The Suicide of Gopijanavallabha Swami

[Guest guest]

Does anybody on this forum remember Gopijanavallabha Swami?

 

He was a very sweet and sincere disciple of Srila Prabhupada.

 

Unfortunately, after the passing of Srila Prabhupada he eventually committed suicide.

 

He stood on the banks of the river in St. Louis and shot himself in the head.

 

First, he shaved up, chanted his rounds, put on a clean dhoti and went to the river to kill himself.

 

He was devasted by the words of Tamal Krishna Goswami who said that after the disappearance of Srila Prabhuapda that if he did not accept him as being as good as Srila Prabhupada then there was no way that he could ever go back to Godhead in this lifetime.

 

Hearing that, Gopijanavallabha Swami decided to commit suicide because he felt he could not live up to the demands that Tamal was making on him.

 

Some of Tamal's closest associates left him after that.

Sura das, Sivarama Swami, Praghosha and several other close associates of Tamal left his company over that.

 

It was a very sad episode in the history of ISKCON.

 

Gopijanavallabha Swami was one of the sweetest and most sincere Godbrothers I ever met.

 

I think his memory should be maintained and the lessons learned about how this abusive situation led to the suicide of a very sincere devotee.

 

Many devotees have committed spiritual suicide in the wake of Srila Prabhupada's passing. ISKCON was their life.

 

When ISKCON became intolerable to them, they simply walked off into the jaws of maya or committed suicide.

[Guest guest]

After the suicide of Gopijanavallabha Swami, it was Sura das, I believe, that approached Tamal Krishna Goswami and said "you killed Gopijanavallabha Swami".

 

He then parted company of Tamal.