Gouridas was born at Shaligram, about 18 kms from Shridham Navadwip in Bengal. His father was Kansari Mishra, mother Kamala Devi. Suryadas was his elder brother. Suryadas had two daughters, Vasudha and Jahnavi.
Suryadas was a boyhood companion of Shri Chaitanya MahaPrabhu. He was a sadhaka in the sakhya bhava, i.e., in the mood of friendship with God.
He told Gouridas, “Go and live at Ambika-Kalna and do your sadhana and worship at a lovely place near the river Ganga.” What could have been more close to the heart of Gouridas? Joyfully, he left for Ambika-Kalna.
One day Shri Gauranga was returning from Shantipur. He took a boat at Harinadi village. Pulling the oars with His own hands, He crossed the wide Ganga and arrived at Ambika. But He did not leave the oar behind. Carrying it in His hands, He went to Gouridas’ house. Gouridas was astonished. MahaPrabhu said, “This oar is for you.”
“What shall I do with it?”
“What shall you do? You shall take people across the samsar-river with the help of this oar” said the Lord.
With profound reverence Gouridas accepted the oar with folded hands. MahaPrabhu embraced him and said, “Come with Me to Navadwip. I shall give you something there.”
Gouridas became full of bliss with the Lord’s embrace. He could not comprehend what more than this could be there. What as the thing that lay beyond imagination even?
Indeed, there was something truly beyond imagination. The Lord handed over to Gouridas the Bhagawat Gita written with His own hand. From beginning to end it was written with pearl-like letters. The nectar of his unblinking eyes was saturated in it. It was sheer bliss just to look at the writing, to hold it in one’s hand. It was a joy flowing from the absorption of consciousness.
Holding the Gita close to his heart, Gouridas returned to Ambika going over the entire transcendental experience in his mind. “How painstakingly must He (Gauranga) have written it with His own hands, and yet He gave it to me so unhesitatingly” he mused.
Shyamananda Prabhu
Indeed, there was something truly beyond imagination. The Lord handed over to Gouridas the Bhagawat Gita written with His own hand. From beginning to end it was written with pearl-like letters. The nectar of his unblinking eyes was saturated in it. It was sheer bliss just to look at the writing, to hold it in one’s hand. It was a joy flowing from the absorption of consciousness. (In the wallpaper: Arjuna and Shri Krishna in the battle field, Lord Shri Gaurachandra, ISKCON Chowpatty, Mumbai).
