Baladeva Vidyabhushana is a late 18th century writer on the Gaudiya Vaishnava theme. Baladeva Vidyabhushana (also known as Govinda Dasa or Govinda Muni) was born in a Khandayata Vaishya family in a village near Remuna in Balosre district of Odisha. He was a disciple of Vairagi Pitambara Dasa and Radhadamodara Dasa, the author of Vedanta Syamantaka. Baladeva had two disciples, Nanda Mishra and Uddhava Dasa. He was a prolific writer and wrote a number of works on the Gaudiya Vaishnava theme.
Important works of Baladeva Vidyabhushana are Sahitya
Kaumudi and its commentary, Krishnanandini, Govinda Bhashya, Siddhantaratna,
Kavya-Kaustubha, Gita Bhushana, a commentary on the Gita; a commentary on
Radhadamodara’s Chandah-Kaustubha, Prameya-Ratnvavali and its commentary,
Kantimala, the commentaries on Rupagosvami’s Stava-mala, Laghu-bhagavatamrita,
Namartha-Shuddhika and Natacandrika. He has also written a commentary on Vishnu
Sahasranama and on a few Upanishads.
The commentary, Govinda Bhashya, on Brahmasutra is his most
significant work. There is a sub-commentary on this text titled Sukshma which
is probably authored by the commentator himself. His Siddhantaratna is an
independent work which summarizes the contents of Govinda-Bhashya and refutes
the philosophical tenets of other schools in order to establish the
Acintyabhedabheda of Chaitanya. His Prameyaratnavali gives an exploratory survey
of the philosophical tenets of the Gaudiya Vaishnava School. The emphasis on
bheda (difference) between jiva, jagat and Ishwara, the concept of Visesha
(distinctiveness) and the ideal of bhakti shows his indebtedness to
Anandatirtha or Madhva, the proponent of Dvaita School of Vedanta. S.N.Dasgupta
opines that he system of thought represented by Baladeva may be described as
Madhva Gaudiya rather than Gaudiya Vaishnava as enunciated by Chaitanya. This fact
is supported by Baladeva’s eulogy to Madhva, who he describes as his boat for crossing
the ocean of samsara.