Bhakti Prajnan Keshava Explained

Background:	FFA07A
Bhakti Prajnan Keshava
Honorific-Suffix:	Maharaja
Religion:	Gaudiya Vaishnavism
Alias:	Vinodabihari Brahmacari Kritiratna Prabhu
Location:	Vrindavan, India
Gaudiya Vaishnava spiritual leader
Period:	1940 - 1968
Predecessor:	Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Successor:	Srila Bhaktivedānta Vamana Goswāmī Maharaj.
Initiation:	Diksa–1919, Sannyasa–1940
Birth Date:	1898 2, df=yes
Death Place:	Nabadwip, India
Birth Place:	Banaripara, East Bengal, British India

Bhakti Prajnan Keshava (; 9 February 1898 – 6 October 1968), addressed by the honorific Mahārāja, was a Gaudiya Vaishnava guru, disciple of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and the founder-acharya of the religious organisation "Sri Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti", formed in Calcutta in 1940, and its headquarters, monastery Sri Devananda Gaudiya Math in Nabadwip.

Bhakti Prajnan Keshava Maharaja and A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada were godbrothers (disciples of the same spiritual master). Abhay Charanaravinda Prabhu became A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami (taking the title "Bhaktivedanta" and name Swāmī) when Keśava Gosvāmī initiated him into the renounced order of life (sannyasa) on 17 September 1959 at Keshava Maharaja's temple in Mathura.^{[1] [2]}

Bibliography

• • • Book: Brzezinski . Jan . Charismatic Renewal and Institutionalization in the History of Gaudiya Vashnavism and the Gaudiya Math . Bryant . Edwin F. . Ekstrand . Maria L. . Edwin F. Bryant . [{{Google books|mBMxPdgrBhoC|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} The Hare Krishna Movement: The Postcharismatic Fate of a Religious Transplant ]. New York . . 2004 . 73–96 . https://books.google.com/books?id=mBMxPdgrBhoC&pg=PA73 . 0-231-12256-X.
    • Book: Sherbow . Paul H. . A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami's Preaching in the Context of Gaudiya Vashnavism . Bryant . Edwin F. . Ekstrand . Maria L. . Edwin F. Bryant . [{{Google books|mBMxPdgrBhoC|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} The Hare Krishna Movement: The Postcharismatic Fate of a Religious Transplant ]. New York . . 2004 . 129–46 . https://books.google.com/books?id=mBMxPdgrBhoC&pg=PA129 . 0-231-12256-X.

External links

• • Web site: Spiritual Leaders - Gaudiya-Vaishnava Acaryas - Srila Bhakti Prajna Kesava Maharaja . www.goloka.com . 2008-08-03.

Notes and References

1. Anil Sooklal, A socio-religious study of the Hare Krishna movement in South Africa, p.28, 1986.
2. The Gauḍīya Patrikā's journal of Bhaktiprajñāna Keśava has an account of the sannyasa initiation included a biographical sketch of Bhaktivedanta Swami, listing the major events of his life. The article concluded: "Bhaktivedanta Swami at the Śrī Keśavajī Gaudiya Math accepted sannyāsa from the founder of the Vedānta Samiti, Bhaktiprajñāna Keśava Mahārāja. Seeing him accept his āśrama of renunciation, seeing this pastime for accepting the renounced order of life, we have attained great affection and enthusiasm."