Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

Once In Gokul, quite a few maṭhavasis and others left. My job was to do the cooking in the morning and later clean the pots and pans. After maṅgala arāti one day, I saw there was a statue of Ambedkar in front of our temple. He had formed the constitution of India and had come from a lower caste and people of those castes considered him godly and almost worshiped him. They installed the statue of Ambedkar pointing his finger in the direction of the temple. They encroached on the maṭha property when they did this.  Politicians would play their politics and later blame it on somebody else, but they also instigated them. They had planned to disfigure the deities of our temple. They had a meeting in Matura and then another in Gokul. One day when I finished the sevā of washing vessels, I went to take bath. Sādhu Mahārāja and two brahmacārīs were doing kirtan and we found a crowd outside the temple making noise.  I woke up Rādhāpriya Prabhu (Bhakti Svarūpa  Akiñcana M...

Today is the appearance day of Lord Śrī Rāmachandra and Śrīpad Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Mahārāj, Ācārya of All India Sree Caitanya Gauḍīya Maṭh. Appearance Day of both the Lord and His devotee has arisen together today. Singing the glories of Vaiṣṇavas is most beneficial for us.  It liberates the jīvas . Śrīpad Mahārāj did not take initiative to become Ācārya.  He accepted the position of Ācārya to fulfill the desire of his Gurudev.  A long time ago when I was at Goalpara Maṭha in Assam along with Pūjyapāda Mādhava Mahārāj, one of our godsisters asked Pūjyapāda Mādhava Mahārāj, “You are not keeping well. After you, who will perform the duties of Ācārya?  Have you made any arrangements for this?” Pūjyapāda Mādhava Mahārāj smiled and told her, “Yes, I know. I will make perfect arrangements before I go. She asked, "Who will you appoint?" Mahārāj replied, “I will not mention his name now, but the one whom I nominate will be even better than me.” I was also hearing this conv...

On the morning of June 6, 2010, Śrīla Gurudeva told me, "Lord likes children and old people. You should not disrespect them as they are very dear to Lord. Prahlad, Dhruva –they were all small children." That afternoon at the Agartala airport, somehow the sound of a child's cry entered the transcendental ears of our Gurudev from at least twenty feet away from the child in this crowded, busy airport. Śrīla Gurudev asked, "Why is the child crying?" I went and found that the baby's mother has gone to the restroom and he was crying for her. I conveyed the same to Śrīla Gurudev. He said, "Oh, okay. Is there someone to take care of him? I assured him that his father was there, then we started discussing some other topics. Everyone totally forgot about the child and the mother after five minutes except Gurudeva. He remarked, "Looks like the child's mother has come. He is not crying now." I just could not imagine how much Śrīla Gurudev cares and sh...

Our Guru Maharaj used to say that in Assam, in Bengal people are used to eat a lot of leafy vegetables. One day Guru Maharaj was eating one of these. One of his sisters told us that they asked him, "Eh, Khoka!" (Khoka is addressing a small child with love, a nickname.) "What are you eating?" Guru Maharaj did not know what it was called, but only knew that it was a leafy vegetable, so he told her, "I am eating grass."  So simple. Then everyone started laughing at him calling him 'cow cow..'  Actually he was a cow.  A cow is so sweet, so simple.  Guru Maharaj said, "I did not know what to say, I just kept quiet."  This shows his simplicity, even from childhood.   —Sri Bhakti Suhrid Paramadvati Maharaj transcribed from a recording taken on Vyasa puja, 2019 (Sri Dham Mayapur.) As told to Srila Gurudev's sevaks by those who knew him in childhood

Once in wintertime, Guru Maharaj's father gave him an overcoat.  He wore it and went to school. Without checking to see how it looked, he just wore it and went.  When he entered the school everyone started laughing at him, but he couldn't understand why. Actually, the coat he was wearing went down to his knees because it was such a big coat that had belonged to some elder gentleman of the family.  The hands of the coat were drooping, and it was so long. Yet,  Guru Maharaj did not find any fault with that coat.  Everybody was teasing him, asking,  "Eh! What are you wearing?  What is this?"  He simply said, "My father gave me." See how he respected whatever had father had given or anything that anyone has given. He thought, my father has given this, so how can I see any defect in it?  It is out of love that he has given, even though others are laughing.  So simple he was. He had no hostility to anyone right from his childhood. ...

During Summer vacations, all the children in Guru Maharaj 's family came together. They had a big family.  His father had 3 or 4 brothers and their children played there too, with their own family including 8 or 10 children. With all of them together it was like a school in the house, about 30-35 kids representing all different age groups.  With so many children together, it usually means they are going to make some nuisance, some mischief.  During Summer vacations when all children are at home, it is very difficult for parents to control the children. One day after lunch, Guru Maharaj's paternal uncle called all the children to come and sit before him. Then he said, "You should all count backward one by one, starting from a hundred and back to one. After you finish counting you can go to play." Near Guru Maharaj's house there is a pond.  The elders feared that the children will fall in the pond and may hurt themselves.  So this plan was devised in order to...

Srila Gurudev told us about when he was in a college either in Cooch Behar or in Cotton College, Guwahati. While he was there, his roommate spoke roughly to him every day. He was not very senior to Gurudev, only about one year. But Gurudev was such a sadhu that he said nothing. He never spoke ill words towards anyone. Persons who have a tendency to lord over others often speak continuously. When they find a simple person who doesn’t argue, they just keep speaking abusive words and don’t stop. Only if someone argues back, they may shut the mouth. Yet Guru Maharaj never reacted or said a word. Every day, that person continued going on like that. Srila Gurudev told us that one day when his roommate started with this, he extended his cloth forward and told that person, “I am collecting all your abusive words and giving them back to you. I give these back.” On several occasions, Srila Gurudev offered to shift to another room but the roommate would not allow him to do so, probab...

Srila Gurudeva has no enmity towards anybody. We have never seen feelings of hostility towards any human being or towards animals in him.   Whenever Guruji’s assistants put "good night" machine (for killing mosquitoes) in Guruji’s room, he would invariably express his disapproval of it.   He always uses a mosquito net so that not even small insects also face any difficulty. His efforts are always in this regard. One time being troubled very much by cockroach menace I went to Guruji to take advice as to how I can get rid of them without committing sin.  Guruji told me that every action has a reaction and its reaction I have to necessarily suffer.   Guruji then said, “Sprinkle turmeric power and they run away.”    Guruji’s vision itself is merciful, so he does not carry the feeling like this is good, that is bad .   He loves all equally.   —Purushottam Das Sekhari (Punjab) Translated from Sri Krishna Chaitanya Sandesh July-Oct, 1997 (Yea...

This incident happened when Guruji was put up at Sri Haribaba Ashram in Hoshiyarpur, in a big room. One day I went in to offer him pranams, then he told me that there are many ants in the room and so he could not sleep at all. I found that there were not 2-4 or 10, but thousands and thousands of ants forming various lines, as if going in a procession. I got busy in sweeping the ants of Guruji’s bed and was wanting to sprinkle some DDT there. But Guruji objected to it straight away and said by use of DDT they will all die, we should not kill them, we have to just chase them away. Finally I ended up sprinkling some turmeric after clearing off ants from Guruji’s bed. Guru Maharaj does not like to harm even the smallest of the small living entities. —Translated from Sri Krishna Chaitanya Sandesh July-Oct, 1997 (Year 17, Issue No.4, Page 27-39) Sri Krishnananda Dasadhikari (Kuldeep Chopra, Bhatinda)

Afternoons here are very hot these days, and Srila Gurudev will speak the glories of Sun almost everyday. One day in the afternoon after watering Sri Tulsi tree, touching Her leaves and twigs with His soft hands, and offering obeisances to Her, Srila Gurudev glanced mercifully over the balcony upon the passersby. While proceeding towards His room with a smile on His face, He said, "Sun loves all. He is giving light everywhere without charging us." A few days previously He had said, "Don't become angry by seeing Sun. Pay your respects." —Sripad Bhakti Suhrid Paramadavati Maharaj (extracted from archives on SCGM mailing list)

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...

I used to prepare food for Gurudev. So I prepared 2-3 dishes and 2 dishes from Thakurji’s bhog and arranged nicely on a silver plate with small bowls. When I learned how to serve, part of that was to learn how to arrange Thakurji's plate properly—left side some bitter thing, then dal, some sabjis, then dry sabji direct in the plate, salt, lemon, chili—all things to be arranged nicely. I prepared bitter gourd, cucumber, and one leafy vegetable. We prepare according to Guruji’s health requirements. Guruji had some sugar issues, so we give bitter gourd also. I tasted it a bit for salt and found it good. Then I prepared green papaya, cutting it nicely and seasoned with cumin and other spices, and in the end adding some ginger also to give fragrance. I arranged it nicely in Guruji’s plate. whenever I came with plate I had told Guruji he had to leave his writing and get up—otherwise, the food would get cold and not taste good. When I went in with the plate, Guruji was dictatin...

I have seen that many times devotees offer pranami (donation) in hundreds or thousands. In Assam, I have seen poor devotees offering gamcha/dhoti (towel) and one rupee along with it. Guruji first used to touch that one rupee coin on his forehead, then used to say that these devotees are poor and have chosen to give that to me on which their children has the right. He does not see the amount but he sees the mood of the devotee. Where will we find such a Vaishnava who looks at the bhava (degree of devotion) of the devotee and not at the amount! —Krishnanand Das, Punjab

I cannot forget my first darśana of Śrīla Gurudeva. By the mercy of the devotees, I had been attracted by the unalloyed devotion expressed in his kīrtans and books. Before I knew it, I took a train from Vṛndāvana and arrived at the Sree Caitanya Gauḍīya Maṭha in Kolkata.  On the way, I remembered the rule of thumb that the Guru and the disciple should test each other for at least one year before initiation.  After the devotees had introduced me to Śrīla Gurudeva, he looked at me with affection and asked, “Have you taken initiation?”  “No, Mahārāja”, I answered. Guru Mahārāja smiled softly and said, “You should take initiation.” My heart understood; it was racing, and I could not speak. I could hardly believe it. An hour had not yet passed—what to speak of a year—and he had already accepted me. He didn’t give me a second to think. Before my mind could ponder if he is my Guru, he made it clear that I was his.  His immediate acceptance was like an overwhelming a...

I heard this from Sri Bhakti Bhushan Bhagavat Maharaj, in-charge of Tezpur math. When Srila Tirtha Maharaj used to sit for taking prasad, he used to say while crying: "I am so fortunate that I got an opportunity to honor prasad." He used to be so immersed in prema that while having prasad, he used to eat the banana leaf plate as well on which prasadam was served. When Guruji came to know about this, he thought Tirtha Maharaj is "bhola nath" (naive) and thus he appointed a brahmachari to be with Srila Tirtha Maharaj while eating prasad to check that he does not eat banana leaf or else he may fall sick. —B P Mahavir Maharaj (Gurudeva's godbrother and sannyas disciple)

When I first came to the maṭha , the love that I got from Śrīla Gurudeva, in the beginning, was unique because I was such a small child when I came here; I am not sure if anyone else had an experience like mine.   When I came to get harināma from Gurudeva, he asked, "What is your name? And I told him.  Then he asked, "What is your father's name? And, again,  I told his name.  Then he said, "Oh, you are the son of that devotee? Do you want to come to Delhi with me?"  Before Guru Mahārāja had finished giving me harināma , as he was extending the mālā to me, he was telling me to come to Delhi with him. I thought I will miss my home and so I felt like weeping. I thought in my mind, Guru Mahārāja, it is very difficult for me to stay away from my family, so I will stay in Agartala maṭha and serve from there, I will not go anywhere else.  The next morning Guru Mahārāja saw me. I paid obeisances to Guru Mahārāja, and then he asked me, "Is your stomach okay?...

I used to play daily in the veranda. One day I hit a stone and fell down. I could not breathe properly. There were many old women and grandmothers sitting a little far away. I was signaling them, but nobody came. All of the sudden, my mother came there somehow. She came towards me, but suddenly took a turn in another direction because she did not see me. Later she saw me and came to me running. Then she rubbed me and I could breathe properly after that. I understood that even if mother is far from the child she knows about him. Those who were close by did not come to me. I have seen this practically. That relation (mother-child) is very different. She was some where else, but somehow she knew that her child is in trouble. She came running and none of those who were sitting there came. There is a gulf of difference. -- Our grandfather was our enemy (laughing). Whenever we used to play he used to come with a cane in his hand to beat us. One day all of my friends ran away but I could no...