He is Indicating and Instructing Us to Chant the Holy Names Always

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During his antya-līlā Guru Mahārāj engaged all of us in the kirtan sevā. Even in Guwahati while in the ICU, Guru Mahārāj engaged all the devotees in kirtans. By the causeless mercy of Guru Mahārāj, maybe we have developed a small measure of love for Guru Mahārāj. But in the hospital, the nurses, ward boys, doctors, and other persons who were serving there were attracted to Guru Mahārāj. It was practically impossible for even a family's closest person to visit a patient in ICU, but Guru Mahārāj was so merciful that he had a separate room in ICU and there was a long queue to have darśan of Guru Mahārāj and all would get his darśan.  

We heard from Gurudev's sevāks that the doctors and the attendant staff of the hospital would first offer praṇāms to Guru Mahārāj before proceeding to check his health status. Even though he was not speaking, he was a true Ācārya because he showed through his perfect conduct (ācaraṇa) how the life of a devotee is. Everything that he preached, he actually practiced it like a true Ācārya who would lead through his own example. Guru Mahārāj was speaking but Param Gurudev was glorifying Guru Mahārāj in such a way that without even uttering a word, people were getting attracted to Guru Mahārāj.

Once I was sitting with our Sādhu Mahārāj in the Kolkata maṭh on the top floor where Guru Mahārāj was performing his antya-līlā. Sādhu Mahārāj told us that our pracār party and all our maṭh disciples are traveling to different places, they are doing hard work serving all around in pracār-sevā but see how Guru Mahārāj is attracting everyone even in this stage when he is performing samādhi-līlā and is absorbed in his own internal mood and not in a state of speaking. Still, people are coming from all different parts of the world and taking initiation from Guru Mahārāj.  Thus he was showering his special mercy in the last 3-4 years which was unexpected.   

We also heard from Śrīla Paramadvaiti Mahārāj that whenever Guru Mahārāj heard kirtans of Śrīla Param Gurudev, Śrīla Bhakti Pramod Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāj, and Śrīla Bhakti Rakshak Śrīdhar Dev Gosvāmī Mahārāj, his hands would move, his legs would move, and he would respond. Otherwise, when devotees or the sevāk team would call out to Guru Mahārāj and try to speak to him, Guru Mahārāj would not respond much. That made us realize that he was in his internal mood. 

A photograph of Guru Mahārāj's lotus hand in a chanting position and mood is very famous, it is as though he is indicating and instructing us to chant the Holy Names always. We heard in his hari-kathā and also read in his articles as well as books that Gurudev always asked us to chant loudly and perform harinām-saṅkīrtan in the company of devotees.  This Gurudev practically did and wanted all of us to practice the same thing in our own life.  

I pray at the lotus feet of Guru Mahārāj and all the devotees that I am actually in need of your blessings so that I can serve Guru Mahārāj in whatever way he wants to take service from me. Because of me Guru Mahārāj should not feel ashamed or face any trouble saying such a person is his disciple— for that reason I need the blessing of Guru Mahārāj and all the devotees. 

—Vṛṣbhānu Das

Part 2. Spoken in English, excerpted from Vaishnav sabha for the glorification of Śrīla Gurudev in honor of His disappearance day-08 May 2021 






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