Engrossed in Kirtan, He Is Unaware of the External World

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I came to the shelter of Gurudeva in 1979 when I was fourteen years old.  I failed to understand then that Maharaj's glories and mercy are like when a person is living near the Ganges but only knows her glories through the words of Vaishnavas and the sadhus. Like this, we can also realize Gurudeva's glories from listening to and following his teachings. 

Guru Maharaj used to sing one kirtan: ei mana durmati, samsara bhitare, padiya achinu ami and say Mahaprabhu has sent all His associates to deliver us from this world.  He would always say, "Human birth is very very rare and anytime we may lose it, there is no guarantee, so we should immediately start bhajan." 

In Dehradun at Sri Lakshmi Narayana Mandir, Guruji was speaking about Vrtrasura's prayers to the Lord: please give me the association of Your devotees, make me a friend of Your devotees. I do not want anything of the material world's wealth or pleasures, not even Your Vaikunta.

In the katha, he emphasized the importance of the association of śuddha-bhaktas. Hearing this, the temple pūjārī was amazed and came to Guruji confessing that though I am a pandit and deliver bhagavat-kathā, I have never realized the inner significance of Srimad Bhagavatam. Then Guruji asked him to read what Prahlad Maharaj has to say about devotion in the seventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatam.  

Guruji also used to give us the illustration of Vedavyasa's pastime of dissatisfaction, how he had no peace of mind despite composing many literary works. Then he remembered his Guru Narada Gosvami from the core of his heart and Narada Gosvami appeared and advised him to exclusively sing the glories of the Lord for Lord's pleasure. He attained peace from his meditation on the four verses (Chatursloki) given to him by Narada Gosvami. He expanded them into eighteen thousand verses and manifested Srimad Bhagavatam, a spotless, pure purana that is full of devotional mellows.  In the last śloka of Srimad Bhagavatam, there is a glorification of hāriṇam. It says the performance of Harinam destroys all kinds of sins and subdues all miseries. And all this was possible only by the mercy of guru.  

We used to travel a lot with Guruji on prachar to Punjab, Rajasthan, etc. Once we were in Jaipur in December on Mokshada ekadasi-tithi and the temple Panda requested Guruji to speak on the Gita. In days Guruji completed all eighteen chapters of Bhagavad-gita, with overviews of six chapters per day. The audience was spellbound. One Rajasthani man got up and expressed his surprise and joy hearing the glories of devotion to the Lord. He was amazed to hear that through various paths like karma and jnana-yoga, Krishna is ultimately taking us to bhakti. He said he had met many saints, but have never heard such a beautiful explanation of Bhagavad-gita any time. He invited Gurudev to his house and also to speak in other assemblies. Guruji manifested his mercy like this wherever he went. He would also say that nothing of this material world will go with us, not even our near and dear ones, only Harinam will go with us. Only hāriṇam is eternal. As long there is soul (atma) within the body, people value you, otherwise not. So let your focus be on hari-bhajan always.

During Vraj Mandal parikrama in Madhuvan Guruji sang in the mood of Druva, kahan Padmapalash locan Hari? Where is my Lotus-eyed Hari?  In a great separation mood, he engrossed himself in kirtan for more than an hour, unaware of the external world. The weather was very hot, but Guruji did not even notice when devotees tried to provide the shelter of an umbrella. Another time in Vishwa Vaishnav Rajasabha so many sannyasis from our institution and others came and requested Gurudev to lead the kirtan to inaugurate the sabha. Guruji started kirtan akrodha paramananda nityananda raya followed by Radha Krishna bol bol bolore sabai. Listening to these kirtans even big sanyasis such as disciples of Srila Bhakti Hrday Van Maharaj and others all got mesmerized and felt blessed. During Navadvip parikrama some devotees asked me to narrate some glories of Guruji and I felt Guruji's grace made me speak to them all through the long walks to Vidyanangar, Nrsimhapalli and they soon took shelter of Guruji and were blessed with hāriṇam-diksha. 

When Guruji was traveling on the bus with many sannyasis and devotees on the way to Ayodhya, he asked the driver to stop the bus at one particular temple. Guruji got down the bus and started to perform kirtan chanting, Rama Lakshmana Janaki Jai bolo Hanuman ki! in loud voice.  Amarendra Prabhu tried to offer Guruji his padukas and hold an umbrella over him, but Guruji did not accept them. Later he took bath in the Sarayu river and other devotees followed him and took bath there too. Guruji was repeatedly telling, this is my place, my dham. At that point in time, I did not realize why Guruji was saying so but later realized that Guruji's appearance day is also on Sri Rama Navami-tithi, so he was referring Ayodhya as his eternal dham as well. 

We should try to follow our Guruji. Guruji used to always speak about the glories of Param Gurudev wherever he went.  Guruji used to quote Srila Prabhupad's Vaishnav ke kirtan lines and say what sort of Vaishnav are you if you want to perform bhajan in seclusion to gain fame? He used to perform kirtans in loud voice. During the end of his pastimes, he showed us the real path to get his mercy is to loudly sing hāriṇam and the glories of Guruji without any hypocrisy. In Sri Ramacharita manas it is said that if one has hypocrisy in his heart he cannot attain Lord. Guruji never allowed his puja even on his Vyasa-puja day and would insist that we worship his Gurudev. We should try to follow Guruji's instructions and make our life successful.  If someone lost his chanting beads, Gurudev would ask that devotee to offer pranams and pray for forgiveness from Param Gurudev saying the beads you got are from him and promise that you will never lose them again. I pray that all of us chant the Holy Names on our beads always following Guruji's instructions and when inquired by others, let us proudly and loudly proclaim we are disciples of Nityalila pravishta Om Vishnupad Astottara shata Sri Srimad Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvami Maharaj.   

—Sripad Bhakti Vilas Tridandi Maharaj 

From Vyasa-puja offerings via zoom, Apr 25, 2021

spoken in Hindi, translated to English 




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