Gouranga

Gouranga (IPA2|guˈrəŋgə [according to [http://www.urbandictionary.com/listen.php?word=gouranga&skip=0&player=link urbandictionary.com] (includes an MP3 file illustrating pronunciation)] ) is a term popularized by the Hare Krishna movement as a word meaning 'be happy'. It is derived from "Gauranga" गौराङ्ग (IAST "IAST|gaurāṅga"), literally 'light/golden-limbed', a name of Krishna in Puranic literature, and in Gaudiya Vaishnavism in particular a name of Caitanya Mahaprabhu (considered a reincarnation of Krishna [ see [http://srimadbhagavatam.com/11/5/32/en1 commentary by Prabhupada] on Bhagavata Purana 11.5.32: Gauranga is "a-krishna" "not black" = "gaura" or "hari" "bright/golden", a "chromatic complement", as it were, that is also encountered in the "hare krishna" mantra] ).

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 England and Wales from the mid-nineties onwards. Stickers and fridge magnets with the phrase have also been handed out by Hare Krishna monks at music festivals throughout the UK, such as Glastonbury and Download. There is even a monk based rock group called "The Gouranga Powered Band".

In Vaishnavism

The Sanskrit term "IAST|gaurāṅga" is a bahuvrihi meaning "golden-limbed" or "having a white or yellowish body" (Monier-Williams), from "IAST|gaura" "white, shining, beautiful" and "IAST|aṅga" "limb".

Within Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition it is taken to refer to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's golden skin complexion, and it is said that whoever hears, reads, or speaks the name "IAST|gaurāṅga" is blessed with fortune and happiness due to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's extraordinary saintly nature. ["O infallible and most famous person, whose name, when chanted, spreads all good fortune!" from [http://srimadbhagavatam.com/8/17/8/en1 BhaP 8.17.8] . "It should be noted in this connection that the holy names of Lord Krishna and Gaurasundara are both identical with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore one should not consider one name to be more potent than the other." A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada from Chaitanya Charitamrita purport, Adi-Lila, Chapter 8, Text 31. ISBN 0-947259-06-6.] Caitanya Mahaprabhu was born in Mayapur, West Bengal, in 1486. His activities and teachings are described in detail in the book "Teachings of Lord Caitanya" and the multi-volume "Chaitanya Charitamrita".

The term predates Caitanya as an epithet of incarnations of Vishnu-Krishna, appearing in various Vaishna Puranas, for example in the Agni Purana (before 1100 CE) ,:"IAST|prasantātma lambakanṭhas / gaurāṅgas ca sura-vṛtaḥ": "the supreme Self, long-necked / and golden-limbed, surrounded by sages"

Email and ICQ spam

A spate of spam emails have also appeared, and are sometimes known simply as the "Hare Krishna spam":

Subject: Gouranga Call out Gouranga be happy!!! Gouranga Gouranga Gouranga .... That which brings the highest happiness!!

In 2005, J. Wein contacted the International Society for Krishna Consciousness about the emails. There was no reply from the organization, but an unknown person responded independently as follows:

Hello Joe, I am just very enthusiastic person, who wants everybody to be happy. :)))

The spam can be blocked if desired by filtering out emails from the address [e-mail], which, while fake, is used consistently for this purpose.

The same happened on ICQ, seen on 4th of December 2005. ICQ # 209142623 with the Profile "Username: Gouranga, female, 21 years, located in Ghana" sent the following message:

Call out Gouranga Be Happy... Gouranga Gouranga Gouranga That which brings the highest happiness!

On November, 21st 2006 another spam was sent out from ICQ #252383686.Today from ICQ #242581996, - female 44 years.ICQ#: 256-775-585

Ник: GourangaДомашний адрес: Кувейт Пол: Муж.Возраст: 66Дата рождения: 05/03/1941

It was sent to random ICQ users and does not further answer to ICQ messages sent back. It is possible to protect oneself from this by moving this user to the ignore list or by not allowing messages from unknown users (ICQ options).

A variant spam email which replaces the word "Gouranga" with "Neateye", (in reference to Nityananda) is also in existence, although it is not quite as prevalent. The same [e-mail] address is linked to both forms of the spam.

Trivia

The word is involved in one of the many easter eggs in the first of the Grand Theft Auto 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 to enable the cheat mode.Additionally, in the online GTA IV mode, the message "Player X Gouranga'd Player Y" appears occasionally when a death occurs.

The song "Twydale's Lament" by Half Man Half Biscuit features the lyrics "Gouranga, Gouranga yes I'll be happy when you've been arrested for defacing the bridge".

It is probable that Bill Murray's phrase, as Carl Spackler in Caddyshack, attributed to the Dalai Lama ( [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Caddyshack|"he turns to me and says ... Gunga ... Gunga gaLunga"] ) is derived from Gouranga.

ee also

*Hare Krishna
*Neateye

Footnotes

External links

;General
* [http://veda.harekrsna.cz/encyclopedia/caitanya.htm "Vedic Encyclopedia"] (harekrsna.cz)
* [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gouranga Urban Dictionary Definitions]
* [http://www.citynoise.org/article/884 "Call Out Gouranga!"] (citynoise.org)
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/content/articles/2005/06/21/hare_krishna_movement_feature.shtml Origins of Gouranga] (bbc.co.uk Hare Krishna feature)
* [http://www.gouranga.extra.hu/ The Gouranga Powered Band] (The Gouranga Powered Band Page with downloads under "Letöltések")

;Gouranga spam
* [http://www.joewein.de/sw/spam-neateye-gouranga.htm "Gouranga" spam - who's behind it and what it's about] by J. Wein
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-21228,00.html guardian.co.uk reader comments]