Jagadguru Bhagawaan Gopinathji was one of the most eminent saints who have ever graced the sacred land of India.Unlike the other saints; he was called Bhagawaan in his lifetime as all the six attributes which that word stands for were seen in him. He was a Jeevan-mukta, having attained mukti or liberation while still in the gross body, to which he was not attached in the least. His spiritual state was what the Shaivites call Shsembhavi avasthaa (the state of Shiva Himself) and the Vendantins, Brahrnisthiti (the state of ever dwelling in Brahmin, or God without a form). With his spiritual power, he did a lot of good to spiritual aspirants, house holders and the country. He brought many sinners round to the path of virtue. Though utterly detached, he showed much concern for the country and its people in his later life.
Bhagawaan Gopinathji, one of the several brothers and sisters, was born in a middle class Kashmiri Pandit family at Banamohalla, Srinagar, Kashmir on 3rd July, 1898. His mother Shrimati Haara Maali, passed away when he was only twelve, and his father, Pandit Narayan Joo Bhan, when he (Bhagawaanji) was in his late twenties. Bhagawaan Gopinathji, was educated only up to the Middle Standard, but had absorbed well whatever he had been taught at school. He would, very rarely, though utter beautiful English sentences even in later life, when he remained absorbed in the Self most of the time. He was also conversant with Sanskrit, Persian, Hindi and Urdu. When Bhagawaan Gopinathji was only ten, Pandit Narayan Joo Bhan relinquished the possession of his residential house, along with most other belongings, to his stepmother. The family continued to live in Srinagar, but had to shift residence from place to place. Thus, Bhagawaan Ji lived in eleven different houses including his ancestral house. These included the house of a niece of his at Chandapora where he gave up the mortal frame on 28th May, 1968.