HH Gour Govinda Swami's Pushpa samadhi in Mayapur (11-Feb-04)

[Guest guest]

Dear Devotees:

 

Please accept my most humble obeiscances & All glories to Srila Prabhupada,

 

Today we celebrate the disappearance day of His Holiness Srila Gour Govinda

Swami, a very dear disciple of our Founder Acarya His Divine Grace Srila

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

 

For this special ocassion His Disciples built a Pushpa Samadhi in Mayapur

near by Srila Prabhupada Pushpa Samadhi and beside the Samadhi of HH Tamal

Krsna Goswami.

 

All the GBC Members and All Srila Prabhupada's Disciples as well as all the

devotees in general were present in this extraordinary ocassion.

 

The program started at 5:30 am with Kirtan procession and with the picture

of Srila Gour Govinda Swami to the Srila Bhaktisidhhanta Saraswati Thakura

Prabhupada's Samadhi then after that to Sri Yogapith and then they returned

to ISKCON Mayapur.

 

At 8:45 am was the installation of the Samadhi that was done by His Senior

disciples and Senior Godbrothers, followed by Vaishnava Homa and kirtans.

 

At 2:00 pm there was a feast prasadam for all the devotees in the big

kitchen

and at 5:00 pm there was a video lecture of Srila Gour Govinda Swami at the

Pandal built specialy for this ocassion near by the Samadhi. followed by a

special Orissa Kirtan by Sri Damodara Giri Prabhu a cousin-brother of HH GGS

and then there was an offering by senior devotees. At the time of HH GGS's

departure, devotees started singing the special song " Ye anilo prema dhana"

followed by a special kirtan. Again devotees homages continued and the

program was finished with the distribution of Sri Jagannath Mahaprasad from

Puri.

 

The environment was amazing today with the celebrations of the Vyasapuja of

Srila Bhaktisidhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada and this great ceremony of

the Pushpa Samadhi of a great Vaishnava, His Holiness Gaur Govinda Swami, It

is really

amazing the divine energy present now a days in Mayapur with too many

vaishnavas from the world over taking part in these great festivals of the

Panca Tattva Deity installation, the 108 birth Anniversary of Srila

Prabhupada and the Gaurpurnima festival 2004.

 

Below we are sending the Biography of His Holiness Srila Gour Govinda Swami

Maharaja.

 

for pictures please visit www.mayapur.info

 

ys

 

tmkd

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Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja made his appearance

as Braja Bandhu Manik in a vaisnava family on 2nd

September 1929. He appeared in the village of

Jagannathapur, not far from Jagannath Puri Dham, in

Orissa, India, but as his mother was descended from

the Giri family of the village Gadeigiri, Braja Bandhu

spent his childhood there. His grandfather was a

paramahamsa whose only business was to chant Hare

Krishna and cry before the local Deity of Krishna

known as Gopal Jiu. He taught Braja Bandhu how to

chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra by counting on his

fingers. In the company of his uncles, Braja Bandhu

would travel from village to village chanting Hare

Krishna and singing the songs of Narottam Das Thakur.

 

>From the age of six, Braja Bandhu worshiped the Deity

of Gopal by making garlands, and sometimes, under the

light of a candle, by singing hymns for Him from

palm-leaf manuscripts. He would never take any food

that was not offered to Gopal.

 

By the age of eight he had read the entire

Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam and Sri

Caitanya-caritamrta and could also explain their

meanings. At night many villagers would come to hear

his recitation of the Bhagavata, Ramayana and

Mahabharata. Thus from the very beginning of his life

he was absorbed in chanting Krishna's holy name,

studying vaisnava literature, and worshipping his

beloved Gopal. Friends and relatives remember him as

always being very quiet and introspective. He was

never interested in playing with other boys or in

going to see cinema shows or theatre.

