Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

By Kṛṣṇa's arrangement during the time of Guru Mahārāja's stay in New York, 1997, Lord Jagannātha decided to go on His annual sojourn through the streets of downtown Manhattan. Mahārāja's party accompanied the procession in a limousine driven by a nice gentleman named Ramesh Patel, who just happened to be a limo driver. At one point, Mahārāja asked from the back seat, "Where is Rasabihari?" "He is up ahead, pilling Lord Jagannātha's cart," Akincana Prabhu said. Mahārāja then asked, "Is it correct to say 'pulling' or 'drawing' in the English language?" "Probably 'pulling' is more appropriate," he answered. Mahārāja chuckled and said, "How can we either pull or draw Lord Jagannātha? Lord Jagannātha acts only according to His own initiative. We have no potency in and of ourselves to do anything, what to speak of compelling God to move. The cart moves by His inconceivable potency, when Lord Jagannātha dec...

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s tolerance was seen as being many times more than the tolerance of a tree during Śrī Navadvip dhāma-parikramā.  Although the road was severely hot from the sun, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj walked with his soft lotus feet on that heated surface as though it was not hot at all while we were lifting our feet up quickly from the pavement and experiencing great difficulty while walking. I was astonished to see Gurujī’s tolerance. Even at an advanced age, he would walk barefoot taking darśana of various holy places and narrating the glories of the pastime places starting from 4 o’clock in the morning until 7 in the evening, often continuing until late in the night. Even after such a long day, he remained in a very peaceful mood. There was no sign of tiredness on the face or any complaints that could be observed. In spite of the devotees' prayers that there could be a vehicle arranged for him, Gurujī always expressed his unwillingness. Similarly,  while wa...

Mahābhāgavats come to encourage us and show us the path that is our only goal. We belonged here from before a time we can remember. Guru Mahārāj joined the Mission in 1947 and up to the time our maṭh was established by Śrīla Param Gurudeva, Guru Mahārāj was staying at Caitanya Maṭh with Param Gurudeva. Guru Mahārāj said we are also originally belonging to Caitanya Maṭh. Our saṅkīrtana party used to sit and take prasād in the open under so many trees. From there we used to go to Śrīvas Angan and then Kazi Samādhi.  Guru Mahārāj was worried about when it was going to become dark as many people could be lost along the way. I remember from Kazi Samādhi that everyone was tired. After prostrating, many were feeling like catching a rickshaw since we had been going on foot the whole day. Then I remember Guru Mahārāj getting up with his tridaṇḍa in hand. He started singing, "Haribol, bolo bhai" and he started running to the maṭh using the fastest stretch from Kazi Samādhi to our ...

I was there in the 1979 Vraja-mandala parikramā that was led by our Most Revered Gurudeva. While we were in Govardhan and my health was not well. Gurudev sent me to the Vṛndāvan maṭh for rest. After resting for a couple days, I rejoined them in Varṣāṇā. I had missed a few darśans and I contacted a paṇḍitjī who told me that he can show all of them in one day. I asked Pūjyapāda Tirtha Goswami Mahārāj, “Mahārāj! Due to my bad health, I missed a few darśans and paṇḍitjī will help me visit those places in a day. Shall I go?” Then Mahārāj told me the importance of sādhu-saṅga. “You see! The benefit of listening and singing the glories of the Lord in the association of devotees is more. There are many saints here, there is hari-kathā and kīrtan, leaving all these you want to go alone to visit those places? Which one is better?”  Mahārāj spoke the supremacy of sādhu-saṅga: sādhu-saṅga’, ‘sādhu-saṅga’-sarva-śāstre kaya lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya —nothing is as powerful as chan...

