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His Incredible Forbearance

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There is no doubt that our Most Merciful Srila Gurudev is an embodiment of patience, but we had the real experience of it when there was once a General Meeting held in Kolkata. There I happened to read the false accusations made upon Srila Gurudev by two Vaishnavas who had filed them in the court.  I  was surprised to see the serious and baseless accusations that so extremely attacked  His character.  Reading those accusations, I had felt great anger and also was surprised as to with what thoughts and intentions such senior Vaishnavas did this. In the assembly, all household Vaishnavas expressing their minds let out their anger and pacified themselves. Srila Gurudev did not consider it appropriate to speak anything against anyone and only said that whatever Guruji and Supreme Lord does is all-good. I was astonished seeing this extreme forbearance. —Sri Vishvambhar Das (B. L. Chotani), Manasa  Translated from Sri Krishna Chaitanya Sandesh July-Oct, 1997 (Year 17, Issue

His Bhakta Vatsalya

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One time during a Harikatha in Kolkata Math, Gurudev expressed his great concern about devotees who had a desire to visit the zoological park at Kolkata when they came there.
 His concern was really palpable when he said, "You go there to see the lions and tigers, but if you suffer a heart attack and die there out of fear hearing just one roar from one of them in close quarters, you may be born as a tiger or a lion next because your last thoughts were of them!"

By Gurudev's grace we see a lesson He is conveying to us, i.e. though death of the body is certain and I have no control over the date, time, place and circumstances of death, but I still have a choice to choose how I live now and so, let me only aspire and pray to live a devotional life in the association of pure devotees of the Lord.

 I found myself pondering on the words of Gurudev and could not get it off my mind easily. More thinking made me realize that Gurudev's concern was not like an ordinary m

He Was in Everyone's Hearts as They Sang

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Gaursundar Prabhu was there in Guwahati hospital, and he started doing kirtan for the first time. There was space near the hospital, and the arrangement was such that Gurudev was moved to another separate room. It was near an empty building next to the hospital. Gaurasundar Prabhu started doing kirtan there and the sound of kirtan went directly to Guru Maharaj's room. That was his arrangement. Muni Maharaj was there and he sang, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu, doya koro more . I still remember the mood with which he sang. That time, moods of material discomforts, they all disappeared. Everyone was filled with deep feelings for Gurudev, and with that mood they sang. Everybody had Gurudev in their mind, in their heart. The full mood was with Gurudev. Being a part of that kirtan, was really a different experience. That time I took a snap just to remember that, I still have that snap. It was altogether a different atmosphere that time. Then the kirtan started regularly f

He Will Never Take a Seat Higher Than Guru Varga

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Our Guru Maharaj is the incarnate form of Sriman Mahaprabhu’s 3rd sloka of Sri Sikshastakam amanina manadena , not expecting respect for oneself but at the same time giving due respects to others, and this mood of his is unparalleled. Not a trace of desire of respect for himself. We can personally observe these qualities of Guru Maharaj in his day-to-day activities. In Sri Dham Mayapur, ISKCON’s Sri Jayapataka Maharaj submitted to Guruji saying, “Maharaj, you take many devotees to several places during Parikrama while performing sankirtans. So, please come to our place as well.” Guruji accepted his submission. One day Guruji was taking devotees along in Nagar Sankirtan and arrived at Sri Krishna Chandrodaya mandir. Sri Jayapataka Maharaj and math’s other sanyassis and brahmacharis gave a warm welcome to Guruji at the main gate. They expressed great joy on the arrival of Guru Maharaj and blissfully joined the sankirtan. With great respect, Guruji was lead to the Satsang Hal

