sri srimad gour govinda swami's life story

8/14/2019 Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami's Life Story

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Mahaprabhu. His search took him all overIn ia, from Kanya Kumari in the Southto the Himalayas in the North. Finally inSeptember of the same year, he resolveto go to Vrin avan the lan of Krishna,thinking that surely his esire woul befulfille there. Obtaining free passage froma train con uctor, he arrive in Mathura. He

staye in a few ifferent temples, an finallyhe ma e his way to Vrin avan where he sawa sign, “International Society for KrishnaConsciousness.” Arriving there, a evoteegave him a copy of the society’s magazine,Back To Godhead. Seeing the articles in themagazine on Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,ÇrémadBhägavataman the mahä-mantra, Gour Gopalknew he ha foun what he was looking for. Herequeste to meet the foun er of the society,an at mi ay was brought to the quartersof His divine Grace A.C. Bhaktive antaSwami Prabhupa a. After speaking with himfor a little while, Srila Prabhupa a aske ,“Have you takensannyäsa?”

Gour Gopal replie , “No.”Srila Prabhupa a sai , “Then I will give

you sannyäsa.”G o u r G o v i n a S w a m i l a t e r

commente :I coul then un erstan , ‘He is a genuineguru because he knows my heart. He iscaitya-guru.’ I was in search of such aperson un er whom I coul take shelter.I took shelter of him. My heart wasnaturally attracte towar s him. I hafull faith in Krishna an ChaitanyaMahaprabhu an They helpe me.

Hearing of his scholastic abilities,Srila Prabhupa a imme iately engageGour Gopal in translating his small bookPerfection of Yoga into Hin i. A few weekslater Srila Prabhupa a gave him initiationan the name Gour Govin a das. Then, on20 April 1975, Gour Govin a das receivesannyäsa from Srila Prabhupa a at the

opening ceremony of the ISKCON Sri SriKrishna Balaram temple in Vrin avan.On Srila Prabhupa a’s or er, Gour

Govin a Swami went to open a center inBhubaneswar, the capital city of Orissa.Arriving there with no money an noresources, he staye alone on the newlyonate property, which at that time wasnothing more than a jungle full of snakes,scorpions an ant hills.

In late January 1977 Srila Prabhupa aarrive in Bhubaneswar an staye forsixteen ays on the property in a small hutthat Gour Govin a Swami ha arrange forhim. On Lor Nityanan a’s appearance aySrila Prabhupa a lai the foun ation stonefor the upcoming temple. This was his lastfoun e project. Prabhupa a pre icte thatone ay the temple on the isolate property

woul be one of the best ISKCON centers inthe worl an woul be situate in the heartof the city. Prabhupa a also instructe GourGovin a Maharaja to translate his booksinto the Orissan language an to travel anpreach to evotees aroun the worl .

In early 1985 Gour Govin a Maharajabegan accepting isciples. Two years later, onthe request of senior evotees, he agree to



become a member of the ISKCON GoverningBo y Commission, an was given joint chargeof the society’s projects in Orissa.

In the summer of 1985, pursuing SrilaPrabhupa a’s or er, Gour Govin a Maharajawent overseas to preach. For the next elevenyears he travele all over the worl speaking

kåñëa-kathäto intereste evotees. Hislectures inspire thousan s of evoteesan these lectures are now being compileinto books by his followers. during thistime, espite his busy sche ule, he strictlymaintaine a aily quota of translating SrilaPrabhupa a’s books into Oriya.

In 1991, after sixteen years of en eavor,Gour Govin a Swami opene the

magnificent Sri Sri Krishna-Balaram templein Bhubaneswar on the auspicious occasionof Lor Ramachan ra’s appearance ay.To ay, the Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Man iris the secon most popular temple in Orissa,after the Jagannath Man ir in Puri, an thearea aroun the temple is the fastest growing

section of Bhubaneswar.In July 1994, in New York City, GourGovin a Maharaja spoke to the evoteesabout his mission:

There are three things that are veryimportant to me. One is that I want topreach to the preachers. It causes me somuch pain to see the evotees fallingown an going away. The secon thing

Sri Sri Radha Gopaljiu

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is that I want to show how everything isin Prabhupa a’s books. Those personswho are saying that Srila Prabhupa aonly gave ABC, it causes me so muchpain in my heart. I want to make themsilent. An the thir thing is that I wantto show how everything is in ISKCONan that evotees o not have to goelsewhere for higher teachings.

In late January of 1996, Gour Govin aSwami mentione , “Srila Bhaktisi hantaSaraswati sai that this material worl isnot a fit place for any gentleman. Therefore,because he was isguste , he left this worlprematurely. I may also leave. I on’t know. Iwill ask Gopal. I will o whatever He wants.”The next ay he went to Ga eigiri to seeGopal. While there he spoke to his cousinGhanashyam Giri, who recalls:

We were iscussing Gopal’s new templean the planne installation of largeeities of Ra ha Gopal to go with theexisting small ones. Su enly, Maharajatol me, “I won’t see this eity installation.You will see it but I won’t.”I sai , “How is that? You are ten yearsyounger than I am. If you won’t see ithow will I?”

Maharaja sai , “No, no. You will seethe inauguration of the temple an theeity because you have serve Gopal sonicely.” That was the last iscussion Iha with Maharaja. After that he wentto Bhubaneswar for a few ays an thento Mayapur where he staye forever.”

In Mayapur, on 9 February 1996, theappearance ay of Srila Bhaktisi hanta

Saraswati Thakur, two senior evoteesrequeste an appointment to meet with GourGovin a Swami to ask some questions. Theyinquire , “Why i Chaitanya Mahaprabhustay in Jagannath Puri?” Gour Govin aSwami began to enthusiastically explain theconfi ential significance of Mahaprabhu’spastimes in Puri. He escribe the pain of separation felt by Srimati Ra harani whenKrishna was away from Vrin avan. Hegra ually unfol e the pastime to the pointwhere Ra ha an Krishna were finally uniteafter their long separation. He escribehow Krishna became so ecstatic upon seeingRa harani that he manifeste a form withbig roun eyes an shrunken limbs, Lor Jagannath. At that time the evotees noticethat tears ha come to his eyes an his voiceha become choke up. In a whisper he sai ,“Then the eyes of Krishna fell upon the eyesof Ra harani. Eye to eye union.” Unableto continue, he fol e his han s an in abarely au ible voice, apologize , saying,“Please forgive me, I cannot speak more.”The evotees present began to chant as hecalmly lay back on his be , breathing slowlyan eeply. Upon his request, a servant

place a picture of Gopal Jiu in his han .Then, gazing lovingly at the picture of hisworshipable eity, Gour Govin a Swamisai , “Gopal!” Then his eyes close , he lostexternal consciousness an left this worl .

His bo y was brought to the Sri Sri KrishnaBalaram Man ir in Bhubaneswar where he wasplace in samä hi in the small mu hut that haserve as hisbhajana-kuöirfor many years.

www.gopaljiu.org

sri srimad gour govinda swami's life story

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