It was my greatest fortune that Most Revered Gurudev gave me the golden opportunity of allowing me to associate with him during Kārtik from the year 1983 onwards. In 2002 Vraja-mandala parikramā ,  I noted down a few pastimes which I will remember as follows: His Divine Grace Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj reached Vṛndāvana on 14 October 2002 for the month-long Vraja-mandala parikramā . Speaking on the subject "Who will show us Vraja-dhāma ," Śrīla Guru Mahārāji said, "Only a tāttvika-vāsi like Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākur Prabhupāda can give us the knowledge of Vraja-dhāma." Quoting from Śrīla Prabhupād's discourses of the 1932 parikramā of Vraja-mandala,  Śrīla Guru Mahārāj explained the significance of doing circumambulation ( parikramā ) of Vraja-dhāma: "This world is a perverted reflection of the spiritual world. All act as puruṣa and want to enjoy it and lord over others. If we want Śrī Kṛṣṇa to appear in our hearts, we ...

The most difficult part of Vraja-mandala parikramā is Kāmyavana where on every step, sharp thorns would prick us. Gurujī was least disturbed whereas I, walking by his side, was in a very bad condition. Seeing my state, he told, "We do not want to take the holy dust of Vraja, but Lord is very merciful. Through the use of thorns, He is sending the holy dust of Vraj into our bloodstream." This type of vision is an indication of his transcendental quality of tolerance. In any difficult situation, he experiences the Lord’s compassion, which a conditioned soul of this world can never think of. — Śrī Kṛṣṇananda Das  (Bhatinda) Translated from Sri Krishna Chaitanya Sandesh , July-Oct, 1997 (Year 17, Issue No.4, Page 27-39) 

I am speaking my heart. There were many instances like when going on parikramā, he [Śrīla Gurudev Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj] would keep our Gurudeva Bhakti Pramod Puri Gosvāmī  Ṭhākur in the very front and follow him from behind. Not like [a mood of] "I am Ācārya, I go in the front. " I also saw him keep Trivikram Mahārāj in the front and follow him in parikramā. He would give respect to one and all. This is the characteristic of a Vaiṣṇava.  When Mahārāj left the world I felt a big void has been created in the vaiṣṇavatā of the Vaiṣṇava-dharma. Today it is very difficult to find personalities with such qualities. I have seen this in my life. These days the condition is very bad. Nobody respects each other, but I have seen this in my Guru Mahārāj and Tirtha Mahārāj.  Every day Tirtha Mahārāj would visit Guru Mahārāj in his room after sandhyā-ārati and Gurujī would offer him dandavat praṇāms and Tirtha Mahārāj would offer dandavat praṇāms to him. And every day ...

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 ...

Once in our Kolkata Math, a bramhachari did not behave respectfully towards a householder devotee during a festival program, and Srila Tirtha Goswami Maharaj was not pleased with that.  He said: Household devotees come to math for a few days leaving aside all their material duties. They come to associate with the sadhus. It is not appropriate to be disrespectful towards them. If we have an ego that I am a brahmachari, I am a sanyasi, and they are grihastas, then we will not get the grace of the Supreme Lord.  We should give up all types of false ego. Mahaprabhu has instructed: yei bhaje sei bada, abhakta—hina, chara krishna-bhajane nahi jati-kuladi-vicar Anyone who takes to devotional service is exalted, whereas a non-devotee is always condemned and abominable. Therefore in the discharge of devotional service to the Lord, there is no consideration of the status of one’s family.  (Chaitanya Charitamrita Antya-lila 4.67) Whoever performs bhajan is exalted; there is n...

Once during Mayapur parikram after the day we go to Vidyānāgar, I was very tired. I was leaning against a pillar and I started sleeping. Then Gurudev came and gave a whole lecture. One thing I have observed that Gurudev had so much endurance and energy. Even after being up so late, he never neglected to attend mangal arati. Even in his own room, he wouldn’t rest because devotees would keep coming to his room. We have never seen Gurudev being sleepy or drowsy. He has such a taste for Harikatha. I’ve never even seen him yawn. Once in Ramdas' house, a sannyasi spoke for two hours. Gurudev was always silently listening. Even though the other sanyassi spoke so long, Gurudev was also not short, he gave a long katha after that. There was another program where all the speakers were giving 15 minutes lecture. Gurudev said, in 15 minutes I can only give vandana! He took 15 minutes to give vandana, and his katha after that was so good that nobody stopped him. Once we went to Ramakris...

