He is Our Only Guardian
In 2011 I went for Jagannath Purī Ratha-yātrā and had planned to stay with Gurudev until Guru-pūrṇimā, but learned that Gurudeva is going to Agartala after Ratha-yātrā. I was a novice then, I had my dīkṣā in 2010. When Gurudev proceeded to Agartala after Ratha-yātrā, as per my booking, I went to Kolkata and went to Mayapur for darśan. I had not consulted any senior vaiṣṇava, if I had done that I also could have attended Agartala Annual function and be with Gurudeva. I was only following my own whims and fancies, so I did not know Gurudev's program.
In Mayapur, I visited Yogapīṭha, Sri Caitanya Maṭh, and went to a few other places until finally reaching Rudradvīp. When I was offering pranāms there, one prabhuji asked me to come later and meet the Ācārya of the maṭh there, Pūjyapāda Bhakti Vaibhav Sagar Mahārāj. When I went to his bhajan-kuṭir and offered pranāms to him, he said that mostly devotees came during Gaura-pūrṇimā or visit in groups from various maṭhs, and very rarely did they see someone come alone; that's why he wished to speak to me. Then he asked me to please tell him about myself, which maṭh I'm from, who is my Gurudeva, etc. I told him I am a disciple of Param Pūjyapāda Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj, I am from Śrīla Madhav Mahārāj's maṭh. He said some words that had such deep impressions upon my mind and remain permanently there.
He said, "There is no limit to the good fortune that you attained having such a guru. Pūjyapāda Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj is not just the rakṣak (guardian) of Sree Caitanya Gauḍīya Maṭh, is presently the rakṣak of the all Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas—he is taking all along with him. If I have any doubts regarding any aspect of devotion, I believe that in the present times except for Pūjyapāda Tirtha Mahārāj, nobody else can clear it."
—Satya Kṛṣṇa Das (Satyam Phull)
In Mayapur, I visited Yogapīṭha, Sri Caitanya Maṭh, and went to a few other places until finally reaching Rudradvīp. When I was offering pranāms there, one prabhuji asked me to come later and meet the Ācārya of the maṭh there, Pūjyapāda Bhakti Vaibhav Sagar Mahārāj. When I went to his bhajan-kuṭir and offered pranāms to him, he said that mostly devotees came during Gaura-pūrṇimā or visit in groups from various maṭhs, and very rarely did they see someone come alone; that's why he wished to speak to me. Then he asked me to please tell him about myself, which maṭh I'm from, who is my Gurudeva, etc. I told him I am a disciple of Param Pūjyapāda Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj, I am from Śrīla Madhav Mahārāj's maṭh. He said some words that had such deep impressions upon my mind and remain permanently there.
He said, "There is no limit to the good fortune that you attained having such a guru. Pūjyapāda Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj is not just the rakṣak (guardian) of Sree Caitanya Gauḍīya Maṭh, is presently the rakṣak of the all Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas—he is taking all along with him. If I have any doubts regarding any aspect of devotion, I believe that in the present times except for Pūjyapāda Tirtha Mahārāj, nobody else can clear it."
During that time (2011) the Rudradvīp Gauḍīya Maṭh was undergoing renovation and Mahārāj told, "I am required to go to Kolkata for some work, but my visit to Kolkata becomes successful when I go to meet Pūjyapāda Tirtha Mahārāj and offer him pranāms."
I was also fortunate to hear Gurudev's glories from Pūjyapāda Bhakti Vaibhav Sagar Mahārāj, a disciple of Pūjyapāda Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Mahārāj. He said that by following in our Gurudev's footsteps, our bhajan will be successful. Whenever parikramā from our maṭh goes to Rudradvīp, our Pūjyapāda Vishnu Mahārāj announces that he had the fortune of hearing Pūjyapāda Sagar Mahārāj speak our Gurudev's glories and that he had great faith in our Gurudeva.
Our Kṛṣṇananda Prabhuji told us that to follow our Gurudev's line of thoughts is actually following in the footsteps of Gurudeva. We have to deeply think about them and bring them into our practice. In relation to this, I wish to narrate one instance. When I was in Mayapur, I heard that Gurudev would be reaching Kolkata the next day from Agartala. I reached Kolkata the night before Guru-pūrṇima. We all know Gurudeva gives us darśan twice, once in the afternoon during tulasi-parikramā and after evening ārati in his bhajan-kuṭir. So I got the fortune of his darśan for the next few days of my stay there.
