Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

In 2005, I was serving in the maṭh itself. In the Vraja-maṇḍal parikramā, I was given the service of translating for the Western devotees. When we hear, we may not be attentive, but when we translate, we must be very attentive. That year there were so many Westerners that they filled an entire bus. This was the first year that Śrila Gurudev was not there in Vraja the entire time as he was performing the pastimes of sickness. When he arrived, he explained what he was seeing directly how Śuka and Śārikā competed, and how Kakkhaṭī was given the service. I was finding it difficult to translate, not because of words, but because I was so ecstatic. I could see that Gurudev was speaking not because of the books or something, but because he was actually seeing. —Hariprasād Das

Tridaṇḍī sannyāsīs from various maṭhas who participated in the Vraja-maṇḍala parikramā of 1996 were taken by surprise when they heard Guru Mahārāj’s nāma-saṅkīrtana and hari-kathā. Completely amazed, they even told me, “O Prabhu, we have never seen this kind of Acharya who himself performs nāma-saṅkīrtana repeatedly and at every place and with such ecstatic feelings, performing hari-kathā and singing glories of the divine dhāma.” Seeing Guru Mahārāj’s such rare, transcendental ecstasies sannyāsīs would come to take darśana of his divine lotus feet repeatedly.  Param Pūjyapāda Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāj has said about him, “Even though he is in his advanced age there is no one like him who performs kirtans with such high tone accompanied by dance jumping so high up in the air.” We can see Śrīla Gurudeva's strong faith in Śrī Harināma-saṅkīrtana, which is non-different from the deity form of the Lord. He does every service of the Supreme Lord with Śrī nāma-saṅkīrtana. I have seen him engro

On the holy occasion of Dīpāvalī, we were to decorate Śrīla Gurudev’s room which would only be possible when he was not inside. On that day, Śrīpad Dāmodara Das and I missed yam-kirtans while we were busy decorating. When Śrīla Gurudev came back to his room, seeing us there he spoke in a commanding voice, chastising us by saying, 'For such less important work you broke the vows (rules of Dāmodara-vrata)? This is not good!" Both of us appreciated Śrīla Gurudev’s instructions to us. In the next yam-kirtan , Śrīla Guru Mahārāj mentioned our mistake in front of all the assembled vaiṣṇavas and devotees. He said, "These people broke the rules of regulative service for one insignificant work." He added that he did not approve of this. As a result of Gurudev’s words, it was noticed that all devotees then started arriving for yam-kirtans on time.  —Partha Sarati Das (Om Prakash Lumba) Translated from Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Sandesh July-Oct, 1997 (Year 17, Issue No.4, Page 56-60

When Gurujī narrates the pastimes of Supreme Lord during  hari-kathā , he brings that scene before our eyes. When we heard Gurujī speak on the topic of Dhruva-charitra, he repeatedly called out "Where is Padma Palash Lochan Hari?" We would feel as though Dhruva is there with us in person calling out to Supreme Lord. When narrating Kurukṣetra’s fire sacrifice, he calls, "Gopāl! Gopāl! it is as though mother Yaśodā herself is calling. His hari-kathā overflows with newer and newer sweetnesses and divine mellows. In his hari-kathā , Supreme Lord is personally present there; it bestows extreme bliss. One feels repentance just by listening to his hari-kathā ; it cleansed all dirt within the heart. The mind feels encouraged and renewed in enthusiasm to pursue the devotional path, causing hard hearts to soften and melt. We have never heard Gurudeva ask why so many programs of hari-kathā were arranged for him in a day. In Dehradun on  Uttāna Ekādaśī-tithi , Gurujī even told, “I

I remember the Vraja-maṇḍala parikramā  that was performed in 1987. During the last days of the parikramā in Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math, Gokul-Mahavan, our Most Revered Śrīla Guru Mahārāja, His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Mahārāja, raised a question to himself in order to instruct us: “As we increase our endeavor for devotion, our attachment to this world increases rather than our attachment to the Supreme Lord. Why is this so?”   While Śrīla Guru Mahārāja was delivering a transcendental discourse from his lotus mouth, I recorded the divine and sublime words of Guru Mahārāja. To purify my heart and to please the devotees who have affection for Śrī Guru, I am making a small attempt to present the same transcendental words as they are: "Here I have done my self-examination. So many days have been spent doing parikramā , following vaiṣṇavas, and chanting the Lord’s name loudly. You might be thinking that I am doing a lot of kīrtana, and dancing. But what is the resu