His Loving Protection

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I sometimes remember the olden days pastimes of Guru Maharaj when he was sitting alone. In 1993, when I was a pujari in Dehra Dun, I saw the early morning cold weather and severe Winter there. Guru Maharaj gave me warm clothes with his own hands. Feeling the cold winds, he also offered carpets and mats. He took care of me like a mother. Another memory is when I traveled with Guru Maharaj in trains many times. Guru Maharaj used to be always calm and composed and used to even joke. Yet, once I saw his angry mood like Narasimhadev when coming back from Assam to Kolkata. At Kolkata station, the taxi drivers were hurrying them to keep their luggage in the carrier.  Guru Maharaj got angry seeing them giving trouble to the devotees.   That time he manifested that Narasimha form, an angry mood came and he put down his danda and said, "What are you doing?  What do you think about Chaitanya Gaudiya Math!  These are devotees of Chaitanya Gaudiya Math!" All were stunned to see

Eternally Grateful for His Love and Affection

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I was supremely fortunate to have had your association in Sridham Mayapur during Kartik time. Your undeserved remembrance of me and warm affection will forever remain in my memory. I am also eternally grateful for the love and affection that you have shown toward my mother and other family members. You are a greatly munificent and compassionate soul---a genuine representative of the Supreme Lord in a world riddled with hypocrisy and dishonesty. Each day, here in the West, I am confronted with such a lack of interest in the truly meaningful things in life, and an ever-burgeoning indifference or resentment toward God and His Eternal Servitors. However, this only serves, by contrast, to make me realise the greatness and unique position of a pure devotee such as yourself, and my good fortune to have been rescued by you from a similar fate. I am forever indebted to you, and Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha-Nayananatha who brought me to you so many years ago in Kolkata. You will always r

Sri Guru Varga Proclaims Him as a Personal Associate of the Lord

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On one occasion we were performing Vraj-mandal parikrama with our Guru Maharaj. When the parikrama reached Brahmanda Ghat, Guru Maharaj declared that Krishna Ballabh* is the future acharya . This is at the time when Maharaj had not even got sannyas . Also during his manifest pastimes, Guru Maharaj had given a letter to Pujyapad Jagamohan Prabhu wherein he had written that after his departure Tirtha Maharaj will be the acharya . I see Guru Maharaj’s full grace is upon Maharaj. From beginning to date I have observed from his conduct that he has never anytime criticized anybody before others. His life is always so pure, without a blemish. A long time ago someone in Assam asked Guru Maharaj that at present preaching is going on well, but in the future what will happen to the math ? I personally heard Guru Maharaj's reply that there is no cause for worry; after him, the preaching will be more widespread. Today it can be seen that Guruji’s desire is being fulfilled. The

He Takes All Blame Upon Himself

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After exchanging letters several times, my beloved spiritual master, Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, gave me the instruction to preach in Singapore. For decades since then, one question was burning in my heart: How can I preach nicely? What should be our motivation when we preach? What is real preaching? When I went to meet Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj in Punjab, the only thing I had in my mind was how I wanted to ask him those questions. Devotees were discussing the latest events in the math. A sevak of Srila Gurudev had left his service, and some devotees were commenting about how that was good because they thought he had done some wrong things. When I entered his bhajan kutir, another devotee was asking Srila Gurudev why that sevak had left. He replied with genuine humility: "It is not his fault. I have done some wrong, that's why he left." At that very moment, before I could even ask, my question evaporated. It was answered by this one act of

His Care for Even the Smallest Living Entities

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This incident happened when Guruji was put up at Sri Haribaba Ashram in Hoshiyarpur, in a big room. One day I went in to offer him pranams, then he told me that there are many ants in the room and so he could not sleep at all. I found that there were not 2-4 or 10, but thousands and thousands of ants forming various lines, as if going in a procession. I got busy in sweeping the ants of Guruji’s bed and was wanting to sprinkle some DDT there. But Guruji objected to it straight away and said by use of DDT they will all die, we should not kill them, we have to just chase them away. Finally I ended up sprinkling some turmeric after clearing off ants from Guruji’s bed. Guru Maharaj does not like to harm even the smallest of the small living entities. —Translated from Sri Krishna Chaitanya Sandesh July-Oct, 1997 (Year 17, Issue No.4, Page 27-39) Sri Krishnananda Dasadhikari (Kuldeep Chopra, Bhatinda)

