Svalikhita-jivani

(left) Bhaktivinoda Thakur's photo with his autograph and (right) the first page of his original Svalikhita-jivani (1896).

Svalikhita-jivani is an autobiography written in 1896 by Kedarnatha Datta Bhaktivinoda (also known as Bhaktivinoda Thakur), a prominent thinker of Bengali Renaissance and a leading philosopher, savant and spiritual reformer of Gaudiya Vaishnavism^[1] who effected its resurgence in India in late 19th and early 20th century^[2] and was hailed by contemporary scholars as the most influential Gaudiya Vaisnava leader of his time.^[3]

Written in Bengali on the request of Bhaktivinoda's son Lalita Prasad, Svalikhita-jivani gives a detailed autobiographical account that spanned most of his life from his birth in 1838 until retirement in 1894. The book was published by Lalita Prasad in 1916, after Bhaktivinoda's demise.

Summary

Pages one and two of Bhaktivinoda Thakur's Svalikhita-jivani printed in 1916.

On the request of his son Lalita Prasad, in 1896 Bhaktivinoda wrote an extensive and compellingly detailed autobiography called Svalikhita-jivani that covered fifty-six years of his life from birth up until that time.^[4][5] Recounting his life's episodes with astonishing candor, Bhaktivinoda portrayed his path as full of financial struggle, health issues, internal doubts and insecurity, and deep introspection that gradually led him, sometimes in convoluted ways, to the deliberate and mature decision of accepting Caitanya Mahaprabhu and his teachings as his final goal.^[4] Bhaktivinoda dis not display much concern for how this candid autobiographical account would reflect on his status as an established Gaudiya Vaisnava spiritual leader with a large following, in the eyes of thousands of his intellectual bhadralok disciples.^[4] In this context it is especially telling that Bhaktivinoda in Svalikhita-jivani never refers to himself as feeling or displaying any special spiritual acumen, saintlihood, powers, or charisma – anything worthy of veneration.^[6] Rather, this extremely honest, almost self-deprecating narrative portrays Bhaktivinoda as an genuinely, exceptionally humble and modest man, which serves as the best exemplar and foundation of the teaching he dedicated his later life to spreading.^[7] The book was published by Lalita Prasad in 1916 after Bhaktivinoda's passing.^[8]

Footnotes

1. Fuller 2005, pp. iv, 3, 90, 102.
2. Hopkins 1984, p. 176.
3. Fuller 2005, p. 6.
4. Fuller 2005, p. 42.
5. Dasa 1999, pp. 9-10.
6. Fuller 2005, p. 42-43.
7. Fuller 2005, pp. 43-44.
8. Dasa 1999, p. 9.

See also

• Bhaktivinoda Thakur
• Bhaktivinoda Thakur bibliography

References

• Dasa, Shukavak N. (1999), Hindu Encounter with Modernity: Kedarnath Datta Bhaktivinoda, Vaiṣṇava Theologian (revised, illustrated ed.), Los Angeles, CA: Sanskrit Religions Institute, ISBN 1-889756-30-X, retrieved 31 January 2014
• Fuller, Jason Dale (2005). Bhaktivinode Thakur and the transformation of religious authority among the Gauḍīya Vaisṣṇavas In nineteenth-century Bengal (Ph.D.). University of Pennsylvania. UMI Microform 3179733. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
• Hopkins, Thomas J. (1984), Utz, David A.; Gaeffke, Peter, eds., Identity and division in cults and sects in South Asia: Proceedings of the South Asia seminar 1, Philadelphia, PA: Dept. of South Asia Regional Studies, University of Virginia, OCLC 15365193, retrieved 20 June 2014
• Marvin, Brian D. (Shukavak Dasa) (1996). The Life and Thought of Kedamath Dutta Bhaktivinode: A Hindu Encounter with Modernity (Ph.D.). University of Toronto. UMI Microform 0318. Retrieved 8 June 2014.