The Holy Disappearance Day of

Śrī Śrīmad Gour Govinda Swami

As a humble offering for this most auspicious occasion Tattva Vicara Publications is offering two publications.  The first publication, Guru-sevā is Everything, is a wonderful lecture by Śrī Śrīmad Gour Govinda Swami about the importance of the service to a bona fide Vaiṣṇava guru. Below is an excerpt from this booklet:

Devotee : If the guru leaves the planet before you have attained prema

Śrī Śrīmad Gour Govinda Swami: Are bābā! Guru makes all these arrangements. Do not worry about it. His arrangements are perfect arrangements. He has taken that responsibility; he has accepted you as a disciple. He has not rejected you. Guru means heavy, not laghu, light. The opposite of guru is laghu. Guru’s responsibility is very heavy. He has accepted the heavy responsibility to take you out of the fort of Māyā. You are imprisoned in the fort of Durgā-devī or Māyā. Guru has accepted that responsibility to take you out. He knows his responsibility. It is up to him. Do not worry about it. You just serve guru. You just completely surrender. You should have firm, unflinching faith in guru and completely surrender. Listen to what he says and follow it as it is. Do not twist it. Do not add any of your deliberation to it. Do not concoct anything. Then everything is assured.”

The second publication, Songs & Verses, is a compilation of songs and verses in glorification of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta by Śrī Śrīmad Gour Govinda Swami that he would sing before giving class on the respective scriptures.

“I worship the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which is the auspicious sound incarnation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the abode of mercy and the origin of all the demigods, whose transcendental form is black like a tamāla tree. He has appeared in the beautiful form of this Bhāgavatam just to make a bridge whereby materially conditioned souls can cross the otherewise insurmountable ocean of repeated birth and death. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has twelve cantos, which correspond to the twelve different parts of Kṛṣṇa’s divine form. The first and second cantos are Lord Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. The third and fourth cantos are His lotus thighs. The fifth canto is His lotus navel. The sixth canto is His chest and torso. The seventh and eighth cantos are His lotus arms. The ninth canto is His throat. The tenth canto is His beautiful lotus face. The eleventh canto is His forehead, and the twelfth canto is His crown.”
— Padma Purāṇa