He Avoids Inconveniencing Others by Taking on All Troubles Himself

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It is very rare to have darśan of such a Mahatma in this world as Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj; we are all very fortunate, I got my Guruji and he gave me the service of Tirtha Maharaj. A Babaji from Nityananda Prabhu's birthplace, Ekacakra-dhām came to our Guru Maharaj [Sri Srimad Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj] and requested him to accept the sevā of maintaining the temple there. Then Guruji went there with his associates Tirtha Maharaj, Bharati Maharaj, and others, and on reaching there in the evening, he did a lot of sankīrtan in great bliss while visiting all the holy places and temples there. On return from nagar-sankīrtan in the night, Tirtha Maharaj got a high fever. The next morning Guru Maharaj called me and said, “Gadai, you go with Tirtha Maharaj to Kolkata, carry his bedding with yours.” We traveled by local train from Ekacakra-dhām to Kolkata. It goes via Bolpur where Shantiniketan University is located and there was a great rush of students on the train. Tirtha Maharaj traveled the entire distance standing in the train with his face red in fever. After coming back to maṭh he developed a skin ailment all over the body. He got into his room and except for Nityananda Prabhu (one of his god-brothers), he never allowed anyone to come to his room and serve him for one whole month as he suspected the infection was possibly contagious and so he isolated himself so that nobody else would be affected and troubled. I feel very fortunate and grateful that I got the service of accompanying him to Kolkata on my Gurudev's instructions. 

Our godbrother Sri Shakti Prabhu would invite Maharaj and the prachar party to Simla every year. They were provided accommodation in the guest house of a small local temple. They were busy the whole day with prachar activities, nagar-sankīrtan, kathā, etc. and at the end of the day, Guru Maharaj would rest on a bed on the floor with a mosquito net. One day I made his bed and I was about to leave, then Maharaj beckoned me and signaled me to wait. He put off the light in the room and both of us were standing in that dark room quietly wherever we were. I was wondering what is the matter. After a while, he put on the light, and what did we see? Hoards of bed bugs are crawling all over the place. Maharaj started picking up each of them and throwing them out of the window and told me not to tell anyone. The entire night he was bitten by bugs, enduring a sleepless night, but still, he did not want to inconvenience others. Vaishnavas' nature and conduct are such they would not give anxiety to anyone for any reason at any time. 

—Sripad Bhakti Prapanna Tapasvi Maharaj

Excerpt from a transcription-translation from Hindi/English

Listen to original audio on Youtube: GOKUL INDIA

spoken on 20.4.2020







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