Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

Once Param Pūjyapād Śrīmad Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj came to our āśram in Haridwar along with about five hundred Punjabi devotees. Starting from Har Ki Pauri, Mahārāj entered our āśram dancing and singing in kīrtan . As I was about to do his ārati , he stopped me and told, “You should do Gurujī's ārati , not mine.” I told him, “You are also Guru. Ontologically Guru is one, and Param Gurudev Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāj has whole-heartedly established you as Ācārya. He has his complete mercy on you and thus coronates you as Guru. So whose ārati  should I do other than yours?” He told, “No. Perform ārati to the portrait of our Gurudev.” He took the lamp from my hand and started doing Gurujī's ārati . I saw then his total dedication to Gurujī. According to me, Paramgurudev Srimad Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāj and Param Pūjyapād Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj are non-different. They came together to this world from the spiritual plane. —Śrīl...

I have met many Maharajas, but our Gurudev is most humble. When in the West, he was very open. Anyone could come to him at anytime without asking anyone's permission. He was very available for us. When Guruji was giving initiation, he was doing everything on his own. First, he was offering guru-puja, then he delivered a long Harikatha and made us understand each and everything from beginning to end. Finally, he said, "Now offer dandavats to our Gurudev." He never said that he is a Guru. He always offered us to his Guruji. I organized a program. It was in a mill that was renovated and made into a big apartment that we rented. The owner and his 80-year-old mother were living downstairs. There was a big kirtan. The owner was frightened by the noise and came up to express his displeasure. Gurudev told us after that not to do loud kirtan. When we were planning for next year's program, Gurudev asked, "Will we be allowed for next year?" He never thoug...

Śrīla Gurudeva always liked to be very prepared and often planned his lectures ahead of time and requested the name of the institution we are going to. He and I went to some strange places in Phoenix (Arizona, USA.) We went wherever we could since not so many devotees lived there.  Once we went to some place called "Center for Expanding Consciousness." As he spoke on some verse of Bhagavad-gītā, one lady held up her hand while he was giving commentary.  He stopped and said, "Yes, you have a question?"  She replied, "Well, I have Bhagavad-gītā. I heard this verse many times, but it doesn't seem to me what you are telling me it means. What you are saying seems to have a different meaning." He just said, "I am so happy that you are reading Bhagavad-gītā," and smiled. She sat down. There was no conflict, no room for it at all. People have different interpretations, but there is no argument. He has no sense of conflict, free of animosity, condesce...

Gurudeva gave his full heart and mind to everything he did. He was very, very alert. I have seen so many times that whenever we used to do parikramā , Guru Mahārāja was dancing and singing and suddenly he stopped to offer daṇḍavat praṇām and said, "One vaiṣṇava is coming."  If even one tridaṇḍī svāmī was seen, even from afar, Guru Mahārāja was always seen bowing down. There was one Rāmanavamī Vyāsa-puja going on in Kolkata Library and Guru Mahārāja was sitting on the vyāsāsana while we were observing puja .  Suddenly, he got up from there and offered daṇḍavat praṇām because there was one senior godbrother, Dāmodara Mahārāja from Kṛṣṇanagar, that had just entered. Seeing this, he left his vyāsāsana and stopped the puja . Sant Gosvāmī Mahārāja always sat on a chair. Guru Mahārāja would never sit on a chair in front of him, he sat on the floor. Whenever I have seen one guru-varga entering Guru Mahārāja’s room, Guru Mahārāja always immediately got up.  —Rasabihārī Dāsa,...

Dīkṣā was the only occasion when just you and Guru Mahārāja are there. He was giving the mantras and I was chanting. There were a few words that were repeated in many mantras. I was thinking, what is this word that is repeated in many mantras? While he was speaking, Guru Mahārāja stopped and said, "Do you want to know what is the meaning of this word?" That was the first time I realized that whatever is in your heart, Guru Mahārāja knows that exactly. After the dīkṣā ceremony, Guru Mahārāja came out and was watering tulasī. Because I was pregnant, I was standing at a distance; I didn't want to stay in the crowd. Guru Mahārāja smiled at me. Afterward, he came and spoke to me. I couldn't believe he came because I was standing away from others. He said, “Did you get dīkṣā today?” I said, “Yes.” “Did you get dīkṣā mantras?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “Who has given you dīkṣā mantras? I said, “I got them from you.” He said, “No, no, no,” and pointed at Paramā-gurudeva’s room....