Gouranga
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Gouranga, or Gauranga, is said to originate in the Hare Krishna religious movement, whose founder, Shri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, was also called Gaura, or Gauranga. In popular culture it is accepted generally as a word meaning simply 'be happy', although the literal Sanskrit translation is 'light/golden-limbed'.
Stickers bearing the word Gouranga or stating "Call out Gouranga and be happy!" have been appearing on bridges over motorways and railways in Scotland and the North of England. It has also appeared on public buildings over recent years, and 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.
Background
The literal translation from the original Sanskrit language means "Golden (Gaura) Limbed (Anga)" referring to Caitanya Mahaprabhu's golden skin complexion. Within Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition it is said that whoever hears, reads, or speaks the name "Gouranga" is blessed with "amazing fortune" and happiness due to Caitanya Mahaprabhu's extraordinary saintly nature.
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 "Sri Caitanya- caritamrta." (See also Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.5.32.)
Pronunciation
Urban Dictionary has an audio file giving the correct pronunciation of the word Gouranga: [link] [ˈgurəŋgə]The C in Caitanya is pronounced like the ch in cheese.
Other Theories on the Origin of Gouranga
- It is the name of a bridge building company in the North of England.
- The makers of Grand Theft Auto (video game) created the craze to publicize the first game in the series.
- A clothing company started it as a publicity stunt.
- Recently, in a video meme World Giant, an extension of Frank Shepard Fairey's André the Giant street art campaign, claimed responsibility for Gouranga.
Email and ICQ spam
A spate of spam emails have also appeared, and are sometimes known simply as the Hare Krishna spam:
Subject: GourangaWhen the International Society for Krishna Consciousness was contacted about the emails, there was no reply from the organization, but an unknown person responded independently and described their motives:Call out Gouranga be happy!!! Gouranga Gouranga Gouranga .... That which brings the highest happiness!!
Hello Joe,The spam can be blocked if desired by filtering out emails from the address NitaiGouranga@aol.com, which, while fake, is used consistently for this purpose.[link]I am just very enthusiastic person, who wants everybody to be happy.
:)))
The same happened on ICQ, so seen on 4th of December 2005. ICQ # 209142623 with the Profile "Username: Gouranga, female, 21 years, located in Ghana" sends the message
Call out Gouranga Be Happy... Gouranga Gouranga Gouranga That which brings the highest happiness!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). Remarkable is that the three exclamation marks are now replaced by three dots. The person who received this did not catch the IP address of the ICQ user 209142623. With the IP address the location of the spammer could possibly be revealed.
Gouranga in Grand Theft Auto
The word is involved in one of the many politically incorrect 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. A related easter egg in Grand Theft Auto 2 is the "ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!" message, displayed when the player runs over a group of Elvis impersonators.
Notes
External links
- [Pronunciation in MP3]
- [Discussion on Gouranga spam]
- [Gouranga Spam]
- [Origins of Gouranga]
- [Gouranga Tattoo]
- [Vedic Encyclopedia]
- [Urban Dictionary Definitions]
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