Bhaktivinoda Vani Vaibhava: Divine Opulence of the Teachings of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Perfect questions and perfect and answers is the right theme for this book. After glossing over the entire gamut of the writings and teachings of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, the entire teachings of this stalwart Vaisnava sage has been made into magna opus questions and answers format. Srila Bhaktivinoda Bhaktivinoda Thakura single-handedly revived the teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the 16th century saint who was considered the incarnation of Lord Krishna.

Much had been written on the life and teachings of Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Just as less intelligent, mundane persons cannot understand the birth and activities of Lord Krsna, similarly the life and activities of a pure devotee of the Lord cannot be understood by mundane intelligence. Sometimes the account of the life and activities of great devotees are bewildering for the nondevotees, because they cannot comprehend how a devotee of Krsna could seem to be an ordinary person. But such are the ways of the Lord. He makes His activities and the activities of His pure devotees bewildering for those who are not devoted to Him.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was responsible for re-establishing Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's sankirtana movement, which had become almost extinct by the mid-nineteenth century. The mission had deteriorated greatly, due to the influence of the sahajiyas and later the British rule in India. Through his tireless efforts, however, the Thakura restored the purity, prestige, and respect of the Vaisnavism amongst the cultured people of his day. He also sowed the seeds for future worldwide propagation of the mission.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote more than one hundred volumes of devotional literature during his life. His books are as good as Vedic scriptures, and one can develop pure devotion to the Lord by absorbing and applying his teachings. But in this age, we seem to have little time to study religious texts, and so little capacity to understand the vast teachings of the scriptures. Therefore great personality, Sundarananda Vidyavinoda Prabhu, one of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura's prominent disciples, made a deep study of all the writings of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and on the order of his spiritual master, composed questions related to sambandha, abhidheya, and prayojana. He then answered those questions by drawing directly from the writings of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura.