One of the rays of Srila Prabhupada appeared in a village of Faridpur district, Bangladesh in a landlord family on 28 April 1914 on Akshay Tritiya, the starting day of Lord Jagannatha’s Chandan Yatra (Bengali calendar: vaisakh Shukla Tritiya, the third day of the waxing moon). He was named Bhupendranath Chattopadhyay. His father was Yogendranath Chattopadhyay and his mother was Vilasini Devi. When Bhupendranath was three years old, his parents suddenly physically departed within ten days of each other. Thereafter, Bhupendranath came to his maternal grandfather’s house at Raadikhaal, Dhaka district, Bangladesh. Under the guidance of his maternal grandfather, Bhupendranath got a Bachelor of Science degree from Bongabasi College, Kolkata. By nature, Bhupendranath was soft, generous, and helpful to others in every aspect. Once, he got one of Srila Prabhupada’s books and read Srila Prabhupada’s instructions,
“We have not come here in this temporary life to become great workers, scholars, religionists, or donators. The nondual absolute truth is Sri Vrajendranandana who came in the most merciful form of Bhagavan Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The supreme and topmost goal of life can only be gained through the execution of pure and beautiful devotional service to Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Coming into the material world in the human form of life is meant for engaging in spiritual practice. This is our utmost duty. There is nothing more to be said.”
After reading this instruction, Bhupendranath’s heart was transformed and he somehow got the opportunity to see Srila Prabhupada. With the help of two of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples, namely Bhakti Kankan Tapasvi Goswami Maharaja and Sriman Navadvipa Prabhu, Bhupendranath got the chance to meet Srila Prabhupada face to face. On 8 May 1935, Bhupendranath received harinam and Diksha from Srila Prabhupada at Bag Bazar Gaudiya Math and received the name Bhutabrt Das Brahmachari. After initiation, Bhutabrt Prabhu served Srila Prabhupada’s loving mission under the guidance of Navadvipa Das Prabhu. Bhutabrt Brahmachari was able to speak good English as well as 10 other languages. Srila Prabhupada engaged him as a teacher at the Bhaktivinode Institute in Mayapur. In 1936, Srila Prabhupada sent Bhutabrt Brahmachari to Chennai (previously known as Madras) as the temple in charge. Bhutbrt Prabhu’s execution of his services such as preaching activities, temple management, etc. pleased Srila Prabhupada. Bhutbrt Prabhu used to preach with Hayagriva Das Brahmachari (later known as Bhakti Dayita Madhava Goswami Maharaj) in Assam.
On 1 January 1937 at 5:30 am, Srila Prabhupada physically departed. As soon as Bhutabrt Prabhu heard the news, he fainted out of intense separation. At that time, Srila Prabhupada appeared in his dream and said, “Don’t cry. I will accept all of your services. Please go ahead with your service of spreading the message of Rupa Goswami, Sanatana Goswami, Raghunatha Das Goswami, and Bhaktivinode Thakur full of enthusiasm.” In order to fulfill Srila Prabhupada’s instruction, in 1939, Bhutabrt Prabhu went to Rangoon, Myanmar to preach. Due to intense separation from Srila Prabhupada, Bhutabrt Prabhu felt that he should perform solitary bhajan and decided to reside in a school located in Bhawanipur, Kolkata. Eventually, he took the renounced order (sannyasa) in 1952 from Bhakti Gaurav Vaikhanas Goswami Maharaj at Tota Gopinath temple, Jagannath Puri Dham, and received the name Bhakti Saudha Ashram Goswami Maharaj. Srila Ashram Goswami Maharaj visited many pilgrimage places and performed his spiritual practice. He thereafter opened two preaching centers called Bhakti Saudha Bhajan Kutir in Mayapur and Sri Chaitanya Math in Dumdum, Kolkata. In February 1982, during his stay at the Kolkata center, Srila Ashram Goswami Maharaj began to manifest sickness pastimes. On the night of 31 March 1982, he had the desire to get a full-body check-up at a medical center for further treatment but it was the Lord’s desire to take him on that same night. According to the English calendar, at 2:30 AM on 1 April 1982, all of the devotees who were at the Kolkata center heard the words “Hare Krishna” coming from his room in a loud voice. When they entered the room, they all saw that Srila Ashram Goswami Maharaj had physically passed away and had entered into the eternal pastimes of Sri Sri Radha Govinda. His physical form was taken to Bhakti Saudha Bhajan Kutir in Mayapur where they established the samadhi. A Pushpa Samadhi was established at Sri Sri Radha Damodar Mandir in Vrindavan.
