Gaur Nityānanda Personally Come to Dance in His Kīrtanas

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Guru Mahārāj performs kīrtanas in such a unique manner. Śrīla Bhakti Pramod Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāj noted the way he performed kīrtana by saying, “When Tirtha Mahārāj sings, Gaur Nityānanda personally come to dance in his kīrtanas.”

Once during parikramā, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāj was proceeding in his car and saw ahead to the procession led by our Most Revered Śrīla Gurudev where he is singing “Kahan Nityānanda? Kahan Gaurahari? Kahan Nityānanda! Kahan Gaurahari!" It means, where is that Nityānanda? Where is that Gaurahari? Where can I get Him? In that extreme separation, with his red swollen eyes fixed in the sky, he is calling out the names of Gaura Nityānanda. 

When the driver of Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāj’s car is using the horn to try to make the sankīrtan party move to the side, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāj stops him by saying, “Don't honk! Consider it your great fortune to be following the kīrtanas of Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Mahārāj. We have heard in Caitanya-caritāmṛta that everyone was attracted to Mahāprabhu during Ratha-yātrā when He performed sankīrtana while doing uddaṇḍa nṛtya, dancing high in the sky. We only heard this and now we are seeing it directly in the form of Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Mahārāj.”

When devotees used to come to our Bhakti Sharan Trivikrama Mahārāj to offer any sevā, they would say, “Mahārāj you please use it in your service, for your fruits or medicines or whatever.” But then he would collect all this money and would give it in the hands of Guru Mahārāj. Guru Mahārāj asked, “Mahārāj, why are you giving this money to me? You are old, any need may come. I will provide you everything, but still, you keep the money.”

Then Śrīla Trivikram Gosvāmī Mahārāj says, “Mahārāj if I utilize the money in the service of hari-guru-vaiṣṇava, I am not sure whether it will be accepted by them or not, but if you use it in the service of hari-guru-vaiṣṇava it will definitely reach the Supreme Lord and the Vaiṣṇavas.” This is said by Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura's disciple. This shows how much service Guru Mahārāj has offered to all of them and with extreme humility and quality of surrender how he has won the hearts of our guru-varga.

Disciples speaking about the guru is common, but gurus speaking about the disciple is something rare. Guru Mahārāj has completely exemplified a different standard of what is a guru. If anyone can think that I can become a guru immediately, when Guru Mahārāj's picture will come in front of him, he will think, “Oh how can I be like this? Is there any eligibility for me to call myself Guru?” Such are the standards he has put in the Gauḍīya sky.


—Śrī Bhakti Suhrid Paramadvati Mahārāj


Excerpted from BhaktiZoom, Guru Purnima 2021 



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