Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

Every year, Śrīla Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja would go to Puri during Śrī Jagannātha ratha-yatra along with many devotees. Once I was also present when he arrived and we went to welcome him. But one of his younger sannyāsī godbrothers did not go to welcome him Mahārāja noticed his godbrother's absence and personally went to see him, offered him obeisances, and inquired about his well-being. This incident shows Mahārāja's humility. Mahāprabhu says,  tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ .   And these qualities are present in Mahārāja. Only such persons are eligible for kṛṣṇa-kirtana . 
—Tridaṇḍī Svāmī Śrīmad Bhakti Saudha Jitendriya Mahārāja

Śrīla Bhakti Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Mahārāj appeared on the day of Rāmanavamī, the appearance day of Lord Rāmachandra. Rāmachandra is Maryādā Puruṣottama, an incarnation of the principle of honoring the established order. I have seen in his entire character how he gives due respect and honor to everyone like Lord Rāma did. Rāmachandra's nature and Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj's nature are the same. I have seen how he was always respectful towards his godbrothers and how he taught this to his disciples also. This is an exemplary teaching to give due respect to everyone. It is also my personal feeling that his teachings are most valuable for the Vaiṣṇava community, especially amongst our societies as well as all of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu's Mission. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura gave the instructions to us that in order to chant happily, we have to keep due respect to all vaiṣṇavas, and Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj is an embodiment of that example. He was not...

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...

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 ...

My mother took Harinām from Gurudev. She fell ill during the last two or three years of her stay in this world. She was always speaking to Guru Mahārāj in her heart. Even though she was not in a position to do anything, whatever she had to do – go to the bathroom, eat, or whatever – she would only say, "Gurujī, Gurujī, Gurujī, Gurujī..." My mother-in-law also often told me, "Guru Mahārāj will do so much good for me." Once, I heard that Guru Mahārāj came to New Delhi, so my wife and I went to the maṭh. I got a garland from him, took it back to my house, and put it on my mother-in-law. She immediately left the body. The next day, we took her to the crematorium, and Gurujī, with his own hands, sent a tulasī for her. She always wanted to serve Guru Mahārāj with a nice quilt, etc. Guru Mahārāj was pleased with her that she always wanted to do service, so Guru Mahārāj also assisted her in her last stages of life. She told Guru Mahārāj one time " I don't re...

In Nandagoan, Śrī Vidyāsāgar, a devotee from Hoshiyarpur and also Gurujī’s god-brother, suddenly fell ill.  He was not even able to get up, so some devotees from Bhatinda and Jalandhar served him very much, yet his health deteriorated more and more.  Gurujī started worrying about him very much.  He even went several times to see him.   When Cidānanda Prabhu returned from Varṣāṇā after completing some service in the evening, Gurujī called him to his room and told him that Vidyāsāgar should be taken to a good doctor at Kosi for immediate treatment.  The place was such that it was difficult to get a taxi at night.  Somehow Cidānanda Prabhu got one Maruti. Many devotees gathered around the van. Some devotees carried Vidyāsāgar into the van and laid him down.  Some necessary things like a water bottle, glass, a woolen blanket, and some clothes were taken along.  Cidānanda Prabhu, Śrī Rajesh of Jalandhar, and Śrī Amarnath Sharma’s son, Śrī Manoj of Bha...

Once during the month of Kārtik, we were at Śyāma-kuṇḍa of Sree Caitanya Gauḍīya Maṭha in Māyāpur sitting at the lotus feet of most dear Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj. All devotees were in ānanda by taking the darśan of his sweet and smiling lotus face and by receiving his merciful glances. While kirtan was going on, I was sitting just next to his lotus feet. Then I start to pray to him internally, looking at him: 
Guru Mahārāj, what will I do? I see that Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura made this Gauḍīya Maṭhas only to give shelter to male devotees. They can live in the maṭha peacefully engaged in their sevā and bhajan . They don’t need to worry anymore about their own maintenance since the maṭha will provide them with anything they need. In this way, they have your shelter, but what about someone like me, a woman devotee? There is no shelter for me in the Gauḍīya Maṭha. I also want to just engage my life in hari-bhajan and service to vaiṣṇavas . 
In this wa...

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj is very affectionate to his disciples. The reason he travels from one place to another speaking hari-kathā throughout the year is the causeless mercy and compassion he has towards all living entities for their eternal welfare. He will never let any hindrance come in the way of such activities, even when his health is not so good.   All his glorious activities, including his hari-kathā and articles in different languages such as English, Hindi, and Bangla are proof of his desire for the eternal welfare of all souls.  My understanding is that this desire for the eternal welfare of all souls does not stop him from his tours in Punjab in the severe summer or Simla in the cold winter. In this regard, I see his affection for all souls is many times more than that of a mother to her child. Those coming in contact with Śrīla Mahārāj individually experience personal attention and special regard towards them whether they go for darśana alone or with family and frie...