He Surrendered Himself Completely

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He was always hearing Harikatha of Gurudev with great interest, very deeply. He always used to perform kirtan of srauta vani. Whatever he had heard from Gurudev, he always used to repeat that in Harikatha. In general talks, there was nothing else he used to speak. The only thing he used to repeat was whatever he has heard from Gurudev and that's why many of his godbrothers they used to call him Gurudev’s tape recorder. Repeating whatever he heard from Gurudev is one of his very special qualities. He was very shy to speak Harikatha. Once Yayavar Maharaj in a Dharma Sabha ordered Tirtha Maharaj to speak Harikatha and said "that now he will speak". There is a specialty I have seen in Guruvargas that those who want to speak they don't give them the chance and give chances to those who don't want to speak so he would only speak by the order of Guruvargas. He was very grave, always hearing Harikatha attentively, and serving the Vaishnavas. The pure devotees acq

He Smiled and Said, "We Should Always Think of Supreme Lord, Isn't It?"

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For the last two days, I was thinking with regret to Gurudev that I'm too much attached to my mind (thinking about this or that, speculation, imagination ... even imagination about Krishna etc.) and instead my mind should go to Krishna and what should I do? Today after He watered Tulsi He all-knowingly and smilingly looked at me and said : "How are you? Any difficulty?" I also smiled and only indicated by gesturing with my fingers that I had some little difficulty. Gurudev smiled and said, "You should always think of Supreme Lord. He will rescue us, isn't it? jalaja nava laksani sthavara laksa vimsati krmayo rudra-sankhyakah paksinam dasa laksanam trimsal laksani pasavah catur laksani manusah (There are 900,000 kinds of aquatics, 2,000,000 kinds of trees and plants, 1,100,000 kinds of insects and reptiles, 1,000,000 kinds of birds, 3,000,000 kinds of four-legged beasts, and 400,000 kinds of human species) Human birth is small in number and we can wor

He Tolerates Our Offenses and Immerses Himself in Kirtan

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Once Srila Guru Maharaj addressed one brahmachari by name and asked him to sing a particular kirtan, but surprisingly that brahmachari sat quietly without doing what he asked. So I thought he did not hear Guruji’s instructions.   I took his name and told him, “Prabhuji Guru Maharaj is asking you to sing this particular kirtan.”    He murmured in anger that Maharaj does not think which kirtan to be sung in which place.   He started a kirtan of his own choice.   Then I told him, “Prabhuji, Maharaj has asked you to sing this particular kirtan.”   Then in great anger he said take this mike and you sing the kirtan.   I was dumb-struck and did not know what to do.    After some time, the same kirtan which he had not started, he sang.   Srila Guru Maharaj, in spite of seeing the whole happening, acted as though he did not hear or see anything and as if nothing has happened. He got immersed in singing the kirtan.   It came to my mind that what can be a better example of Srila Guru Mahar

He Rushes For The Opportunity To Greet Sri Guruvarga

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Once during Janmashtami I was in Kolkata. Like every year Param Pujyapad Bhakti Kumud Sant Goswami Maharaj came to our math during the festival for prasad and for speaking Harikatha. Climbing the first flight of steps, he sat on the cot next to Param Pujyapad Trivikram Maharaj in his room adjacent to the office room. Pujyapad Janardhan Maharaj indicated to me to inform Guru Maharaj about his arrival. I ran and found Guru Maharaj in his room sitting on a chair and busy in his writing. When I whispered to him, he immediately got up leaving aside whatever he was doing and he told me, “If I do not haste now Srila Sant Maharaj will arrive here right away. I have to go to him.” With quick steps he climbed down the stairs and proceeded to Srila Sant Maharaj’s room. Guruji did shastanga dandavat pranams (prostrated obeisance) to him and stood with folded hands and in humble words spoke to him. He did not sit before him, he remained standing giving due respects to him. When Pujyapa

