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Govinda Ghosh Disappearance
→ Ramai Swami

Krsna dasa Kaviraja Goswami writes (CC Adi 10.115): “The three brothers, Govinda, Madhava, and Vasudeva were the eighty-second, eighty-third, and eighty-fourth branches of the Caitanya tree. Lord Caitanya and Nityananda used to dance in their kirtana performances.

In his Caitanya-Caritamrta commentary, Srila Prabhupada writes: ”The three brothers, Govinda, Madhava and Vasudeva Ghosh all belonged to a kayastha family. Govinda established the Gopinatha temple in Agradvipa, where he resided.

Madhava Ghosh was expert in performing kirtana. No one within this world could compete with him. He was known as the singer of Vrndavana and was very dear to Nityananda Prabhu. It is said that when the three brothers performed sankirtana immediately Lord Caitanya and Nityananda Prabhu would dance in ecstasy.

According to the gaura-ganoddessa-dipika (188), the three brothers were formerly Kalavati, Rasollasa and Gunatunga, who recited the songs composed by Sri Visakha-gopi.

The three brothers were among one of the seven parties that performed kirtana when Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu attended the Rathayatra festival at Jagannatha Puri. Vakresvara Pandita was the chief dancer in their party.

This is vividly described in the Madhya-lila, Chapter Thirteen, verses 42 and 43 [of Caitanya-Caritamrta]”

Kaviraja Goswami further records (CC adi 10.117—118): “By the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, three devotees accompanied Lord Nityananda Prabhu when He returned to Bengal to preach. These three were Ramadasa, Madhava, and Vasudeva Ghosh.

Govinda Ghosh, however, remained with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and thus felt great satisfaction.”

It is said that Govinda Ghosh Thakura had no children. As he grew old, he was in some anxiety, worrying about who would perform his funeral ceremony and offer a sacrifice in his honour after his passing away.

One night in a dream Gopinatha, his Krsna Deity, came to him and said, “Do not worry, I shall perform the sacrificial offerings myself. Have no fear.”

Even to this day, every year on the anniversary of the passing away of Sri Govinda Ghosh Thakura, the Gopinatha Deity performs the sacrificial ceremonies in his honour. Sri Vasudeva Ghosh Thakura passed away on the second day of the full moon in the month of Kartika.

Giving disciples a vision
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 12 April 2020, Durban, South Africa, Vyasa-Puja Lecture)

In my youth, I came to Krsna consciousness and I had lots of energy and I used it all with a lot of enthusiasm to do many things. The focus was on doing things for Krsna – doing service. I tried to do a lot of service. In the cause of doing service, I did step on a few toes here and there. I did elbow a few people out of the way or knock them over. What shall I say? But these things were secondary to me because the things that needed to be done in devotional service were the most important. But as time progressed, I was not only responsible for doing things in devotional service but I became responsible for people doing things in devotional service. And I looked after them and together with them, I tried to get things done. As time moved along the focus shifted more and more to people and it became my service to look after people. Not even so much about them having to do this service or that service and getting some service done through them. No, now my service was just to look after people in general and how I could help them to realise their full potential.

Tamal Krsna Maharaja in that regards once said, “It is a duty of a spiritual master to give his disciples a vision about their own life which is greater than what they would have come up with on their own. And then to help the disciples to realise that potential.” So that was something I remembered instantly. As soon as he said it, I memorised it. It was that potent and impertinent. It summed up what I was supposed to be doing. Anyhow from doing things for Krsna, to looking after people who were doing things for Krsna and to looking after people for Krsna. All these things come up in devotional service and yes that mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu offers us a golden opportunity. We can take advantage in the service we do for this mission and in our personal behaviour and in our dealings with the vaisnavas, then surely we can go back to Godhead!

The article " Giving disciples a vision " was published on KKSBlog.

Dreaming of …Queen Kunti
→ Dandavats

“I was distributing on a sidewalk at an intersection in Barcelona, Spain. Every day I would try to stop the same young lady, but she would ignore me. One day I walked with her a few meters, pleading with her in a friendly way: “Come on! Just take one book!” Pointing to the Teachings of Queen Kunti I was holding, I said, “Here, please take the teachings of the queen!”

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