Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

Mahārāj has a very, very strong dedication to Śrī Guru within him. There are many instances of this when we were trying to recover Sri Prabhupāda's janmasthān in Purī. Many tenants were there and some of them had developed enmity towards us. Sometimes they used to trouble us very much by making fun of us and by eating fish and throwing bits of fish into our rooms.  One time Guru Mahārāj [Śrīmad Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāja] had come to Purī. We were all coming from somewhere to the place where our maṭha now stands. One tenant came in front of Guru Mahārāj with a plate full of onion fries and expressing artificial humility said, “Mahārājī, I am very poor, I cannot serve you properly, please mercifully accept these few fries I have brought for you.” He did this even though he was fully aware of the fact that we do not eat onions; he did this with the intention to make fun of us. Gurujī glanced at the plate he was holding and hearing his words, answered smilingly, “You kno...

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...

It is very clear by observing Guru Mahārāj's activities that he has a great longing to help deliver lost souls. He demonstrates this in all his actions including his responsibilities related to the management of the maṭha, his careful and timely replies to all the devotee's letters, and writing articles for the Bangla Monthly magazine Śrī Caitanya Vani. In addition to that, he accepted great austerities while preaching in Punjab and other places where he was speaking hari-kathā up to seven times a day. We cannot see this kind of tolerance and dedication elsewhere, in anyone else. Once Śrīla Guru Mahārāj took his pracāra party to Assam and we were returning by Kamarupa Express to Kolkata. While nearing the Bangla-Assam border, I listened astonishingly to Śrī Ananta Prabhu narrate an instance from the previous year. He said that this Assam-Bangla border is very dangerous; a deserted area where if a train does not arrive at the scheduled time, dacoits come inside the trains and ro...

I had never seen Guruji lose his temper. To even an ineligible fallen disciple like me, Guruji inspires me to become good through his love and affection, just like Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did. Most of the time, Guruji would not get to eat and take rest at night, but we have never seen Guruji is disturbed because of that. Many times he had no time for rest also. One would find him all the time engaged in loving conversations with any person, disciple or householder devotee who came to meet him without bothering about his own needs, body, or health. Whenever someone prayerfully requested to Guruji that he needed to take rest, and how essential that was, he would always say that it would be good if life air leaves the body while speaking Harikatha. He would further say that it is good that people always engage him in speaking Harikatha. It was like this for Harinam, Sankirtan, and during prachar, Guruji went from village to village, town to town, and bore various types of difficulties....

One time the deities of Gokul Mahavan math were damaged by miscreants who were later caught.   Those people were waiting to be given punishment. Tridandi Swami Sadhu Maharaj was an eye-witness to the incident.    I observed all senior sadhus pressurizing Sadhu Maharaj to give witness in the court to make sure the miscreants were punished.   I myself was also favoring this stance strongly.    It was during that time that I saw Sadhu Maharaj’s saintly quality and his faith in Acharya Deva (Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj) and was very much surprised.   Sadhu Maharaj took his bag and went straight to Acharya Deva at Rajapura to take his advice.   When he met Srila Acharya Deva in Rajapura, coincidentally I was also present in Srila Maharaj’s room.    In reply to Sadhu Maharaj’s question about whether we have to proceed with the punishment, Srila Acharya Deva was referring to verses from Sri Chaitanya Charitamrta ...

The effect of Srila Gurudev’s sound is unlike anything I have ever heard. Even today when a recording of the same mangalacharan prayers is being played, there is a deep kind of seriousness that is conveyed. That sound is out of the world.   In fact, I remember there was one senior sanyassi, a disciple of Srila Bhakti Pramod Puri Goswami Maharaj told us about when Srila Gurudev was going on Kshetra mandal and Vraj mandal parikrama. He said when our Guru Maharaj describes anything in Vraj mandal—about the place, about the pastimes; it appears as if he is giving live commentary.   He is seeing it and he is telling us what he sees in reality. I have practically experienced the difference in the speech of Gurudev and how it affects me—completely different than when I hear from others.   If I am calling out the holy names or repeating pastimes that we have heard, or singing mangalacharan, it is not at all the same feeling than when we hear from Guru Maharaj. ...

granthera ārambhe kari ‘maṅgalācaraṇa’ guru, vaiṣṇava, bhagavān, — tinera smaraṇa When you remember Gurudev, Vaishnavas and the Lord all the obstacles in the path of devotional practice will be removed and your spiritual desire will be fulfilled. When Guru Vaishnav Bhagavan are pleased with you, your spiritual desires will be fulfilled. First, we have to understand who is guru, what is guru tattva—ontological aspect of guru. Gurudev is Lord’s own person, his associate. Acharya mam vijaniyan —Lord says know Gurudev as Me, I am in the form of Gurudev. So do not see Gurudev from outside (externally) as bones and flesh. One is external appearance—we are seeing with these eyes, and the other is internal, seeing him from the atma. That is the real darshan. You see Gurudev from outside and actually see Gurudev from inside. You follow Gurudev by ears, you hear his Harikatha, his instructions from ears and it enters into the heart and you hold those instructions in your heart....