He Considers Himself the Recipient of Darśana

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When our mother was in the last stages of her life, the doctors in Ludhiana had suggested we cease treatment; there was no hope. We thought that now that Gurujī is in Ludhiana, it is good if we take her for his darśana and we took her in the van to the temple. When we went up and spoke to Guru Mahārāja about our mother, he asked, “Can I get darśana of Matajī?” We had brought our mother for Gurudeva’s darśana but when Gurujī spoke like this, I bowed my head down to his lotus feet seeing his humbleness. What more can be said about his compassion?  He came down from the top floor to the ground floor to give darśana to Matajī. He chanted Narasiṃha-mantra before her and gave tulasī leaf in her mouth and his blessings too. In this way I saw Gurujī’s boundless compassion and humility. —Puruṣottama Dāsa Sekhari, (Punjab) translated from Sri Krishna Chaitanya Sandesh, July-Oct, 1997

He Blesses Those Who Wait for More Service

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After his North American tour, Guruji returned to Delhi on the 16th of July. There was a grand welcome for him in a spacious well-decorated assembly. Delhi’s respectable personalities were invited amongst whom was Sri Satish Chandra Khandelwal MLA Delhi and respectable Sri Ramamurthi Chief Justice of High Court, Delhi. On the 23rd of July Guruji left New Delhi for Kolkata. Many devotees went to the Airport to see him off.  I also went. All devotees bade farewell to Guruji by Nama Sankirtan and then Guruji and one of his sevaks entered into the Entry gate. The flight was at 7 o’clock and Guruji entered at 6:10. By 6:30 half of the devotees left for math by their vehicles and half of the devotees remained there in case any service is needed before the flight takes off. Suddenly around 6:40,  I saw Guruji standing at the entry gate of the Airport and looking at us with affectionate eyes and with a smiling face. We all ran and did pranams to him. Guruji was looking at us, blessing us

His Lifesaving Harikatha

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Suchitara told that she was once in the math with her mother. That time her exams were also going on. Guruji asked her if she would sit for Harikatha before he was about to start speaking. She replied telling him she needed to go home to study for her exam. Again, Guruji said, "You should sit for katha." So, then she and her mother both sat then. When they reached home, they saw that the neighbor's cylinder had exploded in a location that was attached to their own kitchen. They knew immediately that Guruji had been aware of this incident when he repeated for them to stay. They could understand that Guruji must have known and stopped them as a way of protecting them from injury. —Sakshi Ratna (sent on behalf of Suchitara Sengupta)

He Knows Everything Before it Happens

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So many devotees came to attend the 2012 appearance anniversary of Gurudev.  First, we came to Kolkata and Guru Mahārāj was here.  We offered prostrated obeisances to him. Guru Mahārāj asked, “Why are you going today? I told, "My tickets are booked, I have to go back." So, then we took a taxi and went to the station.  After that, we heard an announcement  that the train is delayed by one day and we would have to go the next day.  We came back to the maṭh. Guru Mahārāj said, “You lost so much money, you had to go to the station and come back.  Shall I give you some money?” We told, "Guru Maharaj, “Everything is yours.” So many devotees came, and to each and every devotee, he told, "You take some money, you take some money."  He showed so much affection to each and everyone and knows everything before it even happens. -Sharmaji, Delhi

His Expertise in Service to the Vaishnavas

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One time we went for preaching in Assam. There was one disciple of Prabhupada, Madhavananada Vrajavasi, along with Krishnaballabh Brahmachari, myself, Narottam Das, and another one younger than us named Kanai Bramhachari. 
 We were in Sarbhog for preaching and there was heavy rain for five days and no sun was seen at all, so we were unable to go out. Krishnaballabh Brahmachari (later Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj) used to cook for the devotees over there. Everybody used to like his cooking. That day he cooked something delicious with potatoes only. It was raining heavily, so we could not go outside to purchase vegetables. There were only potatoes in the math. 
 He was expert, because the qualities of Vaishnavas is they are expert in anything and everything— whatever is related to the service of Vaishnavs. So he was expert in so many different ways to serve the lotus feet of Vaishnavas. 
He was very grave in hearing Harikatha and speaking srauta vani and always engaged him

