He Has the Vision of Śrī Śrī Rādhāgovinda Always

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Today is the appearance day of my Śikṣā Guru Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj which is also the appearance day of Lord Rāmachandra. Śrīla Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāj was very dear and very close to my Gurupādapadma Śrīla Bhakti Kumud Sant Gosvāmī Mahārāj who has given great encouragement to him.  

Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj used to visit our maṭha often.  Our Gurudev used to tell us that if you want to please me, then you should satisfy Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha  Gosvāmī Mahārāj.  He also used to tell us that he does not see Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Gosvāmī as himself, but he sees him as Śrīla Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāj. His glories are unlimited like Śrī Bhagavān Himself.  

He has come to this material world to fulfill the prophecy of Śrīman Mahāprabhu that the holy name will be uttered in each and every village of this world, as stated in this verse:

pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi-grāma
arvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma

(Caitanya-bhāgavata, Antya 4.126)

When Śrīla Tīrtha Mahārāj used to come with his group of sevāks to our maṭha,  there was so much saṅkīrtana.  He is the personification of the third verse of Śikṣāṣṭakam:

tṛṇād api sunīcena
taror api sahiṣṇunā
amāninā mānadena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

“One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor but is always prepared to give all respect to others, can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.”

vṛkṣa yena kāṭileha kichu nā bolaya
śukāñā maileha kāre pānī nā māgaya

(Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya 20.23)

"When a tree is cut down, it does not protest, and even when drying up, it does not ask anyone for water."

Śrīla Tīrtha Mahārāj was the personification of these ślokas and he has done his best to fulfill the prophecy of Śrīman Mahāprabhu.  

Śrīla Mahārāj used to preach in every language all over the world whether it be English, Hindi, or Bengali. When Mahāprabhu went through the forest of Jharikhand, He was chanting the Holy Name and all the wild animals started dancing. The very meaning of the word tīrtha is that all the holy places of the world are situated in Śrīla Tīrtha Mahārāj himself. He has preached with so much vigor and enthusiasm, traveling to all the places in the entire world with kṛṣṇa-nāma saṅkīrtana. So many atheists, so many māyāvādīs, and so many other people have been flooded by divine love through the preaching efforts of Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj.

Pārvatī-devī has questioned Mahādeva that there are so many gurus who are pseudo, so how can we recognize who is the original guru?  Mahādeva replied:

guravo bahavaḥ
santi vittāpahārakaḥ
taṁ tu guruṁ na paśyāmi
śiṣya-santā-pahārakāḥ

(Skanda Purāṇa, 1.269)

"There are so many gurus who are there to grab the money and wealth from the disciples, but a real sadguru or a genuine guru is very rare who dispels the sufferings of his disciples."  

A sadguru is one who dispels the covering of māyā and ignorance from the eyes of his disciples. Such a sadguru is Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj. He was an ocean of mercy. He has so much vigor in preaching and following the orders of his Gurudev that even after day-long preaching activity, he was never tired and spoke harikathā as soon as returning to the maṭha. He never used to take any rest from preaching because he used to say that harikathā is vishram, which means harikathā is the only activity that is equivalent to taking rest—this was his philosophy. He never used to take rest from speaking harikathā.  

Śrīla Mahārāj was also the personification of the song "Swapne Śrī Rādhāgovinda dekhilen." He never used to sleep and he has the vision of Śrī Śrī Rādhāgovinda always.  During Kārtika even after performing so many yama-kirtans he never used to take rest and again he used to start harikathā. Even in his dreams he always used to visualize Śrī Rādhāgovinda. He had so much vigor and enthusiasm for kirtan and dancing. Śrīman Mahāprabhu ordered Nityānanda Prabhu to speak about the glories of Krsna to each and every home.  Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Mahārāj was empowered with the teachings of Śrīla Dayita Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāj to follow these orders.

Narottama Das Ṭhākura wrote, Darśane pavitra koro-ei tomāra guṇ: just by the sight of you, the fallen souls are purified. This is your great power.

Today it may seem that my Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj is passing through illness pastimes, but in fact, this is actually not his illness pastimes. It is actually separation pastimes; he has merged into the feeling of separation from his Gurudev and Śrī Radha Govinda. In Gitavali, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura wrote:

gāite gāite nāma ki daśā hoilo
kṛṣṇa-nitya-dāsa mui’ hṛdoye sphurilo

"What was my condition after repeatedly chanting the holy name? The realization that "I am the eternal servant of Krsna" spontaneously became manifest within my heart."

 jānilām māyā-pāśe e jaḍa-jagate
govinda-virahe duḥkha pāi nānā-mate

"I realized that I was ensnared in the noose of māyā's illusion, being trapped within this dull mundane universe and that I simply experience misery in various ways due to separation from Lord Govinda."

ār je saḿsāra mor nāhi lāge bhālo
kāhā jāi’ kṛṣṇa heri—e cintā viśālo

"Furthermore, I realized that I do not like this worldly existence. "Where can I go to see Krsna?"-this was my great anxiety."

kāńdite kāńdite mor āńkhi-variśoy
varṣā-dhārā heno cakṣe hoilo udoy

"Crying and crying, tears poured from my eyes, appearing just like torrents of rain in the monsoon season."

We sing this during yama-kirtan evening pastimes. Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj has submerged into this pastime.  He is feeling intense separation from his Gurudev and Śrī Rādhāgovinda. It is not actually his illness pastimes. Although we are seeing that he is ill, he is actually situated in separation pastimes from Śrīla Rādhāgovinda. If we see with our material vision, we see as if he is ill, but if we see with spiritual eyes, it is not like that. We can see him by spiritual vision, not by our material vision.   

I pay innumerable prostrated obeisances unto the lotus feet of my beloved Śikṣā Guru Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj.  If I have done any offense to him I pray for forgiveness. If I have made any mistakes, please forgive me.

Jai Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj ki-jai!

Tadiya āvirbhāva tithi pujya maha-mahotsav ki-jai!


—Śrīla Bhakti Kamal Hrshikesh Mahārāj (Disciple of Param Pujyapad Śrīla Bhakti Kumud Sant Gosvāmī Mahārāj)


Source: Śrīla Gurudev's 93rd Vyāsapuja Celebrations (@ around 1.40.00)

translated from Bangla





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