Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

We hear our senior god-brothers say that if we do not follow and bring to practice the teachings of Gurudeva in our life then our life is in vain, so I wish to make an effort in trying to remember Gurudeva and his glories. I had my first darśan of Gurudev in 1996 when I was a small child playing with other children in Gītā Bhavan Hari Mandir. Later in 2006, I accompanied my friends to the airport to welcome Gurudev when  he came to Mumbai during Kartik month that year. We received lots of mercy from Gurudeva and also through harikathā , hari-kīrtan , and from our ṣikṣā-guru , Rādhā Govinda Prabhu. In 2009  I went to Jagannātha Purī for Rathayātrā for the first time.  Before that, we went to Kolkata for Gurudev's darśan . Gurudeva is sitting on his chair in his bhajan-kuṭīr and Jahnava Mātājī (Madan Prabhujī's wife, Jyoti Mātā) took out a lamp to perform ārati of Gurudeva. As I was sitting very close at the feet of Gurudeva I also extended my hand and joined her in the ār...

My friend Pankaj Prabhu was instrumental in introducing me to mahāmantra and in his company, I found myself chanting automatically.  Then I began chanting regularly and going to the maṭh , but never had darśan of Gurudev.  When I joined a hotel management course, I got a chance to stay in Māyāpur for ten days during Kartik when Gurudev was there and listen to his hari-kathā . Though I could not understand much I got the association of Prahlad Prabhu. In my hotel management course, I had to cook and taste dishes with onion and garlic, and thinking myself to be very unfortunate that I cannot take hāriṇam , I would feel like crying during maṅgalārati . Someone suggested that I speak to Gurudev, but I did not go to Gurudev at all and I lost the chance.   One day I heard Gurudev speak kathā in front of Param Gurudev's bhajan kuṭir (Māyāpur) and I was sitting farther away in the natmandir . He was speaking about Śrīla Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur and said this one sentence: "Why...

In 2007 Sri Ramanavami festival was grandly celebrated in Goalpara. Before Guruji arrived, I thought that we have kirtan books in Bengali, Hindi, and English, so if we have it in Assamese also then it will be good. Later I tried two to three times to speak to Guruji about this, but could not because I found Guruji is surrounded by so many devotees, or when got the chance, I forgot to speak. On the festival day in the hari-kathā, Guruji said, "Bhakti is not propagated through language, bhakti is transmitted through conduct." I was dumbfounded as the question that was within my mind for so many days was answered by Guruji perfectly. Then I realized that there is no need to express all our thoughts or ideas to Guruji verbally, he can read our minds. There was a time when I was unable to perform my services well in the maṭha and I was sick too. I went to Kolkata, but at that time, Guruji was playing pastimes of sickness and not speaking to anyone; we could see him, but not speak...

The first time I went for darśan of Gurudev, I was in my school uniform. I had learned from Śrī Jānakīvallabh Prabhu (Śrī Rasavihāri Prabhu’s younger brother) that Gurudev had come to Jammu for hari-kīrtan saṃmelana and is staying in Raguṇatha Mandir. When I bowed down at Gurudev’s feet, he did not ask me what is my name or where from I have come, he spoke a Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam verse which says that by watering the root of the tree, the whole tree is nourished, so also by serving the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa all are served. These are the first words of teaching I heard from Gurudev.  The first service I got was washing the utensils of Gurudev. At that time, Śrī Rasavihāri Prabhu asked me if I would like to take hāriṇam from Gurudev. I said yes and he arranged appropriate clothes for me. At the time I was with Gurudev during the initiation, I felt I am not in this world, not in Jammu. I felt great bliss as though Gurudev is taking me to a very different world. He gave me the bead b...

Guru Mahārāj often said, “Wherever your mind is, you are there. If your body is in Bhatinda and your mind is in Vṛndāvan, then it can be accepted that you are in Vṛndāvan and vice versa. The main object of  śravaṇa-kīrtana  is to engross the mind in our object of worship.” So, as much our mind is engrossed in  śravaṇa-kīrtana  of Gurudev's glories, so much our  śravaṇa-kīrtana  is successful.   After we previously began remembering Goalpara-dhām, devotees were calling to inform us that it is as though we are there, the trees, the banks of the Brahmaputra River came before our eyes.  This is good news because this is our objective.  Yena tena prakārena manaḥ kṛṣṇe niveśayet : to engage our mind in Gurudeva and his  dhām .   Those days the Shiva temple in Goalpara was in a thick forest, it was like an old dilapidated temple outside a village.  There was no place to sit, a few steps were there near the stream. The greatn...

On Tuesday 11 September 2001, devotees from England, Holland, and the US waited at Heathrow Airport, London, with great anticipation and happiness for the arrival of His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāj and his entourage of devotees, who were due to arrive from Moscow just afternoon that day. The plane landed only slightly later than scheduled and after smoothly passing through the baggage claim and customs, Mahārāj and his travel party came into the arrivals lounge, to be greeted joyfully by his dīkṣā and śikṣā disciples. A convoy of several cars made the two-hour journey from northwest London to the home in south London where Mahārāj and the devotees were to stay. Everyone was light-hearted and in a happy mood. The conversation was non-stop until they arrived at their destination sometime after 3 PM. That mood was to change quickly, however. As Mahārāj and the other devotees were unpacking and settling in, there was a phone call from one of the Dutch devotee...

I had read somewhere that the Lord is a magnet and attracts jīvas towards Him, but if there is rust on the iron, the magnet will not attract that iron. But Gurujī is so powerful that he attracts even a rusted iron like me. I could not associate with Gurudev much. Sometimes I feel I am very unfortunate that I took hāriṇam dīkṣā very late and lacked physical association with Gurujī. Still, Gurujī is attracting me, drawing me, and has given me the chance to associate with so many devotees and hear them speak his glories. I am a dentist by profession. In 2017 my dentistry final exams were commencing and it was a very crucial period for me. Kuldeep Prabhu took all my god-brothers and went for Sri Rāmanavamī and Gurudev's appearance day festival. I was quite depressed that I was not able to go. Later when Gurujī's final illness pastimes were going on, all my god-brothers booked tickets to go with Kuldeep Prabhu by flight, some by train. Even some five high school students read...