His mother arranged a marriage for him when he was just twelve (1850 A.D.) to the then five year old daughter of Madhusudana Mitra Mahasaya, a resident of Rana Ghata. Around this time Kasiprasada Ghosh Mahasaya Thakur (Kedaranatha Datta's uncle), who had mastered under the British education, came to Ulagrama after the death of his maternal grandfather. He schooled young Kedaranatha Datta at his home in Calcutta; this was at first resisted by Kedaranatha Datta's mother, but by the time he was years of age he was allowed to go.
Sri Kedaranatha Datta's first wife died, so in the town of Jakapura he married Bhagyavati De on 186o.
As a householder Bhaktivinoda (Kedarnatha Datta) had two wives and no less than 10 children, of which the great Vaisnava scholar Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati (Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura) was one. Bimala Prasad (Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati) was born in Sri Purusottama Kshetra (Jagannatha Puri) on 6th February 1874 AD, answering the prayer of Bhaktivinoda for the Lord "to send a Ray of Visnu" to preach the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu all over the world. He was given the name Bimal Prasad.
Srila Bhaktivinoda and his wife were orthodox and virtuous; they never allowed their children to eat anything other than 'prasada', nor to associate with bad company. One day, when Bimala Prasada was still a small child of no more than four years, his father mildly rebuked him for eating a mango not yet duly offered to Lord Krsna. Bimala Prasada, although only a child, considered himself an offender to the Lord and vowed never to eat mangoes again. (This was a vow that he would follow throughout this life.) By the time Bimala Prasada was seven years old, he had memorized the entire Bhagavad Gita and could even explain its verses giving wonderful purports. His father then began training him in proof reading and printing, in conjunction with the publishing of the Vaisnava magazine Sajjana tosani.
Two years earlier, Kamala Prasada, the 3rd son of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, had taken birth.
Sri Kedaranatha Datta's first wife died, so in the town of Jakapura he married Bhagyavati De on 186o.
As a householder Bhaktivinoda (Kedarnatha Datta) had two wives and no less than 10 children, of which the great Vaisnava scholar Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati (Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura) was one. Bimala Prasad (Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati) was born in Sri Purusottama Kshetra (Jagannatha Puri) on 6th February 1874 AD, answering the prayer of Bhaktivinoda for the Lord "to send a Ray of Visnu" to preach the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu all over the world. He was given the name Bimal Prasad.
When the child was six months old, Lord Jagannatha's cart stopped in front of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's house in Puri for three days during the procession. Bhaktivinoda told his wife, Bhagavati Devi, to bring out the child for 'darsan' of Lord Jagannatha. As she placed the child before the Lord, a garland from the Lord encircled the baby boy, and the first grain ceremony ('anaprasna') was performed at that time with Jagannatha 'prasad'. Bimala Prasada stayed in Puri for ten months after his birth and then went to Bengal by palanquin on his mother's lap, his infancy was spent at Nadia District's Ranaghat hearing topics of Sri Hari from his mother.
Srila Bhaktivinoda and his wife were orthodox and virtuous; they never allowed their children to eat anything other than 'prasada', nor to associate with bad company. One day, when Bimala Prasada was still a small child of no more than four years, his father mildly rebuked him for eating a mango not yet duly offered to Lord Krsna. Bimala Prasada, although only a child, considered himself an offender to the Lord and vowed never to eat mangoes again. (This was a vow that he would follow throughout this life.) By the time Bimala Prasada was seven years old, he had memorized the entire Bhagavad Gita and could even explain its verses giving wonderful purports. His father then began training him in proof reading and printing, in conjunction with the publishing of the Vaisnava magazine Sajjana tosani.
Two years earlier, Kamala Prasada, the 3rd son of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, had taken birth.
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