Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

I offer my humble obeisances at the divine lotus feet of my Guru Mahārāja, Nityalīlā Om Viṣṇupada Aṣṭottara Śata Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Pramoda Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāja and equal daṇḍavat-praṇams to my śikṣā Gurudevas, Nityalīlā Om Viṣṇupada Aṣṭottara Śata Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja and Nityalīlā Om Viṣṇupada Bhakti Vijñāna Bhāratī Gosvāmī Mahārāja.  My millions and millions of daṇḍavat-praṇams to the most revered embodiment of simplicity and humility whose hundredth appearance (centennial celebration) is being observed this year beginning from Rāmanavamī by devotees all over the world. They worship Pūjyapāda Nityalīlā Praviṣṭa Śrīla Om Viṣṇupada Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja by remembering his contributions, his pastimes, and his great interactions with devotees worldwide. I pay my humble obeisances at his divine lotus feet, and to Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda and all his prominent disciples, and Śrī Saccidānanda Gaurahari and all ...

Personally, I didn't have much association with Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja. Due to my offenses and misunderstanding him, I didn't get his association until 2013 when I met him in Kolkata. At that time he was in that half-internal half-external stage. Every day, I'd line up with the many devotees in Kolkata Maṭha to receive prasādam from him and we had a few words here and there. I know what he was doing when he was distributing prasādam . I learned from Śrīla Bhakti Vijñāna Bhāratī Gosvāmī Mahārāja that when pure devotees give prasādam , they take away anarthas and give kṛṣṇa-prema . So I was happy to have his darśana every day for maybe a couple of weeks. I'd watch him along with his associates go into the bhajan-kuṭira  of his Guru Mahārāja. He was very slowly and deliberately offering flowers and prayers reciting the same prayer aloud regarding the name and address of his maṭha and the ownership of the maṭha to his Guru Mahārāja, reflecting his...

Today on the disappearance day festival of Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja, we are directly getting his blessings;  his mercy magnifies so much that it becomes  thousands  of times more beneficial participating in this tithi than in any other. Vaiṣṇavas are kṛpā-sindhu bhyaeva ca ; kṛpā-sindu means ocean of mercy. This ocean is full of water, and we can continuously withdraw as much water as possible and it is inexhaustible. Vaisnavas remain magnanimous, always ready to grace the devotees. The character and qualities of a vaiṣṇava are always great, greater, and greatest. The first quality we can find in the life and precepts of Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja is his example of how to render perfect devotional service to his spiritual master as linked with devotional service to the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Vaiṣṇavas come to the world for the benefit of others; as incense burns itself out but distributes fragrance, Vaiṣṇavas do hard work and ...

Today is the appearance day of a great personality, a mahanācārya . Advaita Ācārya has observed the appearance day of Śrī Mādhavendra Purī. Many devotees contributed on that day. Even a person who honors prasādam on that day will get devotion to Śrī Govinda. Therefore we all will be benefited from observing the appearance days of vaiṣṇavas . What is the meaning of appearance day? When a traveler is wandering in the desert, he is able to find the direction by looking at the Morning Star. This material world is also like a desert. Similarly, the Supreme Lord has sent His own person who is like a Morning Star. We do not know the path, but because of his appearance, we have seen the path. There are many kinds of gurus, but not all are the same. Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj is an associate of Śrī Gauranga Mahāprabhu and he is very dear to his Gurudev. Today so many devotees from India and all over the world are fortunate souls present here due to their attraction to hi...

I have always seen Gurudev perform his parikramās , Navadvip parikramā , Vraja-mandala parikramā  by foot, walking. So many other devotees and sannyāsīs who participate will return taking some vehicle to end their parikramā , but Gurudev would return along with the kirtan party only, even if it is late at night. When the kirtans slowed down, Gurudev would go to the front and would infuse such energy into those kirtans and take them further.  I have even heard Śrīkānta Prabhu say he would get tired, but Guru Mahārāj would never feel tired.  Another thing is even after so much endeavor, Gurudev would come and after speaking harikathā, he would announce the next day's parikramā details at the end of the session. Again in the morning during maṅgaḷāratī , we also got darśan of Gurudev.   When he would take rest, nobody knows. Prabhupāda says who can understand Bhajan-rahasya (mysteries of devotion) is a very intimate servant; one who is totally surrendered to a...

