Gauranga is another name for

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (; ), born Vishvambhara Mishra () (18 February 1486 – 14 June 1534), was an Indian Hindus, Hindu saint from Bengal and the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mode of worshipping Krishna with bha ...

(or Gauranga Mahaprabhu), the 16th century founder of

Gaudiya Vaishnavism Gaudiya Vaishnavism (), also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism, is a Vaishnavism, Vaishnava Hindu denominations, Hindu religious movement inspired by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) in India. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gaura or Gauḍa region o ...

. The term ''Gauranga Mahaprabhu'' references Chaitanya possessing the golden complexion of the goddess

Radha Radha (, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. In scriptures, Radha is mentioned as the avatar of Lakshmi and also as the Prak� ...

as an

avatar Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

Nomenclature

* 'Gauranga' (

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

;

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

गौराङ्ग; IAST: Gaurāṅga) means 'having a white, yellowish, or golden complexion'. The term is a

bahuvrihi A bahuvrīhi, or bahuvrīhi compound, is a type of compound word that denotes a referent by specifying a certain characteristic or quality the referent possesses. A bahuvrihi is exocentric, so that the compound is not a hyponym of its head. For ...

compound from: **'Gaura' (Sanskrit गौर) which means 'fair', 'gold', 'yellow', and 'saffron' (in complexion) ** 'Anga' (or 'aGga', Sanskrit अङ्ग) which means 'limb', 'constituent', and 'component part' (of

)

Gaudiya Vaishnavism

The term 'Gauranga' is relevant in

due to scriptural verses such as the following found in the ''

Bhagavata Purana The ''Bhagavata Purana'' (; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam)'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' () or simply ''Bhagavata (Bhāgavata)'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen major Puranas (''Mahapuranas'') and one ...

'': 'Krsna' (or '

कृष्ण) means 'black'; 'Akṛṣṇam' ('a-krsna-m') means 'not black' or 'golden'. 'Gauranga' refers to the golden skin complexion of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, most notable for popularising the 16 syllable "Hare Krishna" maha-mantra, also known as the ''Nama-Sankirtan'' (congregational chanting of the Holy-names of the Lord): This mantra is intended to spread love for God without seeing any mundane qualification or characteristic such as color, cast, creed, or nationality. He came as a devotee of the Lord to teach the conditioned souls how to discharge devotional service properly. The master is teaching the servant by his own example. Therefore, the path chalked out by Lord Chaitanya is taken as the most perfect by all the

acharya In Indian religions and society, an ''acharya'' (Sanskrit: आचार्य, IAST: ; Pali: ''ācariya'') is a religious teacher in Hinduism and Buddhism and a spiritual guide to Hindus and Buddhists. The designation has different meanings i ...

s (learned authorities from disciplic succession). Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada, the spiritual master of A.C. Bhativedanta Swami Prabhupada has sung: Śrī-kṛṣṇa-Caitanya rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe anya (Lord Shri Krishna Caitanya is non-different from Radha-Krishna) - as He Lord Chaitanya is Krishna himself in the mood of his best devotee - Shrimati Radharani - who excels everyone in her service, love and devotion to the Lord. His principle teachings are that the soul or the living entity is the eternal servant of Lord Krishna and it can obtain true happiness only by serving him with love and devotion and that the chanting of the holy names of the Lord is the only means of spiritual realization in this age.

Hare Krishna movement

Within

ISKCON The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement, is a religious organization that follows the Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. It was founded on 13 July 1966 ...

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (; ) (1 September 1896 – 14 November 1977) was a spiritual, philosophical, and religious teacher from India who spread the Hare Krishna mantra and the teachings of "Krishna consciousness" ...

propagated that whoever hears, reads, or speaks the name ' is blessed with fortune and happiness due to Chaitanya's saintly nature.

promoted singing Gauranga's name and dancing in the streets as one of the most important and effective ways to help distribute "the mercy of Lord Gauranga". Stickers bearing the word Gouranga or stating "Call out Gouranga and be happy!" began appearing on bridges over motorways and railways in Scotland, the North of the

Bhaktivedanta Manor Bhaktivedanta Manor is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu temple set in the Hertfordshire countryside of England, in the village of Letchmore Heath near Watford. The Manor is owned and run by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON ...

in England and north of Wales from the mid-nineties onwards. Stickers and fridge magnets with the phrase have also been handed out by Hare Krishna devotees at music festivals throughout the UK.

In popular culture

The song "Twydale's Lament" from the album ''

Achtung Bono ''Achtung Bono'' is the tenth album by UK Independent music, indie rock band Half Man Half Biscuit, released in 2005. In 2010, a Facebook campaign was mounted with the aim of saving BBC 6 Music from threatened closure and, as a sign of protest ...

'' by

Half Man Half Biscuit Half Man Half Biscuit are an English rock band, formed in 1984 in Birkenhead, Merseyside. Known for their satirical, sardonic, and sometimes surreal songs, the band comprises lead singer and guitarist Nigel Blackwell, bassist and singer Neil Cr ...

has the lyrics "Gauranga Gauranga, yes I'll be happy, when you've been arrested for defacing the bridge." The word is involved in one of the many

Easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The ...

s in the first of the

Grand Theft Auto ''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is an action-adventure video game series created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is prima ...

video game series. The game displays the text "GOURANGA!" whenever the player runs over a complete group of Hare Krishnas, who are occasionally featured as pedestrians. "GOURANGA" is also the name the player has to enter in

Grand Theft Auto 2 ''Grand Theft Auto 2'' is a 1999 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sequel to 1997's ''Grand Theft Auto'', and the second main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series. Set within a retrofu ...

to enable the cheat mode. Additionally, in the online GTA IV mode, the message "Player X Gouranga'd Player Y" appears occasionally when a player is killed by running over with a vehicle.

Footnotes

External links