Kṛṣṇa Sent Him

C hapter 3 O n the I sk CO n L and I n B hu B aneswar

Mr. Mishra, his colleague, who knew that he had visited many spiritual leaders, introduced him to Çréla Gour Govinda Swami. Mr. Mishra knew what Srutidhar desired; therefore, when Çréla Gour Govinda Swami paid a visit to the D.P.I Office, he introduced them to each other. He knew the great spiritual strength of Çréla Gour Govinda Swami, so he said to Srutidhar, “Since you are so anxious to meet a great saintly person, and since such a person has just come to the D.P.I. office, I will take you to him. He was my former teacher and that is how I know of his greatness.”

Çacinandana däsa: “When I first met Gurudeva I was very much inspired at the first sight of him. I found him to be very innocent, and his explanation of Kåñëa consciousness was without any contamination. I was immediately inspired by his expression and his appearance, because he was very straightforward and he spoke directly from çästra. He narrated to me the eternal knowledge given in the scriptures and very much insisted that we should depend on what the Supreme Lord Himself has said (tattva-vicära)* rather than listening to what others had to say, which could be merely speculation (apara-vicära)** . I also remember that he further explained to me that we should accept the path that descends from the Supreme Lord Himself (avaroha-panthä)***. This is what he said to me on the first meeting. Then I tried to find out where this saint was residing. I was told that he was living close to the temple of Ananta Väsudeva. I had a bicycle then and went to the area but I could not find him. Then I was told he was not there and had gone to another place called Brahmeshwar Patna. Hence, I went to this place and there I found Çréla Gurudeva, Gour Govinda Swami.”

* The absolute consideration. **The apparent consideration. ***Avaroha-panthä means receiving knowledge from bona fide spiritual authority. Whereas äroha-panthä means “I shall understand God by my own knowledge.”

A lwAys E mbr A c E d by K åñë A

At every opportunity, Çréla Gour Govinda Swami preached to whomever he met and would encourage them to take up the path of bhakti (Kåñëa consciousness). His words inspired this young man at the D.P.I. Office. Çréla Gour Govinda Swami was living temporarily in the store room of the proprietor of the Krishna Tea House. When he arrived there, Srutidhar was told that he had gone to the Ananta Vasudeva Mandir for prasäda, so he set off for that place, and while Çréla Gour Govinda Swami was returning from there, Srutidhar met up with him.

Çacinandana däsa: It was very, very interesting meeting him again. I found out from him that he had to come back to the D.P.I. office. So, when he visited the office for the second time, I had the chance to see him again.

Srutidhar remembered, that after that second meeting, as he and Çréla Gurudeva were walking back to the Bhubaneswar bus stand through a field known as the Secretariat Ground, Çréla Gurudeva was talking to him and gave an example in regard to the sun-god, the sun planet and the sunshine. This example was in regards to the realisation of Brahman, Paramätmä and Bhagavän Çré Kåñëa. This example of the three levels of God realisation impressed Srutidhar greatly.

Çachinandana däsa: Well, as I saw him, I noticed that Çréla Gurudeva had no other interest than to serve the cause of his spiritual master, Çréla Prabhupäda, and Kåñëa. The third meeting that I had with him was during the same month, at Brahmeswar Patna, where he was residing at the time; it is in Bhubaneswar, some twelve to thirteen kilometres from the Nayapalli village. It is towards Puré, in an easterly direction.

C hapter 3 O n the I sk CO n L and I n B hu B aneswar

Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Two Instructions

Çréla Gour Govinda Swami was not yet living on the donated plot of land at this time. This is an interesting incident, which shows the depth of devotion that he held towards his spiritual master. When Srutidhar met him for the third time, he wanted to know the reason for his coming to Bhubaneswar and asked him. He answered, “I have only come to serve the wish of my Gurudeva.” Srutidhar asked him, “Who is your Gurudeva?” Çréla Gour Govinda Swami told him about Çréla Prabhupäda and described his greatness to him. Then Srutidhar wanted to know what exactly was his Gurudeva’s wish, and he told him, “Çréla Prabhupäda has instructed me to come to Bhubaneswar and to build a temple on a piece of land at Nayapalli, which was donated to him by Srimati Kanungo, the daughter-in-law of the former Governor of Bihar State, Mr.Nityananda Kanungo.” He had also said to Srutidhar that the other wish and instruction of Çréla Prabhupäda to him was that he should translate Çréla Prabhupäda’s books into Oriya. Since he first met him, Srutidhar found that Çréla Gour Govinda Swami was exclusively engaged in these two instructions of his spiritual master.

How can you Imagine to Build a Temple Here?

