{"id":436,"date":"2024-01-10T20:45:25","date_gmt":"2024-01-10T20:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ggswami.com\/?page_id=436"},"modified":"2024-01-10T22:00:42","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T22:00:42","slug":"biography","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ggswami.com\/?page_id=436","title":{"rendered":"Biography"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Biography of Sri Gouranga Prema Yuga Acarya His Divine Grace Srila Gour Govinda Swami Srila Gurudeva<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Early life<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Bauri Giri\u2019s daughter Pata Devi was very devoted to Gopal. From her early childhood, she would come to see Gopal every day. Every morning she would sweep Gopal\u2019s temple, make garlands, and cook for Him. Pata Devi married Ishwara Manik from the nearby village of Jagannathpur. Like the Giri family, Ishwara Manik was also in the business of selling bell metal. Ishwara and Pata had two sons, named Braja Bandhu and Kripa Sindhu, and one daughter named Swadhuri Devi. Their eldest son, Braja Bandhu, born on the 2nd<\/sup> of September, 1929, was later to be known as Sri Gouranga Prema Yuga Acarya His Divine Grace Srila Gour Govinda Swami Srila Gurudeva.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being married did not detract from Pata Devi\u2019s devotion to Gopal. Although living 14 kilometres away in Jagannathpur, she always managed to come during festival times to serve Gopal. Pata Devi was always quiet and absorbed in serving her husband and children \u2013 every Saturday she would fast as an offering for their well-being. Each morning she would worship Lord Jagannatha and recite from the Purana and Bhagavad-gita. Every evening, she chanted hare krsna and performed tulasi-parikrama<\/em>, with her husband and her son, Braja Bandhu. After parikrama,<\/em> she would recite from the Srimad Bhagavatam. Any beggar or sadhu that came to her house never went away, empty-handed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His mother and father were very fond of studying and reading the scriptures. They would regularly read to their son. Sri Gouranga Prema Yuga Acarya His Divine Grace Srila Gour Govinda Swami Srila Gurudeva recalls, \u201cI would regularly listen to Krishna-katha from my parents, they would read different Puranas to me and other Vedic literature: Srimad Bhagavatam, Mahabharata, etc. Such an opportunity I received at such an early age! From then I was singing, dancing, doing kirtana and listening to Srimad Bhagavatam.\u201d His father would read to him from Srimad Bhagavatam, completing all twelve cantos once a year. He was completely absorbed in pure love for Sri Sri Radha Gopal Jiu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once, a famous blind astrologer named Nityananda Khadiratna travelled from Dhenkanal and stayed two days, in Gadeigiri. At that time, Braja Bandhu was a small child and he and his mother were staying at his uncle\u2019s house. Pata Devi took her son to the astrologer, desiring to know something about his future. The astrologer said, \u201cThis boy is very intelligent and is full of devotion. He will be married and get government service. In his middle age he will give up family life and become a sadhu. He will acquire high knowledge and an important place on the map of sadhus. He will build temples. He will make Gopal\u2019s place bright. Lastly the astrologer said that God Himself has sent this child from His abode to the material world for preaching His message and for the deliverance of the conditioned souls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attachment to the Bhagavatam<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pata Devi was eager that her Braja Bandhu would become a devotee of Srimad Bhagavatam, and she became very happy seeing that by her influence her eldest son was developing such attachment. By the age of eight Braja Bandhu had read the entire Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam and Sri Caitanya-Caritamrta, and he could also explain their meanings. At night many villagers would come to hear his recitation of the Oriya Bhagavata, Ramayana and Mahabharata. However, young Braja Bandhu was particularly attached to the Srimad Bhagavatam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Srila Gurudeva once told me that whenever as a young boy he would become naughty and not stop crying, his mother would simply put the Srimad Bhagavatam in his hands and he would stop. He as so much inclined to read the Bhagavatam that if he were reading he would forget to take his meal. The family was too poor to afford candles or a lamp for reading, so in the evening he would sit close to his mother\u2019s cooing fire and read Srimad Bhagavatam. At night he would go to sleep clutching the Bhagavatam to his chest.<\/em><\/p>\nHis old friend, Fakir Charan Das, recounts<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

