Baladeva Vidyabhushana

Baladeva Vidyabhushana (also written Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa) (c. 1700 – 1793 AD) was an Indian Gaudiya Vaishnava acharya (religious teacher). Despite being renowned all over the world as the Gaudiya Vedanta Acarya, the scarcity of available authentic bio data has led misinformed authors to spread incorrect information about his life incidents. Early tradition and manuscripts point out that he was born in Utkala, or the present day Odisha. Yet there is no known historical evidence regarding either his exact birthplace or date, nor any reference to it in his works. Some believe that he was born in a village near Remuna, Balasore, where the famous temple of Khirachora Gopinatha is located.[1][2][3][4][5][6] However, it is not clear what the source of this claim is, since those who defend this view have not presented any evidence to justify it.

Based on mere assumptions, some have recklessly put forth 1768 as the year of his disappearance. While his birth date is unknown, a document preserved at the Jaipur Archives dated the fourteenth day of the Bhadra month of Saṁvat 1850 (nineteenth of September, 1793 AD) describes his ceremony of condolence presided by King Pratap Singh of Jaipur (ruled 1778-1803 AD). On the basis of this evidence, some believe that it is unrealistic to assume that he was born much before 1700 AD. The earliest documents that mention Vidyabhusana belong to the 1740s.[7]

Also according to oral tradition, at an early age he received a thorough education in grammar, poetry, rhetoric and logic, and went on a pilgrimage to various place in India. Among several misconceptions about his early life is the idea that he accepted sannyasa in the Madhva-Sampradaya. Contrary to this idea, there are no records of Vidyabhusana ever using a sannyasa title, nor was he ever referred to by a sannyasa name in any of the multiple period documents pertaining to him and the temples managed by him. Many of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's associates were sannyasis of various traditions and held names such as Puri, Bharati, and Sarasvati. There are no instances of any of his sannyasi followers giving up a sannyasa name, nor is this ethically acceptable either in the Gaudiya or in the Madhva traditions. According to Vidyabhusana's statement at the end of his Siddhanta-ratna, he had been a follower of the Madhva-sampradaya before becoming a follower of the philosophy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When he visited Jagannatha Puri (Odisha), he met Sri Radha-Damodara Deva, a grand-disciple of Sri Rasikananda Deva, with whom he discussed philosophy. Sri Radha-Damodara Deva explained the conclusions of Gaudiya Vaishnava Theology as expounded by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Moved by those teachings, Baladeva was initiated and began to study the Sat-sandarbhas of Sri Jiva Gosvami.

In a short time he became experienced in Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy. With his guru's permission and blessings, he moved to Sri Vrindavana (Vrindavan) to study these teachings under Sri Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura. Baladeva fully accepted the Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy and became a powerful exponent of this system.

His most important work is his commentary on the Brahmasutra, the Govinda-bhasya. He has also written commentaries on the Upanishads and the Gita, among several other works.[4] His first known work was a commentary on the Vedanta-sutra or Brahma-sutra, entitled Brahma-sutra-karika-bhasya.[8] It was composed by Vidyabhusana under the order of King Sawai Jai Singh II (1688-1743 AD), as mentioned at the beginning and the end of the manuscript. The work is not dated, but from the available historical documentation, it can be inferred that it was written between 1730 and 1740 AD. This was the Vedanta commentary that Vidyabhusana wrote very quickly in order to appease the King and the opponents who belittled the Gaudiyas for not having a Brahma-sutra-bhasya. The much more famous Govinda-bhasya was a much later and more elaborate work, and its oldest known manuscript is dated Saṁvat 1815 (1758 AD).

Some claim that Baladeva received the title "Vidyabhusana" from the King or from the Ramanandis. However, the Karika-bhasya manuscript and his other earlier manuscripts are signed "Vidyabhusana." He may have received this title before joining the Gaudiyas, probably when he was a Tattvavadi debater. Another of his earlier works was the Tattva-dipika,[9] also written under the order of Sawai Jai Singh II.

Some misinformed individuals also claim that the Govinda-bhasya was written at Galta, to which there is not the slightest evidence and which makes no sense at all, as according to documentary evidence, even during Sawai Jai Singh II Vidyabhusana was the Mahant of the New Govinda-deva Temple in Vrindavan as well as of his own temple in Jaipur, and the idea that he left his duties in both places to sit down in a temple of another sampradaya to write a commentary is nothing but absurd.

The earliest documents that mention Baladeva Vidyabhusana belong to the 1740s, therefore it is most unlikely that he had any participation in the Amer/Jaipur debates before the 1730s.

Other works include Siddhanta-ratnam (Govinda-bhasya-pithakam),[10] Prameya-ratnavali, Siddhanta-darpana, Kavya-kaustubha, Vyakarana-kaumudi, Pada-kaustubha, Isadi-upanisad bhasya, Gitabhusana-bhasya, Sri Visnunama-sahasra-nama-bhasya, Sanksepa-bhagavatamrta- tippani, Tattva-sandarbha-tika, Stava-mala-vibhusana-bhasya, Nataka-candrika-tika, Candraloka-tika, Sahitya-kaumudi, Srimad-Bhagavata-tika (Vaisnavanandini).