BHAKTI YOGA

Bhubaneshwar Sadhu Thakur: A Vaishnavite Saint who had Vision of Krishna at Nabadweep

At the Govindo temple at Nabadweep tirtha, Nadia district of West Bengal. The origin of this shrine dates back to over a century. The temple was built for Sri Sri Bhubaneshwar Sadhu Thakur, a Vaishnavite saint from the Bishnupriya Manipuri Community after Krishna Himself appeared repeatedly in the dreams of two local zamindars, instructing them for the task.

Sri Sri Bhubaneshwar Sadhu Thakur was born on 26th October, 1871 on a Thursday at Baropuwa, a remote village in Silchar district of Assam. His father was a Sanskrit teacher. From a very young age, he was attracted towards reading the scriptures. He was an ardent devotee of Krishna. At the age of 18 (after he lost his father; his mother died when he was a child), he set out for Teerth Yatra across Bharat and after 4 years finally reached Vrindavan.

He had a vision of Sri Jagannath Puri after singing bhajans for seven days and seven nights without food. At Vrindavan, he took diksha under Shrila Krishnadas Vaivaigya Thakur. His Diksha Guru gave him the title of ‘Thakur’, seeing his devotion for Krishna and his knowledge of the scriptures. After a few years, Bhubaneshwar Thakur went to Nawadweep in Bengal. It was in his dream that he saw Krishna calling him to Nawadweep. He was allowed to stay at a shrine dedicated to Krishna and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu following another interesting incident pertaining to bhakti of Krishna. He served Krishn here for 25 years, singing bhajans, cleaning the temple and helping with the temple chores. With help of other Vaishnavas, he renovated the temple with marble stone. Meanwhile, for all these years, he preached Vaishnavism and had many pupils. Seeing his popularity, a group of people conspired against him and forced him to leave the temple and Nabadweep forever.

Bhubaneshwar Thakur decided to go to Vrindavan. He reached the nearest railway station and was waiting for the train. Suddenly, he saw a man named Krishna Dutta, a zamindar and another zamindar approaching hurriedly towards him and begging him not to leave Nabadweep. The Zamindars (who weren't familiar with Thakur and that he was leaving Nabadweep) said Bhagwan Krishna had sent them to stop him from leaving Nabadweep. They saw Bhagwan as well as Bhubaneshwar Thakur in their dream and narrated to him the episode.

Bhubaneshwar Thakur gave up the idea of leaving Nabadweep. The Zamindars donated a piece of land where Bhubaneshwar Thakur built a temple under their patronage. From here he started serving Bhagwan Krishna besides teaching and preaching lessons from the 'Bhagwad Gita' until the age of 69 (he left for his heavenly abode on 17th July 1940 to be at the service of Krishna). During his lifetime, Sadhu Thakur had many encounters with Shri Krishn and Prabhu Jagannath.

Bishnupriya Manipuris trace their lineage to Babrubahan, the son of Pandava prince Arjun and Manipuri princess Chitrangada. Details of the lineage right from the time of Arjun and Chitrangada are described in the 'Khumal Purana'.

Under officers of the Bengal Sultanate, Hindus at Nabadweep not only experienced gen0cide but also weren't allowed to follow rituals, plant Tulsi, worship Deities, and build shrines. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu changed the complete milieu with the power of kirtan on the streets. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's story of defending the Hindus is described in detail in a chapter in Book 2 of #SaffronSwords. The result is what we see today. Nabadweep is a place of pilgrimage with hundreds of temples all around. Here, devotees from all age groups, right from children to the old, are immersed in devotion for Krishna and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Attached are images of the temple, the Deities, Sadhu Thakur.

Jai Shri Krishna!

Manoshi Sinha is a Dharmic nationalist and a Best-selling author of the Series Safford Swords.