There is an interesting story which shows the surrendered mood of Baladeva and his sincere desire to please his spiritual masters.Once, when Vishvanatha Chakravati was too old to travel, he sent Baladeva to a conference to represent Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Baladeva was required to prove the validity of Gaudiya Vaishnavism to the rest of the Vaishnava community from a scriptural point of view, and thus become duly authorized to speak on matters pertaining to rituals (‘puja’) and Vaishnava religion. Though he was preaching furiously no-one was prepared to accept his statements according to Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy, although sufficient evidence was there. The reason others would not accept his statements was because there was no established commentary of Brahma Sutra or Vedanta Sutra to support Gaudiya Vaishnavism at that time. Some were saying that in every other ‘sampradaya’ the founding or reforming ‘acarya’ had made some form of commentary on Vedanta Sutra – Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhwa, Vallabha, etc. Even though Lord Chaitanya explained Vedanta Sutra (Chaitanya Charitamrta, Adi Lila, 7:138-146.) touching the main subject matter, nothing was written.
Some members of the Sri Sampradaya (the ‘Ramanandis’) began to raise this argument in the court of the King at Jaipur. They complained that as the Gaudiya Vaishnavas had no commentary on the Vedanta Sutra, they were not qualified to worship the Deity, and therefore all of the worship should be turned over to the Sri Sampradaya. They also objected to the worship of Srimati Radharani along with Sri Govinda and Sri Gopinatha as not being authorised anywhere in the shastras.
The king, Sadachari Raja, was initiated within the ‘Gaudiya-Sampradaya’. Thus he quietly sent word to Vrindavan, informing the Devotees there of what had happened. At the same time the king was obliged to remove Radharani temporarily from the Deity room, as well as to suspend the Bengali Gaudiya Vaishnava pujaris from partaking in the Deity worship.
As we have just stated, at that time Srila Visvanatha Cakravartipada was very aged, so it was not possible for him to make the arduous journey to Jaipur. In his place he sent his student, Sri Baladeva, who was fully conversant with the ‘shastras’ and thus able to competently face the challenge. In a great assembly he posed such forceful arguments to the followers of Ramanuja (the Ramanandis) that they could not reply to them. He further explained to them, “The originator of the Gaudiya Vaishnava ‘sampradaya’, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, has accepted Srimad Bhagavatam as the natural commentary on the Vedanta Sutra, as composed by Srila Vyasadeva Himself. This is proven in the Sat-sandarbha.” Srila A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has commented on this point saying that, “The reason that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu didn’t make a commentary on the Vedanta Sutra was because they came in the line through Vyasa to Madhwa, who had already made their commentaries, so why should they make theirs. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the Goswamis were quite happy to follow in the footsteps of the previous Acaryas.” (A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. NY Jan 67 San Francisco, C.C. Madhya Lila 22:21/28.)
The scholars in the assembly however refused to accept anything other than a direct commentary on the Vedanta sutra. Having no other recourse, Baladeva promised to present them with one. They gave Baladeva eighteen days to have his commentary ready for discussion. The mood of the Ramanandis was quite aggressive, much like “Put up or shut up,” which made Baladeva transcendentally anxious.
Feeling very aggrieved in this manner, Sri Baladeva took shelter of the Lord and came to Sri Govindaji’s Temple in Jaipur. After offering his prostrated obeisances, he informed Sri Govinda of everything that had happened. That night a wonderful thing happened, the Lord appeared to him in a dream and instructed him to write a commentary on the Vedanta sutra. The Lord said, “You just write, and I will dictate to you what to write, and therefore no one will be able to refuse to accept it.”
Having seen such a wonderful dream, Srila Baladeva was totally enlivened and felt renewed strength flow into his heart. Thus he began to write, and within a few days completed the commentary which was titled ‘Sri Govinda Bhasya’.
vidya rupam bhusanam me pradaya kyatim nitya tena yo mamudarah
sri govinda svapna nirdista bhaso radha bandhubandhurangah sa jiyat
“May He Who so mercifully and munificently was kind towards me, and bestowed His favour by ordering me in a dream to write down His own commentary, which He would compose, and which attained such renown amongst the learned circles that they bestowed upon me the title ‘Vidyabhusana’; may that dear Friend of Srimati Radharani, who holds Him dearer than Her own life, be glorified. May that Sri Govinda be glorified.”
Bringing the commentary with him, Srila Baladeva again came to the assembly of the Ramanandi scholars. After reading the commentary they were simply speechless. Thus the victory of the ‘Gaudiya-sampradaya’ was announced far and wide, and the king, as well as the other Devotees, began to float in the ocean of bliss. This assembly took place in the year 1628 Sakabda, at Golta near the present city of Jaipur.
Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana installed the Deity of Vijaya Gopala there at Golta Temple, but the whereabouts of this Deity are at present not known. From this day on, the Maharaja of Jaipur announced, “Sri Govinda’s ‘arati’ would be performed first, and then the other Temples could perform their ‘aratis’. It is always we have found, best to keep one’s words sweet. As you never know when you will have to swallow them! Thus after accepting defeat, the Ramanandi scholars expressed their desire to accept initiation from Sri Baladeva Vidyabhushana. However he declined their request by stating that amongst the four authorized ‘sampradayas’, the ‘Sri Sampradaya’ was highly respectable and the foremost adherent of ‘dasya-bhakti’ (devotional service in the mood of servitorship). If there was any cause of loss of respect to the sampradaya this might be considered an offence. In this way he would not initiate them.
According to the opinion of some Devotees, the Deities of Shyamananda Prabhu, Sri Sri Radha – Shyamasundara, were installed by Sri Baladeva Vidybhushana.
Returning from Jaipur to Vrindavan, Sri Baladeva presented the certificate of victory to Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura and narrated all of the events that had transpired. All the Devotees were in great ecstasy to receive this news and Chakravarti bestowed his full blessings on Sri Baladeva
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