Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

All through these years, I have observed that Guru Mahārāj would never give jayadhvani in a hurried manner. He would give jayadhvani in with dhīra-sthira bhāva ( a grave, steady, sober mood). He used to say by giving jayadhvani everything is complete.  Though we are provided with a list of jayadhvani to be given and practiced in Sādhan Saket booklet, in Gurudev's utterances of jayadhvani , there was the worship of the Lord and the vaiṣṇavas . 
Once in Dehradun, Gurudev gave me lessons on the topic of jayadhvani . He humbly expressed, "I take names of all the Deities of the temples our Gurudev established because my Gurudeva gave the responsibility of all these maṭhs and the service of the deities and as I am not able to sufficiently take care of them. Every morning I give jayadhvani to all the maṭhs and the presiding deities there and offer jayadhvani to them seeking their forgiveness for not being able to serve them well."   And we have heard from our Gurudev

Śrīla Gurudev's departure was a painful loss not only to Sree Chaitanya Gauḍīya Maṭh but to all Gauḍīya organizations worldwide. He inspired unity among all, both in an official capacity as President of the World Vaiṣṇava Association for 18 years (1999-2017) and with his perfect example of personal and sincere affection towards all devotees, completely free of any kind of bias .  If anyone spoke ill words about a devotee he became upset and said he did not wish to hear it. As an example of this, his disciples narrate one incident that occurred when someone was complaining to him about corruption within a particular devotee organization, saying they are causing offense. Guru Mahārāj responded by telling him that when he has those kinds of feelings or thoughts the best thing to do is leave there right away in order to avoid exposing them to his own offensive mentality.  The following letters were offered after Śrīla Gurudev's disappearance. They were selected from the archives as

My Gurudev is an unsurpassed personality; what can I say about Him? With my minus qualifications, this is impossible. But I will make an attempt to glorify Srila Gurudeva for my own purification.  I can't say I was looking for Him on purpose. Rather, He found me. In the Summer of 2011, I joined ISKCON. I got acquainted there with the basics of the practice and was shocked by the personality of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada. Despite the fact that He left this planet a long time ago, inside I had a desire to have a guru like Him, although I hardly understood who Srila Prabhupada was and where this desire came from in me. Later I met my husband, who is a disciple of Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Goswami Maharaj. In January 2013, I had a spontaneous desire to have a guru like Srila Narayana Goswami Maharaj. And again I didn't understand what it was. But this thought penetrated deep into the heart.  
In the Spring of that year, my husband's guru-brother went to India, he wa

A poem that was written in Kolkata the day before Srila Guru Maharaja entered nitya-lila: 🌸  I came here only for Guruji But now it's become all about me As I opened my heart so wide I let something rotten come inside I introspect that it got in to find The stale rotten things within my mind And with a kicking punching fight  It might just kick them far out of sight But even more now I feel unqualified to be Where love is here flowing freely We're sharing love of Guruji Our love for him makes him happy But it became all about me Why aren't I thinking gratefully? I guess that I received too much more Mercy than I'm ready for. That's a good thing, no doubt there But when will I pray with love and care? There's just one thing going on here The name of Krishna loud and clear 24 hours for so many days now Krishna's​ name is sung and Kolkata says, "Wow!" In the streets below people hear and dance While on the roof we sing in trance An opportunity so mys

I was actually hiding today because I really do not like this day as it is always painful for me—after four years I feel a blockage inside to speak because this departure of Gurudev was the biggest and most difficult thing I have experienced in this spiritual life.  It feels so hard, so I was trying to hide today—but then I said, “no," go on the screen and just share and be present with the devotees. It is beautiful and I received a lot to hear all of you remembering Guru Mahārāj. I don't know what to really say about him. Right now I just have a very fine and tender connection with Guru Mahārāj, it is not about the big, mystic, miraculous things that he has done—it is something softer, it is his continuous presence that is always with me whatever I am doing.  Two days ago I was thinking he really saved me when I was thinking about the difference in my life between before I met him and now—this is like darkness and light.  Just by surrendering to him, so many things changed sl

Gurudev taught us about how important it is to observe a vaiṣṇava 's  āvirbhāv and tirobhāv-tithis . Only when we follow their teachings may it be considered that we have really observed the tithi of those vaiṣṇavas . In 1988 Gurudeva gave me the shelter of his divine lotus feet. In the initial days, although I had some taste for service,  I found I was not able to chant hāriṇam properly and could not develop any mood of service to Gurudev. I placed this doubt to Pūjyapāda Śrīla Bhakti Prasād Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāj, Vṛndāvana Maṭh-in-charge. He wrote me a brief letter explaining the glories of Gurudev in which he explained, “One has to always remember the lotus feet of Gurudeva and chant hāriṇama sincerely with faith and reverence.” Later when I met him in Vṛndāvana, he told me to attain such a sadguru who is the Absolute Counterpart of Supreme Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa is extremely rare. Gurudeva has given us so many teachings and instructions, but the fault on our side is not following a

Guru Mahārāj would often start his hari-kathā by saying: guru, vaiṣṇava, bhagavān, — tinera smaraṇa tinera smaraṇe haya vighna-vināśana anāyāse haya nija vāñchita-pūraṇa This means that by remembering Guru, Vaiṣṇava, and Bhagavān, all obstacles are destroyed and we will achieve our highest goal. Guru Mahārāj would also often say, "Everything happens by the will of the Supreme Lord." And today I was thinking how come they have asked me to speak? There is nothing that happens without the will of the Supreme Lord, and Supreme Lord's grace incarnate form, Śrīla Gurudev obviously has showered his mercy that he is making me do this; this is for my own purification to be able to listen to all of you glorifying Gurudev and guru-tattva and for me to remember him. Actually, there is nothing better in life other than listening to and remembering our Gurudev and realizing the mercy that he has given us. Guru Mahārāj always made it so easy; there was never anything difficult. Ac

Dear Guru Maharaj,  I pay prostrated obeisances to Your Lotus Feet and all Your dear Servitors. I beg Your Divine Grace to teach me how to properly respect the Holy Day of Your Divine Appearance. Every time after Gaura Purnima I feel excitement and thrill — because only three weeks are left to Your Vyasa Puja. This year it has been a very long winter in the city which You mercifully visited more than 20 years ago. On April 2, there was so much snow left but all of a sudden it started raining, and lightning came as it does in Summer. I love your Hari katha, where you say that you can't do any action without having a motivation, a motive to do it . So, what motivates me to write this letter? It is necessary to have inspiration born in sincere efforts to perform service. I realize that I am bereft of such merit. Only Your causeless mercy, your desire to purify me, to distract from bad thoughts are the main sources of motivation for writing this letter. It is like rain, like summer lig

Śrī Ramcharitmanas sings the glories of Gurudev when Lord Śrī Rāmachandra Himself sings glories of Śrī Vasiṣṭha Muni. When the Lord returned victorious from Lanka, He said, Guru Vasiṣṭha kula-pujya hamare , (by his grace, I won the battle on Lanka.) Lord Himself is establishing here that without the mercy of Guru Vasiṣṭha, He could not have won this particular battle.  Also, we recall when Vibhīṣaṇ sees Hanumān in Lanka he says, "Oh Hanumān, today my faith in the Lord has become very strong. It has been proven that although I am staying in Lanka in the midst of all this material sense gratification, I have received the  darśan  of a sādhu like you and that is nothing but the sheer causeless mercy of the Lord.  Vibhīṣaṇ (Ravana's younger brother) also said, ab mohi bha bharosa Hanumān ..  bina hari krpa milenge nahi santa .. Like a wife who is feeling separated from the husband who is far away, until he arrives back home the wife is not happy; her pangs of separation can not

A sadhu came to our house when Maharaj was very young and told, "This boy will not enter family life. If you wish to contain him in the household you have to get him married as soon as he finishes his education and gets employment, otherwise, he will leave the house." The sadhu also said that if he does indeed leave the house, the entire earth planet will be benefitted. - Arindam Guharoy - Son of Gurudeva's younger brother, became a disciple in 2007. Gurudeva delivering Harikatha in Janmastan, Goalpara (Assam) One time a sannyasi came to our house when Guru Maharaj was a child. He told my father-in-law that the child would not get married or remain with the family and that he would become very famous in this world. He clearly said that it would be impossible to contain Maharaj within family life. -Arati Guharoy - Gurudeva's younger brother's wife

During the centennial celebrations of Vyāsa-puja of our Guru Mahārāj Śrīla Bhakti Pramod Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāj in 1997, many stalwart Vaiṣṇavas came to Śrī Gopīnath Gauḍīya Maṭh, Mayapur. In that ceremony, Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Mahārāj, Ācārya Mahārāj, Bhakti Vijnan Bhārati Gosvāmī Mahārāj, Bhakti Sarvasva Niṣkiñcan Gosvāmī Mahārāj, and so many other ācāryas came. We made two stages: one stage only for our Gurudeva with a siṃhāsan (throne), and another stage for Vaiṣṇavas . When it was full, additional sannyasis were sitting down in the audience. Then Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj came and offered puṣpāñjali to Guru Mahārāj, went on the stage, and started kirtan . His kirtan offering was in such an enchanting mood that the entire venue turned into a saṅkīrtan hall, the atmosphere filled with the loud spiritual sound of big kartals . Mahārāj was joined by Rasabihārī Prabhu, Śrīkanta Prabhu,  Bhūtabhāvan  Prabhu, and others.  As I was very much junior to the assembled Vaiṣṇavas , I felt

Gurujī told us that in his childhood he used to go to the Shivajī temple near his house crawling on his knees because there was no other way through the forest. He would sit for hours, he said, "together" there. He spoke only this much, nothing more about it. From whatever little he spoke we got the hint of his teaching that Shivaji is vaiṣṇava vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ (SB 12.13.16) and if you pray to him from the core of the heart, he will bestow you the wealth of Kṛṣṇa-prema , Kṛṣṇa-nāma and engage you in sevā .   I recall how Gurujī came down to the main road and showed us the open field just opposite which is called Hari Sabhā, the place where Gurujī had the first darśan of his Gurudeva and from where Param Gurudev delivered a very powerful ( tejīyas ) harikathā . Nearby Hari Sabhā is a small pond by the name Kāśimitra. Gurujī went near the pond and said, “I used to take bath in this pond.”  Though we felt we should take the water of the pond upon our head, we dare not

In 1994 when I first came to Goalpara, Śrī Tatpar Mahārāj (then Madhusudan Prabhu) took me to Gurudev's birthplace. At that time, no road led to the place; there was only a tin shed sheltering the Śiva temple where the local people living down the hill would perform pūjā . We crossed their property and climbed up the hill.  The area was covered by forest with big trees and some dilapidated portions of the house which belonged to Gurudev's family. Retaining only a small portion of the land, all the rest was donated.   Goalpara Maṭh's annual function is celebrated from the last part of January to the beginning of February every year.  After Gurudev arrived we went on nagar-kirtan .  At Gurudev's birthplace, all devotees offered pranāms .  I did not know anything more than this is the birthplace of Gurudev.  Later we heard that the disciples of Gurudev from Kolkata contributed the donations and got this place to build a maṭh and temple there.  After all the paperwork was