 

After the death of his father in 1955, as the eldest

son he became responsible for maintaining the family,

and on the request of his widowed mother he entered

the grhastha-asrama. He first met his wife, Srimati

Vasanti Devi, during their marriage ceremony. Because

of financial constraints he could not enroll formally

in University courses, 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 also obtained a B.Ed. degree in a similar way

and took up the profession of a schoolteacher. Despite

many responsibilities, however, his devotion to Gopal

never slackened. He would daily rise at 3.30 a.m.,

chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, worship

tulasi-devi, and speak to his family from the

Bhagavad-gita. In school he would take every

opportunity to speak to his students about Krishna and

devotional principles. Some of his students would

become his disciples thirty years later.

 

During school breaks he would take his wife and travel

to the Himalayan mountains, visiting different tirthas

and ashrams, and he would sometimes engage in

philosophical debates with the mayavadis he found

there.

 

On 8 April 1974, at the age of forty-five, Braja

Bandhu left his home and relatives in search of

spiritual perfection. Giving himself the name

"Gour-Gopalananda Das" and carrying only a

Bhagavad-gita and a begging bowl, he wandered around

India, visiting many sacred places along the banks of

the Ganges River. He was looking for his spiritual

master, that person who could help him develop an

understanding of the maha-mantra. Although he had met

many sadhus and gurus during his householder

days-Orissa has many prominent sects of Gaudiya

Vaishnavas-he had not found any whose teachings

sufficiently touched his heart. Still not finding his

spiritual master after wandering in this way for one

year, he eventually reached Vrindavan, thinking that

his desire would certainly be fulfilled in Krishna's

dear abode.

 

Two weeks after arriving in Vrindavan he saw a huge

signboard which read, "International Society for

Krishna Consciousness, Founder-Acharya His Divine

Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada," and he met

a group of Western devotees who gave him a copy of

Back to Godhead magazine. When he read the contents

describing the glory of divine love for Krishna, his

heart became anxious to meet the founder of the

movement, Srila Prabhupada. Gaining entrance to Srila

Prabhupada's room, he introduced himself and the first

question Srila Prabhupada asked was, "Have you taken

sannyasa?" Gour-Gopalananda replied that he had not.

"Then I will give you sannyasa!" exclaimed Srila

Prabhupada. Understanding that Srila Prabhupada knew

his heart, he surrendered himself at his lotus feet

and soon became Prabhupada's initiated disciple.

 

In 1975, at the opening of ISKCON's Sri Sri

Krishna-Balaram mandira in Vrindavan, Srila Prabhupada

awarded him the sannyasa order, sending him to preach

in Orissa and to construct a temple on the newly

donated property in Bhubaneswar.

 

The donated land was a jungle full of mosquitoes,

snakes and scorpions. It was so far from the city

center that even during the daytime people were afraid

to visit. Meditating on the desire of Srila

Prabhupada, Gour Govinda Swami worked with unwavering

determination. Sometimes residing in the storeroom of

a tea dealer and even sometimes sharing a small hut

with road construction workers, he began translating

Srila Prabhupada's books into Oriya as he had been

instructed. He would visit house after house, office

after office, in and around Bhubaneswar to collect

some small donations, and he constructed with his own

hands a thatched hut on the donated property.

 

In early 1977 Srila Prabhupada came to Bhubaneswar.

Although the arrangement had been made for him to stay

comfortably in the State Guesthouse, Srila Prabhupada

at once rejected this proposal, "I will only stay

where my disciple child Gour Govinda has built a mud

hut for me." Srila Prabhupada stayed in Bhubaneswar

for seventeen days, during which time he started

translation work on the tenth canto of Srimad

Bhagavatam. On the auspicious occasion of Lord

Nityananda's appearance day he laid the foundation

stone of the temple-to-be, his last-founded project.

 

During a visit to Mayapur in 1979, Gour Govinda Swami

was attending kirtana one day when he fell to the

ground unconscious. He was carried back to his room

followed by several ISKCON leaders and other concerned

devotees.