During the 1979 Vraja-mandala parikramā, we went to Brahmand Ghat and the breakfast prasādam was prepared and brought from our Gokul maṭha. Although Śrīla Mahārāja was the Secretary of the maṭha , he had no dedicated personal servant; I used to serve him a little. That day I forgot to carry Mahārāja’s bowl. I was wondering how to serve prasādam to him. I looked for a leaf plate; it was also not available, but I had carried my bowl. Mahārāja accepted prasādam in that bowl. I was a brahmacārī at that time, but he had no ego of being a sannyāsī or being the Secretary of the organization. The more one is humble, the more Mahāprabhu showers His mercy on him. And also, the more one is advanced the more humble he is. —Śrīmad Bhakti Saudha Jitendriya Mahārāja

Regardless of how many people were in hari-kathā , Śrīla Gurudev's enthusiasm to speak did not waver. In typical cases, we see that the number of people listening affects the speaker but we observed that Śrīla Gurudev was always the same, whether it be with a thousand persons, no persons, or only one person who was sleeping.  An example of this was during Vraja-mandala parikramā. Śrīla Gurudev led programs for the entire day daily from 4am to 11pm. Devotees performed kirtans while going from place to place and he would watch for when they would get tired and slow and then he would lead the kirtan and surcharge everyone. His energy is not like ours; it never diminished. He was always observing the highest standard at every moment.   At the end of the day, the final sabh ā  met and kirtans were to be performed. When  the  time came for the last yam kirtans, d evotees were so tired. Sometimes only about four devotees would show; they were sitting in kirtan  while others wer

In Bhatinda  maṭha  during  Kārtik  in 2004, one devotee was engaged to remove flies from Śrīla Gurudeva's transcendental body with a small fan during the first yam session. The devotee didn't come one day, so I was requested to do this service. When I sat next to Śrīla Gurudeva on the stage, I saw how He was completely sincere while performing His devotional practice as a practitioner, as a disciple of His Gurudev; not having any kind of false pride of being "Guru, sitting above of so many disciples"— not in the least. While I was trying to keep flies away with the fan, two of them came on different parts of Śrīla Gurudeva's shining transcendental body at the same time. With a bit of dissatisfaction with them and with a desire to remove them both at the same time, I used a little bit more force to remove them, perhaps even with harshness or hostility. Śrīla Gurudev noticed it and looked at me with a bit of dissatisfaction. Almost immediately after that, that o

Vraja-mandala parikramā of 1984 was my first time in Vṛndāvan. I reached by bus from Delhi. The ride to Mathura was very rough and keekar kareel (acacia karoo) trees were branching down on both sides of the road. Traveling alone, I was excited about my first visit to Vṛndāvan. For years, I had only dreamt of Vṛndāvan but couldn’t get there. Vṛndāvan of my imagination was coming to my real experience. Śrīla Guru Mahārāj was in a small room adjoining the kitchen at Vṛndāvan maṭha . This was the last week of the Kārtik-vrata. The Vraja-mandala-parikramā had reached Vṛndāvan, the last destination of Braj 84 kos. In 1984, our maṭha had very basic arrangements. For me, it was a new world where I knew no one except Gurudev. I spent most of the time staying close to Gurudev. He was very caring. He took us to all temples of Vṛndāvan, explaining in Hindi to me. It was a very hectic schedule of Kārtik for Gurudev with no rest.The administration of everything depended on him.  Suddenly malaria

