His Eternal, Powerful Mercy
Gurudev's glories and pastimes are infinite and I have absolutely no qualification to describe them, but whatever I remember, I will try to speak.
When I was in Chandigarh one of our godbrothers from Mumbai called and informed me of a holiday he was planning with his family to Jammu Kashmir. I told him about the mathas our Gurudev established and suggested that he visit those maṭhas to offer praṇams. As he was passing through Punjab I suggested he include Chandigarh, Jalandhar, and Bathinda in his itinerary. In order to try to convince him to go, I shared some of my experiences there.
Once Gurudev was in Chandigarh for many days during Kārtik and was scheduled to come to Bathinda a few days later. We did not go to Chandigarh because we knew that Gurudev was scheduled to come to Bathinda next and we waited for his darśana here. when he arrived, we welcomed him, performed arāti, and then he sat down.
Gurudev's pleasant mood changed and his face became red in anger. Then he asked, “ Are Chandigarh and Bathinda the same? Our Gurudev's Pushpa-samādhi is there in Chandigarh, is it here? Not coming there, not offering praṇams to him, you have deprived yourself of his mercy.”
I realized then how strong Gurudev's faith was in his Gurudev. This is what I told my godbrother and he did then go to Chandigarh and Jalandhar. From Jalandhar, he called and spoke to me and told me that my wife wishes to see the Golden Temple in Amritsar, just eighty kilometers away. I told him to keep that second on his list; first, visit Dada Puruṣottama Dās Mandir at Namak Mandir where our Param Gurudev Śrīla Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Mahārāj and our Gurudev visited so many times. Even today after sixty years, Mahāprabhu's kathā is being read there daily. That is the place where Śrī Bijali Pailvan met Param Gurudev and he later helped build Vṛndāvana Maṭha in the 1960s.
When our god-brother Madanlal Gupta had an accident and was hospitalized and bedridden, Gurudev went to see him. He was not able to get up from bed and offer his praṇams to Gurudev and he simply cried. Folding his hands he prayed to Gurudev to please place his divine lotus feet upon his chest as he had no hopes of survival. Guru Mahārāj was never ready to give the dust of his lotus feet, considering himself ineligible. Yet Guptajī was crying so desperately and demanding again and again.
*this paragraph was translated from Sri Rasavihari Das' speech at the same event. It was added to expand on some details of the same incident.
Our Tridaṇḍī Mahārāj was narrating one instance in his yesterday's kathā about Śrī Rāmachandra visiting Vālmīki Ṛṣi's ashram during his vanavās (forest dwelling period). Offering His daṇḍavat-praṇams to Śrī Rāmachandra, he asked this question,"Where shall I go to reside?" In reply, Vālmīki Ṛṣi says, "Oh Rāmachandra, reside in the heart of one who has more regard for his Gurudev than you do." So it is by Lord Śrī Rāmachandra's desire and grace to make this tithi even more auspicious and glorious that He made His devotee appear on this tithi.
A few days back I was reading the holy biography of Aṣṭottaraśata Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāj, one of the most prominent disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda. I came across his words which he spoke while sitting in front of Śrīla Prabhupāda's samādhi mandir in a mood of great separation from his Gurudev.
These words described that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is so very compassionate and after Him, Mahāprabhu is more compassionate, Nityānanda Prabhu is even more compassionate, Pañcatattva is still more compassionate, and when they all appeared, although I was present here, nobody caught hold of me. So my dear Gurudev, I only know you. Because you caught hold of me by the hair you are the most compassionate of all. These same words apply to our Gurudev. In spite of not having even the least qualification, our Gurudev has pulled and held us by our hair and brought us to his lotus feet.
When I was in Chandigarh one of our godbrothers from Mumbai called and informed me of a holiday he was planning with his family to Jammu Kashmir. I told him about the mathas our Gurudev established and suggested that he visit those maṭhas to offer praṇams. As he was passing through Punjab I suggested he include Chandigarh, Jalandhar, and Bathinda in his itinerary. In order to try to convince him to go, I shared some of my experiences there.
Once Gurudev was in Chandigarh for many days during Kārtik and was scheduled to come to Bathinda a few days later. We did not go to Chandigarh because we knew that Gurudev was scheduled to come to Bathinda next and we waited for his darśana here. when he arrived, we welcomed him, performed arāti, and then he sat down.
He was in a very pleasant mood and when I offered him praṇams, he asked me humbly in his usual way, “Why did I not get your darśana in Chandigarh?” I blundered and plainly said, “Guru Mahārāj you were to come directly to Bathinda from Chandigarh, so we did not come to Chandigarh.”
Gurudev's pleasant mood changed and his face became red in anger. Then he asked, “ Are Chandigarh and Bathinda the same? Our Gurudev's Pushpa-samādhi is there in Chandigarh, is it here? Not coming there, not offering praṇams to him, you have deprived yourself of his mercy.”