 

Doctors came to examine him but were unable to

diagnose the cause of his condition. One person even

suggested that he may have been possessed by a ghost.

Finally, Akinchana Krishnadas Babaji Maharaja, a

godbrother of Srila Prabhupada, explained that Gour

Govinda Swami was manifesting the symptoms of bhava,

the advanced stage of ecstatic love of God.

 

When he returned to Bhubaneswar he became even more

absorbed in the mission of his spiritual master. Some

western devotees had been sent there to assist him,

but most of them could not tolerate the austere

conditions.

 

They were amazed to see how he was never disturbed,

how he would eat only once a day, and how he would

never sleep. He would simply preach, chant, and write

in his notebooks both day and night.

 

Following Srila Prabhupada's order, Gour Govinda

Maharaja preached vigorously all over the land of

Orissa. The simple pada-yatra festivals and nama-hatta

programs that he started have helped hundreds and

thousands of people in the ancient land of Lord

Chaitanya's pastimes discover their spiritual roots

and take up the chanting of the maha-mantra:

 

hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare

hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

 

Srila Prabhupada gave Gour Govinda Swami three

principal instructions: to translate his books from

English into Oriya, to build the temple in

Bhubaneswar, and to preach all over the world.

Carrying out these instructions was Gour Govinda

Swami's life and soul. He had a strict policy of not

eating until he had completed his quota of translation

for the day.

 

Devotees would be struck to see how even after

undergoing long international flights Gour Govinda

Swami would always insist upon first doing the

translation work given him by his spiritual master

before he would eat or sleep. This was a practice he

maintained up to his very last day.

 

In 1985 Srila Gour Govinda Swami first traveled

overseas for preaching.

 

He had so much enthusiasm for speaking krishna-katha

that he continued this every year for the following

eleven years, despite a crippling leg injury and great

personal inconvenience.

 

Although he was always very meek and humble in his

personal dealings, in his classes on Srimad Bhagavatam

he would roar like a lion, smashing the pride and

cutting the misconceptions from the hearts of his

listeners.

 

Krsna-katha was his life and soul. He would often say,

"The day that goes by without krsna-katha, that is a

very bad day." In the course of his lecturing he would

inevitably burst into song, nourishing everyone with

the devotional sentiments of joy, humility and

surrender as expressed in the prayers of Srila

Bhaktivinode Thakur and other acaryas.

 

Gour Govinda Swami's knowledge of scripture was

formidable. He would substantiate everything he said

with evidence from all over the Vedic literature.

Sometimes he would question a disciple and if the

disciple could not answer with reference to the

scriptures he would immediately exclaim, "He is a

cheater! Don't be a crooked person. A vaisnava quotes

authority."

 

In this way Gour Govinda Swami always preached

fearlessly, never compromising the conclusions of the

scripture in the name of being practical. "One who

cannot see Krishna," he would say, "is a blind man. He

may speak about Krishna, but in his mind he is

speculating. Therefore his words will never be

effective. A real sadhu never speaks theoretically."

 

Gour Govinda Maharaja always kept a diary, making

daily entries without fail. Each entry would conclude

in the same way: "Whatever service this servant has

performed today, Gopal knows." Every day he would pray

to Gopal in his diary, "Please give me the association

of like-minded devotees."

 

In 1991, on Rama Navami, the auspicious appearance day

of Lord Ramachandra, after sixteen years of determined

endeavor, Gour Govinda Maharaja fulfilled the

instruction of his beloved spiritual master Srila

Prabhupada by opening the magnificent Sri Sri

Krishna-Balaram temple in Bhubaneswar. Since that time

the Sri Sri Krishna-Balaram mandira has grown into a

flourishing project that every year attracts hundreds

of thousands of visitors.

 

He never gave up his simple lifestyle. Until his last

days he continued to live in the small mud hut next to

the one he had built for Srila Prabhupada in 1977.