Around 2012 when Kārtik month was being celebrated in Mayapur, I was attending the festival with my whole family by the mercy of Gurudev. My son Krishna’s tithi birthday was there on the appearance day of Śrila Bhakti Śrīrūpā Siddhāntī Mahārāj. The day before his birthday, I asked one of the sevāks of Gurudev whether he could get darśan of Gurudev on his birthday and they agreed. That same evening when I was sitting with my kids in the temple hall and listening to hari-kathā , one stranger came and sat with my son. That man had some toys and he was talking with my son. I did not know him and felt that he was not really staying in the maṭh for any good reason. When we were moving for  prasādam , I asked my son, "Why were you talking with that man?" He replied to me, "Mother, that man was telling me to take these toys into your room and bring all the money from your bags. He told me, I will give you some more toys and if you will not bring anything, then tomorrow I will ...

In the Vedic scriptures, it is said that Srila Gurudev is the dearmost of the Supreme Lord; nondifferent from the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord has appeared in this world as Guru. The Supreme Lord says that one must take shelter of the lotus feet of Guru. One cannot surrender to the Supreme Lord directly. The simple meaning of Guru is mother. The mother is the best teacher of the child. The only way to know about the father is through the mother. We have to trust our mother. In the same way, we have to understand guru-tattva. There are multiple names of God. Which name to call out? The mother will teach that you have to pay pranams to father, and father is pleased. Similarly, Gurudev will teach how to pray to the Lord. We cannot get the grace of Guru only by memorizing the scriptures. Often times people go to Gurudev and ask for his mercy. This is not how mercy is given, just by asking and not following. Once we had gone to Krishnanagar ten years ago. Gurudev had been advised by doct...

When sitting alone, I sometimes remember the olden days pastimes of Guru Maharaj  when I was a pujari in Dehra Dun, I saw the early morning cold weather and severe Winter there. Guru Maharaj gave me warm clothes with his own hands. Feeling the cold winds, he also offered carpets and mats. He took care of me like a mother. Another memory is when I traveled with Guru Maharaj in trains many times. Guru Maharaj used to be always calm and composed and used to even joke. Yet, once I saw his angry mood like Narasimhadev when coming back from Assam to Kolkata. At Kolkata station, the taxi drivers were hurrying them to keep their luggage in the carrier.  Guru Maharaj got angry seeing them giving trouble to the devotees.   That time he manifested that Narasimha form, an angry mood came. Putting his foot down and holding his danda in the air, and said, "What are you doing?  What do you think about Chaitanya Gaudiya Math!  These are devotees of Chaitanya Gaudiya...

I was supremely fortunate to have had your association in Sridham Mayapur during Kartik time. Your undeserved remembrance of me and warm affection will forever remain in my memory. I am also eternally grateful for the love and affection that you have shown toward my mother and other family members. You are a greatly munificent and compassionate soul---a genuine representative of the Supreme Lord in a world riddled with hypocrisy and dishonesty. Each day, here in the West, I am confronted with such a lack of interest in the truly meaningful things in life, and an ever-burgeoning indifference or resentment toward God and His Eternal Servitors. However, this only serves, by contrast, to make me realise the greatness and unique position of a pure devotee such as yourself, and my good fortune to have been rescued by you from a similar fate. I am forever indebted to you, and Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha-Nayananatha who brought me to you so many years ago in Kolkata. You will always r...

For the last two days, I was thinking with regret to Gurudev that I'm too much attached to my mind (thinking about this or that, speculation, imagination ... even imagination about Krishna etc.) and instead my mind should go to Krishna and what should I do? Today after He watered Tulsi He all-knowingly and smilingly looked at me and said : "How are you? Any difficulty?" I also smiled and only indicated by gesturing with my fingers that I had some little difficulty. Gurudev smiled and said, "You should always think of Supreme Lord. He will rescue us, isn't it? jalaja nava laksani sthavara laksa vimsati krmayo rudra-sankhyakah paksinam dasa laksanam trimsal laksani pasavah catur laksani manusah (There are 900,000 kinds of aquatics, 2,000,000 kinds of trees and plants, 1,100,000 kinds of insects and reptiles, 1,000,000 kinds of birds, 3,000,000 kinds of four-legged beasts, and 400,000 kinds of human species) Human birth is small in number and we can wor...

