Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

Actually, I do not know what bhajan is or who Bhagavān is. When I was posted in Punjab I had a discussion with a devotee that I met in a shop. He described some glories of Guru Mahārāj and after hearing that I had the desire to go and see him. That year Guru Mahārāj came for Vraja-maṇḍala parikramā and I went and met him there. And when I saw Guru Mahārāj I was instantly attracted to him and felt a lot of bliss. It is like only a person who is in deep trouble can appreciate the happiness that comes after it. After that my  hāriṇam initiation took place. Subsequently, whenever I met Guru Mahārāj as soon as he saw me he said two things, "Hey Army man, when did you come? Is everything in order at the border?" And the other was, "You know, Mahaprabhu went to Jharkhand." (He mentioned this specifically as I am from Jharkhand). While studying in a missionary school as a child, I won a book as a prize in a singing competition.  That book contained pastimes from...

We have seen our Gurudev deliver up to four harikathās on any normal day and sometimes it would even go up to seven or eight in a day at various locations in the cities. And his specialty was that he would invariably include Śrīla Bhakti Pramod Puri Gosvami Mahārāj and Śrīla Bhakti Kumud Sant Gosvāmī Mahārāj at the beginning and at the end of those seven to eight sessions in his jayadvani . This shows his śraddhā in them. Once Gurudev was in Jammu with the pracār party accompanied by Śrīla Sant Gosvāmī Mahārāj. As Śrīla Sant Gosvāmī Mahārāj played pastimes of sickness there, he was shifted to the residence of Śrī Madanmohan Dās (Śrī Madanlal Gupta Prabhu) the first floor for complete rest and also to enable the doctor’s direct observation. On the day of nagar-saṅkīrtana , Gurudev went for darśan of Sant Gosvāmī Mahārāj and to take his blessings. Gurudev humbly requested him not to strain himself to come down and to take good rest, and he agreed. I have heard many sannyāsis ...

When I came to the USA and before entering the IT field I was working in a motel as a manager.  I saw people eating all sorts of abominable things and feeling sad, I thought that I will return to India. With a feeling of great regret, I sent Gurudev a letter from the US and got his reply by email which started, “I read the contents of your letter and noted the points.” He went on to explain to me that seven types of people involved in such a living get attached to sin equally and advised me to immediately give up this job and look for some other job. If such a letter from Gurujī had not arrived, maybe I would have compromised with the situation.  For this reason, we need Gurudev's guidance.  When I put my foot down, the supervisor also compromised and arranged a different manager while I got some other engagement. Even before leaving India, I had written a letter to Gurudev where I opened my heart to him and spoke about my drawbacks. And the result was that Gurujī graced ...

I wish to share some of my experiences with those who have met our Gurudev and the vaiṣṇavas in their lives.  I had gone to ISKCON in search of a guru  I was teaching in ISKCON gurukula .  I had a sort of weighing scale fitted in my mind with that torchlight of a little bit of knowledge from the scriptures and I was weighing the things of this world with my material mind and intellect along with that which I heard from vaiṣṇavas . By some grace, I realized this is not the right process and came to accept that only when Lord blesses me, then I will meet with Gurudev. And one fortunate day as I was coming downstairs after taking a class, I met Sri Raseshwar Prabhu, a disciple of Srila Bhakti Pramod Puri Goswami Mahārāj . I had some conversation with him and he told me about Gurudev. By my good fortune, I learned that Gurudev was to arrive in Delhi before going to Chandigarh Maṭh for the annual function. Along with my god-brother Trivikram das, we went to meet him. The mo...