"Krishna sent him" (Srila Prabhupada's

comment on his disciple Srila Gour Govinda

Swami.)
Here is a summary biography of Srila Gour Govinda Swami
Maharaja
(compiled using material from the Tattva Vichar Publications official
biography "Krsnalingita Vigraha", and from the websites
iskconbbsr.org & srilagourgovindaswami.org)

Srila Gour Govinda Swami, Bhaktivedanta Manor

Early life
Bauri Giris 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 Gopals 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 September 1929 was later to be known as
Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja.
Being married did not detract from Pata Devi's 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 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 with her husband and her son
Braja Bandhu. After parikrama she would recite from the
Srimad Bhagavatam. Any beggar or sadhu that came to her
house never went away empty-handed.
His mother and father were very fond of studying and
reading the scriptures. They would regularly read to their
son. Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja recalls, I 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. 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.
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 uncles house in

Gadeigiri. Pata Devi took her son to the astrologer, desiring
to know something about his future. The astrologer said,
This 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's 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.
Attachment to the Bhagavatam
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. His old
friend Fakir Charan Das recounts:
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

mothers cooing fire and read Srimad Bhagavatam. At night

he would go to sleep clutching the Bhagavatam to his
chest.
From 1942 to 1945 Braja Bandhu stayed in Gadeigiri with
his maternal uncles Gopinath and Jagannatha Giri and he
attended high school in nearby Balikuda.
Although Braja Bandhu often engaged in kirtana 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 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 with
his uncles or in rendering various services to Gopal. Braja
Bandhu would clean Gopal's temple, pick flowers for His
worship, make garlands, and recite verses and songs for
Gopal's 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's worship. Braja
Bandhu would come and together they would perform
kirtana and render service to Gopal. Damodara Giri was a
good singer and was expert in kirtana. He was working in
Bengal, but whenever he got the opportunity he would
come to Gopal to perform kirtana. These three,
Ghanashyam Giri, Damodar Giri and Braja Bandhu often
sat together and performed kirtana.

Household Life
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.
Braja Bandhus father passed away in 1955, and as the
eldest son he was responsible for maintaining the family.
Owing to financial constraints he could not enrol formally in
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.
During the course of the next nineteen years Braja Bandhu
and Vasanti Devi had four sons and three daughters.

Despite many family responsibilities, Braja Bandhus

devotion to Gopal never slackened. He would rise daily at
3.30 am, chant the hare krsna maha-mantra, worship
Tulasi, and speak to his family from 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(holy
places) and ashrams, and he would sometimes engage in
philosophical debates with the mayavadis (impersonalists)
he found there.
Please Give Me Prema
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 By the mercy of Prabhu Gopal, this
day was spent thus. . . The diary entries would end with a
prayer to Gopal, Please give me prema-bhakti, ecstatic
love of God.
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.
Leaving Home Gour Gopal
Out of respect to his mother, he spent twenty-two years in
household life. At the age of forty-five, on 10th April 1974, at
the end of the school year, 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.
Leaving the school, he went home. He did not say anything

to his family, but he packed his Bhagavad-gita, two

gamchas, 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.
Leaving his old life behind, Braja Bandhu took on a new
name, Gour Gopalananda. Gour for Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu, who is also known as Lord Gouranga, and
Gopal after his beloved childhood deity.
Receiving Gopal's blessings, Gour Gopalananda left
Gadeigiri 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
he met, eating whatever Krishna would provide and
sleeping under any tree at night.
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 Krishnas own Dhama,
Mathura Vrndavana, the Lord must surely fulfil his desires.
Vrndavana and Srila Prabhupada
Not having any money for the train ticket, Gour
Gopalananda convinced the ticket collector to allow him
free passage to Mathura. This was in August & September
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 didnt have a sikha the
devotees mistook him for a mayavadi sannyasi and kicked

him out.
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 societys magazine, Back to Godhead. 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 Prabhupadas secretary
saw his matted hair, beard, and torn cloth he was reluctant
to allow him in.
The first meeting with Srila Prabhupada in Sri Vrndavan
Dham can best be told in his own words: "It 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 one sadhu has come, he wants to meet you. I
was putting on that saffron dress, gamcha so I was looking
like a wandering sadhu, looking like!
It was paramatma's prompting, Krsna's arrangement.
Prabhupada said, "Yes, call him, call him." So I went in and
paid dandavat, he looked at me and enquired, "Who are
you? What is your name?" "Gour Gopalananda dasa." He
looked at me and said, "O, have you taken sannyasa?" He
asked me from his side. I said, "No." "Then I'll give you
sannyas!" I immediately knew, "Oh, it's paramatma; what I
am looking for now, it is here. Yes, I have gotten now. I have
gotten now." You see this is Krsna's arrangement. How we
can find our Guru? What is your inside, he'll speak, you
see. Only two or three questions he asked. I immediately
surrendered! I immediately said, yes!
Hearing about Gour Gopal's academic ability, Srila

