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Lord Caitanya said to Srila Ramananda Raya and Svarup Damodara Goswami:

"Love of Godhead, devoid of cheating propensities, is not possible within this material world. If there is such a love, there cannot be separation, for if there is separation, how can one live." (Cc. Madhya, 2.42)

Divine Disappearance

Srila Gour Govinda Swami's disappearance pastime perfectly exemplified the highest level of surrender and separation from Krishna as explained by Sriman Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the above verse. During Centennial year, he made a wonderful offering of himself at the beautiful lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada, on the divine appearance day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur. At an auspicious moment in Sri Mayapur Dham, he dove into divine trance of pure devotion while narrating the ecstatic Mahabhava condition of Sri Krishna's reunion with Srimati Radharani in Vrindavan after a long separation. He mentioned how, “...after a long separation Krsna came back to Vraja Bhumi and then the eyes of Krsna fell on the eyes of Srimati Radharani - Eye to Eye union.” Overwhelmed with ecstatic love and unbearable separation from Srimati Radhika and Shyamsundar he could speak no more and gave his final instruction: “Nama kora! Nama Karo!” (chant the Holy Name) and called out, “Gopal!” and returned to His beloved Lordships Sri Sri Radha Gopal Jiu in Sri Golok Vrindavan Dham.

Contributions (to name a few)

• Inculcates & nourishes the seed of Bhakti in the hearts of all sincere seekers of Krishna prema, with his pure Sri Krishna Katha.
• Emphasized unflinching faith in Sadhu, Sri Guru and Sastra.
• Uncompromisingly adhering to the siddhantas.
• Perfect example of pure humility in his personal dealings.
• Illumined the wonderful gems hidden in Sri Bhaktivedanta purports.
• Going through severe austere conditions he completed Srila Prabhupada's last founded project in Bhubaneswar- Sri Sri Krishan Balarama Mandir.
• Established the annual Orissan Padyatra on Srila Prabhupada's disappearance day that takes Sri Sri Gour Nitai in a bullock cart to villages to promote the Holy Name of Sri Krsna.
• Offered beautiful lotus bud temple to Srila Prabhupada at Centennial.
• Renovated the historic Sri Alarnath Temple.
• Lead the most noble cause of reforestation project for Lord Jagannath of Puri. More than 125,000 trees were planted for building of the Ratha-yatra cart and cooking.
• Translated volumes of Srila Prabhupada's books into Oriya.
• Initiated construction of a grand new temple for Sri Sri Radha Gopal Jui of Gadai Giri & Sri Ram temple in Berhampur, Orrisa.
• Fulfilled Srila Prabhupada's desire for a magnificent temple where lord Sri Sri Jagannath, Baladeva, and Subhadra devi give darshan to all devotees.
• Taught simplicity by his own example.

Teachings (to name a few)

Param pujay Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja dispelled the doubts of those who came to him for shelter and spiritual guidance. He would place great stress on the offenseless chanting of the Holy Name encouraging and inspiring all to achieve the pure state of chanting - prema nama - he would always say, “chant without offense, chant the pure name, get Krsna prema and get Krsna in this very life!” He practiced and preached complete surrender, not partial or conditional surrender, but complete 100 percent surrender to the instructions of his spiritual master Srila Prabhupada.

The Last Limit of Bhakti

One of the main aspects of his preaching was to reveal the inner-most secrets of Puri-Bhubaneswar Dham of Lord Jagannatha and why Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu stayed in Puri. He gave the most subtle and lucid understanding of the Lord's pastimes in Jagannath Puri. Speaking about Gauranga Maharpabhu, he said, “If prema bhakti is added to Krsna, that is Caitanya. Therefore, Sacinandana Gauranga is the Supreme Absolute Truth, Parama Tattva, Bhagavan, but with Bhakti-naipunya added to it. And in the Gauranga form you will find two things combined together - Sambhoga and Vipralamabha. These two things combined together, that is Gauranga. That is bhakti-naipunya - the last limit of bhakti.” Sri

The Lotus Feet of Sri Guru

Sri Guru vandana - a personal offering to Srila Prabhupada from Srila Gour Govinda Swami - was complied from the lecturers delivered by him: “The lotus feet of Sri Guru are the abode of pure bhakti, kevala-bhakti sadma. I offer my prayers and respectful obeisances there with utmost care, savadhana mate. I shall never become careless. One should understand what is the meaning of sri-guru-carana-padam. These words sri guru are very significant. What is the meaning of Sri? Sri means shoba, sampada, srestha, Sri means beauty, it means transcendental wealth, and it also means the topmost. These are meanings of 'Sri'. Then what is the meaning of Sri Guru? Sri Guru refers to that Guru who is endowed with Sri, that is prema bhakti. And this word 'Sri' is only applicable to a guru who is always manifested. It is not that the Guru is ever un-manifest. There is no question of His disappearance. He is eternally manifest and thus He is called Sri Guru. Therefore this word 'Sri' is used, otherwise this word cannot be used.”