We also remember that Gurudeva would have darśan of Ṭhākurji's bhog and ārati darśan from the passage in front of the library and would be greatly pleased seeing Ṭhākurji being offered nice varieties of bhog, making hand gestures indicating that everything was good and wonderful. On one of these days when Gurudeva came to have darśan of Ṭhākurji's bhog, the temple door was closed. Then while offering pranāms at Param Gurudev's bhajan-kuṭir (which he always does before entering his own bhajan-kuṭir) he said, "Offering pranāms here will amount to offering pranāms there [to Ṭhākurji] too." He gave us a teaching here that offering pranāms to Gurudeva is all-inclusive of offering pranāms to Guru, Vaiṣṇava, and Bhagavān.
On Guru-pūrṇimā day, I looked into the open door of Gurudev's bhajan-kutir and saw that Gurudev was asking Tatpara Mahārāj repeatedly if Guru-pūjā was over, and Mahārāj replied that it is still going on. Gurudeva had his bath and offered dandavat pranāms to Param Gurudev at his bhajan kuṭir with tear-filled eyes for a long time. Then he came to the library hall which was arranged for the program instead of at the naṭā-mandir downstairs. He sat on the stage where Pūjyapāda Bhārati Gosvāmī Mahārāj, Pūjyapāda Bhakti Sundar Nṛsiṃha Mahārāj, Pūjyapāda Bhakti Niketan Turiyāśrami Mahārāj, and Pūjyapāda Bhakti Saurabh Ācārya Mahārāj were already seated. I was sitting with Prahlad Prabhu with the webcam ready for the live broadcast. Devotees had arranged for Guru-pūjā and when they proceeded to begin, Gurudev suddenly stopped them. He got very angry and said, "You are all here to do these things? From where will we get mercy and blessings unless we hear the life teachings and glories of Sanātana Gosvāmī? External observations are not enough." He spoke this in Bangla and Prahlad Prabhu briefed me about what Gurudeva expressed.
Gurudev delivered the whole kathā in Bangla and I could not follow much. When he was about to leave, all were offering pranāms and I also joined them. Seeing me, Guruji said, "Oh, I spoke kathā in Bangla and you might not have understood." I said, yes Guruji, I did not understand much. Sundar Gopal Prabhu then told Guruji, "I have noted some points from the kathā and I will explain to him in Hindi." Then Guruji said, "It is very necessary that one should hear. Until we obtain Vaiṣṇava's mercy, we cannot perform hāriṇam nor any sevā. Today is our Sanatana Gosvāmī's tirobhav and we have to certainly listen to his glories."
As he was walking he was saying, "My Gurudeva did not tell me that when it is a vaiṣṇava-tithi, there was no need for us to remember them." Gurudeva's mood was that on a Vaiṣṇava's avirbhav and tirobhav tithi, we have to remember them. Guruji taught us this through his conduct.
We heard this from our Kṛṣṇananda Prabhu and in audios and videos that in Kārtik month, Gurudeva used to give special attention and maximum time to speak about the Vaiṣṇavas on their tithis and would recite one or two ślokas from Gajendra Mokṣā paṭh to comply with the Kārtik rules and regulations (niyam- rakṣa).
So through this, I learned that we have to remember Guru, Vaiṣṇavas, and Bhagavān on their holy tithis and pray for their mercy and blessings. It is only by their blessings we can do hāriṇam, listen to hari-kathā, and perform vaiṣṇava-sevā.
I pray to all my god-brothers, vaiṣṇavas and guru-varga to please bless me so that I bring these thoughts and teachings of Gurudeva in my conduct.
I was also fortunate to hear Gurudev's glories from Pūjyapāda Bhakti Vaibhav Sagar Mahārāj, a disciple of Pūjyapāda Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Mahārāj. He said that by following in our Gurudev's footsteps, our bhajan will be successful. Whenever parikramā from our maṭh goes to Rudradvīp, our Pūjyapāda Vishnu Mahārāj announces that he had the fortune of hearing Pūjyapāda Sagar Mahārāj speak our Gurudev's glories and that he had great faith in our Gurudeva.
