Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

Today is the appearance day of Lord Śrī Rāmachandra and Śrīpad Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Mahārāj, Ācārya of All India Sree Caitanya Gauḍīya Maṭh. Appearance Day of both the Lord and His devotee has arisen together today. Singing the glories of Vaiṣṇavas is most beneficial for us.  It liberates the jīvas . Śrīpad Mahārāj did not take initiative to become Ācārya.  He accepted the position of Ācārya to fulfill the desire of his Gurudev.  A long time ago when I was at Goalpara Maṭha in Assam along with Pūjyapāda Mādhava Mahārāj, one of our godsisters asked Pūjyapāda Mādhava Mahārāj, “You are not keeping well. After you, who will perform the duties of Ācārya?  Have you made any arrangements for this?” Pūjyapāda Mādhava Mahārāj smiled and told her, “Yes, I know. I will make perfect arrangements before I go. She asked, "Who will you appoint?" Mahārāj replied, “I will not mention his name now, but the one whom I nominate will be even better than me.” I was also hearing this conv...

One must surrender to a person who is the most generous, magnanimous, merciful, and affectionate – closer than any mother or father you could think of. We got Harinām from such a guru who is both spiritually and materially very well-conducted throughout his life. For this reason, he has got tons of mercy from so many associates of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur. It wasn't just that they gave mercy, but they were so happy to be in his company. He had so much service mood, he was always ready to carry out any order. He never thought, "Yes, I have done enough." At any time, even in the middle of the night, he was always ready. Śrīla Gurudev would not only consistently perform activities slowly, but he would also always say all the names of the āchāryas of our line. He would say all the names with so much feeling, very carefully. He was standing before me but I could see that he was in a completely different realm. Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev Goswāmī Mahārā...

On one occasion we were performing Vraj-mandal parikrama with our Guru Maharaj. When the parikrama reached Brahmanda Ghat, Guru Maharaj declared that Krishna Ballabh* is the future acharya . This is at the time when Maharaj had not even got sannyas . Also during his manifest pastimes, Guru Maharaj had given a letter to Pujyapad Jagamohan Prabhu wherein he had written that after his departure Tirtha Maharaj will be the acharya . I see Guru Maharaj’s full grace is upon Maharaj. From beginning to date I have observed from his conduct that he has never anytime criticized anybody before others. His life is always so pure, without a blemish. A long time ago someone in Assam asked Guru Maharaj that at present preaching is going on well, but in the future what will happen to the math ? I personally heard Guru Maharaj's reply that there is no cause for worry; after him, the preaching will be more widespread. Today it can be seen that Guruji’s desire is being fulfilled. The ...

Astonishingly, it so happens that His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Goswami Maharaj’s appearance day and disappearance day both occurred on the same Navami Tithi, namely the ninth day of lunar cycle. Srila Maharaj appeared exactly on Ram-Navami and the day of his disappearance occurred on Navami day, 6th of Vaishakh 1424 Bangavda (Thursday, April 20, 2017 at 10.15pm). Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita (SCC) is considered the most valuable scripture of the Gaudiya Vaishnava community and was written bySrila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami, who is Kasturi Manjari in Goloka Vrindavan, serving Sri Sri Radha-Krishna, the Divine couple in their divine esoteric pastimes. In Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami alludes to the auspiciousness and importance of the appearance and disappearance of the Lord and the Vaishnavas in the following verse: iswarerjanma-tithiye henapavitra vaisnaverajanma-tithirseimatacharitra The divinity and purity attributed to the appear...

Once Parama-gurujī asked Parama-pūjyapāda Śrīdhara Gosvāmī Mahārāja that I have made many big maṭhas, whom should I give the responsibility of them? Whom should I make Ācārya?  Śrīdhara Gosvāmī Mahārāja replied, "You have a readymade Ācārya." Parama-gurujī asked, "Who? He said, Tirtha Mahārāja. He is an Ācārya since childhood. We don’t have to make him [an Ācārya]." I heard from Parama-pūjyapāda Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāja that Gaura Nityānanda Themselves dance when Tirtha Mahārāja sings Kirtan." During the inauguration of Puri Mahārāja’s newly established maṭha in Mayapur, our Gurudeva was invited for the feast in the maṭha.  The celebration, which is being celebrated to date, falls during the Holi festival. During that occasion, I was with Gurujī along with other devotees. Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāja ordered his disciples to welcome our Gurudeva with kirtanas by standing at the gate. He further said that you see him as Tirtha Mahārāja, but I see him as Mādhava Mahārāja....

Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj was firmly committed to carry out the orders of his Gurudeva and serve him. He never wavered from this oath. I realized  this when I was offering service for the purpose of recovering the appearance place of Srila Prabhupada called Narayan Chata in 1973.  In order to follow the instructions of our Gurudev precisely to each and every single letter, he would tirelessly endeavor amidst hot sun, storm, and rain. One should learn how to serve Guru with complete dedication from him. He has followed this his entire life. We went to many places with him for preaching activities. Some of us were his companions in the first preaching tour after the disappearance of our Guru Maharaj in February 1979. I was also present then. I went to many places with him for preaching purposes.  I have not seen any parallel to him when it comes to singing kirtan with intense absorption and steadfastness. His Harikatha used to be in a simple...