Śrī Rādhā Govinda

Information – Here is a picture of Radha Govinda ji, the first deity given to Srila Prabhupada by his father, Gour Mohan De, during his childhood, when he was known as Abhay. Srila Prabhupada often carried these deities with him during his travels. After Srila Prabhupada’s passing, the deities were given to his sister, Pishima. Following her departure, they were brought to ISKCON Mayapur.

Prabhupāda: And that is the inspiration of my devotional life. Then I asked my father that, “Give me Rādhā-Govinda Deity, I shall worship.” So my father was also Vaiṣṇava. He gave me small Rādhā-Govinda Deity. I was worshiping in my house. Whatever I was eating, I was offering, and I was following the ceremonies of this Rādhā-Govinda with my small Deity. That Deity is still existing. I have given to my sister.
(760324 – Conversation – Calcutta – Radha-Govinda Mandir)

These children in Gurukula are the most fortunate children in the world, because right from the beginning they are having the association of Radha and Krishna. This was the case in my childhood also. My father was pure Vaisnava and he gave me and my sister the Radha Krishna Deities to worship and in this way we were trained. And still to this very day my sister is worshiping these very same Deities in Calcutta. So like this the children must be trained.
(730218 – Letter to Bhaktin Toni written from Sydney)

Prabhupāda: A child naturally wants to play, so he can play with Kṛṣṇa Deity. We had the opportunity of doing that. My father was worshiping Kṛṣṇa Deity. So I wanted to imitate him, and he gave me small Deity. That still, that Deity is still worshiped. My sister and myself, whatever we were eating, we were offering exactly the same arcana. And father used to encourage. This Ratha-yātrā and Rādhā-Go . . . Kṛṣṇa temple which we are propagating, it was, from the very beginning of our life, was initiated by our parents. So anyone can initiate his child to this Kṛṣṇa consciousness understanding from the very beginning, without any education, without any knowledge.
(720601 – Lecture SB 02.03.15 – Los Angeles)

In my childhood, Radha-Govindaji were the source of my enjoyment. I asked my father to give me Radha-Govinda deities and he gave me and I worshiped. And I also asked him to give me ratha, and the ratha was going from my home by the side of Syamasundara.’s house.
(720509 – Letter to Bhavananda written from Honolulu)