Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

Today is the Viraha Mahotsav of our Most Revered Śrīla Guru Mahārāja. Śrī Mādana Prabhu, (personal sevāk of Śrīla Param Gurudev), explained the meaning of the word viraha . It is made up of two words: vi and raha (in hindi, visesha rupa se rehena ) meaning to reside in a very special way. We understand viraha as separation from someone, to remain far away from someone. But in the spiritual description, it means to reside very close to our worshipable object in a very special way. As described in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta , vaiṣṇavas experience great bliss in viraha . We had the good fortune of witnessing the viraha pastimes of Guru Mahārāja during his manifest pastimes in this material world. We have seen how our Gurudev has intimately served his Gurudev in the mood of guru-gata-prana , with great dedication. We have also witnessed how he would weep in separation from his Gurudev. When he entered Param Gurudev's bhajan kuṭīra , he would express his feelings of separation a...

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 viraha-tithi of our Most Worshipable Guru Mahārāj. Guru Mahārāj used to say if Gurudev enacts the pastimes of disappearance it is to enhance the separation grief of his disciples.  This applies to only his real disciples.  We never thought or imagined that we will have to live without his darśan .  In his presence, we never felt when it was day or when night, how the days, fortnights, months, or years passed in the past thirty-five years.  Though I could not even externally take real association of Guru Mahārāj, his association was such that just after returning home from attending one program with him I would plan for the next program, whether it be in Punjab, Orissa, Bengal, or Maharashtra.  Wherever Guru Mahārāj went, I cannot say I went, but Gurudev's mercy attracted and pulled me to him. Only by his mercy can a householder, materialist, wicked, greedy for name and fame, egoist like me understand and adorn Gurudev and his words in his heart? ...

We are all connected with our Spiritual Master or our spiritual father and our hidden feelings come out more on this viraha-tithi to show that we are connected because all our hidden feelings come out. Maybe those feelings are eclipsed by our environment, but they are very strong inside us. Who can ever think that our Guru Mahārāj is not there? 

Guru-tattva is very subtle, very intricate. Guru-tattva is manifested in your feelings, in your thoughts, and in your expressions; we can feel this is guru-tattva .  Sometimes it comes to my mind why is it that we could not realize Gurudev's tattva when we were with him. He was so simple, so gentle, so soft, and so encouraging. Our Padmanābha Mahārāj said Gurudev will like to remove the fear of the disciple so that a disciple can express his thoughts. Guru Mahārāj makes us fearless when speaking out our hearts to him. And sometimes we become assured that we can say whatever we want to him.

 I remember traveling with Guru Mahārāj ...

We cry for this material world, but not a single tear will appear in our eyes for the Lord. Yet our Guru Mahārāja exhibited extreme viraha (separation grief) from his most beloved Gurudev and manifested various stages of bhava , and the highest stage of prema vipralambha (love in separation). He gave us a glimpse of all those varieties of bhava , bhakti , and prema in the transcendental world. Although he is the eternal personal associate of the Lord, he practiced every limb of sādhana - bhakti to teach us all. As sādhana is meant for those in the conditioned state, what is the need of it for a perfected soul? But by staying amongst us and demonstrating the highest standard of sādhana-bhakti , he abided by all the rules and regulations perfectly in order to instruct us. He also exhibited the varieties of bhava which manifested spontaneously in his divine body during his kirtan pastimes which the fortunate amongst us have witnessed. I had heard from Śrī Amarendra Prabhu that ...

When Śrīla Guru Mahārāja's final pastimes were manifest I was very fortunate to be there and got the sevā of bringing medicines, coordinating things, etc.  Eight days before he entered into mahā-samādhi things were getting more and more critical and many devotees had gathered in the Kolkata Maṭh. I got a very strong feeling that we must do kīrtan , and so did some devotees like Rasbihari Prabhu and our Gaurasundar Prabhu from England, but somehow it was not appreciated, some thought it would disturb Guru Mahārāj. So we just sat a little bit to the back of the balcony, not too close to Guru Mahārāj, and started maṅgalācaraṇa prayers there and started the kīrtan on a low volume, and gradually more and more devotees joined and the kīrtan slowly grew.  Once the kīrtan started it never stopped and it went on for eight days, day and night. Śrīla Bhakti Niketan Turyāśramī Mahārāj, who is one of the senior-most god-brothers of Guru Mahārāj also consented.  Devotees who wit...