From 1942 to 1945 Braja Bandhu stayed in Gadei Giri with his maternal uncles Gopinath and Jagannatha Giri and he attended high school in nearby Balikuda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Braja Bandhu often engaged in kirtana<\/em> with his uncles, still he did not neglect his school studies. During the day Braja Bandhu would engage in study, in the evening he would join the kirtana<\/em> with his uncles. Young Braja Bandhu was a quiet and serious boy. He did not engage in play with the other children and he showed no interest in cinema or mundane theatre. Whatever free time he had, after completing his studies, he would spend doing kirtana <\/em>with his uncles or in rendering various services to Gopal. Braja Bandhu would clean Gopal\u2019s temple, pick flowers for His worship, make garlands, and recite verses and songs for Gopal\u2019s pleasure. He would never take any food that was not offered to Gopal. As a child he was not interested in sleep and would only rest for three or four hours a night, a habit he maintained his whole life. Ghanashyam Giri was taking care of Gopal\u2019s worship. Braja Bandhu would come and together they would perform kirtana<\/em> and render service to Gopal. Damodara Giri was a good singer and was expert in kirtana<\/em>. He was working in Bengal, but whenever he got the opportunity he would come to Gopal to perform kirtana<\/em>. These three, Ghanashyam Giri, Damodar Giri and Braja Bandhu often sat together and performed kirtana<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Household Life<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In 1952, on the request of his mother, Braja Bandhu entered household life. He first met his wife, Srimati Vasanti Devi, during their marriage ceremony. Family members recall how during the wedding ceremony while everyone was enjoying the festivities Braja Bandhu was sitting sadly by himself quietly chanting Hare Krsna. He considered family life a material entanglement and an impediment to his service to Gopal. He never wanted to marry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Braja Bandhu\u2019s father passed away in 1955, and \u2013 as the eldest son \u2013 he was responsible for maintaining the family. Owing to financial constraints he could not enrol formally in a University course, but he studied privately at night to attend the examinations, obtaining a B.A. degree from Utkal University with overall second highest marks on the exam. He later obtained a B.Ed. degree in a similar way and obtained government service as a schoolteacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the course of the next nineteen years Braja Bandhu and Vasanti Devi had four sons and three daughters. Despite many family responsibilities, Braja Bandhu\u2019s devotion to Gopal never slackened. He would rise daily at 3.30 am, chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, worship Tulasi, and speak to his family from the Bhagavad-gita. In school, he took every opportunity to speak to his students about Krishna and devotional principles. Thirty years later, some of those same students would become his disciples. During school breaks he would take his wife and travel to the Himalayan Mountains, visiting different tirthas<\/em> (holy places) and ashrams, and he would sometimes engage in philosophical debates with the Mayavadis (impersonalists) he found there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout his life he wrote daily entries in his diary. For the most part these were in the form of letters to Gopal. Each entry would begin, prabhu gopala krparu, kaunasi mate dinoti koti gale<\/em> \u2013 \u201cBy the mercy of Prabhu Gopal, this day was spent thus. . . \u201d The diary entries would end with a prayer to Gopal, \u201cPlease give me prema-bhakti<\/em>, ecstatic love of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His whole life prior to meeting his spiritual master His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, was one of purity, preparation and devotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving Home Gour Gopal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Out of respect to his mother, he spent twenty-two years in household life. At the age of forty-five, on the 10th<\/sup> of April, 1974, he completed his routine teaching duties and then gave a letter of resignation to Prahlad Mohanty, the headmaster of the Bunbihari High School in Kujanga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving the school, he went home. He did not say anything to his family, but he packed his Bhagavad-gita, two gamchas<\/em>, a pen, a pencil, and one notebook. That night, while his family was sleeping, he quietly got up at midnight and walked a half-mile away to a nearby temple known as Kakudia Math. He had decided to become a sannyasi, a wandering mendicant, entrusting the care of his family to his eldest son Vijay, aged 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving his old life behind, Braja Bandhu took on a new name, \u201cGour Gopalananda\u201d. \u201cGour\u201d for Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is also known as Lord Gouranga, and \u201cGopal\u201d after his beloved childhood deity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Receiving Gopal\u2019s blessings, Gour Gopalananda left Gadei Giri and travelled to Cuttack, where he spent the night. The next morning he set off by train to the Himalayas where he wandered in search of his eternal spiritual master. He completely depended on Krishna