Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

Śrīla Gurudev's departure was a painful loss not only to Sree Chaitanya Gauḍīya Maṭh but to all Gauḍīya organizations worldwide. He inspired unity among all, both in an official capacity as President of the World Vaiṣṇava Association for 18 years (1999-2017) and with his perfect example of personal and sincere affection towards all devotees, completely free of any kind of bias .  If anyone spoke ill words about a devotee he became upset and said he did not wish to hear it. As an example of this, his disciples narrate one incident that occurred when someone was complaining to him about corruption within a particular devotee organization, saying they are causing offense. Guru Mahārāj responded by telling him that when he has those kinds of feelings or thoughts the best thing to do is leave there right away in order to avoid exposing them to his own offensive mentality.  The following letters were offered after Śrīla Gurudev's disappearance. They were selected from the archi...

I met Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaja many times around the world when he was traveling in the late 1990's and early 2000's. Some of the places I met him were San Francisco, Russia, Singapore, and UK. I consider His Divine Grace to be one of the most exalted sanyassis of the modern era who distributed the vani of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu throughout the world. He is also one of the most profound kirtaniyas of Gaura kirtan. When he led kirtan with hundreds of devotees, He was like a volcano of divine energy. His lectures were always full of perfect siddhantic authority and profound realization, utterly heart captivating. I feel so blessed to have had his divine association and I consider him to be one of my prominent siksa gurus. All glories to His effulgent Lotus Feet. —Sripad Bhaktivedanta Padmanabha Maharaj, USA (disciple of Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad, siksa disciple of Srila Bhakti Rakshak Shridar Goswami Maharaj and sanyass disciple of Srila B...

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 ...

22 April 2017 My dear respected Sri Srimad Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaja, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to His Divine Grace Bhakti Dayita Madhava Maharaja. All glories to His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada Thakur. All glories to your spiritual uncle and my diksa guru His Divine Grace Abhayacaranaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. My good fortune was when I stayed at the Sree Caitanya Gaudiya Matha in Kolkata and you helped me adjust, finding me a sitting place based on my initiation date. You took me to meet Bhakti Dayita Madhava Maharaja and he told you to take care of me. Since then in 1970, I was connected with you. Soon after that, I was given the sannyasa order by my diksa guru, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who in 1977, created the Bhaktivedanta Swami Charity Trust and in which your guru, His Divine Grace Bhakti Dayita Madhava Maharaja, was made one of the trustees. When His Divine Grace Bhakti ...