His Deep Appreciation for Devotional Service in Any Form It Comes, For Whoever Carries It

I am sincerely grateful and honored for this great blessing to be a part of this historic, auspicious occasion where we have come together to celebrate the life and teachings of His Divine Grace Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Mahārāja and to offer our gratitude for the mercy that we all received from him. 

Within this material existence, the physical life that a person is given is likened to a spark. Reality is eternity. Any amount of life we have in this age of Kali is just a small fraction. Yet, in this human life, we have the rarest of all fortunes—durlabha mānava-janma labhiyā saḿsāre. We have the opportunity to realize the eternity of our soul and our eternal relationship with Śrī Śrī Rādhā Govinda Deva in the spiritual world of Goloka. Of all rare things of this human life, there is nothing rarer than to be in the association of those Vaiṣṇavas who lived to love Kṛṣṇa and lived to share their love with others. 

The physical presence (vapu) of such a great soul is to live in this world to spread the Holy Name around, to preserve and to inspire people to follow the teachings of the great Ācāryas in our Paraṃpara. With no ego, the great Vaiṣṇavas are simply carrying this supreme treasure of the teachings, the blessings, and the grace of the Paraṃpara. And through remembrance of their qualities,  of their teachings and instructions (vāṇī), and how they personally led by their example, we can always be in the presence and actually intimately be in the association of our beloved Gurus. By dedicating our lives to serving the will and the instructions and by living the teachings of our gurus, he is always with us, and we are always with him.

Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Mahārāja lived his life completely in the loving service of his Guru Mahārāja Śrīla Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Mahārāja, a prominent disciple of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda and beloved godbrother of my Guru Mahārāja, His Divine Grace Śrīla AC Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Prabhupāda. Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Mahārāja gave his life in total to receiving the instructions of Guru and spreading them throughout India and the world. And in doing so as an Ācārya, he is teaching us what is truly our good fortune. Those of you who are so fortunate, so blessed to be the disciples of Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Mahārāja, I congratulate you, I thank you, I bow my head to you and I pray that you can all make this your life and soul to follow his teachings and share his teachings with one another as a spiritual family, with other Vaiṣṇavas within our great paraṃpara (lineage) and with the whole world and to find true happiness, to find Kṛṣṇa forever in your service.

In this regard, I remember an event that has so deeply taken roots in my heart. Sometimes in our relationships with great souls, we have many interactions. But sometimes a particular interaction becomes the foundation to our spiritual perceptions in our life. In this particular event, we were in Vṛndāvana. It was a glorious meeting. Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Mahārāja was leading a large group of devotees on a parikrāmā of Vraja bhumi. And at the time I was also leading quite a large group of devotees on the Vraja parikrāmā. And by Śrī Rādhārani and Śrī Govinda Deva’s mercy, the group I was within was assembled at the Yajñastan, the place where the Brahmin’s wives came to meet with Lord Kṛṣṇa with all of their offerings. This is one of the most instructive and powerful stories in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. We were there for many hours, having kirtan, speaking this līlā, and discussing the essential teachings within this līlā, that Kṛṣṇa is Sāragrāhī Janārdana. He accepts the essence in which we speak, we act, and we live in our devotional service. The formalities, the rituals, the particular practices are ultimately only to help us to live by the essence, which is to please Kṛṣṇa—saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam. So we were so enlivened and so inspired by speaking about this.

And afterward, we were coming down the hill and we were walking toward Akrūra Ghat. Akrūra Ghat and Yajñastali are both alone in the same area in Vṛndāvana, separated by a small track of Vraja-bhumi land. So we were coming down performing nāma-saṅkīrtan very enthusiastically and we were coming towards Akrūra Ghat. At that time, His Holiness Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Mahārāja was coming from Akrūra Ghat walking in the front with a large group of devotees ecstatically chanting nāma-saṅkīrtan. And the two groups were walking toward one another playing mṛdaṅgas and kartāls, loudly chanting the Holy Names of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Both groups were chanting the hare kṛṣṇa mahāmantra and as we were coming together, there was absolutely no one else anywhere around. It was just these two saṅkīrtan parties coming closer and closer and closer. And when we met, the expression on his face, the look in the eyes of Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Mahārāja was beautiful. He was lit up with joy and happiness and there were tears welling in his eyes. Seeing other Vaiṣṇavas chanting the Holy Names of Śrī Śrī Rādhā Govinda Deva together, he was absolutely ecstatic. And he raised his arms to celebrate that we were coming together and at that moment we both offered obeisances to each other. I was deeply humbled by the experience. I am the age of his perhaps of a son to a father, so he was much senior to me in every way. Still, when I bowed down, he bowed down too and he embodied simplicity, humility, and deep appreciation for devotional service in whatever form it comes, whoever carries it.

And when we got up, I was shy because of his seniority. But he came over and embraced me; we embraced each other. The two saṅkīrtan parties went into a state that reached a summit of happiness and enthusiasm. The Holy Names were roaring from both parties and the two different kirtans completely merged into one kirtan in the same melody with one leader and everyone was dancing together. There was complete unity between our two groups because they could experience the love and unity between their leaders. This brought such joy. 

We spoke for some time. He asked me about where we have been going in Vṛndāvana and inquired about my well-being. I was thinking about him and this merging of these two saṅkīrtan parties became such a source of remembrance of Kṛṣṇa in the sweetest way. After we had spoken for some time, he was going to Yajñastali. If I remember correctly, (because this was some years ago) we just wanted to be together and our group went back together to Yajñastali. We had spent probably four or five hours there before going down to Akrūra Ghat, but just to remain together, I believe we came up and went back up to Yajña Stali for some time. 

I am remembering this incident in such a way that it is such an important lesson that Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Mahārāja taught us. Naturally he just loves devotees. He loves to see everyone and anyone who takes to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. He loves to see the dedication of Vaiṣṇavas from all different circles of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda’s family finding shelter in the chanting of the Holy Names and in the practice of the nine processes of devotional service.

I am so thankful to Rāmadas Prabhu for helping to publish the extraordinary books of Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Mahārāja. In fact, in honor of his appearance day, I have been reading this book that is just behind me today, about Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s Personal Associates. It is a glorious book.

I recall one time in Northern California when I got a phone call from Rāmadas and he invited me to his home for an evening where he was asking Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Mahārāja and myself to speak. And so I drove up there with one of my dear godbrothers, Vaiśeṣika Prabhu. It was a small gathering of devotees and so intimate and so special. I am remembering Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Mahārāja’s kirtan. It was filled with enthusiasm and bhāva and it was intense. Everyone was dancing, people were crying, people were screaming out the Holy Names as was he. And he gave a lecture that so much embodied the erudite teachings of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava philosophy with such feeling and enthusiasm. Then he asked me to speak and perform kirtan and he was relishing by the goodness of his own heart. Even to a small and fallen soul like myself who was trying to practice devotional service, he was offering such honor and respect because I was a disciple of his Guru Mahārāja’s godbrother. It was a very, very special night. 

Today is a festival and it is also a very deep celebration where we feel separation, viraha-bhava, for Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja and we also celebrate his gifts to ourselves, to our community, and to the world. And in that celebration we can intimately experience his divine presence.

Thank you all for including me. My prayer is that each of you will find the eternal blessings in your Guru Mahārāja and in your devotional life. There is nothing more valuable than this and there is nothing greater than to live for than this. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

—Śrīla Rādhānātha Svāmī Mahārāja 

Spoken on Apr 21, 2024 via zoom