Once Param Pūjyapād Śrīmad Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj came to our āśram in Haridwar along with about five hundred Punjabi devotees. Starting from Har Ki Pauri, Mahārāj entered our āśram dancing and singing in kīrtan . As I was about to do his ārati , he stopped me and told, “You should do Gurujī's ārati , not mine.” I told him, “You are also Guru. Ontologically Guru is one, and Param Gurudev Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāj has whole-heartedly established you as Ācārya. He has his complete mercy on you and thus coronates you as Guru. So whose ārati  should I do other than yours?” He told, “No. Perform ārati to the portrait of our Gurudev.” He took the lamp from my hand and started doing Gurujī's ārati . I saw then his total dedication to Gurujī. According to me, Paramgurudev Srimad Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāj and Param Pūjyapād Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj are non-different. They came together to this world from the spiritual plane. —Śrīl...

Śrīmad Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvāmī Maharaj is my śikṣā-guru.  I understand that he is the replica of Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhava Gosvāmī Maharaj. Madhava Maharaj was so dedicated to serving his Gurudeva and Sri Sri Radha Krishna so much so that his physical appeared as being similar to Srila Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākur Prabhupad. Similarly, Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvāmī Maharaj is also dedicated to his Gurudeva, to the entire paramparā , always thinking how to serve Guru Maharaj. His nature, actions, and everything appeared like Madhava Gosvāmī Maharaj. Even his physical form appeared to invoke respect like Bhakti Dayita Madhav Gosvāmī Maharaj. Therefore he has also taught us how to serve Gurudeva who is the source of our spiritual practice. Vamsidas Babaji says, "Mercy of Gurudeva is the root of our devotional practice." That exemplary character is our Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvāmī Maharaj. I observed that he was always giving examples from his Gurudeva. He l...

After the disappearance of Most Revered Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāja, Tīrtha Mahārāja had tolerated immense suffering. Ignoring so many favorable and unfavorable circumstances, he kept on serving his Gurudeva. He is one of the bright stars of Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Maṭha.  Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja is a shining example of how one should serve guru, how one should dedicate oneself to the services of the maṭha, and how one should serve Guru-Vaiṣṇava-Bhagavan amidst all difficulties, adversities, reproaches, and insults of the world. The tolerance he has exhibited is extremely rare to be seen in human beings.  After the disappearance of my Gurudeva, I often would go to the maṭha of my Sannyās-guru, Nityālīlā Praviṣṭa Om Viṣṇupada Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Kumuda Santa Gosvāmī Mahārāja. I have seen many times the way in which he offers his obeisances to Śrīla Santa Gosvāmī Mahārāja. He would sit on the floor in front of him and never on an elevated seat. We s...

I was a child when I first came to Sree Caitanya Gauḍīya Maṭha in Kolkata to take darśana of the deities. It was evening time when Param-pūjyapāda Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāja was coming down with his tridanda to set out for Puri. Pūjyapāda Mahārāja asked his servants to inquire about our whereabouts and the purpose of our visit.  They gave our introduction to him. Pūjyapāda Mahārāja said “Baba, I am going to Puri now. You should take some prasādam .” Pūjyapāda Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja, who was a brahmacārī that time, served us prasādam with his own hands. Though I was a child at that time, I still remember that incident even today. In 1996, I was present with Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja for the circumambulation of Vraja-maṇḍala for nearly 35 days. What ecstatic kirtana he sung!  What an extraordinary dance he performed! How efficient he was! His diligence and his powerful dance were all spellbinding. He came to our Caitanya Āśrama in Behala several times. He would smilingly say t...