The Pastimes of Scholarship

I spent long hours in study. I never took to service of Your lotus feet as I do now. Reading on and on, I felt knowledge would be the highest goal. That knowledge was ignorance.

I spent long hours in study. I never took to service of Your lotus feet as I do now. Reading on and on, I felt knowledge would be the highest goal. That knowledge was ignorance.

In Calcutta in 1896, the teachings of Lord Caitanya began their journey to the West. In Bengali-speaking Calcutta on August 20th of that year, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura published a small English treatise entitled Lord Caitanya—His Life and Precepts.

After the disappearance of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, his son, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, a great scholar and pure devotee, continued to expand the mission of Lord Caitanya.

Before Madhavendra Puri, most Indians worshiped Lord Krishna in a ritualistic fashion, according to strict rules and regulations. Such formal worship is necessary for those who have not awakened their natural desire to serve the Lord with love and devotion.

Madhvacarya (acarya means “one who teaches by his life”) lived in thirteenth-century India and appeared in the Brahma-Gaudiya Vaisnava-sampradaya—the disciplic chain now represented by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.