Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Goswami

Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Goswami
Religion	Gaudiya Vaishnavism
Other names	Vinodabihari Brahmacari Kritiratna Prabhu
Personal
Born	9 February 1898 Banaripara, East Bengal, British India (now Bangladesh)
Died	6 October 1968 (aged 70) Navadwip, India
Senior posting
Based in	Vrindavan, India
Title	Gaudiya Vaishnava spiritual leader
Period in office	1940 - 1968
Predecessor	Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura
Successor	Bhaktivedanta Vamana Goswami
Religious career
Initiation	Diksa–1919, Sannyasa–1940

Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Goswami Maharaja (Bhaktiprajñāna Keśava) (9 February 1898 – 6 October 1968) Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Goswami Maharaja was a disciple of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada and the founder of the religious organization Sri Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti, formed in Calcutta in 1940.^[1]

Murti of Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Goswami Maharaja on the altar in the Gaudiya Math in Mathura

Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Maharaja was a friend of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and initiated him into the sannyasa order on 17 September 1959 in his temple in Mathura, and gave him the name Bhaktivedanta Swami.^[2][3]

Notes

1. Bryant&Ekstrand, 2004. p. 131
2. Anil Sooklal, A socio-religious study of the Hare Krishna movement in South Africa, p.28, 1986.
3. The Gauḍīya Patrikā's journal of Bhaktiprajana Kesava has an account of the sannyasa initiation included a biographical sketch of Bhaktivedanta Swami, listing the major events of his life. The article concluded: "Bhaktivedanta Swami at the Śrī Keśavajī Gaudiya Math accepted sannyāsa from the founder of the Vedānta Samiti, Bhaktiprajñāna Keśava Mahārāja. Seeing him accept his āśrama of renunciation, seeing this pastime for accepting the renounced order of life, we have attained great affection and enthusiasm." Dasa Goswami, Satsvarupa (2002), Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta 2 (2nd ed.), p. 1191, ISBN 0-89213-357-0

References

• Maharaja, Narayana (1999), Acarya Kesari Sri Srimad Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gosvami - His Life and Teachings (1st ed.), GVP, pp. 571 pages, ISBN 81-86737-14-6
• Bryant, Edwin; Ekstrand, Maria (2004), The Hare Krishna Movement: The Postcharismatic Fate of a Religious Transplant, Columbia University Press, ISBN 0-231-12256-X
• Broo, Måns (2003), As good as God: the guru in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism, Åbo Akademi University Press, ISBN 951-765-132-5
• Rosen, Steven J. (1994), Vaishnavism: Contemporary Scholars Discuss the Gaudiya Tradition, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-1235-2
• Dasa Goswami, Satsvarupa (2002), Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta 2 (2nd ed.), p. 1191, ISBN 0-89213-357-0

External links

• "Spiritual Leaders - Gaudiya-Vaishnava Acaryas - Srila Bhakti Prajna Kesava Maharaja". www.goloka.com. Retrieved 2008-08-03.