Śrīla Gour Govinda Mahārāja Was Always Translating

A lwAys E mbr A c E d by K åñë A

This determination is the fixed steadiness of the mind you should have. This is unalloyed devotion, real love, affection and attachment for Kåñëa. Without this determination how can you have the mercy of Kåñëa?”9

Bhagavat dāsa (now BV Bhagavat Mahäräja): At that time, we were preparing to install the Ananta Çeña Deity for the new temple to be constructed in Bhubaneswar. I remember Gour Govinda Mahäräja would go into the room with Prabhupäda, and they would sit for a long time and talk about many things. Prabhupäda was giving him special instructions. Actually, there was nothing here, only a mud hut. You could look for miles in every direction and there was just vacant land. All these big GBCs and Mahäräjas, who came to be with Prabhupäda, were saying to him, “This place is useless. It is just a mud hut in the middle of the desert. There is nothing here. We should simply close this down and build something in Puré. Why are we wasting our time and money here?” Prabhupäda looked at them and shook his head, and said, “You do not understand. Someday, this temple will be in the centre of the city and it will be one of the most important temples in our whole movement.”

A Small Island of Dust Surrounded by Jungle

The fact of the matter was that the Bhubaneswar land (the ISKCON Project) was a small island of dust surrounded by jungle, not forest but jungle. In this jungle wild animals would roam about freely. It did not matter which direction you looked there was nothing. So, Çréla Prabhupäda had sent one lone warrior, one lone sädhu, Çréla Gour Govinda Swami, to tame the wilds of Orissa, Bhubaneswar, Nayapalli and build that temple. A project that nearly everyone said could not be completed. A place some of Çréla Prabhupäda’s so called, senior men, stated was of no value at all.