A Brief Biography of Srimati Krishna Moyee Devi
Thus, by living an exalted devotional life she naturally becomes worshipable to all of us in the world of divine service to the Supreme Lord. Pranam prayer by Sripad Bhakti Nanda Swami Maharaj. This brief article was done in Navadwip Dham in April 2000 just after the initiation ceremony of both Nimai Chand and Nitai Chand. The information was furnished by His Divine Grace Sripad Bhakti Nanda Swami Maharaja who has composed the above pranam prayer. I sincerely ask for the forgiveness for any mistakes made in this brief article and I also apologise for writing the text in a serious of paragraphs as the brief biography was done with myself (Guru Prasada dasa) taking down notes whilst His Divine Grace Swami Maharaja was narrating her life story. Srimati Krishna Moyee didi made her auspicious appearance in a high smartta brahmin family in Nagpur in December 1898, which was purnima (full moon night when the Divine Couple, Sri Sri Radha Krishna perform special pastimes). The family settled in Tegharipassa, which is part of Navadwip, where she is presently residing. Her father was a lecturer at the local college and she was educated in the scriptures from an early age. Her husband was a chief auditor for the Indian Railways. They had a daughter but before they could have a son her husband died. She later adopted a boy by the name of Satya Hari who was also from a brahmin family. Satya Hari also worked on the railways and later he started up his own business. After the break up of the Gaudiya Math our Divine Guru Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev Goswami Maharaj in Sripad Gopal Babu's house for more than a year. Srila Gurudev would read from Srimad Bhagavatam and would also preach in the locality. He also used to preach at the Mahaprabhu Mandir (where one can still find the descendents of Narrotama Thakhur). Nobody in the Gaudiya Math knew where Srila Guru Maharaja was living as he had been trying to avoid crowds. One of Srila Guru Maharaja's Godbrother, Sripad Sakhu Baba spent some time looking for Srila Guru Maharaj. He gave a physical description of Guru Maharaja to many inhabitants of Navadwip and finally through milksellers and vendors he managed to locate him. He insisted that Guru Maharaja could not remain hidden as he was regarded as one of the foremost preachers of Srila Bhaktisidanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada. After some time Srila Guru Maharaja agreed to start a mission. He built a small hut on land which was bought by Sripad Sakhu Babu. The land in question is on the present Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math site. The area at the time was underdeveloped and still had tigers and monkeys roaming freely. Srila Guru Maharaja would worship a small Giri Raj Deity and gave Hari Katha regularly. Srimati Krsna Moyee didi would take her daily bath in the Ganges via the same route each day. When she heard of Srila Guru Maharaja she would change her route to the Ganga so that she could regularly attend Hari Katha given by him. She would offer him flowers and Ganga water. This went on for about two and half years, at the time she was aged about 37 years. She then took Hari Nama initiation. When her daughter finished her studies and her adopted son become financially self supporting she decided to give up family life and sell her property which she donated all to Srila Guru Maharaj. She informed her family that they would not receive any inheritance as she was going to donate the land and houses to Srila Guru Maharaja's mission. The present value of the property and land would be about $40,000. The agricultural land yielded a plentiful supply of rice and vegetables. With the finance she donated, building work started for other devotees to stay. Whilst at the Math she was given the responsibility of looking after all the women, making garlands for the Deities, managing Srila Gurudev's room and prepared the type of water he liked to drink. Srila Guru Maharaja always had special affection for her due to her unalloyed service, her devotion, honesty and dedication. He also appreciated her writings and poetry.
Srila Guru Maharaj always regarded her as the "unofficial Manager" as she was given the responsibility of looking after the temple when Srila Gurudev was away preaching and any major decisions had to go through her. Srila Gurudev stated that she is a special devotee and we must always look after all her needs. Srimati Krishna Moyee didi is now residing in Tegharipara district of Navadwip. Previously this area was well known to have followers of Tantric yoga - they were very entrenched in their tantric way of life. At that time she began to preach to them and converted them to Vaisnavism, which Srila Gurudev greatly appreciated. Srila Guru Maharaja proclaimed her to be Suddha Bhakta, pure devotee of the Lord. At present she is lovingly cared for by Sripad Bhakti Nandan Swami Maharaj, Sripad Gour Krishna Prabhu and Srimati Jahnava didi.Srimati Krishna Moyee didi has just celebrated her 103rd year Vyasa-puja. (January 2001) Srila Bhaktidaitya Madhav Maharaj was so much impressed with her selfless devotion to Srila Guru Maharaj that he compared her name with the name of Radha Thakurani (whose other name was Krishnamayee). He used to explain the meaning of her name thus; Krishnamayee krishna jar bhitare bahire "Krishnamayee" means "one who always thinks of Krishna both within and without, who always remembers only Krishna wherever they go or whatever they see." To email Guru Prasada dasa: [email protected] |
Translation:
Srila Guru Maharaja wrote a brief Sanskrit poem describing her life, which can
be found in the old Srimad Bhagavad-Gita, which she helped finance for printing.