Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

In my boyhood, when I was a small child, I have seen a steamer (boat) there in Brahmaputra river. That boat was coming and going and making a whistling sound. But I have never seen a train. My uncles and other elders were going and crossing the Brahmaputra to go to another place—it takes about 6 or 7 hours to go. From there, they caught the train and went for higher education. After returning they would say, the train is like this... When I heard them, I got the desire to go on a train. I said, "I shall also go, take me! I shall see!" And they showed me a toy train. By seeing that toy train, I was more insistent to go. Then came their rebuke. "Hey!" You're too small, no time...you have to go to school. After matriculation, then. And I was very dejected. No one giving importance to me. I am a small child and no one giving importance. So much I was dejected! And in the night, I was sleeping by the side of the mother. And there were others. One big bedstea...

Srila Gurudev told us about when he was in a college either in Cooch Behar or in Cotton College, Guwahati. While he was there, his roommate spoke roughly to him every day. He was not very senior to Gurudev, only about one year. But Gurudev was such a sadhu that he said nothing. He never spoke ill words towards anyone. Persons who have a tendency to lord over others often speak continuously. When they find a simple person who doesn’t argue, they just keep speaking abusive words and don’t stop. Only if someone argues back, they may shut the mouth. Yet Guru Maharaj never reacted or said a word. Every day, that person continued going on like that. Srila Gurudev told us that one day when his roommate started with this, he extended his cloth forward and told that person, “I am collecting all your abusive words and giving them back to you. I give these back.” On several occasions, Srila Gurudev offered to shift to another room but the roommate would not allow him to do so, probab...

This is a very old incident. I was with Guruji at a preaching engagement in Saharanpur. One day, Guru Maharaj unexpectedly entered my room and said, “What are you doing sitting idle here? We have taken some land in Vrindavan. Shouldn’t there be some construction there?” “What should I do?” I asked. “Go out and collect some donations for that purpose. I have heard that there is a rich lady living nearby who is very charitable. Go and meet her,” said Guruji. I was not a person who would wander about. Hence I did not know who lived where. “Who is the lady that Guru Maharaj mentioned and where does she live?” Then I remembered that Vijay Krishna Prabhu, who was with us, was interested in moving about. He would surely have found out some information about the city. I approached Vijay Krishna Prabhu and conveyed to him what Guruji had told me earlier. I asked if he knew the lady that Guruji was talking about. “Yes. Yes. Why not? I know her house also,” Vijay Krishna Prabhu said. ...

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...

Our Radha Mohan Prabhu was clerk to my uncle who was an advocate (lawyer). When Guruji stayed at his (Radha Mohan Prabhu's) house, I wanted to see him. Sri Radha Mohan Prabhu said, "Guruji is a great saint. Because we worship Radha Krishna and Mahaprabhu at house, all devotees like us. So he is in our house. We also do not eat items that are not offered." So, I went to see Gurudeva. Along with me was my college friend. I listened to Guruji speak there. I did not understand anything that Gurudev spoke. The language (philosophy) was totally new to me. Now I use those words, but at that time I did not know that terminology. I used to wear shoes and have hair on my head. I was a student then. Listening to Gurudeva, I only understood that he is a Krishna Bhakta. I thought, I want Krishna Bhakti, so I'll go. I did not understand anything more than that. Wherever Gurudev went, I followed him. After a few days, Gurudev was supposed to go to another village and a rive...

After I joined math, I got a letter from my father. I asked Guru Maharaj if I can reply. He said, "No. If you reply, you will go home. You will not be able to stay in Math." My heart was floundering. After a few days, I got another letter. My mind got disturbed. I went to Guru Maharaj. He said, "I told you already if you reply, you will not be able to stay here." Some days later, about 32 - 34 persons from my village came there to Hazra Road (Kolkata) in search of me. I was sent by Guru Maharaj to another place. I did not understand the reason at the time. They searched for me, there but did not find me. They made all the arrangements for my marriage. They wanted to take me and get married. Guruji asked one devotee to take me to the station. I was surprised why Guruji wanted me to go all of a sudden. If those persons had seen me, it would have been difficult for me. —Gurudeva's words translated by Prahlad Das (2010)                ...

I used to play daily in the veranda. One day I hit a stone and fell down. I could not breathe properly. There were many old women and grandmothers sitting a little far away. I was signaling them, but nobody came. All of the sudden, my mother came there somehow. She came towards me, but suddenly took a turn in another direction because she did not see me. Later she saw me and came to me running. Then she rubbed me and I could breathe properly after that. I understood that even if mother is far from the child she knows about him. Those who were close by did not come to me. I have seen this practically. That relation (mother-child) is very different. She was some where else, but somehow she knew that her child is in trouble. She came running and none of those who were sitting there came. There is a gulf of difference. -- Our grandfather was our enemy (laughing). Whenever we used to play he used to come with a cane in his hand to beat us. One day all of my friends ran away but I could no...