In the early seventeenth century,
Shyamananda and Rasikananda Prabhus had preached all over Orissa,
converting thousands into followers of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. They
had a unique style of kirtana, quite distinct from the styles practiced
by Srinivas Acharya and Narottam Das Thakur in Bengal and north-eastern
India, and this style became very popular in Orissa, becoming known as
oòiçé-kértana. Dinabandhu Giri, like his father and grandfather before
him, was expert in oòiçé-kértana. He performed kirtana all over
Gadeigiri and the surrounding villages and was highly appreciated by the
villagers. The Giri family was often invited to teach kirtana, thus
they became known as kirtana gurus, instructing others in the
performance of kirtana.
Dinabandhu Giri also lived to be 85, and
after his departure Gopal’s care was handed on to his son Abhiram Giri.
Although Dinabandhu Giri was very expert in sankirtana, his son Abhiram
was not. One day as the father and son were doing kirtana in a nearby
village, some people criticized Abhiram Giri saying, “How is it that the
son of a kirtana guru cannot do kirtana?” Abhiram Giri felt very sad.
He decided that when he returned to Gadeigiri he would pray to the Gopal
deity for the ability to do kirtana. According to the Giri family
history, just before Abhiram arrived at Gopal’s temple he saw mother
Durga-devi, who is known as Jagulai, the protector of the village,
coming to have darsana of Gopal. Abhiram offered obeisances to
Durga-devi, who is Vaishnavi-devi, a great devotee of Krishna.
Jagulai-devi could understand Abhiram Giri’s desire and she gave him the
benediction that whenever he sang, everyone would appreciate it. Then
she asked him to let her see Gopal.
The temple of Jagulai Durga is situated
at the entrance way to the village of Gadeigiri. She is the presiding
deity of the neighboring village of Nagpur. It is considered that she
acts as a guard for Gopal’s territory and that she regularly comes to
have darsana of Gopal. Many local people have claimed to have seen her
coming, carrying a burning maçäla, a type of torch common in rural
areas. The local residents say that she comes every night for darsana of
Gopal at midnight.
Abhiram Giri served Gopal until he passed
away at the ripe age of 90, and Gopal’s service then passed on to his
son Bhagavat Charan Giri. From the time of Gopal Giri the family had
engaged only sannyasis to perform the daily worship of Gopal. This
tradition stopped during the life of Bhagavat Charan Giri. In one
conversation Srila Gour Govinda Swami explained why:
One vaishnava sannyasi came to Gadeigiri
and started doing service for Gopal. He thought to himself, “Oh, very
nice deity, and He is staying in a thatched house, no security is there.
Once he thought, “I will steal these deities.” At night he stole the
deities and took them away. In a dream Gopal called my ancestor and told
him, “This person is stealing Me away! Come immediately and rescue Me.”
The sannyasi had only gone a short distance when a very poisonous snake
came and bit him, killing him. Finding Gopal lying on the ground, my
ancestor picked Him up and took Him back to the temple.
After this incident, fearful that someone
else would attempt to steal Gopal, Bhagavat Charan Giri engaged only
hired brahmins for Gopal’s worship. As a further precaution, he would
not engage any one brahmin for very long, but would regularly change
them.
Bhagavat Charan Giri had two sons,
Bhikari Giri and Lakshman Giri, and he passed away at the age of 82.
Bhikari means a beggar or sannyasi. This was an appropriate name for the
oldest son of Bhagavat Charan Giri, for Bhikari Giri left home and took
sannyasa at the age of 30. Wanting to dedicate himself to his beloved
Lord Krishna, Bhikari Giri spent the rest of his life doing bhajana in
Vrindavan, where he stayed until he passed away at the age of 75.
Bhikari Giri had one son, Govinda Giri,
who also became famous as an expert singer of kértana. His descendent
Ghanashyam Giri relates:
Whenever Govinda Giri would start singing
kirtana, people would not be able to stay away. Even if they were
sleeping they would give up their sleep to come and hear his singing.
Wherever Govinda Giri would go he would take his son Bauri Giri with
him. Bauri Giri was deeply influenced by his father from a very early
age. From his childhood he was very devoted to Gopal.
Govinda Giri passed away in 1933 at the age of 88. Before he departed he entrusted Gopal’s service to his son Bauri.
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