for everything. Walking from place to place and talking about Krishna to the sadhus<\/em> he met, eating whatever Krishna would provide and sleeping under any tree at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was looking for someone who perfectly understood Bhagavata, Krsna and Mahaprabhu. However in his Himalayan travels he was unsuccessful in his search for Sri Guru, so deciding that in Lord Krishna\u2019s own Dhama, Mathura Vrndavana, the Lord must surely fulfil his desires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not having any money for the train ticket, Gour Gopalananda convinced the ticket collector to allow him free passage to Mathura. This was in the August and September of 1974. For some time, he moved from place to place, staying at different ashrams for one night at a time. At one Gaudiya Vaishnava temple, seeing that he didn\u2019t have a sikha<\/em>, the devotees mistook him for a Mayavadi sannyasi<\/em> and kicked him out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After some days, he came to The International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Arriving at their property in Ramana Reti, Vrindavan, one devotee gave him a copy of the society\u2019s magazine, Back to Godhead<\/em>. Seeing the photo in the magazine of the Founder-Acharya, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, he immediately felt attracted to him. He decided that he must go to see Srila Prabhupada. However, when Srila Prabhupada\u2019s secretary saw his matted hair, beard, and torn cloth he was reluctant to allow him in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first meeting with Srila Prabhupada in Sri Vrndavan Dham can best be told in his own words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt was noon time and Srila Prabhupada had already taken his lunch. He was alone in his room, sitting in a chair. So Brahmananda went in and said \u2018one sadhu has come, he wants to meet you\u2019. I was putting on that saffron dress, gamcha so I was looking like a wandering sadhu, looking like<\/em>“<\/p>\nSri Gouranga Prema Yuga Acarya His Divine Grace Srila Gour Govinda Swami Srila Gurudeva<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It was paramatma\u2019s prompting, Krsna\u2019s arrangement. Prabhupada said, \u201cYes, call him, call him.\u201d So I went in and paid dandavat, he looked at me and enquired, \u201cWho are you? What is your name?\u201d \u201cGour Gopalananda dasa.\u201d He looked at me and said, \u201cO, have you taken sannyasa?\u201d He asked me from his side. I said, \u201cNo.\u201d \u201cThen I\u2019ll give you sannyasa!\u201d I immediately knew, \u201cOh, it\u2019s paramatma; what I am looking for now, it is here. Yes, I have gotten now. I have gotten now.\u201d You see this is Krishna\u2019s arrangement. How we can find our Guru? What is your inside, he\u2019ll speak, you see. Only two or three questions he asked. I immediately surrendered! <\/em>I immediately said, yes!”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hearing about Gour Gopal\u2019s academic ability, Srila Prabhupada requested him to translate one of his articles from the Back to Godhead<\/em> magazine into Hindi. Srila Prabhupada appreciated the work and ordered him to translate more. Gour Gopal then translated Srila Prabhupada\u2019s first book, Easy Journey to Other Planets<\/em>, into Hindi. Aside from translating, Gour Gopal engaged in whatever service was requested of him. He cooked, washed pots, and cleaned the temple. A few months later in Bombay he received first initiation from Srila Prabhupada. At that time his name became Gour Govinda Das. A few months after that in Mayapur, West Bengal, Srila Prabhupada gave him second initiation and sent him to preach in Orissa. Then, a short while later, on Sri Ramnavami (20th<\/sup> of April, 1975) \u2013 the occasion of the grand opening of Sri Sri Krsna Balaram Mandir, in Sri Vrndavan Dham \u2013 Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada awarded sannyasa to Sri Gouranga Prema Yuga Acarya His Divine Grace Srila Gour Govinda Swami Srila Gurudeva.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Sri Gouranga Prema Yuga Acarya His Divine Grace Srila Gour Govinda Swami Srila Gurudeva first initiation in Mayapur, 1974, Srila Prabhupada had told him, \u201cYou will take me to Orissa!\u201d Orissa is the Holy place where Lord Chaitanya performed His most confidential pastimes. Bhubaneswar is also the gateway to Sri Jagannatha Puri Dhama. Under Srila Prabhupada\u2019s order, Srila Gour Govinda Swami single-handedly underwent extreme hardships to begin a magnificent temple in Bhubaneswar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February, 1977, the year of Srila Prabhupada\u2019s physical disappearance pastime, Srila Prabhupada came to stay in Bhubaneswar to lay the corner foundation stone of the new temple. At his own insistence, Srila Prabhupada refused to stay in a government guesthouse and spent seventeen days in the mud hut personally built for him by Srila Gour Govinda Swami, on the newly donated land in Bhubaneswar. It was an out of the way place during that time with no facility except electricity brought to the hut just for Srila Prabhupada\u2019s dictaphone machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Srila Prabhupada was giving lecture every day and meeting so many people. He insisted, whoever comes must be fed prasadam. \u201cI had no money and thousands of people were coming every day, \u2018how can it be done?