Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

Guru is one who chases away darkness and brings light. Like many devotees, the first thought that comes when I remember Śrīla Guru Mahārāja is his kīrtana .  I think it was in 1999 that Śrīla Mahārāja came for the first time in France. Thanks to Bindu Mādhava Prabhu and Śrīla Mahārāja’s associates, we were so fortunate. We are actually extremely fortunate that Śrīla Mahārāja came to South France to a place called Monto in Viśvaṃbhara Prabhu’s home. We had actually no idea of what to expect at all. At that time, I was about eighteen years old and we were maybe four or five men devotees living peacefully in that house. We enjoyed singing bhajans together and appreciated each other’s association.  Luckily Śrīla Mahārāja arrived and I can say now that it was a major turning point in my life. Although I was born in a Vaiṣṇava family and grew up in a Vaiṣṇava environment, I was young at that time and when people would say "Oh, yes, Mūrti does good kīrtana , he plays ...

Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja came four times to Austria. I could not meet him in 1998 because I was traveling with ISKCON. But in 1999, he came to our place in Vienna. I met Mahārāja the evening before we first opened our Gauḍīya maṭha center here in Vienna. I had met my friend Pārthasārathi Muni Gosvāmī Mahārāja and went to one āśrama of the devotee named Gaura Kiśora Dāsa and Mahārāja had arrived from France with Bindu Mādhava Prabhu, Bhakti Vicāra Viṣṇu Mahārāja (who was then a brahmacārī ,) Śrīkānta Prabhu (who is also sannyāsī now) and one elder professor. They held programs there with powerful kīrtanas and hari-kathā .  At the conclusion, Muni Mahārāja and I sat together on the floor in front of Mahārāja. He was very beautiful, loving, friendly, personal, and giving. He gave us fruit prasādam with his own hand. We invited him to come to our center. He was very happy and said yes. That time we were in the Hare Krishna ISKCON Center. He came the next day wit...

My name is Bhakta Dāsa. I joined Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Prabhupāda in 1969 in California and he named me, saying "Your name is Bhakta Dāsa." It means you are the servant of devotees. The more you become a servant of the devotees, the more you advance in spiritual life and the more you think of becoming the master the more you go to hell. So in an attempt to take that order seriously, my life has been spent seeking the association and the opportunity to serve the Vaiṣṇavas and by the mercy of Mahāprabhu and of the Vaiṣṇavas. Approximately two years before Śrīla Gurudeva had his stroke pastime (I believe it was the day after Gaura-pūrṇimā)  I was blessed to go into his bhajana kuṭira in Mayapur along with Śrīla Bhakti Vicara Viṣṇu Mahārāja who is a disciple of Śrīla Bhakti Vaibhava Puri Mahārāja and my very dear friend. It was only the two of us and Gurudeva in the room. I remember offering my obeisances and speaking to him only for a few minutes but very intimately.  He to...

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to try to remember the unlimited glories of His Divine Grace Śrīla Gurujī Bhakti Ballabha Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja. To glorify the Vaiṣṇavas is the perfection of speech, the perfection of the eyes is to behold the śuddha-bhakta , and the perfection of the ears is to hear their glories and the glories of the Supreme Lord. I heard that Śrīla Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Mahārāja said, "I have many disciples, they are like the limbs of my body, but Tirtha Mahārāja is my heart." He lived up to my heart’s desires. He has given everything and because by giving his kāya , mana and vākya (by body, mind and words) and his very soul in the service of his Guru. He achieved all the wealth that was in Guru’s heart transmitted into his heart and therefore he was made the successor Ācārya after his departure in 1979. He was naiṣṭhika-brahmacārī his whole life. He never got married or had children, just like Śrīla Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāja who ...

I had the good fortune to meet Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja in 1990. I was called by my godbrothers and requested to offer some services to him in Singapore. When I went to receive him, he was staying in an unfurnished apartment in Singapore. I was a bit shocked to see how he was staying. He had no bedding, no pillows, or anything to lie on. He was actually sleeping on a piece of cloth. So I asked, "Śrīla Mahārāja, would you allow me to serve you by giving you some bedding?" He said, “What for? Why do I need bedding? Did Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu sleep on a pillow, mattress, or anything? He slept on the floor with his arm as a pillow. I am following His footsteps and I have to follow this also.”  That answer shocked me as I have met so many sannyāsis in my time, but he seemed to be very simple. He was humble by nature and he attracted me to him when I rendered service to him. And he said, "I request something from you" and I said, "Yes Mahārāja...

My dear Gurudeva, Ever since I first me you, you have been a great source of inspiration, knowledge, and encouragement. This is true even in separation. Everyone on the spiritual path has their personal inspiration but there are three extremely bright beacons of light in my spiritual life: Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swāmi Mahārāja (my vartma-pradarśaka-guru ), Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī Mahārāja (my harināma initiating guru), and yourself (my dīkṣā guru). You are also my śikṣā gurus and you have taken me from the darkness of ignorance by opening my eyes with the torchlight of transcendental knowledge. I have learned so much and the learning continues, even in separation.  When I hear from my gurus I feel that I am hearing directly from Śrī Kṛṣṇa, from pure devotees; the transparent via media. My faith in my gurus is very strong and without you I am lost. My respect for you all is equal because you are Kṛṣṇa’s pure devotees. It is guru-varga . You have all touched my...

I heard something very deep and nice from a devotee that I met in Switzerland. He told me about how he had been staying at a temple there while Guru Mahārāja was visiting.  He said that the maṭha-in-charge expressed his desire that Gurudeva speak about Bhāgavatam. But then an order came that he was not allowed to speak there. In the room where the Bhāgavatam reading was, there was a young boy,. He was maybe only three months in the maṭha and recently came out of a completely material life, eating meat, smoking, etc. Anyway, he was the only one who had permission to speak about Bhāgavatam. And what did Guru Mahārāja do? He entered the room, bowed down to this boy and he sat in front of this boy and listened to his Bhāgavatam reading. This is his humbleness. This is always the way; they teach by example, not by punishing or whatever. When this maṭha-in-charge saw this whole situation, he decided in one moment to leave this institution forever. Although he left that organization, he ...