Gurudev was a living example of guru-gata-pran : he stuck to his Gurudev's instructions and simply endeavored to carry them out regardless of the results or whether anyone supported them or not. The scriptural dictum ājñā gurūṇāṁ hy avicāraṇīyā  [the order of the spiritual master must be obeyed without consideration] finds its actual meaning in the life of our Guru Mahārāja. That made our Param Gurudev Śrīmad Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāja utter that "Among my innumerable disciples the one who is dearest to my heart is Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj."  He followed the orders of his Gurudev so perfectly, without the least deviation of even an inch from what was expected. He would always say it is the standing order of my Gurudev and by his ideal conduct, he demonstrated that this standing order has to be followed at any cost. There are umpteen instances that prove his guru-gata prana and one of them is when he followed the order of Śrīla Param Gurudev ...

When we decided that we will celebrate Rāmanavamī festival in Kolkata, we did not tell Gurudev about this in advance. While he was sitting in his room, a few godbrothers entered carrying a plate with garlands, chandan (sandalwood), flowers, incense, and a lamp. We saw that Gurudev was writing something. He looked up and asked, "What is this?" "Today is Rāmanavamī." we replied. "Yes," he said, "Rāmanavamī. Perform worship of Śrī Rāmachandra." We told him, "No, we want to worship you— today is your āvirbhāv !" He said, "Who said it is my āvirbhāv ? My birthday?" We explained, "Pujyapad Nitya Gopal Prabhu told us today is your āvirbhāv ." He said, "No, no! Do not perform my worship— worship my Gurudev. If you worship my Gurudev, then my worship is done." We said, "You will perform your Gurudev's worship, and whom shall we worship? And Śrīla Gurudev ordered, "We shall worship our Gurudev."...

On Caitra Krsna Navami (9th day of the dark fortnight of the lunar month Caitra), April 20, 2017, Thursday, 10:15 PM, at the onset of the 7th day of non-stop sankirtan, and while his favorite kirtana ‘Radha Kunda Tata’ was being sung, Srila Gurudeva entered into the eternal pastimes (nitya-lila) of Sri Sri Radha- Govinda. The time of his entrance into the nitya-lila is very significant, as it corresponds to the passage of time from the 7th to the 8th period of the day, i.e. the time of transition from prema-viprambha (love in separation) to prema-sambhoga (love in union). When separation becomes unbearable then union is imminent, and the union that comes after separation is delightful. Over the years, devotees witnessed Srila Gurudeva’s desperate cries motivated by separation from his divine master but now, to his delight, he is reunited with his divine master in his eternal pastimes. 
 On the other hand, Srila Gurudeva’s dear disciples and his loved ones in this world were left in a s...

Srila Gurudeva’s disappearance pastime has shown me how the transcendental sound of mantra can connect us with Srila Gurudev and how happy he is when we singing Maha Mantra and Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur's songs for his satisfaction. Since last January I felt so much pain in my body and strong desire to move to Kolkata and spend more time with Srila Gurudev. This pain was only increasing, I was crying and one week before his health problems began, I had just wanted to leave my job. Already I had talked with my boss and coworkers that I am wasting my time in the job and will go to India where I can do the eternal job. I was surprised by what is going on with me and could not control my mind, my speech. I had no fear but complete trust that I am doing right. That time I did not know what is Krishna's desire for Srila Gurudev regarding his apparent health problems. Then I got information about Gurudeva's heart condition and I prayed for his darsan. By his mercy, everything...

2017 was the first year I attended Vyasa Puja without having any idea that this would be the last opportunity while Srila Gurudeva was still physically present with us here. On 93rd Vyasa Puja of Srila Gurudev, we stayed in Kolkata Math for one full week from 3rd April 2017 to 10th April. It was a very happy and joyous time with math buzzing with devotees. The Days filled with soulful kirtans by devotees and Harikathas from Guruvarga and was very memorable in the association of hundreds of godbrothers and godsisters. It was all by His blessings only that we had darsan of Gurudev's Vyasa Puja, got a chance to offers flowers and pranams at His Divine Lotus Feet, got charanamrta, and participated in the grand celebrations that was observed in the Math and Uttama Manch auditorium, heard glories of Gurudev to heart's content, also advice from guru-varga on sadhan-bhajan. Staying for 4-5 days after Vyasa Puja and taking Gurudev's darsan daily morning and evening, returned ...