Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

Thanks to those who uploaded these including: Prahlad Das, Radhika Priya Dasi, Janaki Nath Das, Ananga Manjari dasi, Dauji Das

During the time I was serving Srila Gurudeva, there was a long period during which he would daily speak the same great personal teaching or maha-vakhya: “Sabāi bhālo, āmi kharab – all are good, I am bad.” Then he would turn around and ask us: “Isn’t it?” Often one devotee would answer, “Yes, Gurudev, all are good, I am bad.” He would then turn to that devotee and say, “Are you saying it from your lips or from your heart?” Then everyone would laugh. We all got his message. Of course, when you would take this maha-vakhya out of context, it could be misunderstood. It is not advocating that we should tolerate all kind of misbehavior - we have seen him chastise devotees. It is indicating what our internal mood should be, no matter what we do externally. Once, there was some serious misbehavior of one leading devotee and some other devotees at once flew in to consult with Guru-Maharaj about the measurements to be taken. To their surprise, Guru-Maharaj didn’t chastise that devot...

I met Gurudev in 1999 in Phoenix, Arizona [USA]. I was already a diksa initiated disciple of HH Romapada Swami of ISKCON. While living in Pheonix, I met Akincana Prabhu and his wife and they introduced me to Guru Maharaj when he was visiting in July 1999. I attended meetings and programs with Gurudev and then Gurudev and his servants left Pheonix. By the end of 1999, we moved to Boston, Massachusetts. Initially, I was not so much affected by Gurudev's association, rather it came gradually later on. Every month that passed, my affection for Srila Gurudev was growing and growing.  At one point I called my disksa guru Romapada Swami and told him I have so much love for Gurudev. I didn't know if I should leave and ask Gurudev for siksa and diksa initiation or not. Romapada Swami told me there's nothing wrong with getting siksa from anyone outside of ISKCON, but asked me to not commit any offenses to AC Bhaktivedanta Swami by criticizing ISKCON to others. That as never my ...

While he was pursuing an M. A. in Philosophy from Kolkata University, Maharaj (Kamahya Charan) used to go directly to the library after class. I heard from my father that Maharaj would carry sprouted chickpeas from the house.  He used to read in the library for hours and hours with undivided attention. Such unwavering focus captured the attention of the librarian and others. When they would inquire as to what he was reading, he would simply show which book, and when they inquired about what he eats, he would open his palm and show the sprouted chickpeas. He would never speak unnecessarily. —Arindam Guharoy,   son of Gurudeva's younger brother who became a disciple in 2007.

I had never seen Guruji lose his temper. To even an ineligible fallen disciple like me, Guruji inspires me to become good through his love and affection, just like Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did. Most of the time, Guruji would not get to eat and take rest at night, but we have never seen Guruji is disturbed because of that. Many times he had no time for rest also. One would find him all the time engaged in loving conversations with any person, disciple or householder devotee who came to meet him without bothering about his own needs, body, or health. Whenever someone prayerfully requested to Guruji that he needed to take rest, and how essential that was, he would always say that it would be good if life air leaves the body while speaking Harikatha. He would further say that it is good that people always engage him in speaking Harikatha. It was like this for Harinam, Sankirtan, and during prachar, Guruji went from village to village, town to town, and bore various types of difficulties....

Guru Maharaj made everything so easy. Everything was beginning from the heart; it was all about the heart. Within the first two years during almost every darshan that I had of Guru Maharaj, He said the same thing to me: "It's so easy to please Krishna. It is so easy. Why? Because He is the nearest and dearest. Nobody is nearer to us than Krishna." My background made me so complicated but Guru Maharaj made it so easy. With so much love he would say to me: "It's so easy to please Krishna." So I was thinking even when I feel very close to someone, that is nothing compared to how close the Lord is. Naturally, it's easy. If you try to please the Lord from the heart, he is pleased. It's so easy. He kept telling me this again and again, probably because I have a complicated mind. Many times I heard Srila Gurumaharaj say, "The panacea for all problems is sharanagati. If we surrender, things will fall into place."  That was the impression I got from...

Guru Maharaj flew from Delhi to London. I joined them in London airport and waited along with them to catch a flight to New York. I was seated next to Guru Maharaj on the plane and I noticed with interest that he was reading the book "Perfect Questions Perfect Answers" by Srila Swami Maharaj, a very well-known book for beginners in Krishna consciousness. I saw Guru Maharaj reading that book with a lot of concentration. I wondered why he was reading that book because he knows everything. Even though I didn’t ask him, I found the answer myself: because he has perfect attitude of following Guruvarga, he wanted to follow the scripture of Srila Swami Maharaj as he was an authorized disciple and had been given the order by Srila Prabhupada to go and preach outside. Guru Maharaj was very cautious to never go beyond what Swami Maharaj had given. His attitude was never like he knows more or can give more in the West than what Swami Maharaj had. So he was reading the book to see what...