Several times he was requested by devotees to expand

his managerial responsibilities, but he always

refused, saying, "I am not a manager, I am a

preacher." However, when the land in Gadeigiri, where

he spent his childhood and where his beloved Gopal

resided in a simple structure, was donated to ISKCON,

he did take up the responsibility of one more project,

that of building Gopal a magnificent temple.

 

Gour Govinda Swami said, "I have opened a 'crying

school' here in Bhubaneswar. Unless we cry for

Krishna, we cannot get His mercy." This was the

message he preached so vigorously all over the world

during the last ten years of his manifest pastimes.

 

In late January, 1996, he mentioned, "Srila

Bhaktisiddhanta said that this material world is not a

fit place for any gentleman. Therefore, because he was

disgusted, he left this world prematurely. I may also

leave. I don't know. Let me ask Gopal. I will do

whatever He wants." The next day Gour Govinda Swami

went to Gadeigiri to see his Gopal. After returning,

for the next four days he preached more powerfully

than ever to thousands of people who flocked to the

Prabhupada Centennial festival in Bhubaneswar. Then he

left for the annual ISKCON management meetings in

Sridham Mayapur.

 

On 9 February 1996, the holy appearance day of Srila

Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, two senior ISKCON

devotees requested an appointment in the early evening

to see Gour Govinda Maharaja. They had never spoken

personally with him before but had become very eager

to hear from him after reading some of his books. They

inquired, "Why did Chaitanya Mahaprabhu stay in

Jagannath Puri?" Delighted by their question, he began

to explain the confidential significance of

Mahaprabhu's pastimes in Puri. He lovingly described

the pain of separation felt by Radha and Krishna when

Krishna was away from Vrindavan. This moving pastime

appears in chapter eight of The Embankment of

Separation. Enchanting all the devotees in his room

with the nectarean topics of Krishna, he gradually

unfolded the pastime to the point where Radha and

Krishna were finally united after Their long

separation. He described how Krishna became so

ecstatic upon seeing Radharani that He manifested a

form with big round eyes and shrunken limbs, Lord

Jagannath. At that time the devotees noticed that

tears had come to his eyes and his voice had become

choked up. Barely audibly, he said, "Then the eyes of

Krishna fell upon the eyes of Radharani. Eye-to-eye

union." Unable to continue, he apologized with folded

hands, "Please excuse me. I cannot speak." He then

gave his final instruction: "Kirtana! Kirtana!" The

devotees present began to chant as their spiritual

master calmly lay back on his bed, breathing slowly

and deeply. A servant placed a picture of Gopal Jiu in

his hand.

 

Then, gazing lovingly at that picture of his

worshipable Deity, Gour Govinda Swami called out,

"Gopal!" and departed for the spiritual sky to be

united with his beloved Lord.

 

Every day before Srimad Bhagavatam class, Gour Govinda

Swami would sing an Orissan song he had learned as a

boy. Now his prayer was fulfilled:

 

paramananda he madhava

padungaluci makaranda

 

se-makaranda pana-kari

anande bolo 'hari hari'

 

harinka name vanda vela

pari karibe caka-dola

 

se-caka-dolanka-payare

mana-mo rahu nirantare

 

mana mo nirantare rahu

'ha-krsna' boli jiva jau

 

ha-krsna boli jau jiva

mote udhara radha-dhava

 

mote udhara radha-dhava

mote udhara radha-dhava

 

"O supremely blissful Madhava! The nectar is coming

from Your lotus feet. Drinking that nectar, I

blissfully sing 'Hari! Hari!' Taking the name of Hari,

I am binding a raft on which Lord Jagannath will ferry

me across this ocean of material existence. May my

mind always remain at the lotus feet of that Lord

Jagannath who has very large round eyes. In this way,

I call out, 'Alas! Krishna!' and give up my life. O

husband of Radharani, please deliver me."

(Text PAMHO:7824110) ------

 

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