Accepting His Son With a Smile

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In 1986 when I was a college student, I went to our Agartala temple at noon. Guru Maharaj was there for Ratha Yatra festival and was available in His room. He was alone, chanting Hari Nam. When I entered His room without permission, I thought I may have disturbed Him, making an offense, but at the same time, I could not resist myself to have his darshan and see His calm, mild smile and feel his presence as a parent, guardian, well-wisher, and true friend—a real master of life. In my childhood age, I called Him "Baba," which means father. When He saw me, he accepted me immediately as a son with a smile, with love and affection. He started Harikatha and at the end told me, "No fish can survive without water, as Guru Maharaj cannot stay without Hari Kirtan." This is still alive in my memory. Since my childhood and until today I have realized my life depends on Srila Gurudev for support when I am in danger or any sorts of problems. —Gautam Bhowmik

Holding Danda, He Travelled Around the World (Devotional Poetry from China)

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  大古鲁颂 (1)一钵即生涯,(2)随缘度岁华。 (3)是山皆有寺,(4)何处不为家。 (5)执杖飞寰宇,(6)足香圣地花。 (7)荣耀遍三界,(8)恩慈洒天涯。 The glories of Srila Gurudeva: (1) One danda is His life. (2) He stays at ease under all circumstances; (3) If there is mountain, there must have temple, (4) Where is not His home? (5) Holding danda, He traveled around the world, (6) His lotus feet make the flowers in the holy dhama fragrant;    (7) His glories spread in the three worlds,    (8) His mercy spreads throughout the whole universe (9)青山不墨千秋画, (10)流水无弦万古琴。 (11)大爱希声红尘动, (12)隠迹无语寰宇惊。 (9) A green mountain is a beautiful picture without having been painted; (10) A flowing river is a musical instrument without a string; (11) Sri Guru’s universal divine love is so deep and nourishing that it moved the whole world   (12) His samadhi and disappearance surprised the whole universe without any word. —Shyamasundar Das, China translated by Radhika Dasi

His Pastimes with Lord Jagannath (2010)

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Excerpted from a report dated July 19, 2010: Our Most Revered Srila Gurudev Om Vishnupad 108 Sri Srimad Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj attended the Annual Ratha Yatra Festival of Lord Baladev, Subhadra and Jagannath in Sri Kshetra Puri Dham for the first time in 5 years. While in Puri Dham, Srila Gurudev initiated 46 devotees in to Harinam and 12 devotees took diksha on the day of Rath Yatra. Later in the afternoon, he had seen devotees pulling the carts of Baladev, Subhadra and Jagannath with devotion. We observed tears rolling down His cheeks on a few occasions. The next day, His Divine Grace went to Gundicha Mandir to have darsan of the Deities on the carts. One Brahmin named Sri Ram Panda took Srila Gurudev close to the Rath and cleared the crowd in front of Sri Jagannath. Devotees shouted "Hari Bol, Jai Jagannath" after getting His Darsan. A day after that, Srila Gurudev went to the seashore to take darsan. He offered His respects to the ocean, sprinkled some wa

He is Giving Light Everywhere...

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Afternoons here are very hot these days, and Srila Gurudev will speak the glories of Sun almost everyday. One day in the afternoon after watering Sri Tulsi tree, touching Her leaves and twigs with His soft hands, and offering obeisances to Her, Srila Gurudev glanced mercifully over the balcony upon the passersby. While proceeding towards His room with a smile on His face, He said, "Sun loves all. He is giving light everywhere without charging us." A few days previously He had said, "Don't become angry by seeing Sun. Pay your respects." —Sripad Bhakti Suhrid Paramadavati Maharaj (extracted from archives on SCGM mailing list)

