The Fourth Dimension

Chapter Fourteen

Here it Is Completely Different

Çréla Gour Govinda Swami: Bhägavata däsa and myself were still collecting donations. Then I translated ‘Kåñëa Consciousness, the Topmost Yoga System’; that is the first book I published and it was printed in Calcutta. At that time, we had no press, and we were distributing the book in Bhubaneswar, Puré, wherever. Bhägavata and myself were selling that book. Then Laguòé also came while Bhägavata was there.

I Accepted Him the Same as I Accepted Śrīla Prabhupāda

Laguòé däsa arrived in Bhubaneswar in August 1977. He came because an Australian devotee named Sanjayata däsa sent him a letter telling him to leave where he was and come to Bhubaneswar. Laguòé said, “He wrote me a nice letter and introduced me to Gour Govinda Swami. He wrote, ‘He is a nice swami. Here it is completely different; if you come here you will never want to go back to Australia.’ I believed him, and I came. Bhägavata däsa was there, an American devotee.

A lwAys E mbr A c E d by K åñë A

He was the president. I had heard about Gour Govinda Swami in Mäyäpura.” Laguòé däsa was intending to join Lokanätha Swami on the bullock cart party, but he had missed him. Then Sanjayata called him to Bhubaneswar. Laguòé said of Gour Govinda Swami, “My first impression was that I knew he was a special personality. I accepted him the same as I accepted Çréla Prabhupäda.” On his arrival in Bhubaneswar, Bhägavata däsa, the President, said to him, “Laguòé, we do not have anyone collecting donations. Devotees come and go, so you should go to Forest Park Road, where the banks are, and chant and collect donations.”

Laguòé däsa: There are many banks there; all the Indian banks are on one road. We had books, and recordings of Çréla Prabhupäda; we would go door to door, to the ministers, secretaries, banks. Every day we would collect one hundred rupees.

Laguòé would stand in the hot sun, playing karatälas and chanting Hare Kåñëa from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. in front of a tall building, or he would go to the market or other places and collect donations. When he returned to the ISKCON land, he would offer everything he had collected to Çréla Gour Govinda Mahäräja. Laguòé däsa would sell books. He sold them to anyone and everyone. One person he sold books to was the governor, a Mr. Sharma. This Mr. Sharma liked Çréla Prabhupäda, he liked Çréla Gour Govinda Mahäräja and he liked Laguòé däsa. He promised to donate land.