Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

My god-brothers have ordered me to speak some glories of Gurudev. Though I do not know anything much about Gurudev, I am still hoping for Gurudev's blessings and mercy and I will attempt to speak.   This evening I was trying to remember my interactions with Gurudev.  By their mercy, vaiṣṇavas engaged me in Gurudev's sevā in 2010. I'd been staying in Vṛndāvan and then Māyāpur, and after Vraja-maṇḍala parikramā in 2010,  I came to Kolkata and was given a place to stay in the library next to Gurudev's bhajan-kuṭīra . Gurudev would come to water Tulasījī every day and go back to his room via the library where many devotees would gather for his darśan .  One day when no one else was around, I offered obeisances to Gurudev.  Then Gurudev's sevāks told Gurudev that I have come from Māyāpur to serve him, I wanted to become his sevāk . Gurudev did not say anything and returned to his room. It was almost a week and I was not given any sevā ; I was waiting.   One...

I got my dīkṣā in Gokul-Mahāvan. Then I went to Chandigarh.  That time Amarendra Prabhu was attending to Guruji's cooking.  Suddenly a thought came in me, I have been doing sādhan for these many years, how can I know I am doing it properly?  And I was thinking about it while doing my chanting late into the night.   Again in the morning, I thought that if I get direct sevā of Guruji today, I will consider my practice going on correctly. I was in the kitchen and suddenly Cidghananda Prabhuji called me and said. “Today you will be cooking for Guruji.” I told him I had never done this service, so I wasn’t sure how. He said, “I do not know, Guruji has selected you.” So remembering Sri Radha Krishna, I prepared bitter gourd curry with khuskhus (poppy seed), very thin, nice roṭīs, and also some khīr . Just when I finished my sandhyā , Guruji requested, “Call Karunamay quickly; today I am feeling very hungry.”  I lost my presence of mind and wondered what inspir...

The year I joined the maṭh , due to some reason Guruji could not come to Vrndavan and I used to wonder when will I have his darshan ?  Fortunately the next year Guruji arrived and stayed in the guest house.  I saw Prananatha Prabhu (now Sripad Tyagi Maharaj ) fanning Guruji and I thought when will I get such fortune to serve Guruji?  Then suddenly Guruji said, "Prananath, give the fan to the new boy who has come," and I felt extremely happy.  He is antaryāmī, not ordinary. Then I fanned him for some time.  Later when I did dandavat-praṇām to him, he said, "Oh! You have come? Very good; you stay now." In my childhood at home, I had darshan of many saints, Guruji among them. He is antaryāmī and so he indicated that the same boy has come.   When Sacinandan Prabhu (now Bhajanonmukh Maharaj) was serving Guruji prasad, I would somehow maneuver myself into his bhajan-kutir and he would say, "Come, come... why feel shy? Come near me." He stroked me on my ba...

Once during Harikatha, Srila Gurudev narrated his own experience from a long time ago.  H e was in Agra with the prachar party. He explained that sometimes they did kirtan in a park near Taj Mahal. Usually when in Agra, Guru Maharaj and the devotees were welcomed by Matura Prasad Agrawal. He was a wealthy gentleman who owned oil mills. He had a lot of faith in Guru Maharaj and extended an open invitation to visit his house for Harikatha and kirtan anytime.   On this particular occasion, Guru Maharaj went to Agra without informing Matura Prasad. When he reached his home, he saw four babajis doing kirtan. Without making his presence known, he left. He went back to the prachar party and told them to put their luggage on a horse cart and go to a dharmsala. In the midst of their moving, Matura Prasad Agrawal saw Guru Maharaj and the devotees from his balcony and came running to him, saying, “Swamiji where are you going? Please come to my house!” Guru Maharaj explained tha...

Once devotees from Punjab requested Guruji to come there.  Then Guruji asked to make arrangements and book tickets after speaking with Srila Bhakti Prasad Puri Goswami Maharaj. In those days it used to be a big trip, some 15 days here, some 10 days there like that, and in total some 2-3 months. One night at 1 o’clock, Guruji came to my room and was waking me up. He said, "Get up, get up." I opened my eyes and saw Guruji.  I paid obeisances all the time thinking I am dreaming that Guruji has come to my room.  Then Guruji told me to go to send a telegram.  It was 1 o’clock night.  I knew one post office from where we can send a telegram. I took cycle from Paresh Prabhu and went. Guruji did not sleep until I came back.  He was doing japa, Harinam in the library balcony.  He was seeing outside every now and then whether I was coming or not and he continued chanting. One policeman stopped me and asked, "Where are you going Pandit ji?"  Seeing ...