Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

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...

I have witnessed Guru Mahārāj sending money orders to various maṭhs on the appearance and disappearance days of Param Gurudev's god-brothers who have entered nitya-līlā (eternal pastimes) thus offering his respects to them. He would ask me to go and send the money order to Durmuth, the birthplace of Śrīla Bhakti Vicāra Yāyāvara Gosvāmī Mahārāj for his appearance day celebrations. In 2004 Gurujī came to Bathinda for observing Kārtik-vrat. In an act of expanded mercy, he informed us that Param Gurudev's Centenary celebrations also will be observed here and graced us all by his presence for one whole month. During this time he invited Parampūjyapād Bhakti Kaṅkaṇ Āśram Mahārāj, Āchārya of Pūjyapād Bhakti Gaurav Vaikhānasa Mahārāj's maṭh . He called Mahārāj in private and handed over a huge amount to him asking him to please install the deity of Śrīla Vaikhānasa Mahārāj at his samādhi temple in Gonjum, his birthplace (District Ganjam, Orissa). This gesture of Gurudev brought tea...

I used to tell Gurudeva that I had not seen any other Maharaj doing nritya kirtan like him. He would reply that he had learned it from my Gurudeva and from Jajavar Goswami Maharaj, who was next of our Math and also very dear to Param Gurudeva and loves our Gurudeva very much. Guru Maharaj expressed so much feeling for Jajavar Maharaj. He said, "He taught me nritya kirtan."  Also staying in Chaitanya Math there was one Sarangadev Goswami Maharaj, who was also the in charge of the publication department. He used to engage Guru Maharaj. Guru Maharaj was telling that Sarangadev Goswami Maharaj taught him proofreading and printing. —Rasavihari Das, Jammu

Our Guru Maharaj is the incarnate form of Sriman Mahaprabhu’s 3rd sloka of Sri Sikshastakam amanina manadena , not expecting respect for oneself but at the same time giving due respects to others, and this mood of his is unparalleled. Not a trace of desire of respect for himself. We can personally observe these qualities of Guru Maharaj in his day-to-day activities. In Sri Dham Mayapur, ISKCON’s Sri Jayapataka Maharaj submitted to Guruji saying, “Maharaj, you take many devotees to several places during Parikrama while performing sankirtans. So, please come to our place as well.” Guruji accepted his submission. One day Guruji was taking devotees along in Nagar Sankirtan and arrived at Sri Krishna Chandrodaya mandir. Sri Jayapataka Maharaj and math’s other sanyassis and brahmacharis gave a warm welcome to Guruji at the main gate. They expressed great joy on the arrival of Guru Maharaj and blissfully joined the sankirtan. With great respect, Guruji was lead to the Satsang...

Once during Janmashtami I was in Kolkata. Like every year Param Pujyapad Bhakti Kumud Sant Goswami Maharaj came to our math during the festival for prasad and for speaking Harikatha. Climbing the first flight of steps, he sat on the cot next to Param Pujyapad Trivikram Maharaj in his room adjacent to the office room. Pujyapad Janardhan Maharaj indicated to me to inform Guru Maharaj about his arrival. I ran and found Guru Maharaj in his room sitting on a chair and busy in his writing. When I whispered to him, he immediately got up leaving aside whatever he was doing and he told me, “If I do not haste now Srila Sant Maharaj will arrive here right away. I have to go to him.” With quick steps he climbed down the stairs and proceeded to Srila Sant Maharaj’s room. Guruji did shastanga dandavat pranams (prostrated obeisance) to him and stood with folded hands and in humble words spoke to him. He did not sit before him, he remained standing giving due respects to him. When Pujyapa...

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...

Now I am going to tell you about my condition when I first took shelter of the lotus feet of Srila Gurudeva. I was staying with my brother-in-law who was an officer, and I used to go to Calcutta University for study. At my first meeting with Srila Gurudeva, I told him, "I have had an indifference to the world for a long time. I feel that the world is not eternal and that one day, my mother, father, brother, sister, and all others will be gone. All will be over. I become sad by thinking like this and feel like renouncing the world, yet I have lust and a desire to enjoy; therefore I am afraid of the thought of renouncing the world. If I somehow renounce the world but then have to return to it later, friends will make fun of me and people of this world will laugh at me. So now, please tell me, will it be good for me to renounce the material world or not?" In reply, Srila Gurudeva explained to me with great affection, "It is all right. You may lack something, but the Su...

