Accepting His Son With a Smile

By
In 1986 when I was a college student, I went to our Agartala temple at noon. Guru Maharaj was there for Ratha Yatra festival and was available in His room. He was alone, chanting Hari Nam. When I entered His room without permission, I thought I may have disturbed Him, making an offense, but at the same time, I could not resist myself to have his darshan and see His calm, mild smile and feel his presence as a parent, guardian, well-wisher, and true friend—a real master of life.

In my childhood age, I called Him "Baba," which means father. When He saw me, he accepted me immediately as a son with a smile, with love and affection. He started Harikatha and at the end told me, "No fish can survive without water, as Guru Maharaj cannot stay without Hari Kirtan." This is still alive in my memory.

Since my childhood and until today I have realized my life depends on Srila Gurudev for support when I am in danger or any sorts of problems.

—Gautam Bhowmik

Popular posts from this blog

Trusting in Sri Guru's Protection

By
Image
After I joined math, I got a letter from my father. I asked Guru Maharaj if I can reply. He said, "No. If you reply, you will go home. You will not be able to stay in Math." My heart was floundering. After a few days, I got another letter. My mind got disturbed. I went to Guru Maharaj. He said, "I told you already if you reply, you will not be able to stay here." Some days later, about 32 - 34 persons from my village came there to Hazra Road (Kolkata) in search of me. I was sent by Guru Maharaj to another place. I did not understand the reason at the time. They searched for me, there but did not find me. They made all the arrangements for my marriage. They wanted to take me and get married. Guruji asked one devotee to take me to the station. I was surprised why Guruji wanted me to go all of a sudden. If those persons had seen me, it would have been difficult for me. —Gurudeva's words translated by Prahlad Das (2010)                ...
Read more

His Divine Presence Transforms a Hospital Into a Tīrtha

By
Image
We received the message that Gurudeva is performing the pastimes of illness and whoever wants darśana should go to Guwahati. I was in the office then. The next day six of us traveled by flight from Pune to Guwahati. In the afternoon we arrived in Guwahati and went straight to the hospital (GNRC). We had darśana of Gurudeva from very far as he lay inside the room. That time he was fully unconscious. We had gotten a message from the sevāk team that the situation was very serious.   Gurudeva was on the fourth floor initially. We came back and there was a hall nearby the hospital where devotees would just sit and have conversation. The only topic of conversation was centered around Gurudeva. Everyone's attention was on the floor where Gurudeva was—that was the point from where the soul of that environment existed, the soul of the hospital. There was not even a single time I felt that I am visiting a hospital. It was an environment like the maṭha. Everybody was concerned about Gurudeva...
Read more

The Strength Behind His Hari-kathā Remains Steady Regardless of Circumstance

By
Image
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 ...
Read more