His Respect for All Acaryas

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It is worth noting that in the 1960's, when His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj was still known as Sri Krsna Ballabh Brahmacari, He met His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktvedanta Svami Prabhupada at the Damodar Mandir in Vrindavana. At that time, Srila Prabhupada delineated His plan to go and preach in the West, and asked Sri Krsna Ballabh Brahmacari to accompany Him. Sri Krsna Ballabh Brahmacari explained, with great humility and deference, that He could not do so, as He had the instructions of His own Guru Maharaj to follow, along with many responsibilities deputed to Him within His own Math.

In 1997, Srila Gurudeva's siksa guru, His Divine Grace Om Visnupada Paramhamsa 108 Sri Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Gosvami Maharaj, gave Him the order to go to the West, as He Himself could not make the journey. He was advised to continue preaching to the western world the message of Divine Love of Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as put into motion by His predecessor, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada.

In His lectures, Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj sometimes can be heard to say that He requests His siksa guru , A. C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Maharaj, to forgive Him for not having been able to accompany Him to the West, due to His other responsibilities. Srila Gurudeva is among the most spiritually elevated personalities of His time, or any other time, and is the President/Acarya of Sri Caitanya Gaudiya Math. 

He exemplifies by this demonstration of humility, the true nature of the bonafide acarya. We should follow the example of Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj and, with sincerity, adopt this position of utter respect and humility toward all great spiritual personalities. The behavior of the acarya is always for the benefit of the fallen souls, and in accordance with the will of Bhagavan Sri Krsna.


—Akincana Das, UK


formally published in GOKUL magazine





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