Gopal Krishna Goswami
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Gopal Krishna Goswami is a religious leader within the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (popularly known as the Hare Krishnas), within which he was the first Indian disciple A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to be initiated after the establishment of ISKCON. Gopal Krishna Goswami is currently a member of the Governing Body Commission and an initiating guru within the movement.
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[edit] Early life
His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami was born on 14 August 1944 in New Delhi, India on the auspicious day of Annada Ekadashi.He was known at that time as Gopal Krishan Khanna.
After graduating from the University of Delhi, he studied Business Management at the Sorbonne University of Paris on a scholarship from the French Government, and later studied for a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the McGill University in Montreal.
Before dedicating his life in the service of ISKCON, Gopal Krishna Goswami worked as a marketing research analyst for Pepsi Cola and Bristol-Myers.
[edit] First meeting with his spritual master
Gopal Krishan Khanna was living in Toronto in 1967 when his life changed dramatically after a meeting with his spiritual master. The President of the Toronto chapter of ISKCON, Mahapurusa Dasa, invited Gopal Krishna Khanna to the temple and he arrived there on 30 May 1967. Mahapurusa informed Gopal Krishan Khanna that Srila Prabhupada would arrive at the temple the next day. The young Gopal Krishan immediately requested Mahapurusa to provide him a chance to serve Srila Prabhupada, and he was sent up to clean Srila Prabhupada's room before he arrived.
"I was fortunate enough to receive this as my first assignment in devotional life," said Gopal Krishna Goswami, many years later. In this way his service attitude to his spiritual master became manifest even before he physically met him.
His firt meeting with Srila Prabhupada occurred on the evening of 1 June 1967. within two weeks of meeting him, Gopal Krishna Khanna decided to accept Srila Prabhupada as his spiritual master and was initiated as one of his disciples.
[edit] Receiving Instructions and Initiation
Srila Prabhupada was always sympathetic to Indians, but of all the Indians who visited him in Montreal, he singled out Gopal Krishna Khanna and would spend time instructing him and speaking to him. Gopal Krishan would arrive at the temple regularly and sit till the end of Srila Prabhupada's lecture. During the three month period Srila Prabhupada spent in Montreal, Gopal Krishna Khanna regularly heard him on various devotional topics and took instruction on his own personal life. "My only small qualification was that I was very respectful to Srila Prabhupada from he first day I saw him, and I would stay for his lectures till the end, and leave only after he left," said Gopal Krishan Khanna in an interview published in Sri Vyasa Puja 1994, a book published by his disciples.
After Srila Prabhupada left Montreal, Gopal Krishan purchased a woolen sweater and sent it his master. Srila Prabhupada wrote back a letter of warm appreciation and this was the beginning of many years of correspondence between them during which Gopal Krishna Goswami received instructions and guidance from his Master.
On 26 May 1969, Srila Prabhupada initiated Gopal Krishna Khanna. "As your name is already Gopal Krishna, there is no need to change it," wrote Srila Prabhupada. "You will now be known as Gopal Krishna Dasa." He was only 25 years old at that time.
Later Gopal Krishna Dasa moved into the temple and lived there. He acted as Srila Prabhupada's secretary for many years. In 1970, he entered into an arranged marriage with a beloved disciple of Srila Prabhupada, Srimati Ekayani Devi Dasi, aged 17, one of the earliest initiated devotees from New York, with the permission of Srila Prabhupada. This union produced a son in 1973 and ended in divorce in 1980.
[edit] Mission to India
In 1975, Srila Prabhupada sent Gopal Krishna Dasa to India, made him a Governing Body Commissioner of ISKCON and instructed him specifically to print and expand the distribution of his books in India. He had specifically also instructed Gopal Krishna Dasa to translate and print books in Indian languages. Srila Prabhupada was pleased when Gopal Krishna Dasa presented him the first copies of the Srimad Bhagavatam translated into Hindi.
In the Prabhupada Lilamrita, a biography of Srila Prabhupada, written by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, it is mentioned that whenever Srila Prabhupada would see Gopal Krishna Dasa, he would enquire, "Where is book? Where is book?". Gopal Krishna Dasa would therefore ensure that he had a new version of a book or a translated book everytime he would see Srila Prabhupada - such was his staunch determination to serve his Master.[1]
[edit] Mission to Russia
In 1976, Srila Prabhupada appointed Gopal Krishna Dasa as Governing Body Commissioner for the Soviet Union of which Russia was a part at that time. Gopal Krishna Goswami made several clandestine trips to Communist Russia at that time to preach and publish the Bhagavad-gita in Russian, risking his life and putting himself in grave danger, especially at a time when the KGB was torturing and persecuting Russian Hare Krishna Hindu devotees.
[edit] Sannyasa and renunciation
In 1981, he took the sannyasa order and was initiated into the monastic order of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. He took the name, Tridandi Swami Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja and became an initiating spiritual master of ISKCON. Since then Gopal Krishna Goswami has been travelling extensively all over the world preaching the mission of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the Bhagavad-gita, building temples, initiating disciples, delivering talks, and overseeing various philanthropic and devotional projects.
He is the Governing Body Commissioner of many countries and regions including Delhi, Vrindavan, Mumbai, Mayapur, Chandigarh, Kenya, Canada and parts of North America.
[edit] Temple projects
Gopal Krishna Goswami played a leading role in inspiring and completing many of the largest ISKCON temples after the departure of Srila Prabhupada in 1977. Some of the temples he built included the Glory of India temple in New Delhi and the Radha-Bankebihari temple in Nairobi.
[edit] Lectures and writings
Gopal Krishna Goswami has been featured on many Radio, Television and Newspaper stories in India and abroad commenting on various issues. He has delivered many series of lectures to diverse audiences in the last three decades ranging from the Chamber of Commerce in Mumbai, IIT students in Delhi, and devoted congregation householders to academics, politicians and interfaith communities. He also delivers lectures at various ISKCON courses and has spoken on various scriptures including Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam and Upadeshamrita.
