He Blesses Us With Enthusiasm Far Beyond Our Own Endeavour
This is a very auspicious day; a very sad day, and a very happy day when these great souls go back to the eternal service of Sri Sri Radhagovinda. All are crying, all are happy— it's mixed. I can only share these remembrances due to the mercy of your Srila Gurudev. By his mercy, I met my Gurudev [Srila Bhakti Vaibhav Puri Goswami Maharaj] and by his mercy, I could appreciate my Srila Gurudev. If I had not met your Gurudev, I would not be here and I would not be able to continue in this line.
I met Srila Tirtha Maharaj in 1999. I was not a member of the temple, I was outside. I had only been just coming a few times for Sunday feast. I was working and reading Bhagavad Gita. I was searching for a temple and in Vienna, I met Srila Bhakti Sadhak Muni Maharaj. When I saw all the rules and regulations, I thought it was not possible for me to follow; I thought bhakti was not for me. Although the Bhagavad Gita philosophy captured my interest, I did not have the desire to follow it.
One day Muni Maharaj showed me a picture of my Gurudev and your Gurudev because both of them were coming to preach at similar times. He said these two great devotees are coming, you please come. When I saw these pictures, I did not feel anything. I thought these are two old men. I was new and had hardly been to the temple, so I did not know what is so special about these two apparently old men, but I thought to myself if Maharaj suggests, I will go. So I went. Your Gurudev first came in April or May of that year [1999] so I came to that small and simple temple. Muni Maharaj had started this temple soon before this time so not everything was completed yet.
Some devotees were traveling with your Gurudev that time– from Holland, Italy, etc; all were there inside that small place and it was a little crowded. I saw Srikant Prabhu, Vishnu Maharaj, and Ananta Prabhu doing kirtan. I did not know who amongst them was Srila Tirtha Maharaj because I forgot already what the picture looked like. They were doing ecstatic kirtan and after some time, your Gurudev entered and it was very clear then who he was. When he entered, I cannot describe what that was like— he was like the sun rising. I watched as he entered the room and sat on the vyasasan and started singing kirtan.
Then he started speaking harikatha. Honestly, I have to admit I could not understand anything he said. I was not used to the Indian accent or the philosophy then. Your Guru Maharaj spoke very high-class English and I was not used to hearing that. One Mataji was translating what he spoke into German and I could not even understand how she can understand, but he was speaking with so much emotional expression that it somehow captured me.
When the harikatha was finished, one devotee who is now known as Narasimha Maharaj (a brahmachari at the time) lead arati. At that time he didn’t even have diksa, but he did it since hardly anyone stayed there. We requested Maharaj please do the kirtan and he accepted. When he stood up, he took his danda in one hand and started singing evening arati, starting with Narasimha kirtan. Srikant Prabhu and Anantaram Prabhu were singing with him and playing mridanga and another devotee had big kartals. It was a small room but full of kirtan.
I met Srila Tirtha Maharaj in 1999. I was not a member of the temple, I was outside. I had only been just coming a few times for Sunday feast. I was working and reading Bhagavad Gita. I was searching for a temple and in Vienna, I met Srila Bhakti Sadhak Muni Maharaj. When I saw all the rules and regulations, I thought it was not possible for me to follow; I thought bhakti was not for me. Although the Bhagavad Gita philosophy captured my interest, I did not have the desire to follow it.
One day Muni Maharaj showed me a picture of my Gurudev and your Gurudev because both of them were coming to preach at similar times. He said these two great devotees are coming, you please come. When I saw these pictures, I did not feel anything. I thought these are two old men. I was new and had hardly been to the temple, so I did not know what is so special about these two apparently old men, but I thought to myself if Maharaj suggests, I will go. So I went. Your Gurudev first came in April or May of that year [1999] so I came to that small and simple temple. Muni Maharaj had started this temple soon before this time so not everything was completed yet.
Some devotees were traveling with your Gurudev that time– from Holland, Italy, etc; all were there inside that small place and it was a little crowded. I saw Srikant Prabhu, Vishnu Maharaj, and Ananta Prabhu doing kirtan. I did not know who amongst them was Srila Tirtha Maharaj because I forgot already what the picture looked like. They were doing ecstatic kirtan and after some time, your Gurudev entered and it was very clear then who he was. When he entered, I cannot describe what that was like— he was like the sun rising. I watched as he entered the room and sat on the vyasasan and started singing kirtan.
Then he started speaking harikatha. Honestly, I have to admit I could not understand anything he said. I was not used to the Indian accent or the philosophy then. Your Guru Maharaj spoke very high-class English and I was not used to hearing that. One Mataji was translating what he spoke into German and I could not even understand how she can understand, but he was speaking with so much emotional expression that it somehow captured me.
When the harikatha was finished, one devotee who is now known as Narasimha Maharaj (a brahmachari at the time) lead arati. At that time he didn’t even have diksa, but he did it since hardly anyone stayed there. We requested Maharaj please do the kirtan and he accepted. When he stood up, he took his danda in one hand and started singing evening arati, starting with Narasimha kirtan. Srikant Prabhu and Anantaram Prabhu were singing with him and playing mridanga and another devotee had big kartals. It was a small room but full of kirtan.
Maharaj was completely absorbed in the kirtan. I had never seen anything at all like that; it was something totally new. I was so powerful even a little afraid of what is happening there. Devotees were jumping, crying, shouting, and your Gurudev was standing in the middle with his two hands up in the air, and in one hand was his danda. His face became red and his neck expanded out. He was fully shouting Nitai Gauranga, Nitai Gauranga, and other holy names with full energy.
