His Noble Principles Promote Harmony Among Vaiṣṇavas

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The great Vaiṣṇav-ācārya Śrīla Bhakti Pramod Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāj was another prominent disciple of His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākur and intimate godbrother of my Śrīla Guru Mahārāja and Śrīla Mādhav Mahārāj. He is also my own sannyās guru. He also had so much loving affection and appreciation for Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāji, his śikṣā disciple. Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāj was always seeking his affectionate blessings. I remember whenever Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāj came to pay his obeisances to Śrīla Puri Mahārāj, he would spontaneously speaking in praise of Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāj. He would speak about his nice vaiṣṇava qualities, his qualities of an ideal ācārya. I saw this often take place at in Gurudev's bhajan kuṭir in Kolkata Sree Chaitanya Gauḍīya Maṭh. I used to stay in a small room next to his, so I could witness all these beautiful interactions. 

I remember seeing Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāj's extreme shyness upon hearing some praise about himself. Nonetheless, Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāj would just happily go on speaking in praise of him and of how much Śrīla Mādhav Gosvāmī Mahārāj had been always been so affectionate and loving with him and had so much trust in him. He bestowed so much grace on Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāj and encouraged and inspired many devotees to be obedient to him. Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāj always approached Śrīla Bhakti Pramod Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāj whenever he needed some urgent important guidance regarding siddhāntic refutations as well as for guidance related to missionary activities. 

Śrīla Bhakti Pramod Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāj gave his gracious sanction in support of Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāj's preaching tour abroad. Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāj would not have gone abroad without his blessing and he gave that to him in full. Upon his return from the international tour, Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāj gave him a report and he would express so much happiness to hear of his success. At times, I recall Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāji saying to us that his Gurudeva encouraged him and others many times to hold Śrīla Puri Mahārāj in high esteem.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Swami Mahārāji specially created Bhaktivedānta Charity Trust for rebuilding or renovating important temples and heritage sites. He sought several other qualified Gauḍīya Maṭh representatives to also remain connected with that charity trust program. Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Mahārāj became one of the most prominent and important members of that trust. Receiving a cordial invite from ISKCON, he accepted a respectable position in that charity trust in order to help this laudable project with his valuable advice and guidance. 

He also became one of the main founder-ācāryas of World Vaiṣṇava Association (WVA) also called Vaiṣṇava Rāj Sabhā. He played a vital role in the WVA for many years by practically encouraging, guiding, supporting the great spirit of unity and harmony among vaiṣṇavas, the various vaiṣṇava-ācāryas, and their temples or societies. Following the footsteps, moods, and models of Mahāprabhu, the Six Gosvāmīs, Śrīla Jiva Gosvāmīpād, and the entire paraṃparā. He made a special, valuable contribution in nurturing and promoting noble principles in a model of loving unity and harmony among contemporary vaiṣṇavas. One of the main purposes and characteristics of Śri Viśva Vaiṣṇav Rāj Sabhā was to help the whole gauḍīya society to remain unified in their services and spiritual activities. 

Śrīmad Tirtha Mahārāj also made some valuable writing contributions to the field of spiritual literature. His book Śri Gaur Parṣādavali (Śri Caitanya: His Life and Associates) is a great example. This is actually considered as so useful and helpful in our Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sampradāya. Throughout this book, he beautifully narrated the glories and described the life and precepts of the great associates and devotees of Lord Gauranga. It is essential and most beneficial to remember the lives of these great associates of Mahāprabhu.

Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāji has always been so respectful and appreciative towards all his guru-varga and the god-brothers of his Gurudeva. I have seen on different occasions how he has offered very special honor and appreciation to them— one of his special vaiṣṇava qualities and a sign of an exemplary Vaiṣṇava-ācārya. He practiced the special pure vaiṣṇava ways of behavior himself through his life and conduct. I could simply feel from him that he did indeed receive a special inspiration from his glorious Gurudeva to accept Śrīla Śridar Gosvāmī as his great Śikṣā Gurudev. He offered my Guru Mahārāj so much praise, often with spontaneous happiness. 

I remember some elite class dharma-sabhās when Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāj would quote from my Śrīla Guru Mahārāj in order to teach high-class siddhānta and inspire the audience of assembled devotees. I recall how he often quoted the famous saying of Guru Mahārāj: "If infinite cannot make himself known to finite, he is not infinite." He is not infinite, because otherwise, you’ll be limiting the ability of the infinite. When Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāj would quote this, we saw some special joy and enthusiasm due to his actual realization of it. There was a spiritual potency coming through his special explanations. It was very clear that he had the realization of what he was talking about; he was narrating his own direct realization that was fully aligned with the realization of my Guru Mahārāj. What a wonderful experience.

—Śrīla Bhakti Nandan Swami Mahārāj,  Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

(Part 3, transcription from spoken English)








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