Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

One day I went and offered praṇāms to Gurudev, he gave Śri Śri Caitanya-caritāmṛita  in my hands and said, " You can do harikathā ." It was a long time ago when I was a young brahmacārī . I said I do not know how to do kathā . Then Gurudev said, ' This is a Bangla grantha, can't you read Bangla? So you read this ." Another time he gave me an order when we were in Jalandhar on pracar. Rasbihari Prabhu had arranged for Gurudev's programs in Jammu, but the first two days overlapped with the programs fixed in Pathankot.  Gurudev called and told me, " Now you have to go to Jammu with Mishra jī and take along with you Dinabandhu Prabhu for kīrtans . There will be a program for seven days and for two days you have to do kathā and then I will come and continue for the next five days ." I was still a brahmacārī and had never spoken kathā in Hindi in any sabhā ; I used to read Bangla scriptures. I started getting heart palpitations.  We went with Mishrajī...

I will narrate an incident I heard from Gurudev's mouth. When the maṭh was in Rasbihari Avenue, (before Kalighat) one brahmacārī who was a mṛdaṅga player would pester another sevāk in the maṭh saying, "Why do you do so much sevā ? What is the need? Come let us roam in the city."  The maṭh sevāk replied,  "I like to perform sevā ; I feel good by serving." But the mṛdaṅga player would persist, saying, "You are simply engaging in useless sevā , what is the necessity of so much sevā , do you have your children here?" One day the aggrieved sevāk informed our Gurudev that the brahmacārī bothers him repeatedly telling him not to do sevā and says, "See me, I play mṛdaṅga and then I am free to wander in the city and you slog like a fool whole day." Gurudev got angry and said, "He will enter into material life, how dare this wicked fellow hinder you from service?" There cannot be any dosh (mistake) in the words of a saint, such as G...

When Our Tirtha Mahārāj when came to the maṭha , he would do so much hāriṇam and he gave up eating and became mad chanting while shedding tears. Then Gurujī [Śrīla Bhakti Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāj] engaged him in sevā and he performed it with such dedication.  He underwent so much trouble and attended so many court cases to reclaim Prabhupad's birthplace at Jagannath Purī.  When I was in Kolkata I had seen that he went into the kitchen and did all the cooking when the cook was not available, and he also personally cleaned the vessels when the necessity arose.   He considered all sevās are guru-sevā , whether cleaning the lavatory, doing arcanā , preparing rotis , or sweeping the floor— all are guru-sevā; no sevā is big or small. Without thoughts like this, one cannot become a guru, one cannot do bhajan .   We are narrow-minded, we are not simple-hearted or open-hearted. Only the simple-hearted can understand Mahāprabhu's teachings.  With d...

The following is a continuation of this last post (same speaker, next day): Yesterday we remembered how much Guru Mahārāj gave emphasis on the words of Śrila Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur. He used to say if having come to the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava world we do not follow Śrila Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur, his vani , his scriptures, and his songs, then everything is useless (meaning all our efforts are futile).  In the early 1980s, Guruji was in Bathinda for a house program in one of our god-brother's homes that was a little far from our place and I also went there. As the program was ending,  Śri  Bhakti Prasād Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāj told me, " Now Guru Mahārāj will go to your place ."  I was taken by surprise as there were no preparations for his welcome at all, but still, I said it's fine and came home. My god-brothers came running and helped me a lot. Guru Mahārāj got all necessary arrangements made within a few minutes. I was left spellbound.  When Guru Mahārāj arrived he stood at ...

A brahmacārī who has been staying in Hyderabad Maṭh for quite some time approached Guru Mahārāj and told him, "I am not able to adjust to the maṭh environment and wish to return back home.  You please mercifully give me your permission." Gurujī told him, "By your own wish you have been in maṭh for so many years, now take my word and please stay here for two more months.  And in these two months, every day morning and evening, sing two kīrtans of Śrila Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur along with their translations. After two months, you need not wait anymore."  We all know how much Gurudev had āveśa , (zeal) and āgraha , (insistence) as reflected in Śrila Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur's kīrtans such as: ore mana, bhalonahi lage e samsar janama-marana-jara, je samsare ache bhara, tahe kiba ache bol' sar Translation: Listen, my dear mind. I don't like this material world at all. It is simply filled with the suffering of birth, death, disease, and old age. Seeing all this suffe...

I want to recall the beautiful memory that arose from Śrīla Tapasvī Mahārāj's kathā when he said our Gurudev considered Śrīla Bhakti Pramod Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāj as Śrī-vigraha by keeping him in the front and following him along with all the devotees during dhāma-parikramā . This is also like how Mahāprabhu went ahead in a palanquin during Navadvīpa parikramā and was followed by devotees. Or we may also understand that Śrīla Puri Mahārāj was walking in the front and Śrī-vigraha , his worshipable deity, is splendidly sitting (enthroned or manifested) in his heart. Thus he expressed that our Gurudev had such firm faith and dedication in his guru-varga . Śrīla Tapasvī Mahārāj himself has served Gurudev with great dedication and with a pure heart that he could realize and relate to the respectful conduct and sentiment of our Gurudev for his worshipable guru-varga . I heard this instance from Śrī Yati Mahārāj, the present Āchārya of Śrīla Bhakti Kumud Sant Gosvāmī Mahārāj's M...