Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

In my boyhood, when I was a small child, I have seen a steamer (boat) there in Brahmaputra river. That boat was coming and going and making a whistling sound. But I have never seen a train. My uncles and other elders were going and crossing the Brahmaputra to go to another place—it takes about 6 or 7 hours to go. From there, they caught the train and went for higher education. After returning they would say, the train is like this... When I heard them, I got the desire to go on a train. I said, "I shall also go, take me! I shall see!" And they showed me a toy train. By seeing that toy train, I was more insistent to go. Then came their rebuke. "Hey!" You're too small, no time...you have to go to school. After matriculation, then. And I was very dejected. No one giving importance to me. I am a small child and no one giving importance. So much I was dejected! And in the night, I was sleeping by the side of the mother. And there were others. One big bedstea...

His [Srila Gurudev Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj] father’s name was Sri Dhirendra Kumar Guhroy and mother’s name was Sudhanshubala Guhroy. His name, given by his father was Kamakhya Charan Guhroy. The personal associates of Supreme Lord descend in human form to rescue the fallen souls in this world. If they come in the form of any demigod then people will request them to fulfill their material desires only and they will not be able to preach the real message of Supreme Lord. That’s the reason they come in human form. Srila Tirtha Goswami Maharaj also came to deliver the sublime message of devotion to the Lord. From childhood itself, he was always staying absorbed in trance. We cannot understand that state. Sometimes when his relatives used to tell him, “It’s the time for you to go to school; will you not get ready to go?” Then he would say, “Oh, yes I will.” And he used to go wearing one footwear of someone else’s and one of his! As he was absorbed in the trance always, he...

One day our Gurumaharaj [Sri Srimad Bhakti Dayita Madhava Goswami Maharaj] came to Mayapur. At that time, three of us were staying together in Srivas Angan—Krishna Prasad Das Brahmachari (Ashram Maharaj), a disciple of Bhakti Vilas Tirth Maharaj named Vrindavan Das (Bhagavat Maharaj), and I. Gurumaharaj was going for preaching and called Krishna Prasad Das Brahmachari to tell him that Krishna Ballabh will also stay with us there. Guru Maharaj instructed me that I should not serve prasad to Krishna Ballabh in pattal (plate made of plant leaves), that he should be served prasad on his steel plate instead. He also said that I should never give him drum-stick in prasad. I asked Krishna Prasad prabhu, "We all take Prasad on a pattal, why does Gurumaharaj tell us not to give him prasad on pattal?" I could not understand the reason for this. We used leaves from banana trees in Mayapur, so why not serve him prasad on those? I could not understand why not. Krishna Prasad prabh...