Sometimes Guruji would call me and make me sit in front of him. He would tell many stories about his childhood, or sometimes he used to speak about Param Gurudev. One day I asked Guru Maharaj, how do I know if Gurudev, Bhagavan, or Vaisnavas are pleased with my activities? Bhagavan never comes and says, I am pleased with your services, and Vaisnavas also do not. Guru Maharaj gave a very very simple answer to that. He said, there is only a very simple formula: if the object of our worship is pleased with our service, then he will award more and more service. If you are getting more service, and if you are also feeling blissful by getting that service, then you will know that Guru, Vaisnav, and Bhagavan are pleased with your service. How much inclination you are getting to perform chanting, to perform circumambulation of the temple--the more you are getting an inclination to perform these activities, the more you can understand that Guru, Vaiṣṇav, and Bhagavan are pleased with t...

This is a narration of a nectarean activity of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj that took place during His 1999 US tour. It describes a distressful, but spiritually instructive situation. His Divine Grace and His devoted followers left the New York area after many successful programs and arrived without incident at the Miami airport at approximately 2:30 PM on Thursday August 5, 1999. However, upon checking the status of their baggage, they found to their utter dismay that Srila Gurudeva's tridanda, which was in its own protective flight case, had not arrived with the rest of the luggage. Due to the ignorance and lack of sensitivity of the airline personnel, who did not realize the transcendental position of the person to whom they were speaking, no great effort was made to confirm the whereabouts of the sacred tridanda. This only made the situation worse. Maharaj would not take any sustenance, either liquid or solid, and would not leave the baggage area under ...

There was one special thing I have seen in Maharaj during kirtan, He used to lift both of his hands saying, “Ha! Krishna prannath kanha vrajendra nandan! Where is the Krishna, who is master of my life?” Then he forgot everything about his surroundings and became indifferent to this world. One time, there was nagarkirtan held in Kolkata. Maharaj was leading the kirtan and he lifted his hands; immediately immersed in the kirtans. His body turned red. He forgot whether the devotees are catching up with his speed of walking or not. He is not putting his hands down for a moment! He is incessantly dancing in transcendental ecstasy! Along with him, I and one more prabhu came very far ahead of the devotees. One was playing mridanga and the other was with kartals. And it so happened then, only three of us were seen doing kirtan on the road near Rasbehari in Kolkata! When I stopped playing kartals and Tirtha Maharaj's trance broke he asked, "Why have you stopped?" I replie...

I am compelled [to reflect on] why  Mahārāj  appeared on  Śrī   Rāmanavamī  Tithi.  Śrī  Ramacandra is  Maryādā Puruṣottama , giving respect to one and all. I saw this same nature of giving respect to all in  Mahārāj  too. But some of his god-brothers were not respectful towards him and I said once, "Why have you kept them all in the math? Send them away." Then he said gravely, "I am not here in the  maṭh  to chase them away, I am here to unite all." Seeing his line of thoughts I was stunned. Our thinking is: one who is troublesome— send him off! But see his thoughts. Ganesh has a mouse near him, Kartikeya has a peacock, Shiva has a bull and snake with him, and Durgaji has lion—all are enemies of the other. But how are they kept together? On the strength of the Holy Name. So also, if we chant Name with faith, our thinking also will become like this. —Srila Bhakti Vibudha Bodhyan Maharaj Transcribed from a translat...