I realized then how strong Gurudev's faith was in his Gurudev. This is what I told my godbrother and he did then go to Chandigarh and Jalandhar. From Jalandhar, he called and spoke to me and told me that my wife wishes to see the Golden Temple in Amritsar, just eighty kilometers away. I told him to keep that second on his list; first, visit Dada Puruṣottama Dās Mandir at Namak Mandir where our Param Gurudev Śrīla Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Mahārāj and our Gurudev visited so many times. Even today after sixty years, Mahāprabhu's kathā is being read there daily. That is the place where Śrī Bijali Pailvan met Param Gurudev and he later helped build Vṛndāvana Maṭha in the 1960s.
Along with his group of fifteen members, our godbrother went early in the morning to this temple while the hari-kathā was going on. He told me that they had all been wearing devotional clothes and tilak and sat in the kathā. After one and a half hours of the kathā, the speaker on the vyāsāsana asked them where they had come from. Even before he could fully answer "Sree Caitanya Gauḍīya Maṭha," the speaker started singing jayadhvani into the microphone, proclaiming “Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Mahārāj ki jai ho" thrice. Then he said, “Śrīman Mahāprabhu's kathā is happening here for the last sixty years purely because of the powerful mercy of your Gurudev's lotus feet. He sang these glories of our Gurudev in such a wonderful way even though he didn’t even belong to Gauḍīya Maṭha. Is the darśana of our Gurudev ordinary?
I remember when our Gurudeva was staying on the first floor of the maṭha in Jagannātha Puri when a Panda named Śrī Hanuman Khuntia was seen approaching. I was there when he came. He was a very tall figure and of advanced age. He climbed the stairs while holding the shoulders of two people and came to Gurudev's room. When Gurudev saw him, he immediately rose to his feet out of reverence for him and requested his sevāk to get some praṇami ready to offer him. The Panda said, “Mahārāj, I have not come here to take praṇami. I have come here to take your darśana and purify myself.” Saying this he held Gurudev's hand and placed it upon his head seeking blessings. Gurudev pulled back his own hand and was taking Panda's hand upon his head. Such is our Gurudev's personality and conduct, what to speak of our Gurudev's śiṣya-vātsalya?
When our god-brother Madanlal Gupta had an accident and was hospitalized and bedridden, Gurudev went to see him. He was not able to get up from bed and offer his praṇams to Gurudev and he simply cried. Folding his hands he prayed to Gurudev to please place his divine lotus feet upon his chest as he had no hopes of survival. Guru Mahārāj was never ready to give the dust of his lotus feet, considering himself ineligible. Yet Guptajī was crying so desperately and demanding again and again.
Param Pūjyapāda Bhakti Prasād Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāj, (maṭha-in-charge of in Vṛndāvana) took charge insisting to Gurudev that he should fulfill Guptaji's order. Then Gurudev said that Śrīla Sharana Trivikram Mahārāj (disciple of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura) is here, let him place his feet there. I was the medium to execute Gurudev's order to first to place Trivikram Mahārāj's lotus feet followed by Guru Mahārāj and then other sannyāsīs' feet on Guptajī's chest. That time I saw Gurudev's face was so constricted; he was so very reluctant. *
In the holy biography of Pujyapad Śrīla Śrīdhar Dev Gosvāmī Mahārāj, I read about an instance he witnessed in his initial days even before taking harināma from Śrīla Prabhupāda. It was the time when Śrī Navadvīpa dhāma parikramā had concluded on the day after Gaura-purnima. All devotees who had participated in the parikramā were returning home and coming to offer praṇams to Śrīla Prabhupāda and offering some praṇami. Śrīla Prabhupāda was sitting in an armchair and was saying these words to the devotees. Though the biography is in English, these words were written in Bangla: “apnar amake vancana kariben na,” meaning "please don’t deprive me." Whoever is coming to him he repeated these words. Śrīdhar Dev Gosvāmī was puzzled to see and hear him speak like this to the devotees and enquired from him regarding it.
Śrīla Prabhupāda told him that all these devotees have come here with great faith and have vowed before me to do kṛṣṇa-bhajan, but getting back home they will get entangled in maya again and forget kṛṣṇa-bhajan. So Prabhupāda was reminding them, you have promised me to do kṛṣṇa-bhajan, do not deceive me.
Śrīla Prabhupāda told him that all these devotees have come here with great faith and have vowed before me to do kṛṣṇa-bhajan, but getting back home they will get entangled in maya again and forget kṛṣṇa-bhajan. So Prabhupāda was reminding them, you have promised me to do kṛṣṇa-bhajan, do not deceive me.
So my prayer at the lotus feet of my Gurudev is: Oh Gurudev, I am not performing bhajan, but by your mercy everything is possible. So keep me attached to your lotus feet, keep me engaged in kṛṣṇa-bhajan and in your service. May we have your blessings that we come here every year for your vyāsa-puja and also grandly celebrate your Centenary Celebrations in 2024.
—Śrī Kṛṣṇananda Das
Translated from Hindi and edited
*this paragraph was translated from Sri Rasavihari Das' speech at the same event. It was added to expand on some details of the same incident.
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