Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

I would like to share an experience from 2007. During my first M. Tech examinations, my friend and I went together for darśana . She was on one side and I was on the other side. We told Gurudeva that it was time for our exams. Gurudeva looked at me on the other side and said, "Before exams, one has to study." That particular semester, I did not study at all but I never told anybody! How could he know? After that, I studied and somehow passed my exams. I also remember I asked Gurudeva a question: "How can we develop śaraṇāgati to Bhagavan?"  He said, "Ei gulo diye habe na," by these material sense organs, nothing will happen.  Then he said, “If I look upon these buildings with my eyes closed, I will not see anything."  Finally, he spoke the verse granthera ārambhe kari maṅgalācaraṇa . A few days later, I asked, "How can one remember them?" (Guru, Vaiṣṇava, Bhagavan, as instructed in the above verse from Caitanya-caritāmṛta , Adi 1.20)  He sa...

Once Parama-gurujī asked Parama-pūjyapāda Śrīdhara Gosvāmī Mahārāja that I have made many big maṭhas, whom should I give the responsibility of them? Whom should I make Ācārya?  Śrīdhara Gosvāmī Mahārāja replied, "You have a readymade Ācārya." Parama-gurujī asked, "Who? He said, Tirtha Mahārāja. He is an Ācārya since childhood. We don’t have to make him [an Ācārya]." I heard from Parama-pūjyapāda Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāja that Gaura Nityānanda Themselves dance when Tirtha Mahārāja sings Kirtan." During the inauguration of Puri Mahārāja’s newly established maṭha in Mayapur, our Gurudeva was invited for the feast in the maṭha.  The celebration, which is being celebrated to date, falls during the Holi festival. During that occasion, I was with Gurujī along with other devotees. Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāja ordered his disciples to welcome our Gurudeva with kirtanas by standing at the gate. He further said that you see him as Tirtha Mahārāja, but I see him as Mādhava Mahārāja....

I remember an incident when Tatpara Mahārāja was cleaning Gurudeva's bathroom. He had to go somewhere, so he asked me to finish it. I waited outside and Gurudeva took a long time to come out.  Finally Gurudeva said, "I tried to clean it, but some marks are there. You please be careful."  Gurudeva had been cleaning it himself! When I went to the bathroom, it was completely clean. There were no marks. Gurudeva never thought, these are my sevāks. He called them "our helpers." Once we went to a devotee's house. Many devotees cooked, so there was not a burden on a single devotee.  When we came out, Gurudeva asked, "Have you taken all your utensils or not?" Gurudeva was recording and making note of each and every thing. He was so careful—so considerate. —Hari Prasād Dāsa, Delhi

Many devotees spoke the glories of Gurudeva. Guru Mahārāja is not an ordinary person.  Whatever qualities are told in the scriptures, all of them are manifest in Guru Mahārāja. I am too young to realize who or what a sādhu is, but in spite of that, Guru Mahārāja gave me some mercy to see some of those qualities in him. I heard one particular incident of Guru Mahārāja that resonated with me. Guru Mahārāja was in court, and so many discussions were going on, so many people were abusing Guru Mahārāja. But Guru Mahārāja answered very softly no matter what they yelled at him. Guru Mahārāja came back and it was time for prasād. He said that some more devotees are coming, so please reserve some prasād for them. These were the persons who were abusing Guru Mahārāja in the court. I realized that even for those persons who were abusing him, he had so much love and affection for them that he reserved prasād for them. He is Ajātaśatru, one who has no enemies.  —Rukmiṇī Dāsi

I am a disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda Svāmī Mahārāja. I have a wonderful story to tell about my meeting with Śrīla Gurudeva in 1997, if I remember correctly. I was living in Hawaii, and we were experiencing a difficult time after the troubles with some of the so-called spiritual leaders in our organization. Many fall downs were causing confusion and resulting in a lack of direction for the ordinary devotees.  A very good devotee friend of mine who was from Indonesia and of South Indian ancestry suggested that a wonderful devotee from India by the name of Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvāmī could be persuaded to come to Hawaii. We were in the middle of a deep discussion of what could be done to help the struggling devotees find proper direction again.  When Mahārāja’s name came up we both exclaimed, “Here is a real vaiṣṇava,” and we should invite him to come to Hawaii. Now remember, I had never met Mahārāja but just by hearing my friend's description of Mahārāja I was immediately inspi...

This incident happened during those days when our Dehradun maṭha was not yet fully constructed. Gurujī did the morning hari-kathā recitation and kīrtan and then he then stood up. He was smiling and was in a very pleasant mood. At that time, a teenager came and offered obeisance to Gurudeva. Gurudeva asked him whether he did praṇam to his father in the morning, for which he moved his head indicating “No." Gurujī got very angry and his face became suddenly red. Gurujī told him, “Why did you come here without offering praṇams to your father? You have come here to do Kṛṣṇa bhajan? Without respecting your father, you'll not be able to do any bhajan.”  Then Gurujī spoke to him about the life of Prahlāda Mahārāja, his respect towards his father, and how he prayed for the well-being of his father in spite of being tortured by him earlier. After this, the teenager left from there. I did not know who that person was and why Gurudeva suddenly became angry with him. When I inquired from o...

Once a devotee came to Gurujī and started criticizing another person. Gurujī heard him patiently and then replied, “From where do you get time to see all this?”  His priority in life was different. His life is all about the Supreme Lord, His Name, His kathā, His kīrtan, and so on. We see his detachment from the material world and attachment to the Supreme Lord. We see that he is detached even from his own body. He would get up early in the morning, lead all the sabhā, and then retire late. He said that his body is for the service of his Gurudeva.  When he exhibited the pastimes of sickness he used to feel sad saying, “I am no longer able to serve my Gurudeva properly. If I am not able to serve my Gurudeva then what is the use of keeping this body?” - Śrīla Bhakti Kiṅkara Dāmodara Mahārāja

Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Mahārāja was visiting the Lakṣmī Nārāyaṇa temple in Kuala Lumpur. Some devotees organized a program for him. He was elderly and we didn't see anything special. He gave hari-kathā that was very soft. However, when he did kīrtan, it was very loud. None of us could dance like him in front of the deity. In 2010, my Gurudeva left for his eternal abode at the end of December. The following Gaura Purnima, I was going to Navadvīpa.  One of my godbrothers had come to Malaysia for his visa and said, "When you go for parikramā, you must go to see Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Mahārāja." He emphasized the word “must."  When I was in Māyāpur, I visited the maṭha one day and asked if I could have darśana of Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja. The devotee refused and said I could get darśana at 8pm. I could not come back again, so I was disappointed. Then, one of Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Mahārāja's disciples, Rādhāmādhava Dāsa, came to...