When our mother was in the last stages of her life, the doctors in Ludhiana had suggested we cease treatment; there was no hope. We thought that now that Gurujī is in Ludhiana, it is good if we take her for his darśana and we took her in the van to the temple. When we went up and spoke to Guru Mahārāja about our mother, he asked, “Can I get darśana of Matajī?” We had brought our mother for Gurudeva’s darśana but when Gurujī spoke like this, I bowed my head down to his lotus feet seeing his humbleness. What more can be said about his compassion?  He came down from the top floor to the ground floor to give darśana to Matajī. He chanted Narasiṃha-mantra before her and gave tulasī leaf in her mouth and his blessings too. In this way I saw Gurujī’s boundless compassion and humility. —Puruṣottama Dāsa Sekhari, (Punjab) translated from Sri Krishna Chaitanya Sandesh, July-Oct, 1997

After his North American tour, Guruji returned to Delhi on the 16th of July. There was a grand welcome for him in a spacious well-decorated assembly. Delhi’s respectable personalities were invited amongst whom was Sri Satish Chandra Khandelwal MLA Delhi and respectable Sri Ramamurthi Chief Justice of High Court, Delhi. On the 23rd of July Guruji left New Delhi for Kolkata. Many devotees went to the Airport to see him off.  I also went. All devotees bade farewell to Guruji by Nama Sankirtan and then Guruji and one of his sevaks entered into the Entry gate. The flight was at 7 o’clock and Guruji entered at 6:10. By 6:30 half of the devotees left for math by their vehicles and half of the devotees remained there in case any service is needed before the flight takes off. Suddenly around 6:40,  I saw Guruji standing at the entry gate of the Airport and looking at us with affectionate eyes and with a smiling face. We all ran and did pranams to him. Guruji was looking at us, ble...

Suchitara told that she was once in the math with her mother. That time her exams were also going on. Guruji asked her if she would sit for Harikatha before he was about to start speaking. She replied telling him she needed to go home to study for her exam. Again, Guruji said, "You should sit for katha." So, then she and her mother both sat then. When they reached home, they saw that the neighbor's cylinder had exploded in a location that was attached to their own kitchen. They knew immediately that Guruji had been aware of this incident when he repeated for them to stay. They could understand that Guruji must have known and stopped them as a way of protecting them from injury. —Sakshi Ratna (sent on behalf of Suchitara Sengupta)

So many devotees came to attend the 2012 appearance anniversary of Gurudev.  First, we came to Kolkata and Guru Mahārāj was here.  We offered prostrated obeisances to him. Guru Mahārāj asked, “Why are you going today? I told, "My tickets are booked, I have to go back." So, then we took a taxi and went to the station.  After that, we heard an announcement  that the train is delayed by one day and we would have to go the next day.  We came back to the maṭh. Guru Mahārāj said, “You lost so much money, you had to go to the station and come back.  Shall I give you some money?” We told, "Guru Maharaj, “Everything is yours.” So many devotees came, and to each and every devotee, he told, "You take some money, you take some money."  He showed so much affection to each and everyone and knows everything before it even happens. -Sharmaji, Delhi

One time we went for preaching in Assam. There was one disciple of Prabhupada, Madhavananada Vrajavasi, along with Krishnaballabh Brahmachari, myself, Narottam Das, and another one younger than us named Kanai Bramhachari. 
 We were in Sarbhog for preaching and there was heavy rain for five days and no sun was seen at all, so we were unable to go out. Krishnaballabh Brahmachari (later Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj) used to cook for the devotees over there. Everybody used to like his cooking. That day he cooked something delicious with potatoes only. It was raining heavily, so we could not go outside to purchase vegetables. There were only potatoes in the math. 
 He was expert, because the qualities of Vaishnavas is they are expert in anything and everything— whatever is related to the service of Vaishnavs. So he was expert in so many different ways to serve the lotus feet of Vaishnavas. 
He was very grave in hearing Harikatha and speaking srauta vani and always engaged him...

In 1986 when I was a college student, I went to our Agartala temple at noon. Guru Maharaj was there for Ratha Yatra festival and was available in His room. He was alone, chanting Hari Nam. When I entered His room without permission, I thought I may have disturbed Him, making an offense, but at the same time, I could not resist myself to have his darshan and see His calm, mild smile and feel his presence as a parent, guardian, well-wisher, and true friend—a real master of life. In my childhood age, I called Him "Baba," which means father. When He saw me, he accepted me immediately as a son with a smile, with love and affection. He started Harikatha and at the end told me, "No fish can survive without water, as Guru Maharaj cannot stay without Hari Kirtan." This is still alive in my memory. Since my childhood and until today I have realized my life depends on Srila Gurudev for support when I am in danger or any sorts of problems. —Gautam Bhowmik

In the summer of 1991, when I was still a young girl, I made my first memorable trip to India with my older sister Rukmini Devi dasi, and my late mother, Smt. Devamayi Devi dasi. We almost immediately went to Jagannath Puri with our mother's Pishi, the late Smt. Aruna Didi, a dear and loving disciple of Srila Gurudev, Sri Srimad Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj, and her friend LakkhiDi. It was on Jagannath Puri Ratha Yatra Parikrama that I first got real darshan of both Srila Gurudev Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj and Srila Guru Maharaj Sri Srimad Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami. (I try to respectfully refer to Srimad Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami as “Srila Guru Maharaj” and Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj as “Srila Gurudev”.) I still remember Srila Gurudev, Srila Guru Maharaj, and Sri Srimad Bhakti Kumud Santa Maharaj all sitting together, very affectionately, doing very enthusiastic kirtan in Gundicha Mandir’s courtyard. It almost seems like a dream now. My father, Ras...