Page 45 - SBV (English)

Nomenclature

As is common in Vedic culture, Çréla Sarasvaté Öhäkura had several names
and titles. In childhood he was known as Bimalä Prasäda, “he who was received
as the mercy of Bimalä-devé.” Bimalä-devé is the internal potency of Jagannätha
*
manifested as a form of Durgä in His temple at Puré; Gauòéyas consider her an
expansion of the gopé Bimalä, the overseer of Kämyavana forest of Vraja-maëòala.
Another significance of this name is that Jagannätha’s prasäda (food remnants)
is offered to the deity Bimalä, after which it is called mahä-prasäda; only then is
it distributed to the public. So just as Jagannätha’s prasäda (mercy) is available
only through Bimalä-devé and is thus received with enhanced quality, the mercy
of Jagannätha in the form of bhakti-siddhänta and bhakti-vinoda is available only
from Çré Bimalä Prasäda Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté.
At age fifteen he was awarded the title Çré Siddhänta Sarasvaté for
excellence in jyotiña. In Vedic astronomy, siddhänta refers to an established
†
canonical textbook; Sarasvaté is the goddess presiding over aparä-vidyä
(knowledge, particularly that of çästra, pertaining to the material sphere). Çré
Siddhänta Sarasvaté lived up to his appellation by demonstrating divinely inspired
erudition in defining principles of jyotiña, even by defying the orthodoxy of that
science and shattering its hallowed misconceptions. On another level, the name
Siddhänta Sarasvaté indicates a timeless intrinsic attribute of the amaranthine
saint whom it adorns, whose excellence lies in explaining bhakti-siddhänta
(the conclusion of devotional service) rather than jyotiña. Perhaps those who
conferred upon this great sadhu the title Siddhänta Sarasvaté attained a fortune
comparable to that of the demigod Agni, who apparently presented to Kåñëa His
eternal Sudarçana weapon.
At some point during youth Bimalä Prasäda adopted the name Çré
Värñabhänavé-dayita däsa, “the servant of the lover of Çrématé Rädhäräëé, the

* How he received this name is explained in vol. 1, p. 13.
† In modern Indian languages jyotiña is generally understood to mean astrology of a
mostly predictive nature. Yet the complete Vedic science of jyotiña comprehends both
astronomy and astrology. Vedic astronomy was based on çästréya descriptions rather
than observation and was primarily meant to facilitate astrology, a discipline having far
greater scope than that commonly ascribed to it or understood nowadays. It appears that
Çré Siddhänta Sarasvaté’s interest in mathematics and astronomy was linked mainly to
a scientific interest in the nature of the universe and in the practical application to the
calendar, rather than in analytic or predictive astrology.

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