Gour Govinda Ray

Gour Govinda Ray, Upadhyay, (1841–1912) was a notable scholar on Hinduism and a Brahmo missionary. He had edited for forty years Dhamatattva, an official publication of the Brahmo Samaj and assisted Keshub Chunder Sen in the compilation of Slokasangraha, a collection of quotes from different religious texts.

Early life

The son of Gour Mohan Ray, he was brought up by his uncle. He studied up to the Entrance (school leaving) standard in Rangpur High School. Later he studied Sanskrit and Persian. For sometime he studied ‘Daras’ under a Muslim fakir.

During the period 1863 – 1866 he was a sub-inspector of police. At the age of twenty-five, he gave up his job and became a follower of Keshub Chandra Sen. He joined the Brahmo Samaj as a missionary.

Professor of Hinduism

In 1869, Keshab Chandra Sen selected from his missionaries four persons and ordained them as adhypaks or professors of four old religions of the world. Gour Govinda Ray was made the professor of Hinduism, Protap Chunder Mozoomdar, the professor of Christianity, Aghore Nath Gupta, the professor of Buddhism and Girish Chandra Sen, the professor of Islam. Subsequently, Trailokyanath Sanyal was also ordained as an adhyapak of music. In the same year Keshub Chunder Sen’s move towards universalism in religion was further strengthened by the publication of four books - Gour Govinda Ray's work on the Gita, P C Mozoomdar's book The Oriental Christ, Aghore Nath Gupta's study on Buddha and Girish Chandra Sen's Tapasmala - life of Muslim saints and his Bengali translation of Koran and Hadis. For his erudition, he was bestowed with the title of ‘Upadhyay’ by Keshub Chanuder Sen.

Gour Govinda Swami

Gour Govinda Swami (2 September 1929 – 9 February 1996) was a Vaishnava religious leader. He was a leading ISKCON Guru, sannyasi, governing body commissioner within the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (commonly known as the Hare Krishnas or ISKCON) and the main inspirational force behind Gopal Jiu Publications. He is a saint within ISKCON. He was the first initiating guru after Srila Prabhupada to leave his body (pass on or die) in good standing spiritually. He never left Krishna Consciousness.

He was born already a devotee in the village of Jagannathpur, District Jagatsinghpur Orissa, India as Braja-bandhu Manik. By the age of eight, Braja-bandhu had read the entire Bhagavad-gita, Bhagavata Purana and Sri Caitanya-caritamrta and could also explain their meanings. On 8 April 1974, at the age of 45 he gave up home and relatives in quest of spiritual perfection and a worthy guide. Carrying only a Bhagavad-gita and a begging bowl he wandered around India for one year and visited many sacred places along the river Ganges. He was searching for that person who could help him develop a true understanding of the Maha Mantra. After many philosophical debates with mayavadi sannyasis and yogis in the Himalayas, he proceeded on foot to Vrindavana. He thought, "Surely I will find Lord Krishna here in this holiest of places.". He was searching after three things, guru, Bhagavat and Bhagavan. He was given a Back to Godhead magazine and found it contained all three things. He decided to see the founder of ISKCON then and there. Two weeks later, in 1975, at the opening of ISKCON’s Krishna-Balaram Temple in Vrindavana, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami accepted him as a disciple, gave him the name Gour Govinda and awarded him the sannyasa order, thus the name Srila Gour Govinda Swami.

DYK

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See also

Govinda

Gōviṃda and Gopāla (Sanskrit/Hindi: गोविंद and गोपाल) (also known as Govind and Gopal) are the names of Vishnu which mean "The finder of Veda" & "Protector of Veda" as 'Go' means Veda not Cow. So Govinda Gopala does not mean Cowherd or Protector of Cows. These names are also popularly addressed to Krishna, referring to his youthful activity as a cowherd. This name appears as the 187th and the 539th name of Lord Vishnu in Vishnu Sahasranama. Lord Vishnu or his complete incarnation Krishna are regarded as the Supreme God in the Vaishnava tradition and also by much of the pan-Hindu tradition.

Gopala Krishna of Krishnaism is often contrasted with Vedism when Krishna asks his followers to desist from Vedic demigod worship such as Indra worship. Thus the character of Gopala Krishna is often considered to be non-Vedic in one interpretation, while it can also be based on the popular understanding or rather misunderstanding of the Rig Vedic texts.

According to Klaus Klostermaier, Kumar Gopijanavallabha, Krishna the lover of the Gopis, is the latest stage in the historical process resulting in contemporary Krishnaism, being added to the worship of Bala Krishna (the Divine Child Krishna), and the original cult of Krishna-Vasudeva which may date back to several centuries before the Common Era.

Swami

A swami (Sanskrit: स्वामी svāmī [sʋaːmiː]) sometimes abbreviated “sw.” is an ascetic or yogi who has been initiated into the religious monastic order founded by some religious teacher. It is believed to be originally used for the ones who were initiated into to the Advaita Vedanta movement started by Adi Shankara. The usage of this word is not just for a yogi but also used for a religious guru, with or without disciples.

The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology as

In the Bengali language, the word (pronounced [ˈʃami]), while carrying its original meaning, has a dual meaning of “husband”. The word also means “husband” in the Malay language, where it is spelled “Suami”. Swami also means husband in the Khmer language.

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