Approach a Sādhu Not to See but to Hear Him Śruta-īkṣita Pathaḥ

C hapter 14 h ere it i s C ompletely D ifferent

Mountains and Desert

Çré Çrémad Gour Govinda Mahäräja and Bhagavata däsa went to see that land, which was in Dhenkanal. It was not really what they were looking for. In fact, Çréla Gour Govinda Mahäräja remembers, “Mr. Sharma said, ‘There is a plot of land in Dhenkanal. If you want to take it, I will give it to you.’ We went there, Bhägavata and myself, and all we saw were mountains. Mountains and desert. It was an out-of-the-way place, where only ghosts are staying, so we said we would not take it.”

Sannyāsīs Would Come and ask for Milk and Halavā

Laguòé däsa: Gour Govinda Mahäräja would eat only plain food, once or maybe twice a day. Very simple prasäda, khicuåi. He never asked for sweets; he never demanded anything. I could tolerate it, but others could not live like this. Western devotees would come, sannyäsés would come, and they would ask for milk and halavä. We had no money. How could we live like people in the West? How could we prepare the same kind of feasts? The Western devotees could not keep up with Mahäräja’s austerities.

Çréla Gour Govinda Swami: Sometimes when it was too hot, Lagudi would sleep outside, but the noise of the trucks on the highway was too loud for him, so he would wrap a piece of cloth around his head and then put a pot over his head, and in this way he would sleep.

Laguòé däsa: I was in Bhubaneswar for eighteen months. There was Gour Govinda Mahäräja, Bhägavata and myself. There were many others, but they would come and go, a