Chapter 1
Sannyäsé Öhäkura
he had changed his name to Gour Gopälänanda däsa, and upon receiving initiation, Çréla Prabhupäda called him Gour Govinda däsa. Now his name would again change to the sannyäsé title Swami - “Gour Govinda Swami.”**
Under the Order of a Bona Fide Sad-Guru On this very day in the year of 1975, the great aspiration of the life of Brajabandhu Manik, now Gour Govinda däsa, would be realised: he would take sannyäsa and go out to preach the mission of Mahäprabhu under the guidance of a bona fide sad-guru, his spiritual master, His Divine Grace Çréla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupäda. As Çréla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupäda writes in his Bhagavad-gétä commentary: “...Anyone who has no other interest but to dedicate his life to the service of the Lord is actually a sannyäsé. Such a person always thinks of himself as an eternal servant, dependent on the supreme will of the Lord. As such, whatever he does, he does it for the benefit of the Lord. Whatever action he performs, he performs it as service to the Lord. He does not give serious attention to the fruitive activities or prescribed duties mentioned in the Vedas...” (Bhagavad-gétä 9.28, puprort)
The opening of the temple has been described in the Çréla Prabhupäda-lélämåta in the following way:
**Author’s note: One who has taken sannyäsa is called a swami, or goswami, which literally means one who has become the master of his senses.
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