Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

In 1996 during Ratha-yatra time, Śrīla Gurudeva was advised by the doctors not to bend much and to avoid movements (including dancing and kirtanas ) due to a back injury.  At t hat time in Agartala, I personally saw Śrīla Guru Mahārāja bending down to offer full  dandavat pranamas (prostrated obeisance) to the Supreme Lord with great difficulty.    When we objected to his doing this he would say if pranamas were not done before the Supreme Lord then a feeling of pride will remain in the mind.   Morning and evening after arāti-parikramā he would offer pranamas to all v aiṣṇavas along with others.   Also, He could not stop himself from performing dance and kirtana before the ratha . —Śrī Dāmodara Das (Satish Agrawal, New Delhi) Translated from Sri Krishna Chaitanya Sandesh July-Oct, 1997 (Year 17, Issue No.4, Page 42-46)

His [Srila Gurudev Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj] father’s name was Sri Dhirendra Kumar Guhroy and mother’s name was Sudhanshubala Guhroy. His name, given by his father was Kamakhya Charan Guhroy. The personal associates of Supreme Lord descend in human form to rescue the fallen souls in this world. If they come in the form of any demigod then people will request them to fulfill their material desires only and they will not be able to preach the real message of Supreme Lord. That’s the reason they come in human form. Srila Tirtha Goswami Maharaj also came to deliver the sublime message of devotion to the Lord. From childhood itself, he was always staying absorbed in trance. We cannot understand that state. Sometimes when his relatives used to tell him, “It’s the time for you to go to school; will you not get ready to go?” Then he would say, “Oh, yes I will.” And he used to go wearing one footwear of someone else’s and one of his! As he was absorbed in the trance always, he...

One day our Gurumaharaj [Sri Srimad Bhakti Dayita Madhava Goswami Maharaj] came to Mayapur. At that time, three of us were staying together in Srivas Angan—Krishna Prasad Das Brahmachari (Ashram Maharaj), a disciple of Bhakti Vilas Tirth Maharaj named Vrindavan Das (Bhagavat Maharaj), and I. Gurumaharaj was going for preaching and called Krishna Prasad Das Brahmachari to tell him that Krishna Ballabh will also stay with us there. Guru Maharaj instructed me that I should not serve prasad to Krishna Ballabh in pattal (plate made of plant leaves), that he should be served prasad on his steel plate instead. He also said that I should never give him drum-stick in prasad. I asked Krishna Prasad prabhu, "We all take Prasad on a pattal, why does Gurumaharaj tell us not to give him prasad on pattal?" I could not understand the reason for this. We used leaves from banana trees in Mayapur, so why not serve him prasad on those? I could not understand why not. Krishna Prasad prabh...

Once when we were going out for Nagar Sankirtan I witnessed that  it started to rain very heavily—there was a huge downpour. Guruji said maybe Indra does not want us to go outside today. He called Srikant Prabhu and asked him to sing “Kripa karo ham par Shyama sundar hey bhakta vatsal kahalane vale….” As soon as prabhuji finished singing that kirtan the rain stopped and devotees went out on Sankirtan and came back to the math after some time. Then it started raining once again. Devotees have seen another incident like this in Simla. We saw that when Guruji was singing in Nagar sankirtan, there was no rain but rain would follow him from behind. The residents of Simla were surprised to see this and were attracted to him and his kirtans. Later many took Harinam and Diksha from him. Guru Maharaj would give me some money for arrangements of katha and kirtan programs. I  would reply, "No Guruji, all arrangements are made, everything is taken care off",  but Guru Mah...

One time when Srila Gurudev was abroad for preaching activities and to bestow mercy on some fortunate souls there, I had the opportunity to speak to him over the telephone when he was New Jersey.    Gurudev told that the doctors diagnosed a heart problem and gave some allopathic medicines to him.   Those medicines were causing weakness and hence a disturbance for the performance of Nrityakirtans (dancing while performing kirtans).   So he stopped taking allopathic medicines and started on Homeopathic medicines.   After that, he could perform Nrityakirtans.   I am of the opinion that through this Gurudeva instructed me that if any hindrance comes in the way of service to Supreme Lord, then without worrying about this temporary body we have to give up the thing that is causing hindrance. On another occasion, one of our godsister’s health was not good.   Sometimes evil spirits would possess her.   Once when she and her husband wer...

Whenever any question arises in my mind for which I wish to seek an answer from Guru Maharaj, just by sitting in front of him and without having to ask, the answer to the question is often received. Once when Guru Maharaj was in Bhatinda, there was a discussion in our house to ask Guru Maharaj whether his coming to math was by running away from home or was it with the permission of parents.   While thinking so when we reached Guruji’s room we saw that Pandieji and his wife from Jalandhar were sitting.    Pandeji’s wife was crying because their son Bhagavan Das Prabhu had become math-vasi.   As a mother, she felt that  if he stays at home then it is good.   Srila Gurudev convincingly told her that there is no reason for her crying and that he had come for the Supreme Lord’s service only.   He continued, " Even I came to math running away from home," and he told his story in detail. —Partha Sarati Das (Om Prakash Lumba) Chaitanya Sandesh July-...

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...

In the earlier days, Guruji used to come to Dehra Dun twice a year. He would say, "Gangasagar ek baar, Dehra Dun baar baar." It meant that we go to Gangasagar once and to Dehra Dun repeatedly, twice a year— once in Summer and once during winter. It was rare for him to any other math twice, but he went to Dehra Dun because lot of his god-brothers are there and he liked to meet them. At that time, there were not many facilities in the math. They used to get supply tankers for water and it would come late at night. Now it is Gurudev’s mercy that water facility is good but at that time it was like that. One time during the night, at about 2 AM, Guru Maharaj saw that water had come. He wrapped a gamcha (towel) around his waist, and did not wear his khadao (wooden slippers) because they were noisy and he wanted to go quietly. He wanted the devotees to get nice rest without disturbance. He cleaned each of the pots one at a time and without making any noise. He was very care...

The staunch faith that Mahārāja has in Śrī Guru is to a degree that is rarely seen. How one should follow the instruction of one's Gurudeva is seen fully in Śrīla Tīrtha Mahārāja. Once, a young man came to our Kolkata maṭha at Rasbihari Avenue and troubled Bhandari Prabhujī, a devotee who took care of the storehouse. He came after everyone took prasādam in the afternoon and demanded that he be served immediately. He mentioned his whereabouts in Kolkata and told about how his family gives a donation to the maṭha every month.  Prabhujī told him that the prasādam is over and he can come either that night or the next day. But he demanded that he must be served prasādam immediately and started abusing him. Bhandari Prabhu tried to make him understand, but he started debating.  Śrīla Tīrtha Mahārāja, who was secretary of our maṭha at that time, came out of his room when he heard the loud shouts and asked what was the matter. That man continued shouting and complaining. “You ...