Tamal Prabhu told us an incidence that illustrates the special way that Srila Gurudev applied his intelligence in service even when he was apparently displaying the pastimes of forgetfulness. During that time some observers may have thought that Srila Gurudev was forgetting things and that he is an old person.  Material intelligence is the wrong term, he has nothing material, but still in the material world what we call this intelligence.  For example, we do not want to accept the root cause, we want only symptomatic treatment; therefore, allopathy as more popular than any of the ancient medicines. So he told us that once he reported to Srila Gurudev that there is a flood in some of the cities of Assam from Brahmaputra river. including Srila Gurudev's janmasthan village, Goalpara. After he reported this, he left Gurudev's room.  After some time, Gurudev rang the bell.  So Tamal Prabhu went inside and then Gurudev spoke to him.  He told, "See, if there is floo...

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. ...

One thing I witnessed that is very touching to my heart is an event  I recall that took place in Mayapur. There was an acarya from Sri Vaisnava mission that came with his disciples. He was much younger than Srila Gurudev. When Srila Gurudev came from his bhajan kutir to see him, he walked all the way. I remember Srila Gurudev paid prostrated obeisances to someone that could be the age of his son. He was shaken and could not reciprocate. I was not feeling good to see that, thinking it should be the other way around. But we saw that Srila Gurudev was so blissful. The reciprocation was not sufficient, but he was happy anyway. Maybe even happier than if those respects had been paid to him. Even when he was sitting in the car to leave, Gurudev paid obeisances again outside the car. The humility he was expressing and the bliss on his face is the opposite of an ordinary person. At an advanced age and having so many big positions in the World Vaishnava Association and GOKUL, he taught t...

Other acaryas seemed to have demonstrated themselves as acaryas according to the demand of time, place, and circumstances. They sometimes had to be assertive and come down to the platform of madhyam adikari to discriminate.  Trivikram Maharaj once said Srila Gurudev is uttam bhagavat in comparison to another godbrother of Gurudev who he called him a jitendria-purush, one who won control over his senses. Regarding Srila Gurudev he said uttam bhagavat—and till now he has never come down from that position. Uttam bhagavat sees Supreme Lord in everyone and pays prostrated obeisances to all—dog and dog-eater, brahmana and shudra—to all, indiscriminately he has seen Supreme Lord in their hearts. He has that vision and pays prostrated obeisances to all living entities. That is a symptom of uttam adikari. He will never come down from there.  When the sole purpose is to serve Supreme Lord, all varieties are possible. Trivikram Maharaj, a disciple of Prabhupada is not an ordinary ...

Whatever prayers generally were taken to Srila Gurudev, by the power of his omniscience, he would take care of those prayers. Externally he may not have promised as much, but he took care. Gurudev said when flower blossoms, it's fragrance spreads all around. No need to advertise.  Many devotees would approach Gurudev to say, Gurudev bless me to go on preaching (prachar). Yet, Gurudev said never have this mood of preaching. Perform kirtan bhakti. If you take up a mood of superiority to someone—that you can rescue them, help them, it may lead to your own fall. Repeat what you have heard from Guru varga for your own benefit, not with the mood to rescue anyone. Prachar is to be done in this mood.  We know that Srila Gurudev always imbibes and practices this. Example is better than precept. He never stopped practicing this, very unique. Until the end, he considered himself like this. Srila Gurudev presents himself and actually believes he's a conditioned soul. Therefore you ca...

Let me offer my unlimited prostrated obeisances unto the lotus feet of my most revered Srila Gurudeva, Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj, who is the embodiment of loving affection towards all devotees of the Lord, who is a holy tirtha traveling the world, and who is now fully immersed in bringing joy to Vrindavanesvari as Her eternal confidant. He Gurudev! I find no words to describe my sorrow. You have blessed me with unlimited showers of affection, and yet I am unable to follow your basic teachings. My heart should melt when uttering your name and when remembering your unlimited glories. Seeing it remaining untouched, I know it to be made of stone. I was unable to write so far, and am doing so only because I was personally requested. I also could not stay in our Math in Kolkata for long. It is too painful still. Everything reminds me of you. The sound of the temple bell, Srila Paramgurudeva’s padukas, Tulasi Devi, and the tiled floor in the library. But what is more ...