Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj

Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj was born on December 17th, 1929, at Bamanpara (Brahmanpara), District Burdwan, West Bengal, India.

His father was Sri Nitai Pada Dasadhikari, a well known Guru within the religious tradition known as the Nityananda-vamsa, or the family lineage of Prabhu Nityananda. Sri Nitai Pada Dasadhikari was a descendent of the preceptorial lineage of Virabhadra Goswami, the son of Prabhu Nityananda. His family have worshipped the original Deities of Virabhadra Goswami known as Radha-Gopinathajiu at the village of Bamanpara for more than four hundred years.

When Srila Govinda Maharaj was still a boy Sri Nitai Pada Dasadhikari died and it was expected that Srila Govinda Maharaj should become the next guru in the lineage since he was the eldest son; instead, Srila Govinda Maharaj chose to become a disciple of Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Maharaj, a leading disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada, the founder of Sri Gaudiya Math.

Srila Govinda Maharaj came to Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj in 1947, and has remained faithfully in his service ever since.

Fulfilling a wish he cherished for about forty years, Srila Sridhar Maharaj conferred sannyasa (monkhood) upon Srila Govinda Maharaj in 1985, giving his final and irrevocable decision to select Srila Govinda Maharaj as his successor and as President-Acharya of the temple of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, with all of its branches in India and internationally.

After installing Srila Govinda Maharaj as his successor, Srila Sridhar Maharaj wrote this prayer in glorification of Srila Govinda Maharaj:

gurvabhista-supurakam guru-ganair asisa-sambhusitam
chintyachintya-samasta-veda-nipunam sri-rupa-panthanugam
govindabhidham ujjvalam vara-tanum bhakty anvitam sundaram
vande visva-gurun cha divya-bhagavat-premno hi bija-pradam

"I worship the holy lotus feet of he who perfectly fulfills the most cherished wish of his divine master
who is adorned resplendently with the blessings of his guru varga; who is adept in all Vedic conceptions, both conceivable and inconceivable;
who is the faithful follower in the line of Sri Rupa;
who is known as Srila Govinda Maharaj;
whose beautiful divine figure revels in the mellows of divine love;
who is the guru of the entire universe and the bestower of the seed of divine love for the Supreme Lord."

Highly learned in Sanskrit and Bengali, Srila Govinda Maharaj has also written many important prayers and songs encapsulating his vision and insights about Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya and the philosophy of the Gaudiya Vaishnava religious tradition.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu