Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

When I first saw Srila Gurudev it was in Kolkata math. He was seated on a little mat and he just looked up and he said to me: you sit down please you sit down. So I sat down. I was young at that time and more stupid than I am today. I hope not as bad anyway— hopefully, the chanting has done something I didn’t know what to say to him. The devotee who had brought to him was named Sudama Brahmacari. On the way to meet Maharaj he had told me they had 28 temples across India. Since I didn’t know what to say [to Gurudev] the first thing I blurted out was, "So, I understand you are head of 28 temples."  He just looked at me. If you know the kind of smile he has, he is never critical never condescending, always... bemused. So he turned to me and , simply said,  "I’m not the head of anything, I am the servant." So from that moment, my affection for Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj started—right from there. —Akincana Das, UK

Sometimes Guruji would call me and make me sit in front of him. He would tell many stories about his childhood, or sometimes he used to speak about Param Gurudev. One day I asked Guru Maharaj, how do I know if Gurudev, Bhagavan, or Vaisnavas are pleased with my activities? Bhagavan never comes and says, I am pleased with your services, and Vaisnavas also do not. Guru Maharaj gave a very very simple answer to that. He said, there is only a very simple formula: if the object of our worship is pleased with our service, then he will award more and more service. If you are getting more service, and if you are also feeling blissful by getting that service, then you will know that Guru, Vaisnav, and Bhagavan are pleased with your service. How much inclination you are getting to perform chanting, to perform circumambulation of the temple--the more you are getting an inclination to perform these activities, the more you can understand that Guru, Vaiṣṇav, and Bhagavan are pleased with t

During Vyasapuja after Guru puja, Srila Gurudev invariably speaks about Bhaktivinod Thakur and says, ye mana durmati samsar bhitare:  I am such a bad man, neck-deep in the material world. You sent your representative to me. Srila Gurudev said that Param Gurudev came to Goalpara for me. Did we go to the forest like Druva? Guru Maharaj came to us in this very city of Chandigarh. Srila Gurudev said that this kirtan Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur wrote is for me.  He saw me fallen and poor, without the name of the Lord with me. He came to give me the good news. He told me to liberate people like you, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself has descended in this world.  Do not worry, he has liberated millions like you. Srila Gurudev says, "this kirtan is for me." —Sri Bhakti Vichar Vishnu Maharaj transcribed from Hindi, spoken in Chandigarh, 12/6/2015

This is a narration of a nectarean activity of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj that took place during His 1999 US tour. It describes a distressful, but spiritually instructive situation. His Divine Grace and His devoted followers left the New York area after many successful programs and arrived without incident at the Miami airport at approximately 2:30 PM on Thursday August 5, 1999. However, upon checking the status of their baggage, they found to their utter dismay that Srila Gurudeva's tridanda, which was in its own protective flight case, had not arrived with the rest of the luggage. Due to the ignorance and lack of sensitivity of the airline personnel, who did not realize the transcendental position of the person to whom they were speaking, no great effort was made to confirm the whereabouts of the sacred tridanda. This only made the situation worse. Maharaj would not take any sustenance, either liquid or solid, and would not leave the baggage area under