My wife, Smt. Shanta Gupta and I were feeling the necessity of sad-guru for nearly twenty-four years before we finally took Śri Hāriṇam-mahāmantra and dīkṣā . We used to live in the government quarters at Simla’s Nabha House area which is near the railway station. There is one Śri Rādhā Gopīnātha temple there and saints and speakers of harikathā continually came there. Though many people accepted guru-mantra from them and we also desired to take it, it did not materialize. Time passed by and there was a pain in the heart that we did not take guru-mantra . Sometimes there were arguments between us when one would insist on taking guru-mantra from one saint and the other disagreed. In 1993, by the desire of Śri Hari, we got an opportunity to go for 84 Kos Vraja-mandala parikramā in the Kārtik month. On reaching Sri Mathura dhām , the first thing we did was to have darśan of one saint who was staying in a room of a dharmashala and we offered daṇḍavat pranams after seeing other

In the 1980s, during Vraja-maṇḍala parikramā in Kāmyavana, Śrīla Guru Mahārāja's stay was arranged on the first floor of Śrī Jagannātha Mandir in a small corner room. It had a low roof with no fan and also no windows or any ventilation for the breeze to enter in.  Early in the morning, I went to his room to offer him praṇām and I found him sitting and using a hand fan. I learned from him that he had been awake the whole night like that, sitting and using the hand fan. He is the highest authority of so many big maṭhs but still, he is enduring this sort of discomfort, yet there was no sign of anxiety on his face. A patient smile adorned his lotus face. There are many such instances where Śrīla Guru Mahārāja patiently bore all the physical and mental discomforts. Whether in Simla on the bed full of bed bugs or in Dehradun in a cot full of mosquitoes, he remained undisturbed.  I have seen him walk barefoot undisturbed even while he had a fever and blisters on his feet. Even when he wa

When Kārtika-vrata was taking place in Chandigarh, Gurujī was the first person to arrive at the sabhā at 3:30 am, starting the jayadhvani and mangalacharana . He was also the last to leave at about midnight after the last sabhā . There were never signs of fatigue seen on his face; it was amazing. There were no signs of drowsiness or yawning; he appeared ever-fresh. Some brahmacārīs were given the duty of guarding at night. Out of curiosity, I wanted to peep into Gurujī's room to see what he does in privacy. I was strolling outside his room and checking to see if any of his windows were open.  I saw that indeed one of the windows of his room was open and I looked between the gap between the two curtains and saw that only a dim light was on. Gurudev was sitting inside a mosquito net with a letter in one hand and a torchlight in the other. He was replying to those letters while writing in that dim light.  Once after he delivered hari-kathā and kirtan the whole day in the sabhā , I

Some years ago, I had got the good fortune of participating in the month-long Vraja-mandala parikramā . With my own eyes, I saw the place where Lord  Śri   Kṛṣṇa  had taken food along with his cowherd friends; imprints of bowls, spoons, and plates are still found there. While speaking harikathā at that place, Guru Mahārāja went into ecstatic feelings and started singing kirtan . yasomati stanya-payi sri-nanda-nandana indra-nila-mani vraja-janera jivana After singing about three stanzas, he could not do further. Overwhelmed by divine feelings, he started crying so much that even after twenty or thirty minutes, he could not control himself. I signaled to Śripād Kuldeep Prabhu to put the tape-recorder in front of Gurujī. Once when he placed it in front, Śrila Gurudev’s hand movements pushed it behind. I did not get the courage to ask him a second time. I somehow managed to push the tape recorder in front of myself and got the cassette recording. I still have that cassette

I was there in the 1979 Vraja-mandala parikramā that was led by our Most Revered Gurudeva. While we were in Govardhan and my health was not well. Gurudev sent me to the Vṛndāvan maṭh for rest. After resting for a couple days, I rejoined them in Varṣāṇā. I had missed a few darśans and I contacted a paṇḍitjī who told me that he can show all of them in one day. I asked Pūjyapāda Tirtha Goswami Mahārāj, “Mahārāj! Due to my bad health, I missed a few darśans and paṇḍitjī will help me visit those places in a day. Shall I go?” Then Mahārāj told me the importance of sādhu-saṅga. “You see! The benefit of listening and singing the glories of the Lord in the association of devotees is more. There are many saints here, there is hari-kathā and kīrtan, leaving all these you want to go alone to visit those places? Which one is better?”  Mahārāj spoke the supremacy of sādhu-saṅga: sādhu-saṅga’, ‘sādhu-saṅga’-sarva-śāstre kaya lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya —nothing is as powerful as chanting

