An embodiment of tolerance, patience, and equanimity appeared in Kharra village, Dhaka district, Bangladesh on Tuesday, 23 October 1900 (7 Kartik 1307) at 10:03 AM on the day of Giriraj Govardhan’s Annakut Mahotsava in the house of Durgacharan Das (father) and Yogamaya Devi (mother). The auspicious child was named Kanu. Since his childhood, Kanu was very studious both materially and spiritually. With the inspiration of his parents, he used to read the Srimad Bhagavatam, every day. Once, Yogamaya Devi expressed how she was so fortunate to have such a pious child as her own son. After hearing that, Kanu prayed to his mother to bestow blessings upon him to become a pure Vaishnava in the near future. In 1927, Kanu completed his medical degree with distinction; he also got distinction in Sanskrit and Mathematics. During his medical studies, Kanu was introduced to the Gaudiya Math by Bhakti Vilas Parvat Goswami Maharaj and used to visit the Madhva-Gaudiya Math situated in Dhaka. In that same year, his parents fixed his marriage. On the day of the marriage, Kanu secretly escaped from home.
Eventually, he went to Bag Bazar Gaudiya Math situated in Kolkata and desired to take initiation from Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada gave him harinam and Diksha and the name Krishnakanti Das Brahmachari. Thereafter, Srila Prabhupada ordered him to go to Mayapur and offer his medical services to the devotees; Srila Prabhupada gave Krishnakanti Brahmachari a room beside his own bhajan kutir. By nature, he never hurt anyone with his words even when people spoke harsh words to him. He would never put down his chanting beads and was constantly chanting the holy names with a smiling face; this was noticed by anyone who came into his association. Srila Prabhupada appointed Krishnakanti Brahmachari as the publishing manager of the Dainik Nadia Prakash to assist Pranavananda Das Brahmachari (later known as Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Thakur) who was the editor. Krishnakanti Prabhu also used to travel with Srila Prabhupada and serve in writing correspondence. Thus, he continued his service in expanding the mission of Lord Chaitanya under Srila Prabhupada.
Since the time of Srila Prabhupada’s departure on 1 January 1937, Srila Shraman Goswami Maharaj was fully dedicated to serving Srila Prabhupada’s mission under the guidance of Srila Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Goswami Maharaj who was the acharya of Sri Chaitanya Math, Mayapur, and its branches. According to the desire of Srila Tirtha Goswami Maharaj, on the day of Gaura Purnima on 14 March 1949 (Bengali calendar: 30 Phalgun 1355), Krishnakanti Brahmachari accepted the renounced order (sannyasa) from him at Chaitanya Math and received the name Bhakti Kusum Shraman Goswami Maharaj. In 1976, Srila Tirtha Goswami Maharaj physically disappeared; according to the united desire of all his god-brothers and various disciples of Srila Tirtha Goswami Maharaj, Srila Shraman Goswami Maharaj was made the acharya of Sri Chaitanya Math, Mayapur, and its various branches. Srila Shraman Goswami Maharaj’s simplicity, patience, and equanimity attracted many people from around the world such as from Singapore, Australia, and different parts of India to take shelter of him in chanting the holy names. In 1983, one of Srila Shraman Goswami Maharaj’s disciples who was an Australian native, Gaura Das Prabhu, served as his personal servant. During his period as acharya of Sri Chaitanya Math, Srila Shraman Goswami Maharaj published various books such as Srila Prabhupada’s biography,Prema-samput, Sri Caitanyopadesa-ratnamala, Harinama-mahamantra-artha, and so on.
Once, Srila Shraman Goswami Maharaj told one of his Bengali disciples to sweep the temple floor as it was very dirty. The devotee denied his order and replied saying, “I am a graduate and I am academically qualified. Did I join the temple to sweep the floor?” Srila Shraman Goswami Maharaj was just smiling and chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra on his beads. After 20 years, a devotee found that same brahmachari lamenting while sweeping the floor of the Howrah Railway Station in West Bengal. This incident teaches us that if we ignore a pure devotee’s desire, then the Lord forces us into a worse condition. At the age of 86, on 11 December 1986, the day of Moksada Ekadasi Gita Jayanti, when everyone was reading the Bhagavad Gita, which represents complete self-surrender and which are the direct words of Bhagavan Sri Krishna, Srila Shraman Goswami Maharaj physically passed away with a smiling face chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra at Caitanya Math, Mayapur. His samadhi is located in his bhajan kutir adjacent to Srila Prabhupada’s bhajan kutir at Adi-math Sri Caitanya Math. Srila Shraman Goswami Maharaj’s entire life teaches us that in this age of hypocrisy and quarrel, we need to keep patience in order to continue our spiritual practice in every aspect.
