Maṭh Is The Place of Śrī Guru

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Once Guru Mahārāj was in Jagannātha Puri and the whole maṭh was full of devotees. The brahmacārīs had no separate place to sleep and had to adjust somewhere on the balcony or here and there. I came from Mumbai and went to pay praṇām to Guru Mahārāj. He looked at me and asked, "Did you find someplace to stay?"  I said no. He did not tell me to go there or here and sleep. He said one thing: "Brahmacārī means the whole maṭh belongs to them only. It is your own house.  You can sleep anywhere; I think no problem."

It was only a small word but that word gave such a kind of inspiration for my whole life.  Anytime when some idea comes to mind the first thing that comes to mind is maṭh is my home because Gurudev says, "maṭh is your home, maṭh is your place." If some place belongs to me, how can I think of something which is separate from maṭh?  That is simply not possible.  Simply by one word he drilled in the heart of the disciple that you should always remember that maṭh means your place, the place of Śrī Guru. And anywhere in the maṭh, in any corner, you don't need to expect any facility there, you can just remain there anywhere and then feel happy that you are in the shelter of your spiritual master because maṭh is the place of Śrī Guru.  



I humbly pray at the lotus feet of Śrīla Gurudev and all those surrendered souls of our most revered Gurudev to bless me so that I can dedicate my life without any hypocrisy and duplicity and serve Gurudev and Guru-paramparā.  


—Śrī Bhakti Kiṅkar Damodar Mahārāj


Spoken in English, excerpt from a transcription from Vaiṣṇava-sabhā in honor of His disappearance day-09 May 2021





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