Shri Haridas Shastri (19182013) was an Indian Gaudiya Vaisnava scholar and practitioner. A prolific Sanskrit scholar, he wrote more than a sixty books, including translations from the Sanskrit of several Gauá¸Âëya books and his own commentaries on them. His original works include the highly regarded book, the VedÃÂnta-darà Âanam bhÃÂgavata bhÃÂá¹£yopetam, his translation-cum-commentaries of the Sat Sandarbhas, and his transliterations of à Ârë-caitanya-bhÃÂgavata, à Ârë-caitanya-caritÃÂmá¹Âta and à Ârë-caitanya-maá¹ gala. Jonathan Edelmann at the University of Florida has called à ÂÃÂstrë "arguably the most prolific and well-educated Gauá¸Âëya Vaiá¹£á¹Âava âÂÂinsiderâ scholar of the twentieth century" and "a voice distinct from the more well known Gaudëya-Maá¹Âha and ISKCON". Among his disciples is the noted Gauá¸Âëya scholar and practitioner, Dr. Satyanarayana Dasa.
à Ârë HaridÃÂs à ÂÃÂstrë was born in 1918 in Ropa, West Bengal to à Ârëmatë Suà ÂëlàDevë and à Ârë Abhayacaraá¹Âa CattopÃÂdhyÃÂya. His childhood name was Phaá¹Âëndra NÃÂth. In 1933, he journeyed to Mathura, where he lived under the care of Pandita BÃÂbàà Ârë RÃÂma Ká¹Âá¹£á¹ÂadÃÂsaji.
Paá¹Âá¸Âita BÃÂbàchose his only veá¹£a disciple à Ârë Vinod VihÃÂrë GoswÃÂmë as Phaá¹Âëndra NÃÂthâÂÂs teacher. Phaá¹Âëndra received mantra dëkṣàfrom à Ârë Vinod VihÃÂrë GoswÃÂmë and became his disciple, with the name HaridÃÂsa. After a year, à Ârë HaridÃÂs received bÃÂbÃÂjë-veá¹£a dëkṣàfrom him. He lived with his guru and served him with great devotion. He studied the Gauá¸Âëya Vaiá¹£á¹Âava works from his guru for several years. Besides studying from his guru, he studied from other renowned scholars of Vrindavan such as Pandita Amolakrama à ÂÃÂstrë and Dhananjaya DÃÂsa.
Later, ordered by his guru, à Ârë HaridÃÂsa then went to Benares where he studied Indian philosophy for twelve years. He earned nine graduate degrees and three post-graduate degrees covering the six systems of Indian philosophy and theology. He studied under the top scholars of Benares, such as VÃÂmacharan à ÂÃÂstrë and HarerÃÂma à ÂÃÂstrë.
His different degrees are listed in his books (for example,): KÃÂvya-tërtha, VyÃÂkaraá¹Âa-tërtha, SÃÂá¹ khya-tërtha, MëmÃÂá¹ÂsÃÂ-tërtha, VedÃÂnta-tërtha, Vaià Âeá¹£ika-tërtha, Navya-nyÃÂya-à ÂÃÂstra, Navya-nyÃÂyÃÂcÃÂrya, Tarka-tërtha (pratyaká¹£a), Tarka-tërtha (anumÃÂna), Tarka-tërtha (à Âabda) and Vaiá¹£á¹Âava-darà Âana-tërtha.
He established the à Ârë HaridÃÂsa NiwÃÂsa ÃÂà Ârama at KÃÂlëya-daha in Vá¹ÂndÃÂvana in 1965. In the center of this ÃÂà Ârama was established the first major temple in Vá¹ÂndÃÂvana to have deities of à Ârë Caitanya MahÃÂprabhu and à Ârë GadÃÂdhara Paá¹Âá¸Âita.
à Ârë HaridÃÂs à ÂÃÂstrë is part of the GadÃÂdhara parivÃÂra. The GadÃÂdhara parivÃÂra is a lineage of guru-à Âiá¹£ya which originated from à Ârë GadÃÂdhara Paá¹Âá¸Âita. à Ârë GadÃÂdhara Paá¹Âá¸Âita gave dëkṣàto several disciples including à Ârë Bhugarbha GoswÃÂmë. à Ârë HaridÃÂs à ÂÃÂstrë belongs to à Ârë Bhugarbha GoswÃÂmë's line.
à Ârë HaridÃÂs à ÂÃÂstrë established the GadÃÂdhara-Gaura Hari Press. His purpose was to make the works of Gaudiya Vaisnava acharyas, mainly Jiva Goswami's, which were primarily in Sanskrit, accessible to the public. He translated and published around 60 books in Sanskrit and Hindi. Many of these books contained his own commentaries. He was the first to translate and comment on Jëva GoswÃÂmëâÂÂs Sat Sandarbhas in Hindi. He also established a library, à Ârë Gaura-GadÃÂdhara GranthÃÂgÃÂram, which is one of the largest libraries in Vrindavan today. Edelmann notes, "many academic scholars of the Gauá¸Âëya Vaiá¹£á¹Âava tradition have used HaridÃÂsa à ÂÃÂstrë published editions of the GosvÃÂminâÂÂs literature". His Sat Sandarbhas are based on the edition of PurëdÃÂs MahÃÂshay (1895-1958).
à Ârë Caitanya MahÃÂprabhu had explained that the à Ârëmad BhÃÂgavatam is the natural commentary of the Vedanta-sà «tras. But he had not explained how individual verses of the two scriptures related to each other. Sri Haridas Shastri addressed this key gap in the Gauá¸ÂëyàVaiá¹£á¹Âava literature, by writing and publishing his book VedÃÂnta-darà Âanam. This book explains how a verse or verses of the à Ârëmad BhÃÂgavatam comment on a specific Vedanta-sà «tra. This work is exceptional in its scholarship, and was honored with an award by the NÃÂgarë PracÃÂriá¹Âë Sabhàof Benares.
He was a great lover of cows and had a cowshed within his ashrama. He would personally take care of each cow and had a personal relationship with them. He started his cowshed around 1981 with just two cows and a bull, and by the time he left his body, the cowshed had grown to 250 cows and bulls. To ensure that the services that he started continued in his absence, he established à Ârë HaridÃÂs à ÂÃÂstrë Cow Institute with a board of trustees.