Bhakti Gauravani Goswami, born in Germany in 1951, met devotees in Hamburg in the summer of 1971, while doing mandatory military service. After reading Srila Prabhupada’s Sri Isopanisad and receiving guidance from Prabhupada’s disciples at ISKCON’s Hamburg temple, he became a vegetarian, shaved his head, and lived (as far as circumstances allowed) a devotional life while still in the army. To help him focus, devotees asked him to translate the Second Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam into German. Shortly after his discharge, he traveled to Paris in June of 1972 to meet Srila Prabhupada who accepted him as his disciple and gave him the spiritual name Vedavyas das. For the next eight years, Vedavyas das translated his spiritual master’s work into German and managed the German BBT. After moving to Spain in 1981, he oversaw the printing for the Spanish BBT and assisted in the administration of the Spanish temples. In 1982, he met his future wife, Rasamrita devi dasi, with whom he would raise four children. In 1985, he established the European office of the Spanish BBT and organized the translation and production of Prabhupada’s books in Spain. During the next ten years the Srimad-Bhagavatam and several other works were published in Spanish, and the Sri Caitanya-caritamrita was translated and prepared for publication. For the occasion of Srila Prabhupada’s centennial celebration, Vedavyas wrote and published a book called Srila Prabhupada and His Disciples in Germany, which narrates the history of ISKCON Germany from 1969 to 1977 and features the memories of Prabhupada’s disciples. In 2007, he and his wife entered into the retired order of life, vanaprastha. Seven years later, after 32 years of marriage, Vedavyas das entered into the renounced order of life. On the auspicious day of Gaura Purnima in 2014 he received sannyasa initiation and his new name Bhakti Gauravani Goswami from His Holiness Prahladananda Swami in Sridhama Mayapur. At present, Bhakti Gauravani Goswami is retranslating Srila Prabhupada’s books into German, incorporating a matured understanding of his spiritual master’s teachings into the new edition. He also pursues his own writing and recording projects and continues to travel and preach in Europe, South America and India.
The Team
Choirs, mridanga players and other assistants
Spain 1 - Caitanyacandra and Gauranga-lila 2 - Devarsi 3 - Puspagopala and Godruma-pati 4 - Devakinandana and Sucandra
Argentina 1 - Visakha, Vasudeva, Phanindra and Natarani 2 - Noelia, Visnurata, Vidyananda and Anuradha
Bulgaria 1 - Gopigitamrita, Tulsi and Pandava-bandhava 2 - Gauranga-karunasindhu 3 - Pandava-bandhava and Tulsi
Chile 1 - Devarsi Narada and Violeta 2 - Nanda-nandana and Gauranga-prema 3 - Maha-bahu and Jayasri