I was hiding a bit behind the pillar. Muni Maharaj called me and said to me you come dance with us, but I hid behind the corner because I was so overwhelmed and waited until it was over. This kirtan was recorded by Gaur Keshav Prabhu and published later. It was Narasimha kirtan along with “Jai Dao.” I travel throughout the world with devotees, and often they play this kirtan in the car; I remember this first meeting with your Gurudev always.
When that kirtan was over, I was shaking. Something happened to me, I didn’t know what. Afterward, we sat for prasad and Muni Maharaj gave me the prasad garland of your Guru Maharaj around my neck and something happened—so much happiness came to me! I asked myself what are you doing in your life? You’re running after so many nonsense things to get happiness and so much happiness is here that you’ve never gotten in your life. Why would you go anywhere else? From that day on, I stopped all the sinful things I was addicted to and habituated to. I did not have that desire anymore. Previously I was thinking I can never follow all these principles of vaidhi bhakti; I was never eager to follow them. But hearing the kirtan of your Gurudev, automatically all that desire came without my own effort even.
After a short time, my Gurudev came to me and I immediately understood that this is who knows what is best for me. This could not have been without your Gurudev—that kirtan entered into my heart and changed something deeply— that sweet force, the mercy of Vaishnavas. Just seeing him, just hearing this kirtan, everything changed. I could not follow any philosophy, but it worked and it helped me. Soon after that, I joined the temple and since then, I have never left. Every time I meet some of Srila Tirtha Maharaj’s disciples, I remember the mercy I got on that day. To this day I feel that mercy, I am eternally connected.
I met him a few more times around the year 2001. Whenever he came, he was very pleased with Muni Maharaj even though there was only a very simple accommodation provided. At first, we had no proper guest house, only one room that was like a dungeon. There was no window to the outside—dark, small, and without light, but he told us, “I am very happy here.” He did not want to come out of the room since he felt so nice there.
I was hiding a bit behind the pillar. Muni Maharaj called me and said to me you come dance with us, but I hid behind the corner because I was so overwhelmed and waited until it was over. This kirtan was recorded by Gaur Keshav Prabhu and published later. It was Narasimha kirtan along with “Jai Dao.” I travel throughout the world with devotees, and often they play this kirtan in the car; I remember this first meeting with your Gurudev always.
When that kirtan was over, I was shaking. Something happened to me, I didn’t know what. Afterward, we sat for prasad and Muni Maharaj gave me the prasad garland of your Guru Maharaj around my neck and something happened—so much happiness came to me! I asked myself what are you doing in your life? You’re running after so many nonsense things to get happiness and so much happiness is here that you’ve never gotten in your life. Why would you go anywhere else? From that day on, I stopped all the sinful things I was addicted to and habituated to. I did not have that desire anymore. Previously I was thinking I can never follow all these principles of vaidhi bhakti; I was never eager to follow them. But hearing the kirtan of your Gurudev, automatically all that desire came without my own effort even.
After a short time, my Gurudev came to me and I immediately understood that this is who knows what is best for me. This could not have been without your Gurudev—that kirtan entered into my heart and changed something deeply— that sweet force, the mercy of Vaishnavas. Just seeing him, just hearing this kirtan, everything changed. I could not follow any philosophy, but it worked and it helped me. Soon after that, I joined the temple and since then, I have never left. Every time I meet some of Srila Tirtha Maharaj’s disciples, I remember the mercy I got on that day. To this day I feel that mercy, I am eternally connected.
I met him a few more times around the year 2001. Whenever he came, he was very pleased with Muni Maharaj even though there was only a very simple accommodation provided. At first, we had no proper guest house, only one room that was like a dungeon. There was no window to the outside—dark, small, and without light, but he told us, “I am very happy here.” He did not want to come out of the room since he felt so nice there.
He gave nice blessings and inspiration to all of us. He gave his book "Sri Chaitanya: His Life and Associates" and when we asked him to write inside and he said, “What can I write?" Then we asked him to bless us and he said, “What can I bless?” Eventually, he wrote this inside: “For the devotees of Radhagovinda mandir.” I feel very much by his blessings that this Radhagovinda temple in Austria is still going on. He was a huge influence; he inspired us so much. I cannot pay back what he has given me. On his disappearance day, I pray to his lotus feet not to give up his blessings on me.
I remember one more teaching when I met him in Sridham Mayapur in 2010. In a private darshan, one Russian devotee asked, “Oh Gurudev, how can I control the mind?” He laughed because he said everyone is asking that question. He gave a wonderful answer in a loud, clear, very energetic voice: “How to control the mind? If you want to control the mind, you should want Krishna from the core of the heart! In that very same moment, you shall get him.” He told this with such a force that it entered deeply inside. I cannot forget those rare moments I shared with him. Today I am very happy to remember them.
—Sri Bhakti Sundar Sadhu Maharaj, Vienna
transcribed from a Zoom call on Tirobhav Tithi, April 16, 2020
I remember one more teaching when I met him in Sridham Mayapur in 2010. In a private darshan, one Russian devotee asked, “Oh Gurudev, how can I control the mind?” He laughed because he said everyone is asking that question. He gave a wonderful answer in a loud, clear, very energetic voice: “How to control the mind? If you want to control the mind, you should want Krishna from the core of the heart! In that very same moment, you shall get him.” He told this with such a force that it entered deeply inside. I cannot forget those rare moments I shared with him. Today I am very happy to remember them.
—Sri Bhakti Sundar Sadhu Maharaj, Vienna
transcribed from a Zoom call on Tirobhav Tithi, April 16, 2020
uploaded here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZZDSwSg2JU
Comments
Post a Comment