Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava (Three Volume Set)

Description

The result of over twenty years of research, Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava presents a wealth of newly translated material. Replete with anecdotes told by disciples who lived with him, this devotional, philosophical, cultural, and historical study gives intimate insights into the activities, teachings, and character of an empowered emissary of the Supreme Lord.

Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava is presented in three volumes, it comes with a decorative protective box:

Volume One of 625 pages features a biographical overview, plus detailed analysis of the message, mission, and personality of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. A colour section includes 9 colour photos of deities and places, and photos of paintings and murti of Sri Saraswati Thakura. The first of two black and white sections in this first volume includes 52 photos, an English handwriting of 1932, and four front covers of his publications. The second black and white section includes 48 photos and one handwriting of 1936 in Bengali.Included with each volume are reference notes, glossary, a guide to obscure English words, Bengali and Sanskrit quotations, and an index. At the end of each volume is also a map of places being visited by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, and a map of the present borders of Bangladesh and West Bengal.

Volume 2 of 574 pages details the preaching challenge that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati faced, and also includes biographical sketches of several of his disciples and associates.The black and white section in this volume includes 58 photos at several occasions and photos of his associates and disciples.

Volume 3 of 360 pages features an overview of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s contributions, with selections from his lectures, writings, and colloquies, also his astrological chart, and appendixes that include important details concerning Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and the Gaudiya Matha.

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Review by Chaitanya charan das:

1. The exhaustive research as seen in the painstaking referencing and footnoting makes the book highly authoritative and unique.

2. The precise English words are potent and perfect in conveying the activities, teachings, and personality of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati. These books are both intellectually stimulating and spiritually invigorating; they become accessible for those with a modest command over English by the glossary of abstruse English words.

3. The division of the biography into three parts, each addressing a distinctive theme, makes it both innovative and comprehensive as compared to the standard biography format which tries to crunch everything into one
volume and or spreads the chronological narration over several volumes with teachings interspersed randomly in between.

4. The second volume with its compilation of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati’s position on various social issues is an excellent research resource for devotee and secular scholars as well as an invaluable aid in vision-casting
for our devotee leaders.

5. The third volume with its profiles of the people whom he influenced and inspired helps us understand how an acharya bequeaths his legacy to his followers and how our beloved Srila Prabhupada so uniquely inherited the
legacy that his spiritual master passed him down to all his disciples.

6. Truly, the book is a glorious, unparalleled service to the entire Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya. By its scope and depth, it is a bridge from the past to the future; as a fitting glorification of one of our most prominent past
acharyas, it will be an inexhaustible inspiration for future generations of Gaudiya Vaishnavas.