It was my greatest fortune that Most Revered Gurudev gave me the golden opportunity of allowing me to associate with him during Kārtik from the year 1983 onwards. In 2002 Vraja-mandala parikramā ,  I noted down a few pastimes which I will remember as follows: His Divine Grace Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj reached Vṛndāvana on 14 October 2002 for the month-long Vraja-mandala parikramā . Speaking on the subject "Who will show us Vraja-dhāma ," Śrīla Guru Mahārāji said, "Only a tāttvika-vāsi like Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākur Prabhupāda can give us the knowledge of Vraja-dhāma." Quoting from Śrīla Prabhupād's discourses of the 1932 parikramā of Vraja-mandala,  Śrīla Guru Mahārāj explained the significance of doing circumambulation ( parikramā ) of Vraja-dhāma: "This world is a perverted reflection of the spiritual world. All act as puruṣa and want to enjoy it and lord over others. If we want Śrī Kṛṣṇa to appear in our hearts, we

—edited by Radha Priya Dasi

Several years ago, Guru Mahārāj was traveling to Bhatinda from New Delhi for a religious assembly. The train that was scheduled to reach Bhatinda at 7pm reached at about 1am; it was late by 6 hours. It was double the discomfort due to the delay in the train’s start time in Delhi and later reaching so late in the night. I saw that the whole preaching party was disturbed due to hunger and tiredness and troubles along the way. Yet Gurujī’s face was adorned with that all-familiar smile.  Reaching Kundanlal Dharmashala, all were anxious to unwind and rest in their allotted places. Many did not even have prasād and went straight to rest. Inadvertently we had committed a great mistake as the prasād was oily, spicy, and rich food. The usual vegetables that were prepared for Gurujī such as papaya, raw banana, and cucumber were not available; nor were raw vegetables kept available in stock.  When Gurujī’s sevāk came to fetch prasād to offer to Gurujī, there was nothing available or suitab

Gurudevsays that to follow the instructions of vaiṣṇavas is also a limb of devotion, so I am just trying to follow their instructions. Gurudev has lifted us from where we were and to where Gurudev has brought us is making us speak today. So whatever I had heard from Gurudev, I will speak the same.  Once during Vraja-mandala parikramā , I saw one pastime of Gurudev in Kāmyavan. There were many thorns along the way to Caraṇa-pahadi and they were pricking devotees' feet. At that time Gurudev remarked that actually, the Supreme Lord is putting the dust of Vraja in our bloodstream through these thorns. Scriptures say that even Mukti Devī - liberation personified - is asking the Supreme Lord when will I get the dust of Vraja? In the same principle when everyone was busy picking thorns from their feet, Gurudev was saying that the dust of Vraja is being injected into our blood. Among the glories of Gurudev we sing is that he is kṛṣṇa kṛpā ki ānanda mūrti dīnana karuṇā nidhana . Gurudev i

The most difficult part of Vraja-mandala parikramā is Kāmyavana where on every step, sharp thorns would prick us. Gurujī was least disturbed whereas I, walking by his side, was in a very bad condition. Seeing my state, he told, "We do not want to take the holy dust of Vraja, but Lord is very merciful. Through the use of thorns, He is sending the holy dust of Vraj into our bloodstream." This type of vision is an indication of his transcendental quality of tolerance. In any difficult situation, he experiences the Lord’s compassion, which a conditioned soul of this world can never think of. — Śrī Kṛṣṇananda Das  (Bhatinda) Translated from Sri Krishna Chaitanya Sandesh , July-Oct, 1997 (Year 17, Issue No.4, Page 27-39) 

