Bengali song books - Gitävali, Saraṇagati, Kalyana-Kalpataru and Gitamālā.

Srila Prabhupada always used to sing these songs of our great Vaisnava Acaryas like Śrila Narottama Dasa Thakura, Śrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and he always inspired his disciples and followers to do the same. He even gave his purports to many of these songs. He writes in his foreword to The Songs of the Vaisnava Acaryas: "...I am greatly pleased to see this collection of songs composed by Thakura Bhaktivinoda, Narottama dasa, and other great acaryas of the Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya. Songs composed by the acaryas are not ordinary songs. When chanted by pure Vaisnavas who follow the rules and regulations of Vaisnavas character, they are actually effective in awakening the Krsna consciousness dormant in every living entity." He further writes to show the importance of these songs,

"I have advised Sriman Acyutananda Svami to sing more songs of the Vaisnava padavali and record them in books so that my disciples and others in the Western countries may take advantage of this chanting and thus advance in Krsna consciousness more and more... We should always remember the danger of maya's influence and endeavor to save ourselves from her great power. We must therefore always merge in the transcendental mellow of kirtana-rasa, for kirtana-rasa is the safest situation within this material world."

Śrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura composed songs for all classes of people. They are very instructive and practical for people of all ages, of all castes, and of all religions. By means of these songs, he hopes to attract everyone to the path of devotional service.

We've reffered to the translations of H.G. Dasaratha Suta Prabhu and H.G. Kuśakratha Prabhu for this edition. Gratitude is herein extended to all the well-wishing devotees who helped me to complete this book. First of them is of course my beloved Gurudeva, His Holiness Gopala Krsna Goswami Maharaja, who have kindly engaged me in this service for the pleasure of Guru Parampara and Srila Prabhupada. H.G. Sarvasākṣi Prabhu always encourages me to publish more and more books. Divya Kesava Prabhu designed a wonderful cover for this book. Hemant Soni from our Golden Age Media Team did a wonderful and lengthy job of proper layout and designing of the text. Roopam Bakshi, Roshni Jha and Pooja Sajwan also helped to make this publication a success. May they all be blessed with supreme gift of loving devotion to Krsna.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages