In 1974 HDG Srila Gour Govinda Swami, who was a devotee of the Lord from his birth, renounced family life and became a wandering sādhu known as Gour Gopalananda. He wore saffron cloth and carried with him a copy of the Bhagavad-gīta, a pen and notebook as he travelled through the sacred sites of Bharat-varsa, India, searching out that divine personality who could clearly explain to him the meaning of the Bhāgavatam in light of Mahaprabhu’s teachings.
After visiting many of the pilgrimage places in northern India where he spoke with a variety of sādhus, yogis and holy men, knowing that his quest had met with no success, he decided to head down to Lord Krishna’s own sacred land of Sri Vrindavan dhama, where surely the Lord would fulfill his desires. Upon arriving at Mathura-Vrindavan he visited different ashrams, where because of his outward appearance of matted hair, beard and torn saffron gamcha it was usually assumed that he was simply another wandering sādhu, not a Vaishnava. During this time he spent four days at Sri Keshavaji Gaudiya Matha in Mathura.
Whilst wandering through Vraja dhama, he eventually headed to the ISKCON property at Raman Reti, where the Sri Sri Krishna Balarama Temple was still very much under construction. There he was given a copy of Back to Godhead magazine in which he found the teachings what he was looking for – he discovered in that magazine the very person he was looking for, the person who could perfectly reveal Bhāgavatam, Krishna and Mahāprabhu – and he was also quite struck with amazement to see that this was and International society, that Westerners had taken to the path of bhakti, that they had shaven heads with sikha, wearing tilak and dhoti. He decided that he must meet the sādhu who was responsible for this most wonderful feat.
He discovered that the founder of this International Society for Krishna Consciousness was staying on the property at that time, so he approached one of these amazing Western Vaishnavas and asked if he could pay his respects to Śrīla Prabhupāda. After some discussion, Brahmananda Swami took him in to speak with Iskcon’s Founder-Acarya Sri Srimad A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, and instantly Gour Gopalananda fell down flat offering his full dandavats.
As he arose, Srila Prabhupada asked him about himself, “Have you taken sannyāsa?” Upon hearing Gour Gopalananda’s negative response, Srila Prabhupada told him, “Then I will give you sannyāsa!”
Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gour Govinda Swami wearing a red cheddar
At that very moment Srila Gour Govinda Swami accepted Srila Prabhupāda as his eternal spiritual master. Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja later related how he felt, “I immediately knew, “Oh, this is paramatma; what I am looking for now, it is here. Yes, I have gotten now. I have gotten now.” You see this is Krishna’s arrangement. How we can find our Guru? What is your inside, he’ll speak, you see. Only two or three questions he asked. I immediately surrendered!”
From that moment their relationship of sat-sisya, the totally surrendered disciple, and sat-guru, bona fide mahā-bhagavata spiritual master, was re-established.
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