A Life of Loving Devotion

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Instructions of Srila Prabhupada

Srila Prabhupada told him, “You will take me to Orissa.” Orissa is the Holy place where Lord Caitanya performed His most confidential pastimes. Also, Bhubaneswar is the gateway to Sri Jagannatha Puri. Under Srila Prabhupada's order, Srila Gour Govinda Swami single-handedly underwent extreme hardships to begin the creation of a magnificent temple. In February, 1977, the year of Srila Prabhupada's physical disappearance pastime, at his own insistence, Srila Prabhupada refused to stay in a government guesthouse and spent 17 days in the mud hut personally built for him by Srila Gour Govinda Swami. By the order of Srila Prabhupada, his intimate private instructions to Sri Gour Govinda Swami during those 17 days were kept confidential. No tape recordings were permitted. In perfect humility Srila Gour Govinda Swami disclosed to Srila Prabhupada that he desired to be the tail (follower) but Srila Prabhupada ordered him to be the head (leader).

Preaching - His Life and Soul

A few years after Srila Prabhupada's disappearance, in Sri Mayapur he manifested extreme ecstatic conditions. (For details of these pastimes please read chapter 32 of Krsnalingita-vigraha) Then he returned to Bhubaneswar with more intensity to fulfill the order of Srila Prabhupada. While other devotees who were told to assist left Bhubaneswar due to extreme austere conditions, he remained determined, and went through extreme hardships to fulfill the mission and instructions of Srila Prabhupada. He would sleep 2-3 hours a day, eat only once, and then go door-to-door preaching the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The rest of the time, he would spend translating Srila Prabhupada's books into Oriya.