Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

After exchanging letters several times, my beloved spiritual master, Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, gave me the instruction to preach in Singapore. For decades since then, one question was burning in my heart: How can I preach nicely? What should be our motivation when we preach? What is real preaching? When I went to meet Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj in Punjab, the only thing I had in my mind was how I wanted to ask him those questions. Devotees were discussing the latest events in the math. A sevak of Srila Gurudev had left his service, and some devotees were commenting about how that was good because they thought he had done some wrong things. When I entered his bhajan kutir, another devotee was asking Srila Gurudev why that sevak had left. He replied with genuine humility: "It is not his fault. I have done some wrong, that's why he left." At that very moment, before I could even ask, my question evaporated. It was answered by this one act of...

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)

He was always hearing Harikatha of Gurudev with great interest, very deeply. He always used to perform kirtan of srauta vani. Whatever he had heard from Gurudev, he always used to repeat that in Harikatha. In general talks, there was nothing else he used to speak. The only thing he used to repeat was whatever he has heard from Gurudev and that's why many of his godbrothers they used to call him Gurudev’s tape recorder. Repeating whatever he heard from Gurudev is one of his very special qualities. He was very shy to speak Harikatha. Once Yayavar Maharaj in a Dharma Sabha ordered Tirtha Maharaj to speak Harikatha and said "that now he will speak". There is a specialty I have seen in Guruvargas that those who want to speak they don't give them the chance and give chances to those who don't want to speak so he would only speak by the order of Guruvargas. He was very grave, always hearing Harikatha attentively, and serving the Vaishnavas. The pure devotees acq...

For the last two days, I was thinking with regret to Gurudev that I'm too much attached to my mind (thinking about this or that, speculation, imagination ... even imagination about Krishna etc.) and instead my mind should go to Krishna and what should I do? Today after He watered Tulsi He all-knowingly and smilingly looked at me and said : "How are you? Any difficulty?" I also smiled and only indicated by gesturing with my fingers that I had some little difficulty. Gurudev smiled and said, "You should always think of Supreme Lord. He will rescue us, isn't it? jalaja nava laksani sthavara laksa vimsati krmayo rudra-sankhyakah paksinam dasa laksanam trimsal laksani pasavah catur laksani manusah (There are 900,000 kinds of aquatics, 2,000,000 kinds of trees and plants, 1,100,000 kinds of insects and reptiles, 1,000,000 kinds of birds, 3,000,000 kinds of four-legged beasts, and 400,000 kinds of human species) Human birth is small in number and we can wor...

Once Srila Guru Maharaj addressed one brahmachari by name and asked him to sing a particular kirtan, but surprisingly that brahmachari sat quietly without doing what he asked. So I thought he did not hear Guruji’s instructions.   I took his name and told him, “Prabhuji Guru Maharaj is asking you to sing this particular kirtan.”    He murmured in anger that Maharaj does not think which kirtan to be sung in which place.   He started a kirtan of his own choice.   Then I told him, “Prabhuji, Maharaj has asked you to sing this particular kirtan.”   Then in great anger he said take this mike and you sing the kirtan.   I was dumb-struck and did not know what to do.    After some time, the same kirtan which he had not started, he sang.   Srila Guru Maharaj, in spite of seeing the whole happening, acted as though he did not hear or see anything and as if nothing has happened. He got immersed in singing the kirtan.   It came to my mind...

Once during Janmashtami I was in Kolkata. Like every year Param Pujyapad Bhakti Kumud Sant Goswami Maharaj came to our math during the festival for prasad and for speaking Harikatha. Climbing the first flight of steps, he sat on the cot next to Param Pujyapad Trivikram Maharaj in his room adjacent to the office room. Pujyapad Janardhan Maharaj indicated to me to inform Guru Maharaj about his arrival. I ran and found Guru Maharaj in his room sitting on a chair and busy in his writing. When I whispered to him, he immediately got up leaving aside whatever he was doing and he told me, “If I do not haste now Srila Sant Maharaj will arrive here right away. I have to go to him.” With quick steps he climbed down the stairs and proceeded to Srila Sant Maharaj’s room. Guruji did shastanga dandavat pranams (prostrated obeisance) to him and stood with folded hands and in humble words spoke to him. He did not sit before him, he remained standing giving due respects to him. When Pujyapa...

When our mother was in the last stages of her life, the doctors in Ludhiana had suggested we cease treatment; there was no hope. We thought that now that Gurujī is in Ludhiana, it is good if we take her for his darśana and we took her in the van to the temple. When we went up and spoke to Guru Mahārāja about our mother, he asked, “Can I get darśana of Matajī?” We had brought our mother for Gurudeva’s darśana but when Gurujī spoke like this, I bowed my head down to his lotus feet seeing his humbleness. What more can be said about his compassion?  He came down from the top floor to the ground floor to give darśana to Matajī. He chanted Narasiṃha-mantra before her and gave tulasī leaf in her mouth and his blessings too. In this way I saw Gurujī’s boundless compassion and humility. —Puruṣottama Dāsa Sekhari, (Punjab) translated from Sri Krishna Chaitanya Sandesh, July-Oct, 1997