His Worship Honors Time

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Śrila Gurudev has a very special quality of not wasting a moment of his time; he does nothing but devotional activity. Every time we would go see him, he was always at his study table and constantly speaking harikathā or listening to harikathā. Śrila Gurudev is the personified form of these particular words: a pure devotee is always engaged in service. He was always spending his time writing or reading books. We got this chance to witness that divine darśan.

I would see him constantly engaged in giving guidance to devotees. In Chandigarh or other parts of Punjab where there are so many devotees, he gave advice all day long and all the while he was  speaking harikathā. When there was no one there, he was busy in reading books, studying notes, and listening to harikathā of Most Revered Paramgurudev.

One time I even got the chance to see this in Śrila Gurudev’s bhajan kuṭir in Chandigarh. In 2000, we were engaged in guarding the maṭh so that no thieves will come because Śrila Gurudev was present and it was in Kārtik so many devotees were there. In that maṭh, you can open the windows from outside and see what’s going on inside. Once around 2 am, I went to the floor that Śrila Gurudev was staying on, wanting to see what’s going on inside. We were like small curious children, around the age of twenty. When I tried to open the door and peeped inside, I was surprised to see Śrila Gurudev inside his mosquito net chanting japa.

This was especially surprising because during Kārtik, Gurudev was on parikramā and meeting with so many people all day from morning until night. Gurudev was on parikramā and meeting with so many people. Some people think if they are busy with sevā, it’s okay if we skip chanting, but Gurudev never accepted this. He was emphasizing the holy name properly and he is practicing this example like an ācārya. He is a perfect ācārya. We can see from his example how an ācārya acts. He practices and then he teaches his students how to practice—not that he will only give instructions to do it and he will not do it. Gurudev himself is practicing, then preaching—that can be seen on many occasions. I am fortunate to witness this many times.

There was another time in 1999 or 2000 when I opened the door and checked inside. This time was not in Kārtik. I saw Gurudev under the mosquito net with his torchlight trying to read the letters he had received. It was after he had a cataract eye operation done in Chandigarh and subsequently someone had to help him write his diaries and read and write responses to the devotee’s letters from his dictations. Tamal Prabhu was assigned this sevā later. All day Gurudev was so busy but continued caring for devotees and regarding their inquiries directly. Devotees who were not present with him wrote many letters. At that time the email system was not all that active, so it was mostly postal letters, and Gurudev was reading each and every one of them—I saw that. There are many such occasions and every moment of his time in śrāvaṇa or kirtan—always listening from superior vaiṣṇavas. All the time he was listening to harikathā of his Most Revered Gurudev.

One time I was speaking with Śrila Bhakti Vigyan Bharati Mahārāj. He was looking at me and said, "You people are recording me in recorders, but we people disn't have recorders at that time, how we recorded?" Then he pointed at his heart and said, “I recorded here.” Gurudev also recorded in his heart. That’s why that message descended as it is—without any alterations, without dilution. The transcendental message of Paramgurudev descended into this world as it is by Śrila Gurudev. That's why they called Śrila Gurudev the tape recorder of Śrila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Mahārāj. The exact same thing comes out from him, the same way as Paramgurudev spoke. Gurudev recorded everything in his heart and diaries and went through those often. He was all the time engaged in reading, listening, and speaking the glories of Supreme Lord very eagerly.

—Śrila Bhakti Kinkar Damodar Mahārāj

Excerpted and transcribed with slight edits from Zoom meeting in glorification of Śrila Gurudev on His 96th Appearance Festival (Zoom), 02 Apr 2020.

The link is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z5KBMpXk8w&list=PLBTNkT9FXrAnDuIS4z5KbAR7yN_oErPEa&index=2



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