Prabhupada requested him to translate one of his articles

from the Back to Godhead magazine into Hindi. Srila
Prabhupada appreciated the work and ordered him to
translate more. Gour Gopal then translated Srila
Prabhupadas first book, Easy Journey to Other Planets,
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 (20 April 1975) on the occasion of the grand
opening of Sri Sri Krsna Balaram Mandir, in Sri Vrndavan
Dham, Srila Prabhupada awarded sannyasa to Gour
Govinda Swami.

Gour Govinda Swami

Srila Gour Govinda Swami's first initiation in Mayapur, 1974,
Srila Prabhupada had told him, You will take me to Orissa!
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's order, Srila Gour Govinda Swami singlehandedly underwent extreme hardships to begin a
magnificent temple in Bhubaneswar.
In February, 1977, the year of Srila Prabhupada's 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's dictaphone machine.
Srila Prabhupada was giving lecture every day and meeting
so many people. He insisted, whoever comes must be fed
prasadam. "I had no money and thousands of people were
coming every day, how can it be done? Miraculously, all
were fed. So much cooking was there. Where the money
came from I couldn't think of. Every morning devotees were
coming, "Gour Govinda, give money! This purchase will be
there!" "Alright, wait, wait, let me go out and see
somewhere for donation. So many miricles, all miracles.
How it was done I cannot think of!"

Srila Prabhupada in Bhubaneswar January 1977

Instructions of Srila Prabhupada

Srila Gour Govinda Swami recalls, "Srila Prabhupada would
go out every day for morning walks and we would go with
him. So many talks come up.

Some devotees said, "No, we won't 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." Prabhupada insisted, "No,
we want to construct a temple here!." 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!
In a whispering voice he said, "Gour Govinda they are
objecting to build the temple here, they want it in Puri, but I
said, No! 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." I said, "I don't want to be head, I went to be
tail." Srila Prabhupada replied, "I want!" "Alright!" I know
that to become head means so many beatings will come.
Prabhupada said, "I want!" When you want, I should accept
all these head beatings. Alright very good. It is pleasing to
my Guru."
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 pysical departure.
The next year in Sri Mayapur Dhama during a temple
festival, Srila Gour Govinda Swami exhibited the symptoms
of bhava, love of Krishna. This was confirmed at the time by
Srila Prabhupadas 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.

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.
Following Srila Prabhupadas 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 mahamantra:
hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare, hare rama
hare rama rama rama hare hare.
Acting on the instruction of his spiritual master, Srila Gour
Govinda Swami began going overseas for preaching in
1985. Despite a crippling leg injury, he continued this
service for the following eleven years. Srila Gour Govinda
Swami was famous for his strong preaching and knowledge
of the scriptures. He would substantiate everything he said
with evidence from the Vedic literature.
Sri Sri Krishna Balarama Temple
In 1991, on Nityananda Trayodasi, the auspicious
appearance day of Lord Nityananda Prabhu, after sixteen

years of determined endeavour, Srila Prabhupada's last

founded project, Sri Sri Krishna Balarama Mandir was
completed. The magnificent Sri Sri Krishna Balarama
Temple and guest house was built solely with the
determined efforts of Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja.
However he himself, with complete humility and simplicity,
continued to stay in a portion of the mud hut that he had
built for Srila Prabhupada in 1977.
Srila Prabhupada is worshiped in his bhajan-kutir with full
dedication and devotion. Srila Prabhupada had said, "This
shall be one of the best ISKCON temples in the world," and
that "I will build a temple like Jagannatha Temple because
Jagannatha will come, the western devotees are not
allowed there. That type of temple I will build there in
Bhubaneswar.
In the beginning, the Temple property was located in such a
remote area of Bhubaneswar with wild animals and dacoits,
that rickshaw wallas would not even go out to the area; but
now it has become the centre of Bhubaneswar city, just as
Srila Prabhupada had predicted, with many thousands of
people visiting the temple and its wonderful festivals
(including Ratha yatra) every year.
During the festival for the auspicious day of Lord
Nityananda's Appearance day in 1991, the deities of Sri Sri
Krsna Balarama, Sri Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva and
Subhudra Mai and Sri Sri Gaura Nitai were installed on the
three alters in the magnificent temple. Thousands of
devotees from Orissa and around the world attended this
great festival.
Srila Prabhupada had said that he would come for the
opening of the Sri Sri Krsna Balaram Mandir. He appeared
during the festival installed in his murti form in the main

