Brief Biography of Srila Gurupadpadma B.V.Narayan Goswami Maharaj

Patita Pavan (Savior of the Fallen Souls) Gurudev, appeared in this world in 1921 in Tiwaripur (Bihar), near the holy Ganges, as son of a trivedi brahmana (knowers of the three Vedas) belonging to the Sri Sampradaya, from the line of Sri Ramananda Acharya, who worshiped Lord Śrī Rama. At his birth place there is also the Sri Narad and Sri Visvamitra ancient ashram and also the appearance place of Sri Vishnu-avatar-Buddha-dev. As it was amavasya (new moon) day, at the time of his birth everyone was singing the Names of God like Rama and Narayan, in the water of the Ganges, near his home. Due to his serene behavior, staying calm wherever his mother left him and without crying for anything, they considered name him as Shiva, but after further deliberation he received the name of Narayan. At the age of five he was chanting the names of Sita and Rama continuously and one day he received Their vision in a dream. As he aproached Them, their vision was overshadowed by the Lord's extraordinary effulgence and he wokeup. He liked to ride a horse, canoe, and above all, was champion of various track and field events. Whenever any Vaishnava would come to his village to recite the scriptures, he would go with his father and serve the speaker with great respect and devotion. When he finished his studies, he joined the police and was soon promoted to a high position due to his strong physical constitution and sincere and pure character. One day, while meditating and chanting his mantra as usual, he fell into a spiritual trance and spent all day in it, thus losing his work on this day. The next day, he was surprised to learn that some 'Narayan' had gone to work instead, and when he tried to explain that he had not gone, his colleagues just laughed and said, "Stop it, you did a great job yesterday." Reflecting on what happened and because he was deeply absorbed in a devotional trance to his lovely Lord, he understood that the Lord himself had taken his form and went to work for him. Shortly after this incident, when asked by other officers to find an important missing document that no one could find, he made a promise: "If I put my hand in this folder where there are hundreds of papers and i find just what they are looking for, I will left it and will dedicate my life to God. " Then he pulled just the one they were looking for. Around this time, a disciple of Srila Prabhupad Saraswati Thakur, named Narottamananda brahmachari (Srila B.K.Madhusudan Goswami) went to preach Srimad Bhagavat in his village. Narayan served and listened to the Bhagavat for 7 days and understood the supremacy of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna worship and Sri Gaudiya sampradaya. Soon after, at the age of 24, he leaves his family and takes refuge at the lotus feet of Acharya Keshari in Sri Nabadwip-dham, the sacred site of the appearance of the Supreme Lord Sri Chaitanyadev. At Śrī Devananda Gaudiya Math-Temple, he devotes all his energy, time, etc., to serving his Gurudev and other Vaishnavas, receiving the title of Bhakta-bandhava- friend of the Vaishnavas. Every day he washed the temple's large pots, which served 300 or more devotees every day, and also collects temple donations with great determination. Seeing his guru-nistha, firm faith in Sri Guru, and after taking care of a spiritual brother who had tuberculosis, even though he knew the danger he was in, his Gurudev took him to be his personal servant and then sojourned all the holy places of India with Acharya Keshari and listened to their glories from the lotus mouth of his Gurudev. In 1956 he receives the renounce order of life, sanyassa, and is sent to the temple of Mathura-Śrī Keshavji Gaudiya Math by his Gurudev. Living a very austere life, in a temple that at that time, had no water or light, often without food, remained there for 40 consecutive years. While there, he meets his former friend and siksa-guru, Swami Maharaj (Prabhupad) and takes him to his temple in Mathura, offers him a room etc. where they live together for several months. In 1959, Śrīla Swami Maharaj receives the renounced order of life also at Keshavji Gaudiya Math at his insistence (Śrīla BVNarayana Goswami) who asked his Gurudev Srila Keshav Goswami to grant sanyassa to Srila Swami Prabhupad for him to complete the service that he had been doing. given to him by Srila Prabhupad Saraswati Thakur (preaching in the west). Srīla Narayan Goswami is the priest of the ceremony teaching him to use danda, kaupin etc. Srila Swami Prabhupad corresponds with Srila Narayan Maharaj every week, informing him of the progress of the mission and asking him for various help, all of which corresponded to him. He Send the first mrdangas, deities and books from India to America at Śrīla Swami Mahārāja´s requests.. After the successful preaching in the West, flooding it with the chanting of Kṛṣṇa's Name, Śrīla Swami Maharaj goes to Vrindavan until his last days and requests Śrīla Narayan Maharaj to continue teaching his Western disciples who were very young, until he departed from this world. Narayan Maharaj promises Swami Maharaj to give them all assistance. Also at the request of Swami Prabhupad, Narayan Maharaj makes all his funeral cerimony in Vrindavan, as he had personally requested. After that, he gave ISKCON leaders constant instruction in Gaudiya Vaishnavas philosophy, confidential topics, and inspired them to practice pure devotion. Disciples of ISKCON leaders show interest in visiting their masters' siksa guru - Srila Gurudev Narayan Maharaj. Such leaders forbid their members from visiting him. those who would nevertheless see him were banished from ISKCON temples, some even suffering physical aggression. Prevented from preaching in ISKCON temples, because the success was so great that its leaders were afraid of losing followers, began to house all those who would see it, began to start their own disciples and formed their own sangha, which strictly followed the teachings of his friend and siksa guru, the founder of ISKCON Śrīla Swami Prabhupad In 1996, at the insistence of some Western devotees and remembering the promise he made to his siksa guru, he began his preaching in the West and gave new life to the devotees. He begins to fearlessly preach about false gurus and corrects their errors about Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy as propagated by Śrī Chaitanya-dev. He then receives the title of Yuga Acharya (Guru of the Millennium) from the hands of Vrindavan residents and is respected by the entire Gaudiya Vaishnava community as an eternal associate of the Lord, perfect devotee of the highest class rasiksa-tattva-jna Vaishnava and is also honored by representatives of Christianity and Islam and by the governor of Birminghan- UK. He also receives the title of Honorary Citizen and Peace Ambassador for his tireless spiritual service to humanity in the city of Houston, Texas. Even outwardly manifests the ecstatic symptoms of pure love for God in deep separation from the Lord. In 2010, after observing his last anual Vraja-mandal parikram, he departs from this world in Śrī Puri-dham with tears of love in his eyes and pronouncing the name of Radha and Kṛṣṇa. He leaves around 100 written books, commentaries and translations of major scriptures such as Sri Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavat, Jaiva Dharma and Brhad Bhagavatamrta. His books serve as the ultimate reference for all Gaudiya Maths around the world, especially on the most confidential topics of love for God. baladev b.