After exchanging letters several times, my beloved spiritual master, Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, gave me the instruction to preach in Singapore. For decades since then, one question was burning in my heart: How can I preach nicely? What should be our motivation when we preach? What is real preaching? When I went to meet Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj in Punjab, the only thing I had in my mind was how I wanted to ask him those questions. Devotees were discussing the latest events in the math. A sevak of Srila Gurudev had left his service, and some devotees were commenting about how that was good because they thought he had done some wrong things. When I entered his bhajan kutir, another devotee was asking Srila Gurudev why that sevak had left. He replied with genuine humility: "It is not his fault. I have done some wrong, that's why he left." At that very moment, before I could even ask, my question evaporated. It was answered by this one act of...

Once Srila Guru Maharaj addressed one brahmachari by name and asked him to sing a particular kirtan, but surprisingly that brahmachari sat quietly without doing what he asked. So I thought he did not hear Guruji’s instructions.   I took his name and told him, “Prabhuji Guru Maharaj is asking you to sing this particular kirtan.”    He murmured in anger that Maharaj does not think which kirtan to be sung in which place.   He started a kirtan of his own choice.   Then I told him, “Prabhuji, Maharaj has asked you to sing this particular kirtan.”   Then in great anger he said take this mike and you sing the kirtan.   I was dumb-struck and did not know what to do.    After some time, the same kirtan which he had not started, he sang.   Srila Guru Maharaj, in spite of seeing the whole happening, acted as though he did not hear or see anything and as if nothing has happened. He got immersed in singing the kirtan.   It came to my mind...

If I would have to name five teachings of Srila Guru-Maharaj I value the most, then one of them would be his teaching of akhanda-guru-tattva, especially in relation to Srila Rupa Goswami. Akhanda-guru-tattva means that Sri Guru is always unlimited and comes to us not only in one, but in unlimited forms. Guru is not limited to our diksa Guru. Our most important Guru may not be our diksa Guru, but a siksa Guru. In one lecture, Srila Gurudev explained, that although Srila Narottam Das Thakura’s Guru was Lokanath Goswami, in his “Sri Rupa Manjari Pada”, he reveals that his eternal Guru is Srila Rupa Goswami, who is Sri Rupa Manjari in Krishna-lila. The way Srila Guru-Maharaj was relating this topic felt as if he was indicating his disciples to follow in the footsteps of Narottam Das Thakur. This teaching entered deep into my heart and I was thirsting to at least hear more about realization of such akhanda-guru-tattva. Then, in 2011, I planned to shortly go to Malaysia to get a new v...

Dear Vaishnavas of Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Matha, Please accept our humble obeisances! All glories to Sri-Sri Guru and Gauranga! With deep grief the Vaishnavas of Russian ISKCON accepted the news about the departure of such a distinguished acharya, Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaja. He was, by right, one of the most outstanding Vaishnavas among the second generation of the disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura. Together with the Vaishnavas of the Math, we are sad and thankful to God for the opportunity to get His endless mercy through the servants of His holy name. The Russian land once was blessed by the visit of Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaja who amazed everyone who was lucky to meet him by his humility, sincerity, and purity. His life and his departure once again remind us about the all-uniting nature of Lord Chaitanya's message, of how much today's materialistic society needs the knowledge about the Personality of Godhead, immortality of the ...

The following observations and divine incidents related to Srila Gurudeva's sickness pastimes in Guwahati, 2013 were noted by Prahlad Das and sent out to those on the mailing list. We have compiled them here: ---- atah sri krishna namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuratyadah The pastimes of Supreme Lord and His dear associates are beyond the comprehension of a material mind. But only to a surrendered soul performing loving devotional service, They are revealed. Pure devotees descend from the Lord's Abode by Their own will and perform many extraordinary and seemingly ordinary pastimes. In the course of their every activity,  they instruct and inspire the souls of the world diseased with material vanity to perform loving devotional service to the Supreme Lord. But by playing the special pastimes of sickness they intensify the mood of loving exchange of surrendered disciples. Srila Gurudev spoke volumes and enchanted many, especia...