His Loving Presence is Offered Freely

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In the summer of 1991, when I was still a young girl, I made my first memorable trip to India with my older sister Rukmini Devi dasi, and my late mother, Smt. Devamayi Devi dasi. We almost immediately went to Jagannath Puri with our mother's Pishi, the late Smt. Aruna Didi, a dear and loving disciple of Srila Gurudev, Sri Srimad Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj, and her friend LakkhiDi. It was on Jagannath Puri Ratha Yatra Parikrama that I first got real darshan of both Srila Gurudev Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj and Srila Guru Maharaj Sri Srimad Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami. (I try to respectfully refer to Srimad Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami as “Srila Guru Maharaj” and Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj as “Srila Gurudev”.) I still remember Srila Gurudev, Srila Guru Maharaj, and Sri Srimad Bhakti Kumud Santa Maharaj all sitting together, very affectionately, doing very enthusiastic kirtan in Gundicha Mandir’s courtyard. It almost seems like a dream now. My father, Ras

His Appreciation of Akhanda-Guru-Tattva

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If I would have to name five teachings of Srila Guru-Maharaj I value the most, then one of them would be his teaching of akhanda-guru-tattva, especially in relation to Srila Rupa Goswami. Akhanda-guru-tattva means that Sri Guru is always unlimited and comes to us not only in one, but in unlimited forms. Guru is not limited to our diksa Guru. Our most important Guru may not be our diksa Guru, but a siksa Guru. In one lecture, Srila Gurudev explained, that although Srila Narottam Das Thakura’s Guru was Lokanath Goswami, in his “Sri Rupa Manjari Pada”, he reveals that his eternal Guru is Srila Rupa Goswami, who is Sri Rupa Manjari in Krishna-lila. The way Srila Guru-Maharaj was relating this topic felt as if he was indicating his disciples to follow in the footsteps of Narottam Das Thakur. This teaching entered deep into my heart and I was thirsting to at least hear more about realization of such akhanda-guru-tattva. Then, in 2011, I planned to shortly go to Malaysia to get a new v

It is By Krishna's Desire That He Enters a House

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In late June 2002, this Vaisnava Thakur came to this house of mine without any pre-planning, giving us just about two days notice. I was in London on business when I got this call from Singapore asking if we could receive him on about the 25th. I was aware of Maharaj but just barely because I had been to Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math and stayed a couple of times in the mid 1990s; in fact my first darshan of HDG Srila Bhaki Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj was at that math but HDG Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj was not there each time.  Since I couldn't be back until the following day, the 26th, I called my wife Gopini to ask her if she could receive him. She was ever ready and made necessary arrangements with maybe 10 devotees, mostly family members. Maharaj and his party were staying at Sri Laxmi Narayan Temple. My son Radharaman went to fetch them. It was a long and rather wild drive through undeveloped kampong (Malaysian village) that got Maharaj wondering where Krishna was tak

He Was Not Made an Acharya Due to His Education, But Because of His Surrender

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Once when a court case was going on for our Puri Math (we subsequently won,) Param Gurudev and Guruji were in Guwahati. Param Gurudev told Guruji to go immediately to Jagannath Puri. He bought the ticket and was about to leave, he had a water bottle whose handle was broken. Guruji took a rope made of coir, tied it to the bottle and hung it on his shoulder. When Param Gurudev saw this he exclaimed, “You are traveling by air like this!” He is such a renounced person that he never paid heed to the mundane world.  Among all qualities of Guruji his biggest quality is surrender towards Paramgurudev. Our Guruji was made acharya not because he is educated but because he is totally surrendered. Our Guruji never said anything other than his Gurudev’s words. He always says, “I heard from my Gurudev like this” or “my Gurudev said such and such words.” He is always singing his glories. He says, “My Gurudev has instructed me to only repeat the words of your Guru, Vaishnav, and Scriptures where

Praying for Him to Protect Us

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I first met Srila Gurudev in January 2016. I decided to come to Kolkata to have darshan of Srila Gurudev during my first trip to India after hearing many stories about Him from Sri Bhakti Prasun Madhusudan Maharaj, who is the first sadhu I ever met about a year before that.  I remember that day when I first came to Kolkata math, I was very tired and I was not used to the austere facilities in the Math, so I was feeling a little disappointed and sad. I went to the balcony and started chanting. And suddenly, just out of nowhere, I got this warm soothing feeling that everything will be ok, that I am at home. I remember this feeling very distinctly— I am at home. That was before I even met Srila Gurudev.  At that time, I did not understand the immensity of Gurudeva’s personality (nor will I ever be able to understand completely), but somehow, by some good chance, I have decided to take Harinam from Gurudeva. No one has ever advised me to do so, I think everyone was a little surprise

