Since the time of Lord Chaitanya, Navadvip has been a place of scriptural learning. It is evident from Chaitanya-bhagavata (Adi 2.60-61),
nana-desa haite loka navadvipe yaya
navadvipe padile se ‘vidya-rasa’ paya
“Many people came from various provinces to study in Navadvipa because by studying there one achieved a taste for education.”
ataeva paduyara nahi samuccaya
laksa, koti adhyapaka, nahika niscaya
“Therefore no one could count the innumerable students and millions of teachers gathered there.”
Indeed, Navadvipa-mandala was on par with Mithila and Varanasi for strong scriptural education with students flocking from all over India.
Noting this aspect of Navadvipa-mandala, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura instructed Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura to establish scriptural learning in Mayapur. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura worked out a detailed tenfold curriculum of study of all of the major writings of the Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya to be taught here. It is based on this curriculum that Srila Prabhupada presented his Bhakti-sastri, Bhakti-vaibhava, Bhakti-vedanta and Bhakti-sarvabhauma courses. Srila Prabhupada had also noted:
Bengal is very…, there are many rivers. So mixing of the rivers, cutting of the rivers, makes islands. So there were nine. There were nine islands formerly, and all those islands were called Navadvipa, nine islands, and there are very learned scholars, especially resided by brahmanas. Caitanya Mahaprabhu also appeared in one of the islands, which is called Antardvipa, or Sridhama Mayapura. We are erecting our center there on a very big scale. We shall be able to go there and read and learn Vaisnava philosophy. Arrangement is being made there. So that is Navadvipa. (Panca-tattva installation, Hawaii, 7 May 1972)
So we are going to open a big center in Mayapur where this education will be internationally imparted . . . (Letter to Atreya Rsi, 20 Aug 1971)
Thus it is clear that these acaryas wanted Sri Mayapur to be an international center for sastric study.
The Mayapur Institute was established in the year 2000 in order to be such an international center for sastric study, initially running courses on Bhakti-sastri in English and then adding Bhakti-vaibhava and now with Bhakti-vedanta. We also have Bhakti-sastri and Bhakti-vaibhava in Bengali, and Bhakti-sastri in Russian. Separate courses for the growing residential community at Mayapur have also come up.
The 3rd of July this year has been an important milestone in the history of the Mayapur Institute, ISKCON and, in fact, in the entire Gaudiya Vaisnava line.
On this day, the first phase of the new campus of Mayapur Institute was formally offered to Srila Prabhupada by His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaja and other senior devotees in a grand inauguration ceremony.
The ceremony began with hari-nama sankirtana, when a small deity of Srila Prabhupada was carried by the Project Director Padmanayana dasa from Sri Sri Radha Madhava temple to the Mayapur Insitute’s campus. Devotees had assembled under a beautifully decorated pandal for the ceremony. Next followed a video presentation containing excerpts from Srila Prabhupada’s talks on education. Then His Holiness Bhakti Visrambha Madhava Swami, Ajamila Prabhu, Daiva Prabhu, Sikhi Mahiti Prabhu, Kesavi Mataji, Sankarsana Prabhu, HH Bhakti Purusottama Maharaja, Satadhanya Prabhu, Jivanath Prabhu and Pankajanghri Prabhu spoke their appreciation of the hard work that the Mayapur Institute has taken up in order to fulfill the grand vision of Srila Prabhupada and his predecessors to serve the entire Gaudiya Vaisnava community. The architect for the project, Mr Dinesh Mishra, had come from Delhi to attend the event. He also expressed his satisfaction that the project has properly begun.
After Jayapataka Maharaja arrived, he requested Sankarsana Prabhu to perform Guru-puja to Srila Prabhupada, after which the deity of Srila Prabhupada was taken to inaugurate the first building. On Srila Prabhupada’s behalf, Jayapataka Maharaja untied the ribbon which was tied around the entire building. Following Srila Prabhupada deity, Maharaj inspected the offices, small classrooms and switched on the electricity for the building, signifying that the building is now ready to be used in Srila Prabhupada’s service. Maharaja then addressed the devotees and expressed his thanks to the managers of the Mayapur Institute for having come up with this facility.
After this, there was an enthusiastic kirtana and the assembled devotees were fed sumptuously a feast of Krsna-prasada.
Important Links -
Watch the video of the event on Mayapur Institute’s YouTube page –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F84QjBQImMY
See the photographs of the event please visit Mayapur Institute’s Flickr Page on - https://www.flickr.com/photos/140826606@N07/albums/72157685749695886
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