On another occasion, Srutidhar had put this question to him: “How do you imagine that a temple will develop on this site that is so far away and is just like a jungle?” Çréla Gour Govinda Swami just smiled and answered, “Srutidhar, do not be surprised that crores of rupees will be invested to make a very nice temple here. Lakñmé-devé, who is the controller of all wealth, is a sincere servitor of Lord Kåñëa; therefore, for Kåñëa’s

A lwAys E mbr A c E d by K åñë A

temple and the desire of His pure devotee, Çréla Prabhupäda, money will not be a problem to build this temple.”

The Preaching Begins

Çréla Gurudeva wanted to print a receipt book, showing that the donations he was collecting were for the purpose of establishing a temple at the ISKCON land, at Nayapalli. Srutidhar was a student at that time and he was also working part time, thus he invested what he had, and a receipt book was printed so that donations could be collected. Daily, by 6:00 a.m. Çréla Gurudeva would set out on foot to distribute a small leaflet with the holy name, which he had printed himself. He would visit house after house, office after office, business after business in and around Bhubaneswar, sometimes walking, sometimes riding on the carriage rack of Srutidhar’s bicycle. Once a day he would take prasäda at the ancient temple of Ananta Väsudeva. After his return by 9:00 p.m., he would translate Çréla Prabhupäda’s books into the Oriya language. The translation work would continue until midnight, after which he would rest for barely two hours, and rise again at 2:00 a.m. to begin his chanting and writing. On some occasions Srutidhar would spend the night with him. At six o’clock Gurudeva would wake him up, calling out, “How long will you sleep in the lap of mäyä? Rise and chant Hare Kåñëa!” Srutidhar would reply, “Sir, just kindly let me sleep half an hour more.”

The Move Close to the Land

Çacinandana däsa: Then once he told me, “Srutidhar, it is difficult to develop the temple project remaining at such a long distance (Brahmeswar Patna) from it. Therefore, if you can find out a place closer to it, that would be very good.”

C hapter 3 O n the I sk CO n L and I n B hu B aneswar

Çréla Gurudeva was constantly thinking that he must get closer to the land in Nayapalli and build a cottage.

To find a place closer to the donated property, Çréla Gour Govinda Swami and Srutidhar decided to approach the Nayapalli village leaders. One of Srutidhar’s relatives lived there, his uncle, Vasudeva Das. When they arrived, all the village leaders of Nayapalli had gathered together, and were discussing problems the village was facing. Srutidhar waited for the opportunity to introduce all of them, and particularly his relative Vasudeva Das, to Çréla Gour Govinda Swami. There were two other gentlemen present, Digambar Pattanaik and Choudhury Jagannatha Prasada, who later became disciples of Çréla Prabhupäda. Srutidhar introduced Çréla Gour Govinda Swami to them as a disciple of Çréla Prabhupäda and that a temple was to be built across the road. Digambar Pattanaik expressed his joy: “Yes, yes, we will help. It is not every day that a sädhu comes to your place of residence and explains his mission to build a temple directly across the road from where you are living.” They were very happy to help.*

The Glories of Sādhu Saṅga

The glories of sädhu-saìga are mentioned in the Ädi Puräëa as follows:

ye me bhakta-janäù pärtha na me bhaktäç ca te janäù

* Author’s note: Please bear in mind, that all the preaching that you see in Orissa up to now (2021), was all made possible by Çréla Gour Govinda Swami. He laid the foundation for all ISKCON Orissa preaching. Between the years of 1975 to 1996, almost twenty-one years of work under very extreme conditions. Plus, Çréla Gour Govinda Swami also embarked on more than twenty-three international preaching tours during the latter part of this time period, to present the glorious siddhänta of Lord Caitanya.

A lwAys E mbr A c E d by K åñë A

mad-bhaktänäà ca ye bhaktäs te me bhakta-tamä matäù

“O Partha, those who claim to be My devotees are actually not My devotees, but those who are the devotees of My devotees are actually My devotees.”

Regarding the need to associate with devotees, it is said:

darçana sparçanäläpa sahaväsädibhiù kñaëät bhaktäù punanti kåñëasya säkñäd api ca pukkaçam

“Even an outcaste becomes completely pure by seeing, touching, conversing with, or living with Kåñëa’s devotee for even a moment.” 11

sarva-desa-käla-daçäya janera kartavya guru-päçe sei bhakti prañöavya, çrotavya

“It is therefore the duty of every man—in every country, in every circumstance and at all times—to approach the bona fide spiritual master, question him about devotional service and listen to him explain the process.” 12

“…In Caitanya-caritämåta [Madhya-lélä 22.83] Lord Caitanya says that sädhu-saìga, the association of a great saintly person, is very important, because even if one is not advanced in knowledge, simply by association with a great saintly person one can immediately make considerable advancement in spiritual life… 13