Lord Sri Krishna Caitanya and His associates once appeared in the vision of Bimala Prasad (later known as HDG Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupada) at Mayapur, Yogapith temple, the birth place of Lord Sri Krishna Caitanya and told him that he should spread the loving message of Lord Caitanya. At that time, Bimala Prasad Prabhu replied to Them saying that he had no manpower. All of Lord Caitanya’s associates unitedly told Bimala Prasad (Srila Prabhupada) that They would send him all necessary manpower.
Srila Bhakti Vaibhav Puri Goswami Maharaj is one of the spiritual descendants of Srila Prabhupada, one amongst the manpower personally sent by Lord Caitanya and His associates. A transcendental child appeared on the 26th of January, 1913 at the village of Fulta, which is situated near Berhampur, Ganjam district, Odisha, India. The father, Sri Damodar, the mother, Srimati Devi, as well as all of the other family members named the baby, Nrisimha.
Since childhood, the boy Nrisimha was academically talented and eventually passed higher education with a B.A. degree from the local college, Khallikote at Berhampur, Odisha. However, the young boy was interested in the knowledge of Ayurveda. Thus, he went to study under a famous Ayurvedic doctor named Madhusudan Sharma who was initiated, along with his wife, by Srila Prabhupada. We know from Sri Caitanya Charitamrita that the root cause of devotion to Krishna is the association of vaishnavas (pure devotees). Thus, Nrisimha got devotional inspiration from his Ayurveda teacher, Sripad Madhusudan Prabhu and fortunately, got connected to the guru parampara by receiving harinama first initiation from Srila Prabhupada on 3rd of August 1936 at Mayapur, Sri Caitanya Math. After initiation, Srila Prabhupada gave Nrsimha the name Nrisimhananda Prabhu. Subsequently, Nrisimhananda Prabhu got second initiation in 1937 from his reputed senior godbrother.
Sripad Nrisimhananda Prabhu had very sweet relations with his all of his Godbrothers. In a short period of time, Sripad Nrisimhananda Prabhu gained expertise in giving discourses on different scriptural evidences in various languages such as Telegu, Oriya, Hindi, English etc. Also, Nrisimhananda Prabhu used to offer respect to all of his senior Godbrothers. Therefore, he was appointed as temple president of Madras Gaudiya Math and Sri Ramananda Gaudiya Math at Kovvur, Andhra Pradesh.
In order to spread the loving message of Mahaprabhu in different parts of India as well as abroad, he got inspiration for taking the vow of renunciation known sannyasa. On the 7th day of February 1966, Sripad Nrisimhananda Prabhu took sannyasa initiation from his dearmost godbrother, Srila Bhakti Sarvasva Giri Goswami Maharaj at Yogapith temple, the birth place of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. After the sannyasa initiation, he became known as Srila Bhakti Vaibhava Puri Goswami Maharaj.
Eventually, Srila Bhakti Vaibhava Puri Goswami Maharaj established more than 15 centers in India and several centers abroad, such as Sri Radha Govinda Gaudiya Math in Vienna, Austria. Presently, that center is taken care of by one of his disciples, Srila Bhakti Sadhak Muni Goswami Maharaj. Also, Srila Bhakti Vaibhav Puri Goswami Maharaj has many preaching centers in Italy, Spain etc till today. Presently, many of Srila Bhakti Vaibhav Puri Goswami Maharaj’s qualified disciples are preaching all of over the world, such as Srila Bhakti Soudha Keshava Goswami Maharaj,Srila Bhakti Vichar Vishnu Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Svarup Sridhar Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Tilak Niskinchan Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Vilas Paryataka Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Bibudha Sraman Goswami Maharaj etc.
It is an absolute truth that everyone must die having taken birth in the material world. However, the example of Srila Bhakti Vaibhav Puri Goswami Maharaj’s devotional service is allowing him to be alive with us forever. The material truth is that on the 3rd of March 2009 during the evening arati in his center at Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, Srila Bhakti Vaibhav Puri Goswami Maharaj physically passed away from all of us. Srila Bhakti Vaibhav Puri Goswami Maharaj’s entire life teaches us to become truthful, humble, respectful and forbearing. These are the most important qualities in pure devotional practices.