\u2019 Miraculously, all were fed. So much cooking was there. Where the money came from I couldn\u2019t think of. Every morning devotees were coming, \u201cGour Govinda, give money! This purchase will be there!\u201d \u201cAlright, wait, wait, let me go out and see somewhere for donation. So many miricles, all miracles. How it was done I cannot think of!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instructions of Srila Prabhupada<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Srila Prabhupada would go out every day for morning walks and we would go with him. So many talks come up.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some devotees said, \u201cNo, we won\u2019t construct temple here, Prabhupada, nobody will come here! It is out of the way place; a jungle. Why shall we construct a temple and spend money here; we will do it in Puri.\u201d Prabhupada insisted, \u201cNo, we want to construct a temple here!.\u201d Then he called me and drove everybody else out ( of his room) , because every word of Prabhupada was being taped, a tape recorder was always on!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a whispering voice he said, \u201cGour Govind, they are objecting to build the temple here. They want it in Puri, but I said, \u2018No! I will do it here. This shall be one of the best ISKCON temples in the world, yes! You have to stay here and do this thing, yes! You should have your own men and train them. You should accept disciples, otherwise how can you manage.’\u201d I said, \u201cI don\u2019t want to be head, I went to be tail.\u201d Srila Prabhupada replied, \u201cI want!\u201d \u201cAlright!\u201d I know that to become head means so many beatings will come. Prabhupada said, \u201cI want!\u201d When you want, I should accept all these head beatings. <\/em>Alright very good. It is pleasing to my Guru.<\/em><\/p>\nSri Gouranga Prema Yuga Acarya His Divine Grace Srila Gour Govinda Swami Srila Gurudeva recalls<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

According to certain witnesses, before he entered nitya-lila in Vrndavana later that same year, Srila Prabhupada himself named Gour Govinda Swami as one of the two of his disciples who should give initiations within his Iskcon society after his physical departure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next year in Sri Mayapur Dhama during a temple festival, Srila Gour Govinda Swami exhibited the symptoms of bhava<\/em>, love of Krishna. This was confirmed at the time by Srila Prabhupada\u2019s godbrother and associate, Sri Akincana Krsnadas Babaji. After some time Srila Gour Govinda Swami bought his symptoms under control, returning to Bhubaneswar to take up the service that his beloved Srila Prabhupada had given him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Srila Prabhupada actually gave Srila Gour Govinda Swami three principal instructions, to translate his books from English into Oriya, to build a temple in Bhubaneswar, and to preach in Orissa State, and all over the world. Srila Gour Govinda Swami moulded his life around these instructions. It was his policy to not eat anything until he had completed his quota of translation for the day. Even after undergoing long international flights he would always insist upon first doing the translation work given to him by his spiritual master before he would eat or sleep. He maintained this practice up to his last day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following Srila Prabhupada\u2019s order, Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja inspired and headed up many preaching programs in the State of Orissa. He established simple Padayatra festivals and Nama-hatta programs that have helped thousands of people in this ancient land discover their spiritual roots and take up the chanting of the maha-mantra:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Biography of Sri Gouranga Prema Yuga Acarya His Divine Grace Srila Gour Govinda Swami Srila Gurudeva Early life Bauri Giri\u2019s daughter Pata Devi was very devoted to Gopal. From her early childhood, she would come to see Gopal every day. Every morning … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_ti_tpc_template_sync":false,"_ti_tpc_template_id":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-436","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ggswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/436"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ggswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ggswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ggswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ggswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=436"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ggswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":461,"href":"https:\/\/ggswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/436\/revisions\/461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ggswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}