The speaker delivers a heartfelt devotional tribute to His Holiness Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja, emphasizing his divine mission to preach Krishna consciousness in the former Soviet Union and Russia, a task assigned by Śrīla Prabhupāda. The talk recounts Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja’s service as a Governing Body Commissioner (G.B.C.) for Russian districts, highlighting the extreme hardships he faced—political oppression, harsh climate, and interpersonal conflicts—yet he remained detached and dutiful. A central anecdote from 1989 in Moscow illustrates his supreme humility: after a careless remark sparked a volatile confrontation among devotees, senior devotees urged him to apologize. He complied, publicly bowing before a large audience and offering sincere apologies, which instantly defused the crisis and saved many lives. The speaker cites endorsements from senior ISKCON leaders (Girirāja Mahārāja, Indra Dhumna Mahārāja, Devakinanda Prabhupāda) that attest to Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja’s victorious humility. The tribute concludes by proclaiming his lasting inspirational legacy for thousands of devotees, urging them to follow his example.
Chapters
It's very difficult to speak on this occasion because Gopal Krishna Maharaj is very dear to my heart and to the heart of all Russian devotees. Śrīla Prabhupāda gave him this mission to preach in the former Soviet Union in Russia, and Śrīla Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja exemplarily did it. Somebody already mentioned, Girirāja Mahārāja mentioned that he went in '77 to Moscow during Śrīla Prabhupāda's presence, and his report about preaching in Moscow was most dear to Śrīla Prabhupāda's heart. Then after that, Gopal Krishna Maharaj has become G.B.C. for parts of Russia and very diligently was performing his duties as G.B.C. going through sometimes unimaginable difficulties. Russia, once Śrīla Prabhupāda said that preaching in the snows of Russia is sweet as the mango, sweeter than the mango in Hawaii in mango season. But I would say that preaching in the former Soviet Union, in Russia, is like chutney, sometimes sweet and very bitter too. So His Holiness Gopalakrishna Maharaj, he went through all the difficulties there. With his usual detached attitude. Nothing really touched him, although sometimes devotees would offend him, sometimes there were some difficulties, but he was dutiful. He was sold out servant of Śrīla Prabhupāda. That was his occupation as His Holiness Indra Dhumna Maharaj mentioned in regard to Śrīla Prabhupāda. I want to tell a little story in this regard which shows his glorious qualities, how he, how he could overcome all the difficulties because of his humility. Devakinanda Prabhupāda just said that he was always victorious because of his humble attitude. And this little story is about this. This story took place in 1989 in Moscow. And at that time, one of the big leaders of our movement had some difficulties. And in Russia, the majority of disciples were his disciples. And there was a big turmoil in Moscow. They were fighting and so many death threats, whatnot. It was extremely difficult time. Actually, the whole problem started on Janmashtami day, and we all know that a couple of days after Janmashtami is His Holiness Gopal Krishna Maharaja's Vyasa Puja. Despite this, he came to Moscow practically immediately after Janmashtami, knowing how difficult it is, just to give support to those ISKCON loyal devotees who were still there, to his disciples and disciples of his godbrothers. And as I said, the situation was extremely volatile. It was explosive. Any careless word would create some explosion. So, and of course we know Gopal Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja, one of his glorious qualities was that he was very straightforward and very innocently straightforward. So, in one of the lectures he said something which really offended the opposing party. And the situation became really grave. There was, you know, it's very difficult to explain to those who was not there at that time how explosive the whole thing was. So this just few little careless words which he mentioned started spreading around and, you know, the explosion was brewing. So Gopal Krishna Krishnamaraj came back to the apartment of one of his disciples, and the apartment of his disciple Sadhu Priyaprabhu was the headquarter of ISKCON loyalists. And all the godbrothers of Gopal Krishna Maharaj were there, and of course the news came, and all the godbrothers of Gopal Krishna Maharaj started pushing him, "You have to apologize, you have to apologize, you have to do it." You have to do it. And I saw how difficult it was for Gopal Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja to— He didn't say anything wrong. He said everything in a very straightforward way and he said what is supposed to be said. But as a servant and as a very detached person, he accepted the order of his godbrothers as the order of his spiritual master. And next morning for Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam class he came and in front of the big audience, 200 people, 300 people was there which were waiting for something to be exploded, he humbly folded his hands and he bowed down to those devotees who were, I mean, unbelievably junior than him, he sincerely bowed down and he offered his apologies and everyone was relieved. And he did it with such a genuine humility, with such a genuine mood that everything was immediately forgotten and the whole situation was saved. So he was the savior of many, many devotees. He was the saviour of ISKCON on numberless occasions due to his genuine qualities of Vaiṣṇava. So, he will still be the inspiration in the lives of thousands and thousands of devotees. Let's follow his footsteps. Thank you, Maharaj. Hṛṣkodana Nisgopāla Kṛṣṇa Marāja ki jai. Jai.
