Śrī Rāma-Navamī
Today is Śrī Rāma-navamī, the appearance day of Lord Rāmacandra, who appeared in the Raghu dynasty. Lord Rāmacandra was the Personality of Godhead; He exhibited superhuman activities, which no human being, including the materially advanced Rāvaṇa, could perform. Lord Rāmacandra prepared a royal road on the Indian Ocean with stones that floated on the water. In Rāma-avatāra Lord Rāma is maryāda-puruṣottama and eka-patni-dhara; He strictly follows Vedic rules and regulations and never transgresses them, and He accepts only one wife. Lord Rāmacandra is the ideal king who is devoted to the brāhmaṇas and religion, and to maintaining and protecting the highest culture of humanity, known as brahmaṇya–dharma.
This day is also a very special day for Śrī Śrīmad Gour Govinda Swami:
1. Śrī Śrīmad Gour Govinda Swami left family life on Rāma-navamī in 1974.
2. Śrī Śrīmad Gour Govinda Swami formally received sannyāsa on Rāma-navamī in 1975.
3. Śrī Śrīmad Gour Govinda Swami moved onto the ISKCON property in Bhubaneswar on Rāma-navamī 1976 and into the hut where he lived and performed his bhajan.
4. Śrī Śrīmad Gour Govinda Swami first initiated disciples at the Bhubaneswar (Śrī Śrī Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma) Temple on Rāma-navamī in 1985.
5. The Deities of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Gopinatha were installed on Rāma-navamī in 1994 by Śrīla Ācārya Thakura in the Lotus Temple of ISKCON Bhubaneswar.
Śrī Rāma-navamī, the appearance day of Lord Rāmacandra, is most auspicious for Śrī Śrīmad Gour Govinda Swami as so many significant events in his life took place on this day. His life’s ambition was fulfilled when he was awarded sannyāsa by his own revered spiritual master His Divine Grace Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda in Śrī Vṛndāvana Dhāma on Rāma-navamī in 1975. After Śrī Śrīmad Gour Govinda Swami accepted the sannyāsa order, a number of GBC and senior followers of Śrīla Prabhupāda complained, “Why has he (Gour Govinda [Swami]) been given sannyāsa? He is a new man”. Śrīla Prabhupāda replied to this criticism by saying, “He is not a new man, you are all new men, Gour Govinda Swami is a devotee from his birth.”
Below is a lecture delivered by Śrī Śrīmad Gour Govinda Swami on Rāma-navamī 1994 in Bhubaneswar, India.
To listen to the lecture click on the arrow:
1} Sri Ramanavami, Dt. 20.4.94,BBSR
To read the lecture click on Expand:
