Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

Mahābhāgavats come to encourage us and show us the path that is our only goal. We belonged here from before a time we can remember. Guru Mahārāj joined the Mission in 1947 and up to the time our maṭh was established by Śrīla Param Gurudeva, Guru Mahārāj was staying at Caitanya Maṭh with Param Gurudeva. Guru Mahārāj said we are also originally belonging to Caitanya Maṭh. Our saṅkīrtana party used to sit and take prasād in the open under so many trees. From there we used to go to Śrīvas Angan and then Kazi Samādhi.  Guru Mahārāj was worried about when it was going to become dark as many people could be lost along the way. I remember from Kazi Samādhi that everyone was tired. After prostrating, many were feeling like catching a rickshaw since we had been going on foot the whole day. Then I remember Guru Mahārāj getting up with his tridaṇḍa in hand. He started singing, "Haribol, bolo bhai" and he started running to the maṭh using the fastest stretch from Kazi Samādhi to our ...

During the annual Navadvip dhāma-parikramā festival in 2012, many devotees from different corners of the globe came to Māyāpur to take part. It was apparently impossible for Śrīla Gurudev, who was approaching 90 years old to physically participate in the daily circumambulation. However, he showed an enthusiasm unknown to anyone of his age by leading kīrtana in the early hours on the opening day of the parikramā . He also spoke about the glories of the holy dhāma to all the pilgrims. Every day he would come out of his bhajana-kuṭīra to see off the devotees going on parikramā and to welcome the devotees when they returned late in the evening. One day when all the devotees left for circumambulation leaving behind only a few servants and Śrīla Gurudev in the Maṭha, a few devotees from China had come to visit Śrīla Gurudev. They sat in front of Śrīla Gurudev’s  bhajan kuṭīra and started to sing Mahāmantra in a loud voice. For a long time, Śrīla Gurudev was sitting inside his...

Like a real ācārya , Śrīla Gurudev walked barefoot throughout the dhām-parikramā in any condition, whether it be flooding, mud, or dust. He would say that by the association of devotees, devotion will come. He spoke of himself as ordinary. He walked from village to village and sat down in poor people's huts and would take prasādam there; he would not even use a chair.  He did not go to preach or make devotees; he went everywhere so that he may become a devotee. With that thought, he went. Gurudeva is a pilgrimage place, the dhām himself.   bhavad-vidhā bhāgavatās tīrtha-bhūtāḥ svayaṁ vibho tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni svāntaḥ-sthena gadābhṛtā ( Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , 1.3.10) [My Lord, devotees like your good self are verily holy places personified. Because you carry the Personality of Godhead within your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage.] Tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni — he is an embodiment of tīrtha . All pilgrimage places are in his heart and he converts all th...

Śrīla Gurudev's father gave him a kurta to wear to college. He wore it even though it was so long that the sleeves extended past his arms. When his friends saw this, they laughed at him and asked, "Are you wearing your father's kurta ?" The only thing he replied was "My father gave me this with a lot of love." During his childhood in Goalpara (his appearance place), the Śiva mandira near his home was his favorite place of worship and meditation. After he completed his MA in Philosophy at Kolkata University, he was offered a job as a District Magistrate. In one of his visits to maṭha to hear Param Gurudeva's hari-kathā , one maṭhavāsī told him "You will soon become a District Magistrate; will you get time for hearing hari-kathā ? You will only hear the public going on with their civic complaints." Śrīla Gurudev felt the truth in these words and refused to join this duty. When Param Gurudeva came to their place, he quietly followed him to the...

Right from his childhood, Guru Mahārāj had an affinity for meditation. He would sit for long hours meditating on Lord Śiva whom he had a particular affinity. In Goalpara (Assam) there is a temple where Guru Mahārāj used to sit and meditate. Now that place is called Tīrtheśvara Mahādeva.  Guru Mahārāj's name is Tīrtha and Tīrtheśvara is the Lord of our Gurudev. Also, tīrtha means pilgrim place, so it could be understood as the Lord of pilgrimage. Guru Mahārāj's name is Tīrtha and so it is named Tīrtheśvara Mahādeva. Anywhere he would sit and meditate was Guru Mahārāj’s favorite place. His parents were very worried to see such a small child sitting and meditating. They thought, what is this? His parents feared what will happen to him. They would call his name, but he didn't respond. One Summer when Guru Mahārāj was about five years old, his uncles and aunties came along with their children to Goalpara. Goalpara is a serene, scenic place with the Brahmaputra river flowing nea...

Hey Gurudev, You are the redeemer of the fallen souls, a treasure house of mercy, and an ocean of grace. Do I have the strength to enter into that ocean of yours? This is also not possible without your grace. By your grace, we attain your grace. By your grace, someone can sing your glories, but I remain entirely unqualified to sing your glories with this sin-filled mouth. Śāstras sing abundant qualities of guru and describe the philosophy of guru-tattva and its conclusions. But our attempts to contemplate these topics without your mercy and grace are deficient, seemingly few. Your grace is not bound by any limitations; it is unlimited and boundless. Only by your grace can one attain even a speck of your grace. Even after coming into contact with a touchstone, if iron does not change to gold, the glories of the touchstone remain unknown. Hey Gurudev! So also after attaining a relationship with you, we can feel the ābhās (shadow, semblance) of your mercy and grace. Probably in reali...

Following the orders of Vaiṣṇavas, I will try to remember and sing the glories of Śrīla Gurudev. I was born in a vaiṣṇav family in Jalandhar. Gurudev bestowed his auspicious presence on us while visiting Jalandhar every year. He gave me my name and performed my annaprāśana and other ceremonies. Although I had grown up sitting in the lap of Śrīla Gurudev, I had not even had a bit of knowledge of who is guru. I would see Gurudev and offer praṇams like all do, though I never understood his hari-kathā . I was just spending my childhood in play. Considering me as a disturbance to hari-kathā listeners, I was kept outside the saṅkīrtana hall while Gurudev spoke. My mother told me that during evening arāti time I used to dance in the group of devotees as kids normally do. Seeing me dancing like this, Gurudev used to feel pleased. Innocently, I kept my back towards the deities when I danced, not knowing which direction I should face. At that time, Gurudev used to smile and indicate to me t...

Once I went to Dhanbad along with Mahārāj for preaching. There was a person there named Yasamanta who used to donate coal to the maṭha thrice a year. They invited Guru Mahārāj to stay in their house; it was a good accommodation with air-conditioned rooms. But that particular year, we went to live in the house of a householder devotee in Herapuri who was a disciple of Param  Pūjyapāda  Om  Viṣṇupada  Śrīmad Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj. Narasiṃha Mahārāj, Deva Prasād Prabhu, and  Viṣṇudaivata  Mahārāj (who was a brahmacārī at that time) were also present. There was hari-kathā and kīrtan in the house of Yasamanta, and Mahārāj would go there. I was cooking and washing clothes for Tirtha Mahārāj. Narasingha Mahārāj, who was Achintya Govinda  brahmacārī  then, gave advice to Tirtha Mahārāj. “Mahārāj, please clean your clothes. You are going to the house of a distinguished person.” Mahārāj replied, “They are already clean.” Achintya ...

I first met Guru Maharaj in San Francisco. I was working in Ramdas Prabhu’s house. I had heard about Guru Maharaj's glories from Bindu Madhav Prabhu (France). He had told me how amazing Guru Maharaj was and hearing from him, I started to develop some attraction for Guru Maharaj. I feel like Guru Maharaj is so attractive and non-different from Supreme Lord: sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair . Krishna attracts all and gives ānanda . This is how Guru Maharaj is, he attracts everyone like a magnet and in return gives us ānanda. So just hearing of his glories, even though I hadn’t met him I became attracted. As I was working in Ramdas Prabhu’s house, I was surrounded by Guru Maharaj’s books such as “Sri Chaitanya: His Life and Associates” and Srila Bhakti Pramod Puri Maharaj’s books, as well as books by so many exalted Vaishnavas and now I see that the presence of these books was purifying me. When Guru Maharaj came with his entourage and associates I was very curious to meet him. ...