Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

Suvarna Vihar in Navadvip is a remote, uninhabited place with no villages nearby. If anyone needs to collect alms, they need to go far. Param Gurudeva instructed Gurudeva to stay there when he was a brahmacārī . He was all alone. That place was full of snakes, so no other brahmacārī was willing to stay there. This showed his titikṣava (tolerance). I have personally heard our Śrīla Gurudeva narrate these incidents. At this time our Param Guru Mahārāja was in Śrī Caitanya Maṭh. Suvarna Vihar was, at that time, an almost deserted forest. Gurujī would walk several miles to fetch some rice as alms. In his absence, thieves would come and steal vessels, etc. There was also no availability of firewood for cooking. Gurujī would burn dry banana leaves and somehow prepare kitchari for offering. It is not an easy job to burn banana leaves and Gurujī did not have any prior experience. Whenever he would blow air to burn the fire, all the ash would fly on to his face. When he would sit ...

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...

I  remember one instance relating to how Maharaj accepts the orders of his Guru Maharaj. Srila Prabhupad's disciple, Pujyapad Yogeswara Maharaj, once told about an incident when Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhava Goswami Maharaj told Sripad Tirtha Maharaj to bring to him the Kolkata math’s plan papers. Immediately Maharaj went to the room and came out with few papers in his hand. He handed over the papers to Guruji (Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhava Maharaj) and when Guruji opened the cover, he found that the papers therein were not pertaining to the plans of the temple. By mistake, some other papers had come into his hands. Guruji returned the papers to Maharaj and started chastising. Guruji’s words were so strong that Maharaj started shivering in fear. All the papers in his hand fell down on the ground. Later Yogeshwar Maharaj told Guruji that you chastised him so strongly that he is shivering in fear. In reply, Guruji said we cannot chastise everyone, nor everyone can bear chastiseme...

Most Revered Srila Gurudev, by His causeless mercy, encouraged me and my wife Bosudha Dasi to travel with Him to different places in India on his preaching tour at the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011. After touring North India and Assam we came to Kolkata in Dec. 2010.  At the beginning of January 2011, there was an ongoing discussion among Srila Gurudeva's sevak team whether Srila Gurudev would be going to Chakdaha Jagannath temple for the annual festival or not as it was very cold there at that time. I was also afraid to go because I had just recovered from illness. One day, after Srila Gurudev's Tulsi parikrama, He was going towards His bhajan kutir and looking at my wife He asked her: "We will go to Chakdaha?" My wife responded that it depends on You (Gurudev).  Gurudev smiled and then pointing at me He said: "Everything depends on him (me). We will go?"  I replied that I heard it is cold but that it depends on You (Gurudev).  Then G...

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...

One time Guru Mahārāja (Śrīla Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāja), Gaurāṅga Prabhu, and Tīrtha Mahārāja visited the appearance place of Śrīla Prabhupāda in Puri-dhāma to pay obeisances. Suresh Prabhu and I were also present then. All of us took darśana, paid obeisances, and were about to leave. 
There was a tenant named Nārāyaṇa Sahu who occupied 3-4 rooms upstairs. He used to sell pakoras (a type of fried food) that contained onion. In order to insult Guru Mahārāja, he began to plead with him in Oriya language to accept pakoras from a poor man like him. 
Guru Mahārāja smiled and said, “Nārāyaṇa Sahu knows very well that we don’t eat onions so we can’t accept it.” 
But Nārāyaṇa Sahu continued to plead. When he repeated the third time, Śrīla Tīrtha Mahārāja got very angry and his eyes became wide and turned fiery. He shrieked and chided that person. Whosoever was present got scared on seeing his fearful form and foam was coming out from his mouth on both sides. His entire form becam...

I heard a very heart-touching pastime of Śrīla Guru Mahārāja from Śrī Govinda Dāsa Prabhu, a disciple of Śrīla Bhakti Pramoda Puri Gosvāmī Mahārāja, in August of 2012 at Sree Caitanya Gauḍīya Maṭha in Kolkata. He recounted: “My parents were both disciples of Śrīla Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāja. One day, my mother told me about an amazing pastime of her godbrother, Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja, whom she held in great esteem. Knowing this story, we can have an idea of what a transcendental personality he is. This pastime also reveals what can happen if we receive the pure name from a pure devotee with full surrender and devotion.  Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja took harināma initiation from Śrīla Bhakti Dayita Madhava Gosvāmī Mahārāja in 1948 in the Kolkata Sree Caitanya Gauḍīya Maṭha. That time his name was Śrī Kāmākhyā Charana Guharay (Śrī Kṛṣṇa Ballabh Brahmacārī after mantra-dīkṣā .) After hearing the mahāmantra from the divine lips of h...

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)                ...

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...