During Kārtika in Vrindavan, we had all gone for  Kāmyavana   parikramā . We started in the morning with Gurujī leading the kirtan for three kilometers, singing and dancing. We reached there and after kicharī   prasād and returned. While returning, all were feeling tired and doing kirtan in a sluggish way.  Gurujī saw this for half an hour, and then he came forward to lead the singing for kirtan .  When he started to sing "Nitai Gauranga, Nitai Gauranga" we all became enthusiastic and started playing mṛdaṅga . Gurujī led the kirtan for the entire two and a half kilometers. By the time we reached back, it was 10:30 pm and the assembly had begun.  During Kārtika, Gurujī was always present, in every sabhā . There were only five devotees attending the  sabhā  that night. Gurujī was alone on the stage. His eyes were red due to tiredness. We have seen that when Gurujī is extremely tired, he starts massaging his knees with his hands while sitting. We saw him attending f

In Śrīdhām Māyāpur during Kārtik month’s regulative service, early one morning before 4 a.m., Guru Mahārāj  came out of his room. He did not see that there was a dog sleeping on the steps nearby and as it was still dark. I was washing my hands at a tap nearby and when saw that Gurujī had experienced a bad fall, I ran to him.  Even before I reached, Gurudev had managed to get up by himself. His foot began to swell immediately;  I witnessed that it was difficult for him to take even a single step.  When a doctor came later to apply medicine, the wounded place on his foot was so sensitive that even the slightest pressure resulted in great pain.  I saw that Gurujī was bearing everything quietly. Even more astonishing was when I saw Gurujī coming that same evening to lead the assembly in Dāmodara-vrata’s regulated services as usual. His foot was so swollen that he could not sit by folding his legs. We tried to offer him a chair, but he refused to accept it.  He said, “ Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is

In 2002, Guru Mahārāj led Vraja-mandala parikramā . We went to Ramaṇa-reti in Gokul-mahāvan, one of the twelve forests in Vraja. Reti means sand, and ramaṇa means charming, delightful— pleasure-giving sand. Along with other sakhas , Kṛṣṇa and Balaram performed leisurely plays in this place during their childhood. Today that particular land is being taken care of very nicely by a māyāvādi āśram . They serve prasād freely to all the pilgrims. Upon our arrival there, Guru Mahārāj was very blissful and he spoke about the glories of that place. He said this was where Krishna and Balaram performed many playful pastimes. Therefore, nobody should be morose there–everyone should be laughing and smiling. Guru Mahārāj was very blissful there. He laughed very sweetly and made all of us laugh loudly too. After hari-kathā and some playing in the divine sand, the sādhus and sannyāsīs were invited into the dining room. Everyone else followed after them and sat there in a line ready to take prasād

I understand that Guru Mahārāj started to write the Kārtik Handbook in 2002 out of compassion for foreign devotees who were coming to observe Kārtik-vratā as they had no guide to understand what was being spoken. For the benefit of all those devotees who could not understand Bengali or Hindi, Guru Mahārāj took a very special effort to translate specially selected portions from Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākur's Bhajan Rahasya . During the time when he was compiling the Kārtik Handbook, Guru Mahārāj's extreme amount of care and affection was astounding. As I was listening to these pastimes being recounted, I could feel what genuine compassion Guru Mahārāj had for all those persons requiring translation. Day in and day out, he was contemplating the very best words to use. While eating, sleeping, and taking bath, while doing any activity—he was only concentrating on that service. I had the experience of sometimes feeling the need to interrupt Guru  Mahārāj's  service in order to

Bhakti begins with sravaṇa-kīrtan , (hearing and chanting) and when sravaṇa-kīrtan reaches the peak, the topmost stage, it also continues; it never stops. There is nothing greater than when Gurudev is pleased by our efforts. Our Gurudev dedicated himself fully to his Gurudev; every engagement of his was serving Gurudev, forgetting about his food or rest. Param Gurudev entrusted him with much sevā , one service after another, and Guru Mahārāj would forget himself becoming so engrossed in completing that sevā in order to fulfill the desires of his Gurudeva, to please him. We have heard the instance when he shed incessant tears and got up leaving prasādam and very remorsefully ran to perform the sevā entrusted to him by Param Gurudev, which was only posting a letter. I practically saw that whenever Gurudev gave me letters to post, he would wait until I would return and report that the letter has been posted. He would give a lot of time and energy to write those letters in reply to