February 29th, 2024 marks the 150th Anniversary of the appearance of His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja. This is an important celebration for ISKCON recognizing his preeminent position as the Guru of our Founder-Acarya, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Devotees observe fasting till noon on this day. Additionally, we will be facilitating a virtual seminar on Thursday, February 29th as well as a special Sunday Feast program on March 3rd, more information is below:
Interesting facts about Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur:
- When he was just six months old, Lord Jagannatha’s Ratha-Yatra cart had halted in front of his house in Puri for three continuous days and could not be moved until he was brought before Lord Jagannath.
- By the time He was seven years old, he had memorized the entire Bhagavad-gita and could even explain its verses.
- He was given the title Siddhanta Sarasvati (“the pinnacle of wisdom”) to which the prefix Bhakti (“devotion”) was added to acknowledge his proficiency in Vaishnava studies.
- He is credited with reforming the traditions of Gaudiya Vaishnavism to the changing technological and the social conditions of the twentieth century.
- Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati was known as ‘simha‘ (lion) ‘guru’ due to his fearless and ferocious preaching; impersonal philosophers were afraid of his intellect and he could easily defeat any argument.
- He wrote more than 108 essays and books, striving to present bhakti as a theistic science. He established 64 temples, known as Gaudiya Maths, inside and outside of India.
- He instructed A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami to preach the message of Lord Chaitanya throughout the world, this led to the establishment of ISKCON and undoubtedly the rest is history!