Svalikhita Jivani

Svalikhita jivani [Autobiography] of Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura Original English Translation by Shukavak Dasa [ This version edited by KDA ] What follows is Sriman Shukavak Dasa's translation of a little known autobiography penned by Thakura Bhaktivinoda. Without meaning any disrespect to Shukavak Prabhu, I must point out that his preliminary English rendition of Svalikhita Jivani is so eccentric as to leave me wondering at times whether it was truly the work of an educated English-speaking person! Indeed, parts of it were so badly composed as to throw a great darkness of confusion over the subjects it was meant to illuminate. Thus, some sentences were beyond interpretation and simply had to be elided. Be that as it may, I have attempted to bring order out of chaos and to present his translation in a readable form. Inasmuch as I do not have access to the original Bengali text I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the translation overall. I have not dared to alter it too radically for fear of misrepresenting a great Mahabhagavata, and thus my work as editor no doubt contains many faults. I pray that Shukavak Prabhu, who was not unaware of the roughness of his work and who perhaps employed some method of working that is beyond me, will not be offended by what I have said, but, in defence of my criticism, I felt I must alert the reader to the possibility of there being some inaccuracies in what follows. Another point that cannot go unmentioned is the strange interpretation that Shukavak Prabhu has put upon the purport of this extraordinary autobiographical work. He sees this book as the history of an ordinary Hindu who progressed from the pit of impersonalism and the practice of unpleasant habits to the plane of pure devotion by the simple process, more or less, of conversion to the Vaisnava faith. This seems to me to be an extraordinarily dangerous opinion to foster even in the privacy of one's mind — let alone in the circle of mundane scholars, where he intends the idea to be circulated! That is not to say that there is absolutely no basis for this interpretation, but rather, that it is wrong and potentially calamitous. It is true, as the reader will learn, that Bhaktivinoda gave some credence to the monist view in his youth. It is true also that he followed some practices that the Vaisnavas generally opine to be wicked and impure. However, such things have been recorded about the very greatest souls, such as the four Kumaras, Rupa and Sanatana, Bhimasena, and many others. In other words, one should never judge great souls simply on the basis of some apparent deviation from standard scriptural regulations, but rather on the depth of their devotion to Krishna, which may not, by His sweet will, be manifest throughout that great soul's earthly life. This text is practically new to all of us. Some of its revelations have, however, come to the notice of the occasional ISKCON devotee, and thus Srila Prabhupada had occasion to correspond on them on at least one occasion. The following excerpt from one of his letters touches on some of the startled questions that are