His Merciful Concern for the Jīvas

I first met Śrīla Tīrtha Mahārāja during the Navadvīpa-parikramā in 1996, when I came to the dhāma for the first and only time in my life with a one-way ticket, secretly hoping in my heart to stay there forever. Unfortunately, that desire was not destined to be fulfilled. But by the mercy of Nityānanda Prabhu and Śrīla Mahārāja himself, I, along with the other Vaiṣṇavas who were present on the parikramā through Koladvīpa, was granted the chance to touch, for a few unforgettable moments, the Transcendental Abode of Bhagavān Gaura and to feel it within my heart.

This happened when Śrīla Bhakti Vallabha Tīrtha Mahārāja began to sing “akrodha paramānanda nityānanda rāy” and then began chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahāmantra. Never in my life (as a fallen and insignificant soul) have I experienced such happiness. All the bhaktas at that time seemed to go mad in ecstasy. Outwardly, our bodies were in earthly Navadvīpa, but we — the jīvas — were in another realm altogether, where spiritual bliss was as boundless as an ocean.

All of us became as one, a single whole. Some mysterious force — the mercy of Nityānanda and Mahāprabhu themselves — compelled us to sing, following Śrīla Tīrtha Mahārāja’s lead, and to dance in a way that perhaps had never been seen before. Words can hardly convey what each of us experienced in that moment.

But above all, what struck me the most was Śrīla Bhakti Vallabha Tīrtha Mahārāja himself. He astounded me with his integrity, wholeness, and oneness with that which he sang about. In his kīrtana there was everything: his endless love for Nityānanda Prabhu, his humility before Him, and his complete surrender to Him; his limitless compassion for all of us, the living beings who surrounded him then; his love for the Dhāma; and his blissful absorption in kīrtana and dance.

There was no doubt that this entire miracle that overtook us happened solely by his mercy… If it were ever possible — even for a moment, in the smallest degree — to imagine how Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura, Nityānanda Prabhu, or Mahāprabhu Himself might sing and dance, then one could only do so by watching how Śrīla Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja sang and danced.

Another unforgettable and miraculous incident occurred later that same year, during the summer Ratha-yātrā. It so happened that Lord Jagannātha’s chariot came to a stop at some distance from the birthplace of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, where Śrī Caitanya Gauḍīya Maṭha now stands. As far as I remember, by the will of Bhagavān, the chariot remained motionless for no less than two days. And it was only when Śrīla Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja performed a mahā-saṅkīrtana — just like the one I witnessed in Navadvīpa — before the Lord and His Divine Brother and Sister, that the chariot began to move again and the Lord set off for Vraja…

The third miracle Śrīla Bhakti Vallabha Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja performed for me was his visit to Russia in 1999. It is impossible to describe what a tremendous transformation his harikathā brought to the consciousness of all who heard him. That harikathā was astonishing and filled with immense spiritual power.

It contained his vast knowledge of the scriptures, his deep realization of their essence, and his ability to perceive subtle but highly significant nuances in the līlās of Bhagavān — details that few ever notice — as well as his boundless devotion to the lotus feet of his Gurudeva and all his śikṣā-gurus, and of his merciful concern for the jīvas — for all of us.

—Pāvana Bihārī Dās, Russia