He Brings Srivas Angan to Kolkata

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I reflect on how the devotees and disciples of HDG Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvami Maharaj were united in Sankirtana of the holy names of the Lord and recitations of Lord's pastimes with His devotees from scriptures like Srimad Bhagavata Purana and Chaitanya Bhagavata etc. With intense devotion, crying out from their hearts and with intense love of their Gurudev, they are calling out to Lord Hari and the previous Acaryas through Kirtan and prayers. 
 Shri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math in Kolkata presided over by their Lordships Shri Shri Radha Nayana Nath jiu is verily non different from Shri Shrivas Angan wherein Shri Shri Gadadhara Gauranga preside over the late night's Sankirtana! 
 With pain in my heart, I am remembering those sweet moments I had with Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvami Maharaj and those divine darshans with him, his beautiful and timely instructions for me. Those darshans were kindly arranged by his disciples over the years. 
 Just as Shri Rupa Gosvami

All Acaryas Can Be Seen Within Him

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I remember once when Gurudev went to Gopinath Gaudiya Math, he was reading a letter that Srila Bhakti Pramod Puri Maharaj wrote to him before he came to the West. I went to the samadhi temple of Srila Bhakti Pramod Puri Maharaj and remembering what Guru Maharaj said I felt he was alive to me.  This bonding I have got from Guru Maharaj.  I really like to sit in the samadhi mandir of Srila Bhakti Pramod Puri Maharaj, I feel I really know him.  This bonding has come from Guru Maharaj only. I have never read their books.  I have heard from Bhakti Nandan Swami, how after Param Gurudev left, Guru Maharaj met with Srila Sridhar Maharaj. I have never met them, but I feel that, Guru Maharaj was bonding me with them. Once in 2010, in Kartik time, it was the disappearance day of Srila Bhakti Pramod Puri Maharaj.  I offered the garland to Srila Bhakti Pramod Puri Goswami Maharaj and then offered the prasadi garland to Guru Mahārāj. When I told Guru Maharaj, he immediately took it with a lot

He is Always Seeing and Blessing Us

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By God’s grace, I was born in a family of devotees. My father was associated with Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya math in the 70's. After his marriage to my mother, she also came in the association of the devotees. I was exposed to Gaudiya Math from my birth time. It gives me immense pleasure to recall the memories of a program in Bathinda (Punjab) held in 1990’s at Thermal Colony. My father always told me: you just surrender yourself at the holy feet of Gurudeva and never ask or pray for materialistic things from Him. I tried to follow that, but as time passed, I got more attracted towards the materialistic world which is not good for Hari-bhajan. I would like to tell our godbrothers and sisters (especially the young age ones) that whenever we have a question in our mind, we should discuss this with the pure devotee rather than getting carried away in other directions. Guruji will always give an answer to our questions, in any form. Even today he is giving answers by different ways. I

Russian ISKCON Devotees Send Tribute for Guru Maharaj

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Dear Vaishnavas of Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Matha, Please accept our humble obeisances! All glories to Sri-Sri Guru and Gauranga! With deep grief the Vaishnavas of Russian ISKCON accepted the news about the departure of such a distinguished acharya, Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaja. He was, by right, one of the most outstanding Vaishnavas among the second generation of the disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura. Together with the Vaishnavas of the Math, we are sad and thankful to God for the opportunity to get His endless mercy through the servants of His holy name. The Russian land once was blessed by the visit of Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaja who amazed everyone who was lucky to meet him by his humility, sincerity, and purity. His life and his departure once again remind us about the all-uniting nature of Lord Chaitanya's message, of how much today's materialistic society needs the knowledge about the Personality of Godhead, immortality of the