Our Kṛṣṇananda Prabhuji told us that to follow our Gurudev's line of thoughts is actually following in the footsteps of Gurudeva. We have to deeply think about them and bring them into our practice. In relation to this, I wish to narrate one instance. When I was in Mayapur, I heard that Gurudev would be reaching Kolkata the next day from Agartala. I reached Kolkata the night before Guru-pūrṇima. We all know Gurudeva gives us darśan twice, once in the afternoon during tulasi-parikramā and after evening ārati in his bhajan-kuṭir. So I got the fortune of his darśan for the next few days of my stay there.
We also remember that Gurudeva would have darśan of Ṭhākurji's bhog and ārati darśan from the passage in front of the library and would be greatly pleased seeing Ṭhākurji being offered nice varieties of bhog, making hand gestures indicating that everything was good and wonderful. On one of these days when Gurudeva came to have darśan of Ṭhākurji's bhog, the temple door was closed. Then while offering pranāms at Param Gurudev's bhajan-kuṭir (which he always does before entering his own bhajan-kuṭir) he said, "Offering pranāms here will amount to offering pranāms there [to Ṭhākurji] too." He gave us a teaching here that offering pranāms to Gurudeva is all-inclusive of offering pranāms to Guru, Vaiṣṇava, and Bhagavān.
On Guru-pūrṇimā day, I looked into the open door of Gurudev's bhajan-kutir and saw that Gurudev was asking Tatpara Mahārāj repeatedly if Guru-pūjā was over, and Mahārāj replied that it is still going on. Gurudeva had his bath and offered dandavat pranāms to Param Gurudev at his bhajan kuṭir with tear-filled eyes for a long time. Then he came to the library hall which was arranged for the program instead of at the naṭā-mandir downstairs. He sat on the stage where Pūjyapāda Bhārati Gosvāmī Mahārāj, Pūjyapāda Bhakti Sundar Nṛsiṃha Mahārāj, Pūjyapāda Bhakti Niketan Turiyāśrami Mahārāj, and Pūjyapāda Bhakti Saurabh Ācārya Mahārāj were already seated. I was sitting with Prahlad Prabhu with the webcam ready for the live broadcast. Devotees had arranged for Guru-pūjā and when they proceeded to begin, Gurudev suddenly stopped them. He got very angry and said, "You are all here to do these things? From where will we get mercy and blessings unless we hear the life teachings and glories of Sanātana Gosvāmī? External observations are not enough." He spoke this in Bangla and Prahlad Prabhu briefed me about what Gurudeva expressed.
Gurudev delivered the whole kathā in Bangla and I could not follow much. When he was about to leave, all were offering pranāms and I also joined them. Seeing me, Guruji said, "Oh, I spoke kathā in Bangla and you might not have understood." I said, yes Guruji, I did not understand much. Sundar Gopal Prabhu then told Guruji, "I have noted some points from the kathā and I will explain to him in Hindi." Then Guruji said, "It is very necessary that one should hear. Until we obtain Vaiṣṇava's mercy, we cannot perform hāriṇam nor any sevā. Today is our Sanatana Gosvāmī's tirobhav and we have to certainly listen to his glories."
As he was walking he was saying, "My Gurudeva did not tell me that when it is a vaiṣṇava-tithi, there was no need for us to remember them." Gurudeva's mood was that on a Vaiṣṇava's avirbhav and tirobhav tithi, we have to remember them. Guruji taught us this through his conduct.
We heard this from our Kṛṣṇananda Prabhu and in audios and videos that in Kārtik month, Gurudeva used to give special attention and maximum time to speak about the Vaiṣṇavas on their tithis and would recite one or two ślokas from Gajendra Mokṣā paṭh to comply with the Kārtik rules and regulations (niyam- rakṣa).
So through this, I learned that we have to remember Guru, Vaiṣṇavas, and Bhagavān on their holy tithis and pray for their mercy and blessings. It is only by their blessings we can do hāriṇam, listen to hari-kathā, and perform vaiṣṇava-sevā.
I pray to all my god-brothers, vaiṣṇavas and guru-varga to please bless me so that I bring these thoughts and teachings of Gurudeva in my conduct.
—Satya Kṛṣṇa Das (Satyam Phull)
spoken in Hindi, translation by Rasabihari Prabhu
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