Srila Bhakti Kamala Govinda Goswami
Srila Bhakti Kamal Govinda Goswami Maharaja was born on January 23, 1950 in the city of Barampur, Orisa-India, on the same day of the appearance of Vishnupriya, the consort of Sriman Mahaprabhu on the sacred day of Vasanta Pañchami . His birth name was Kishor Chandra das and he appeared in a family of the Vasistha-gotra lineage. His father, Budhiman das, was a prominent guru of the Sri Ramanandi Sampradaya, and his mother Jambhumati Devi was an exalted Vaishnava devotee .
Srila Govinda Maharaja appeared in Rajahmudri, which is the area on the banks of one of the seven major rivers of India; The Godavari River is the place where Ray Ramananda met Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This encounter is described in the book Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita. Srila Bhaki Kamal Govinda Maharaja personally claimed that he was born in this region of Jagannath Puri and that he is the person in charge of the Rajahmundry Math Temple, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Ashram. Aryapuram, Godavari (Andra Pradesh). It is this place Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu met Ray Ramananda. Everyone knows that Ramananda Samvada was the heart of Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayan Goswami Maharaja as it was the place where rasa-katha flowed .
In 1968, Srila Bhakti Kamal Govinda Goswami received initiation into the diksha mantras from his beloved spiritual master Srila Bhakti Vaibhav Puri Goswami Maharaja, a high disciple of Jagat Guru Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur. From his initiation until 1973 he led the life of a brahmachari in the Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mission temple. Between 1968 and 1971, Srila Kamal Govinda Goswami Maharaja had many meetings with Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the world famous founder of ISKCON. At that time Srila Bhaktivendanta Swami Prahbupada used to stay in the temples of Srila Bhakti Vaibhava Puri Goswami’s mission. Maharaja, and meetings with other exalted Vaishnava saints were common .
In 1985 during the Ratha Yatra festival in Puri, he accepted the renounced order from his spiritual uncle Srila Bhakti Jivan Janardan Goswami Maharaja (a noted disciple of Jagat Guru Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur). After accepting the order of resignation, Srila Bhakti Kamal Govinda Goswami Maharaja led the preaching of his spiritual master in various regions of India, being an expert in the English, Bengali, Hindi, Sanskrit and Telegu languages, while continuing to associate servile and lovingly with many with acharyas, sadhus, vaishnavas .
Srila Govinda Maharaja made his first preaching tour outside India in 1998, visiting several European countries. Srila Govinda Maharaja also arrived in South America in 2012 and 2013, strongly and lovingly nurturing the devotees from Brazil and the rest of the world who benefited from his association. Srila Govinda Maharaja used simple devotional language and emphasized devotion to Sri Sri Radha and Krishna and chanting of the Holy Names, association with devotees while avoiding offenses, and study of the scriptures of our predecessor Acharya Masters, at the same time. that never touched on issues of inter-institutional conflict, but rather focused on the preaching and unity of all missions.
In the sacred land of Vrindavan, Srila Govinda Goswami established a temple called Sri Sri Radha Rani Seva Sanstan, where devotees dedicated to the glories of Sri Radhikia’s service can perform their spiritual practices. In this temple Srila Govinda Maharaja offers opportunities of service to devotees, sadhus and pilgrims, through the distribution of sanctified food – prasadam ; Around a thousand dishes are offered weekly in the Vrindavan area thanks to the contributions of devotees from all over the world.
Srila Govinda Maharaja was writing a commentary on Srimad Bhagavatam for the strengthening of the devotional practices of his disciples and friends around the world. There he presented the essence of devotion to Sri Krishna in the Bhagavat line or also known as Bhagavat Mahatmya.
Srila Bhakti Kamal Govinda Goswami Maharaja entered into his eternal nitya-lila pastimes of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna on July 30, 2016 during the holy day of kamaika-ekadasi.
“Whoever claims that a Vaishnava dies is deceived when he still lives in the sound. The Vaishnava dies to live and in life he always dedicates himself to spreading the holy names everywhere.” This verse composed by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur is displayed in the Samadhi of Srila Haridas Thakur