Description

Gopipararpdhana Dasa (1950-2011) was both a scholar of Sanskrit and a practitioner of devotional service to Lord Krsna. Under the guidance of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupdda, he developed an expertise in Sanskrit and served as an editor for the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. When Shia Prabhupada passed away, Gopiparanadhana served on the three-man team that completed Srila Prabhupada’s edition of S’rimad-Bhagavatam.
Until the end of his life, Gopiparanadhana Dasa lived with his wife and son in Govardhana, the north Indian village where the author of Sri Brhad-bhagavatamrta spent the last years of his life.
Vol-I
Preface
THE HERO’S QUEST for the extraordinary – an ever-recurring theme in literature – reflects the urge of every heart at its no-blest to discover the full possibilities of life. Anyone dissatisfied with the scant potential of mundane existence is naturally stimu-lated by the prospect of finding, even vicariously, a world of greater liberty. There should be some better place for the soul. Why should happiness be so elusive, and why should confusion and resentment always shroud the mind’s eye, making it unable to see clearly what’s in front of it?
Sandtana Gosvami’s Brhad-bhagavatamrta is a gemlike `example of the quest genre, but different from the sort com-monly encountered in fable and fiction. Narada and Gopa-kumara, the respective heroes of this book’s two parts, are searching for a key to fulfillment much subtler than wealth, influ-ence, mundane love, the Fountain of Youth, or even the Holy Grail. Narada has vast experience of the cosmos, Gopa-kumara is illiterate and naive, yet they share the same vision of what is most valuable. What both want is not to conquer or exploit on any level,