Gopiparanadhana Dasa, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and a leading Sanskrit scholar in ISKCON, passed away at his home in the sacred village of Govardhana, India, on September 15.
Born in 1950 in New York City, Gopiparanadhana received his B.A. in linguistics from Columbia University in 1972 and was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1973. Under Srila Prabhupada’s guidance he developed an expertise in Sanskrit and served as an editor for the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT).
After Srila Prabhupada’s passing, Gopiparanadhana helped complete Prabhupada’s work on the Srimad-Bhagavatam, as well as work Prabhupada had done on Mukunda-mala-stotra and Narada-bhakti-sütra.
In 2005 Gopiparanadhana completed the multi-volume Brhad-bhagavatamrta, with commentary based on the author’s own commentary. He continued to translate Gaudiya Vaishnava literature from Sanskrit, notably the six Sandarbhas of Srila Jiva Gosvami. He also trained editors and translators for the BBT.
Gopiparanadhana lived with his wife and son in Govardhana, where at the time of his passing he was spending two days between trips to Poland and China.
Vaishnavas around the world mourn the loss of this great soul who passed from this world in Krishna’s land and is surely continuing on under Krishna’s protection.