Once in 2005, Śrīla Bhakti Kumuda Śānta Gosvāmī Mahārāja and other vaiṣṇavas were invited to our Māyāpur maṭha. Gurujī went to the main gate to welcome the Guru-varga. There was a crowd of devotees and Gurujī was standing among them. He showed that he is like any other disciple welcoming his Guru-varga.  That day, Gurujī was not seen to be the Ācārya of the maṭha. All the vaiṣṇavas were warmly welcomed and were made to sit on the āsana (seat) spread on the stage. Śrīla Santa Gosvāmī Mahārāja and Śrīla Trivikrama Mahārāja sat on the āsana and told Gurujī to come and sit with them, but Gurudeva sat on the floor facing them. He did not even accept the āsana put for him on the floor.  Gurujī is the Ācārya of our maṭha and is respected by all the revered vaiṣṇavas, but he sat on the floor in front of his Guru-varga just like an ordinary disciple. This is mānaśūnyata, (no desire for respect from others). Whether he gets respect from anyone or not, it doesn't make any difference to ...

Guru Mahārāja [Śrīla Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāja] did not leave us with his intentions written only in his heart. Already during his manifest pastimes, even two years before his disappearance, he declared and broadcast everywhere:  “If I die, or if for some reason any other difficulty occurs, Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Mahārāja shall sit in my position. I am seating him as my successor. No one can have any objection to this.” As Guru Mahārāja is antaryāmī (inward-knower), having received Prabhupāda's mercy, he also foresaw that in his absence, Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāja would have no difficulty running the maṭha. For this reason, Guru Mahārāja declared Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāja as the next Ācārya before his own departure. When our Gurudeva disappeared, dark clouds in the form of adversities or misunderstanding were cast over the maṭha, but the way that Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāja has preserved Śrīla Guru Mahārāja’s vani (instructions) is beyond words. We have been with him and witnessed t...

Once when we came to Kolkata, we saw Gurujī performing ecstatic kirtana while jumping high in the air. Śrīla Gurudeva was 66 years old at that time.  Param-pūjyapāda Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāja said, “Tirtha Mahārāja is not an ordinary human being. He is the direct associate ( nija-jana ) of the Supreme Lord.” One time I asked Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāja, "You tell one should do sevā of Gurujī, and one should drink the water that washes the lotus feet of Gurujī, but as soon as we go near to him, he gets angry. Once Gurujī went to our guru-bhai Sudhir Kantjī’s house in Bhatinda, He wanted to wash Gurujī’s lotus feet, but Gurujī became very angry." “You will not wash my feet! You should wash my Gurujī’s feet," Gurujī said. So, I asked Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāja what we should do in such situations.  He replied, “You must wash your Gurujī’s feet. When your Gurujī comes and sits in a room then close and lock the door, then take the water utensil in your hand and tell him that Puri Gosvāmī M...

Gurudeva gave his full heart and mind to everything he did. He was very, very alert. I have seen so many times that whenever we used to do parikramā , Guru Mahārāja was dancing and singing and suddenly he stopped to offer daṇḍavat praṇām and said, "One vaiṣṇava is coming."  If even one tridaṇḍī svāmī was seen, even from afar, Guru Mahārāja was always seen bowing down. There was one Rāmanavamī Vyāsa-puja going on in Kolkata Library and Guru Mahārāja was sitting on the vyāsāsana while we were observing puja .  Suddenly, he got up from there and offered daṇḍavat praṇām because there was one senior godbrother, Dāmodara Mahārāja from Kṛṣṇanagar, that had just entered. Seeing this, he left his vyāsāsana and stopped the puja . Sant Gosvāmī Mahārāja always sat on a chair. Guru Mahārāja would never sit on a chair in front of him, he sat on the floor. Whenever I have seen one guru-varga entering Guru Mahārāja’s room, Guru Mahārāja always immediately got up.  —Rasabihārī Dāsa,...

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...