Tenth in line from Sree Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, Paramahaṁsa Parivrājaka-āchārya Oṁ 108 Sree Sreemad Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Goswāmī Mahārāj Viṣṇupād, one of the dearest associates of Sree Sreemad Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Goswāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupād, the founder of the Chaitanya Maṭh and the Gauḍīya Maṭhs throughout the world, was himself the founder of the Chaitanya Gauḍīya Maṭh throughout India. He appeared in this world on November 18, 1904, Utthāna Ekādaśī, in the village of Kāñchana-pāṛā in the Mādārīpur subdivision of Faridpur district in East Bengal.

Utthāna Ekādaśī is the tithi which marks the end of the Chāturmāsya period, when Lord Viṣṇu wakes up from his four-month long sleep. It thus brings joy and auspiciousness to the world. Similarly, the appearance of the most compassionate dear associate of Lord Hari, our most worshipable Sreela Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Goswāmī Mahārāj (herein referred as Sreela Gurudeva), on that tithi had the effect of bringing joy and good fortune to the world’s conditioned souls who are suffering from the three-fold miseries.

From a very early age, Sreela Gurudeva began to display extraordinary qualities. He would never, under any circumstances, tell a lie. He showed little interest in materialistic enjoyments. He distinguished himself from the other children in his desire to lead an orderly and disciplined life. Not only did he himself act in this way, but he encouraged the other children to do the same. He always tried to alleviate the sufferings of others and bring them happiness, even if it meant undergoing difficulty himself.

People who observed the extent of his generosity and wisdom were convinced that he would grow up to be a great personality of extraordinary character.

He finished his primary and secondary education in Kāñchanapāṛā and Bhaṭāgrāma. Then for higher education he went to Calcutta. While in Calcutta, he began to feel great separation from the Supreme Lord. Sreela Gurudeva would often call out the names of the Lord and cried in the middle of the night. He would eat only haviṣyānna (an unspiced khichuri) once a day. In this state of absorption in the Lord, he one day had a dream in which Nārada Muni came and reassured him. Nārada Muni gave him a mantra and told him that by chanting it he would achieve all perfection. However, upon awakening, try as he might, Sreela Gurudeva was unable to recall the mantra he had been given in its entirety. The loss of the mantra bewildered and distressed him immeasurably. His irritation with life in the household reached an intolerable degree and he became determined to abandon it. With an intense desire to have a vision of the Supreme Lord, Sreela Gurudeva set off for the Himālayas. Just as iron filings attracted by a magnetic force cannot be thwarted, the individual soul who has been attracted to the Supreme Soul allows nothing of this world, whether friends or family, to interfere with his calling.

Sreela Gurudeva’s passionate desire for the Lord brought him first to Haridwāra and from there into the mountains. High up in the Himālayan jungle, he fasted for three days from food and water, all the time anxiously calling out to the Lord. When he had practically lost all awareness of the external world, he was given a divine order to seek out a spiritual master. He was also told that his guru would appear to him in the very place he had left.

In the same year, Sreela Gurudeva came to visit Māyāpur for the first time. There he saw Sreela Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Goswāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupād and was attracted by his superhuman personality. After hearing the Vaiṣṇava doctrines from Sreela Prabhupād, he became convinced of their reasonableness and superiority over other religious dogmas. He took shelter of Sreela Prabhupād and on September 4, 1927, on Rādhāṣṭamī, received initiation in the Holy Name and mantra at the Ultadanga Maṭh. After initiation he was known as Hayagrīva Dās Brahmachāri.

On Sreela Prabhupād’s order, Sreela Gurudeva spent a long time at the Madras Gauḍīya Maṭh, where he was chiefly responsible for the purchase of land, the construction of the temple, nāṭa-mandira and residences. Sreela Prabhupād generally sent Sreela Gurudeva as the advance man to do the groundwork for these events. He had complete faith that whatever task he gave him would be carried out to completion. Sreela Gurudeva was one of the principle devotees charged with purchasing land in Andhra Pradesh, near Goṣpada Tīrtha in Rajahmundry district, and the construction of the Rāmānanda Gauḍīya Maṭh in memory of Mahāprabhu’s intimate associate Rāmānanda Rāya, whose meeting with Lord Chaitanya took place there.

No matter how important a personality, whenever anyone met Sreela Gurudeva with his handsome features and imposing physique, his pleasant manner, his extraordinary personality, his facility with modern reasoning and his ability to convince by means of irrefutable scriptural evidence, he would become enchanted and be quite happy to do anything requested of him. Sreela Gurudeva’s entire being—his meditation, his consciousness, his japa, everything—was fully devoted to fulfilling Sreela Prabhupād’s desires. The volunteer workers of today could not even imagine the extent of his commitment to service, through which he gave up eating and sleeping, working through the night if necessary to achieve his goals. Sreela Gurudeva’s single-minded, sincere allegiance to his spiritual master is an example to be followed by everyone. He never undertook any task without the express direction of his spiritual master. As a result of his full surrender to Sreela Prabhupād’s lotus feet, he came to inherit his divine potency for spreading Lord Chaitanya’s mission in its entirety.

Sreela Prabhupād was eager to preach Mahāprabhu’s message in the western world and had decided to send Sreela Gurudeva, as he was competent for the mission. Sreela Gurudeva and two others had their photos taken and passports made in preparation for the trip. When everything was ready, Rājarṣi Śaradindu Nārāyaṇa Rāy said to Sreela Prabhupād, “Overseas is a land full of heavenly nymphs. I don’t think it is a good idea to send handsome young men there to preach. You should rather send a more aged disciple.” Sreela Prabhupād thought that the suggestion of Rājarṣi Śaradindu Nārāyaṇa was not without foundation and decided to send Sree Sreemad Bhakti Pradīpa Tīrtha Mahārāj in Sreela Gurudeva’s place.

On the 457th anniversary of Mahāprabhu’s appearance, on the Phālguni Pūrṇimā of 1944, at the age of 40, he took sannyās on the grounds of the Ṭoṭā Gopīnātha temple from Sree Sreemad Bhakti Gaurava Vaikhānasa Mahārāj according to the Vaiṣṇava rituals.

Of all of Sreela Gurudeva’s virtues, his attachment to his spiritual master and his affection for his god-brothers were exemplary. After Sreela Prabhupād’s disappearance, whenever any of his god-brothers were faced with hardship, he would immediately step forward without considering his own happiness or distress in order to give them a helping hand. Many of Prabhupād’s worthiest disciples were unable to come to terms with the turmoil in which the Maṭh found itself after his disappearance and either returned to householder life or considered doing so. Sreela Gurudeva took a lot of trouble to find them at their home and to persuade them to return to the Maṭh and a life of service to the Lord. Some of those he brought back subsequently took the role of āchārya. Devotees are the worldly manifestation of Kṛṣṇa; affection for them accurately demonstrates the extent of one’s affection for Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, the guru’s disciples are the manifestations of the guru himself and affectionate behavior to them demonstrates the depth of one’s love for the guru. Sreela Gurudeva’s exemplary love for his god-brothers was evident to the very last days of his presence in this world.