Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar

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Srila
Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar
Dev-Goswami Maharaj
Krishnath College (BA), Berhampore, Bengal Presidency
Religious life
ReligionHinduism
DenominationGaudiya Vaishnavism
TempleGaudiya Math, Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math
LineageGaudiya-Saraswata Sampradaya
InitiationDiksha (as Ramendra Sundara), 1926
Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati
WebsiteSri Chaitanya Saraswati Math
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Closeup of Vishnu, seated in the lotus position on a lotus. From depiction of the poet Jayadeva bowing to Vishnu, Gouache on paper Pahari, The very picture of devotion, bare-bodied, head bowed, legs crossed and hands folded, Jayadeva stands at left, with the implements of worship placed before the lotus-seat of Vishnu who sits there, blessing the poet.
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Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar (

IAST: Bhakti-rakṣaka Śrīdhara; 10 October 1895 – 12 August 1988) was an Indian guru, writer, sannyasi and spiritual leader in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, founder-president-acharya
of the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math.

Recognised as a "profound thinker" and "learned representative of the

promotion?
]

Early life

Born Ramendra Chandra (Rāmendra Candra) into a family of a high-class Bengali

Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati
as Ramendra Sundara (Rāmendra Sundara).

On the meaning of his first spiritual name, Sridhar recalled: “My original name was Ramendra Candra. When I was given initiation, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura gave me the name Ramendra Sundara. I asked him, “What is the meaning of Ramendra?” He told me, “In our consideration, Rama does not mean Dasarathi Rama or Lord Ramacandra, the son of King Dasaratha. It means Radha-ramana Rama – Krsna, the lover of Radharani.”[4]

Before being sent by Saraswati to locate the site where

Godavari (Rāmānanda Saṁvāda), his guru gave him the new name Ramananda Das (Rāmānanda dāsa),[5] meaning servant of Ramananda. He finally became Bhakti Rakshak, meaning 'Guardian of Devotion', after taking sannyasa in 1930.[citation needed
]

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

In 1941, after the death of his guru, Sridhar founded his own international mission, becoming acharya of the monastic and missionary society "Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math," in Nabadwip, now in West Bengal.[6][7][8]

His chosen successor was his disciple, Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami, who led the math until his death in 2010.[9]

Relationship with Prabhupada

Though "something of an outsider in his spiritual master's original movement",

ISKCON's founder, had "strong friendships with two prominent sannyasi godbrothers, Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar (1895–1983) [sic], founder of the Chaitanya Saraswata Math, and Bhakti Prajnan Keshava (1898–1968), founder of the Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti."[10]

After Prabhupada's death in 1977, Sridhar Maharaja gave instruction to Prabhupada's disciples,[11] with Americans Bhaktivedanta Tripurari[10] and Jayatirtha Swami and Hungarian devotee Dvarakesa Swami (Bhakti Abhay Narayan)[12] among the prominent ex-ISKCON members to take shiksha or sannyasa initiation from Sridhar.

Prabhupada and Sridhar were close, having a "long and intimate relationship" over almost five decades.

brahmacharis “shall learn how to celebrate the spiritual master's birthday.”[13]

Honorifics

In a Gaudiya Vaishnava context, Sridhar's full title is Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, (where Śrīla, an adjectival form of Śrī, is a respectful honorific akin to 'Reverend', and Mahārāja means 'Great King', while Gosvāmī reflects his status as a sannyasi).

He is known simply as Srila Guru Maharaj within Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c Vishnu, Bhakti Bhavana (2004). The Hare Krishna Movement: The Postcharismatic Fate of a Religious Transplant. Columbia University Press. pp. 170–187.
  2. ^ Melton, J. Gordon (1999). Religious Leaders of America: A Biographical Guide to Founders and Leaders of Religious Bodies, Churches, and Spiritual Groups in North America. Gale Research. pp. 534–535.
  3. ISBN 9789171496768
    .
  4. ^ Giri, Bhakti Kanan. "Srila Bhakti Rakshaka Sridhara-Deva Goswami Maharaja: The Complete Transcripts 1973–1983". Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  5. ^ "Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj". Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math International. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  6. ISBN 0810321335
    .
  7. ISBN 0-231-12256-X
    .
  8. ISBN 978-0-8160-5458-9. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link
    )
  9. ISBN 8801015968
    .
  10. ^ a b Brzezinski, Jan (2010). Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices (Second ed.). ABC-Clio. p. 1180.
  11. ^ Rochford Jnr, Prof. E. Burke (2013). Hare Krishna in the Modern World: Reflections by Distinguished Academics and Scholarly Devotees. Arktos Media. p. 21.
  12. ISBN 9789004432284
    .
  13. ISBN 9780911233360
    .
  14. ^ Sagar, Bhakti Ananda. "Srila Guru Maharaj Remembers". Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Nabadwip. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
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