It was with Gurudeva that I first had a very powerful experience of what sabda-brahma is. Although I did not have the fortune of participating in any of Gurudeva's kirtans, I got to hear him pray to Param-Gurudeva and our previous Acaryas in Param-Gurudeva's Bhajan kutir. His simple uttering of the names of Param-Gurudeva and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada in separation was the most powerful kirtan I have ever heard in my life, and I have been in many wonderful kirtans. I have read and heard from the Caitanya Caritamrta about the devotional ecstasies of Sri Gaurangadeva and his devotees, and Srila Gurudeva actually displayed these intense ecstasies of separation and captured my heart with his intense love for Param Gurudeva. Another interaction with Gurudeva that I cherish deeply in my heart is from when I had his darsana at the hospital in Guwahati. I was allowed to see Gurudeva face to face and, although his eyes were closed, he sent an overwhelming wave of a...

The main thing about my whole experience of Parikrama with Guru Maharaj was the very high intensity of Gurudeva while loudly chanting Sankirtan and the way he would explain everything in very simplified terms. All sorts of people used to come in Parikrama – people from North India, Mumbai, Bengal, Assam, South India; there were people who were well educated and qualified, people who were from rural village backgrounds, and old ladies. All kinds of people were there, but I felt all were feeling spontaneous attraction for Gurudeva equally, irrespective of their bodies and backgrounds. Guru Maharaj always said, "You are acting as a Guru because you are sitting in front of me, and that is forcing me to think about Mahaprabhu and speak. That is what my Guru Maharaj ordered, and you are facilitating that – this is Guru Karya. Guru Karya means the work of Guru which you are doing.” I also have heard on Ramnavami day that Guru Maharaj would say, "Shishyas also act as Guru, bec...

Many devotees spoke the glories of Gurudeva. Guru Mahārāja is not an ordinary person.  Whatever qualities are told in the scriptures, all of them are manifest in Guru Mahārāja. I am too young to realize who or what a sādhu is, but in spite of that, Guru Mahārāja gave me some mercy to see some of those qualities in him. I heard one particular incident of Guru Mahārāja that resonated with me. Guru Mahārāja was in court, and so many discussions were going on, so many people were abusing Guru Mahārāja. But Guru Mahārāja answered very softly no matter what they yelled at him. Guru Mahārāja came back and it was time for prasād. He said that some more devotees are coming, so please reserve some prasād for them. These were the persons who were abusing Guru Mahārāja in the court. I realized that even for those persons who were abusing him, he had so much love and affection for them that he reserved prasād for them. He is Ajātaśatru, one who has no enemies.  —Rukmiṇī Dāsi

The following incident occurred at a time when there was a lot of terrorism in Punjab. As a result of this unrest, many public programs were discontinued or their timings were changed. Gurujī never discontinued any of his preaching programs, although he might have changed the schedule. Gurujī was about to come to Chandigarh by train. One brahmacārī in the maṭha knew some police persons and arranged for police security in the maṭha and at the station for Gurujī’s arrival. Many devotees used to go to receive Gurujī at the station. As soon as he got down from the train, he was surprised to see the police arrangement and asked whether any VIP was arriving. When he was told that the security was for him, his face which usually wore a soft and beautiful smile became very grave but he did not want to disrupt the enthusiasm of the organizers also. He took them aside to speak to them. "We should have faith in the Supreme Lord. I left my house with a firm faith that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is our pr...

After our Guru Mahārāja disappeared, Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāja served the maṭha untiringly and did not let the mission deviate an iota from pure devotional principles.  We had seen Mahārāja doing kirtan at a stretch for 2 to 3 hours while performing nagara- saṅkīrtana . Whenever we traveled even for a short distance, we needed a car, but Tirtha Mahārāja would go barefoot.  On the way to Narasiṃhapali, just after the area inhabited by the Muslims, there lies a banyan tree where it is nearly impossible to place one's  foot on the street due to the burning heat. Others got blisters under their feet, but Mahārāja came there barefoot.  We started wondering where his kharam (wooden slippers) were. I asked Mahārāja to wear his pair of kharam , but he would not.  One would want to go by car in that scorching heat, but Śrīla Tirtha Mahārāja arrived there barefoot. In such a state, he was performing such an amazing  kīrt...

In Gokul, when people of a local political party destroyed the deity of Radha Gokulanandji, Guruji was in Jammu. Parampujyapad Srila Guru Maharaj, Pujyapad Narayan Maharaj, one devotee from Bathinda and I went to a MP (Member of Parliament) in Jammu to discuss this topic. From there, Gurudev went to Gokul. He was very sad and cried incessantly saying, “This has happened because of my offences. Gurudev has given me the responsibility to serve Them. I couldn't do Their service nor could I take care of Them.” Later some devotees consulted an advocate to file a case against the miscreants. The papers were prepared and taken to Guruji for signatures. They told Guruji, "Please sign these papers; we will file a case against those culprits.” Guruji read the papers and tore them into pieces. He told “Have we become eligible to file a case against Vrajvasis? Whatever has happened is due to my offences.” He was very cautious not to offend the Vrajvasis. Where can we find su...