temple to be present for the auspicious opening. Srila Gour

Govinda Swami mentioned many times that Srila
Prabhupada had deposited all his mercy here in this his last
founded project.
In 1995, a beautiful lotus temple was built next to Sri Sri
Krsna Balaram Mandir and deities of Sri Sri Radha
Gopinatha were installed. Many more projects were
underway at the time including a beautiful temple for Srila
Gour Govinda Swami's beloved ista-devita Sri Sri Radha
Gopaljiu in Gadei Giri. A large temple and farm project in
the city of Berhampur, Orissa. The renovation of the famous
Sri Alarnath temple in Brahmagiri near Puri and the
reforestation project for Lord Jagannatha in Puri to name a
few. Srila Prabhupada's books were being translated into
Oriya and printed now onsite at the Bhubaneswar BBT
printing press.
Radha Gopaljiu Temple
Ghanashyam Giris father, Gopinath Giri, departed this
world in 1964. From 1964 until 1992 Ghanashyam Giri was
entrusted with serving Gopal. He worked very hard to make
Gopal happy, but after some time he found that there was
very little help.
Concerned about how Gopal's service could be maintained,
he remembered his cousin-brother Braja Bandhu Manik
who had become a sannyasi-guru in ISKCON and was now
known as Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja.
Ghanashyam Giri thought that since Srila Gour Govinda
Swami had so much devotion for Gopal he would be the
appropriate person to whom to pass on the service of
Gopal.
In the meantime, Srila Gour Govinda Swami was regularly

coming to Gadeigiri for darsana. Before and after traveling

abroad for his preaching tours he would always go to seek
the blessings of Gopal. In 1989 Srila Gour Govinda Swami
began bringing devotees from the ISKCON temple in
Bhubaneswar to Gadeigiri to celebrate Radhastami, the
appearance festival of Srimati Radharani. This developed
into a grand festival of Kirtana , lectures and prasadam, and
many of the local villagers would enthusiastically
participate.
Again, Ghanashyam Giri decided to give Gopal to Srila
Gour Govinda Swami. They discussed the matter and Srila
Gour Govinda Swami immediately accepted Gopal and the
property, and on 15 November 1993 he recorded everything
in the name of ISKCON, the institution of his spiritual
master. Srila Gour Govinda Swami then sent two disciples
to Gadeigiri. They arranged to fix the broken temple building
and made nice arrangements for Gopal's worship. The
existing temple for Gopal was very small and simple. Now
that Gopal was under his care, Srila Gour Govinda Swami
wanted to build something nice for Gopal. He was very
eager to see the work begin. On January 17, 1994 Srila
Gour Govinda Swami laid the foundation stone for Gopal's
new temple and he installed a deity of Ananta Sesha.
Disappearance
Lord Caitanya said to Srila Ramananda Raya and Svarupa
Damodara Goswami: Love of Godhead, devoid of cheating
propensities, is not possible within this material world. If
there is such a love, there cannot be separation, for if there
is separation, how can one live. (Cc. Madhya, 2.42)
In January 1996, Srila Gour Govinda Swami delayed on his
annual trip to Sri Mayapur Dham for Iskcons annual GBC
meetings, due to the Srila Prabhupada Centennial

celebrations in Orissa. He commented at the time that,

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupadji Maharaja 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 dont know. Let me ask
Gopal. I will do whatever He wants.
The next day he went to Gadeigiri to see Gopal. After
returning, for the next four days he lectured before
thousands of people at the Prahupada Centennial festival
(Hare Krishna Utsava) in Bhubaneswar. Then he left for the
annual ISKCON management meetings in Sridham
Mayapur.
In Mayapur on the 9th February 1996 (Govinda Krsna
Pancami), the holy appearance day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Saraswati Thakur, two senior ISKCON devotees requested
an appointment in the early evening to see Srila Gour
Govinda Maharaja. They inquired, Why did Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu stay in Jagannatha Puri?
He enthusiastically began to explain the confidential
significance of Mahaprabhus pastimes in Puri. He
described the pains of separation felt by Radha and Krishna
when Krishna was away from Vrindavan. 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 Jagannatha).
At that time the devotees noticed that tears had come to his
eyes and his voice had become choked up. Barely audible,
he said, ...after a long separation Krsna came back to
Vrajabhumi and then the eyes of Krsna fell on the eyes of
Srimati Radharani - Eye to Eye union. Unable to continue,

he apologized with folded hands, Please excuse me. I

cannot speak. Overwhelmed with ecstatic love and
unbearable separation from Srimati Radhika and
Syamasundara, he could speak no more and gave his final
instruction: Nama koro! Nama koro!
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