Gopinath Kaviraj

Editor's note: Amiya especially wants this to be put right. On page 5768 of Lord Meher, Bhau's extensive biography of Meher Baba, Bhau refers to Gopinath Kaviraj as a noted poet.

Amiya writes: "Bhauji, in Lord Meher, writes 'On June 5, a well-known poet named Dr. Gopinath Kaviraj �'

"I do not know if that scholar-saint ever wrote even two lines of poetry. But some years back (much after Memoirs of a Zetetic's first edition) I read a biography of Gopinathji in Hindi which tells us that he was an eminent scholar- Archaeologist, Orientologist and perhaps a fellow of the Royal Asiatic society. Thereafter, he became a spiritual aspirant, had his first two Gurus and finally met Baba. The account of his meeting with Beloved Baba is exactly the way Bhauji has told us. The only error Bhauji makes is in assuming that he was a well-known poet. Perhaps it has been guessed from his surname Kaviraj. Kavi in Hindi means "poet." Raj means a prince or courtly person. Actually there is a difference between Kaviraj and Rajkavi. Kaviraj is a surname shared by many Bengalis, who typically will have inherited it from someone in their ancestry who has been a physician or a surgeon in the Indian system of medical science. Rajkavi would mean a court poet -- a poet laureate sort. 'Dr.' in Gopinathji's case was an honour given to him by B.H. University for his immense learning and not for medicine. Gradually Gopinathji was more known for his saintly nature and pursuits rather than for his indological studies. Yes, you might have guessed correctly that when Baba inwardly prompted me to go to Varanasi to give Gopinathji, His book "The Everything and The Nothing" which Gopinathji longed to read, it must have reassured him of Baba's love and attention long after his meeting him on June 6th 1960. Is not the Beloved's never-failing omniscience amazing?"

Closing Editor's Note: If some of this, particularly the reference to Amiya's trip to see Gopinathji, seems obscure, the reader can find the missing details in Memoirs of a Zetetic.