Praṇamāmi Guru Tīrtha Padaṁ

Everyone is aware of the controversies that have prevailed in the maṭha , but not a single word of abuse from Gurujī’s mouth was ever heard. During one particular incident In Kolkata maṭha , an ordinary meeting was called. Everyone expressed their faith in Guru Mahārāj and decided to take some stern steps toward envious people. They thought he would attend, but he did not. My Guru-varga Vaidya Om Prakashjī said that he went to Gurudev’s room and prayed to him that he should control the disputing parties, but Gurudev replied, “I have come to the maṭha to perform devotion. Our Gurudev will control or discipline others.  Whatever is happening here is all by Gurudev’s desire and we should not be disturbed by this. —Śrī Partha Sarati Das, Bhatinda  Translated from Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Sandesh, July-Oct, 1997 (Year 17, Issue No.4)

When Gurudeva does kīrtana during parikramā , he infuses energy in all and unites all who disburse here and there due to tiredness and depletion of energy. Satyānanda prabhu used to lead kīrtanas during parikramā , but once Param Gurudeva told him to give the microphone to our Gurudeva. Then Gurudeva did   such a nice kīrtana .  Param Gurudeva said, "See, it is as if this  kīrtana is coming down from Vaikunta— see the difference here; it attracts the hearts." Gurudeva used to give the example of Tansen, a classical Hindustani singer. When Tansen sang megha mallar rāga it would rain, when he sang vasant rāga,  the flowers would bloom and the season would change into springtime. When he sang deepak rāga , the lamps would automatically get lit.  [The famous Mughal Emperor] Akbar Badshah used to say, "You sing so well, I wonder how well your Gurudeva may be singing!” One day he said to Tansen, “Please take me to hear your Gurudeva sing.” Tansen said,...

Mahārāj has a very, very strong dedication to Śrī Guru within him. There are many instances of this when we were trying to recover Sri Prabhupāda's janmasthān in Purī. Many tenants were there and some of them had developed enmity towards us. Sometimes they used to trouble us very much by making fun of us and by eating fish and throwing bits of fish into our rooms.  One time Guru Mahārāj [Śrīmad Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāja] had come to Purī. We were all coming from somewhere to the place where our maṭha now stands. One tenant came in front of Guru Mahārāj with a plate full of onion fries and expressing artificial humility said, “Mahārājī, I am very poor, I cannot serve you properly, please mercifully accept these few fries I have brought for you.” He did this even though he was fully aware of the fact that we do not eat onions; he did this with the intention to make fun of us. Gurujī glanced at the plate he was holding and hearing his words, answered smilingly, “You kno...

Lord's compassion and mercy are described as unlimited, boundless like the ocean. This is realized only by His devotees. His affection is compared to the affection of crores of parents put together. One who has the experience and realization of the Lord's boundless mercy will never keep faith in the material world.   I will give an example of how much śiṣya-vātsalya our Gurujī has for his disciples. When Pujyapad Bhagavat Maharaj requested Gurujī to send a pūjārī to Tejpur Math, Gurujī told me that you have to go to Tejpur.  I said, "Yes, Gurujī." But Gurujī became thoughtful. At that time, terrorist activities were on the rise in Assam with news of bomb blasts, including occasionally on trains. Gurujī said it is risky to travel by train, so you will go by flight directly from Kolkata to Tejpur. The ticket fare was then Rs.300/- and he got the ticket booked for me. Then he told, it is very cold in Assam now and if you take an early morning bath in cold water you wil...

There was a very dedicated, sincere Vaiṣṇava who was outwardly not very rich named Kṛpāramjī. He was told that he should get a clean shave and remove his mustache before Guru Mahārāj gave him initiation. He made Guru Mahārāj laugh by saying, "I am ready to remove my head for initiation."  He always brought Śrīla Gurudev nuts, cashews, walnuts, and other such items. But Guru Mahārāj said, "I don’t eat all these things." When Kṛpāramjī inquired from Guru Mahārāj about what he did like to eat, Guru Mahārāj simply said, "I eat cucumber."  Guru Mahārāj knew his background and wanted to spare him the expense he incurred buying dried fruits. Cucumber is very cheap, so he told him he liked cucumbers. When my son was a very small child, we were on Mayapur parikramā . At Yoga Pith, my son picked up an apple that was in front of Mahāprabhu on the palanquin. One brahmacārī took the apple back from him and returned it to the palanquin. Guru Mahārāj must have seen this...

In his last instructions, Śrīla Param Gurudev cautioned his sevāks to remain far away from kanaka , kāminī , and pratiṣṭhā which are the three impediments to devotional practice. Our Gurudev gave more emphasis on the chanting of Narasiṃha prayers in our maṭha, the reason for which he explained in hari-kathā . The three impediments are represented by Hiraṇyakaśipu and so by praying for Narasiṃha Deva's mercy, these impediments will be destroyed.  Gurudev kept account of small service contributions of even twenty-five paise and honoring the mood of service of the people would utilize it in sevā at the earliest. Gurudev would book his travel tickets by ordinary sleeper class from the pranāmī offered by the devotees. So the devotees applied their intelligence and would book the tickets themselves and send them to him.  I remember an instance in 2002 when Gurudev had some heart problems. He had canceled his pracār program and was staying in Guwahati. Gurudev wanted to go to Goal...

Our Param Gurudev's quality was satirtha priti saddharma : his mood and conduct were to see his godbrothers, disciples, or whoever be it—though they are disrespecting me, they have served my Śrīla Prabhupāda and have pleased him immensely, so they are all worshipable to me.  Among those who are seniors and advanced, Param Gurudev respected them in a different way, and to all other godbrothers, he has shown such affection which is wonderful and heart-warming.  Even to his god-brother who has put forth his best efforts to send him out of Śrī Caitanya Maṭha, he served him when he fell ill and brought him back to health, deputing his disciples who were otherwise busy with other sevās . This same conduct of Param Gurudev was seen in our Guru Mahārāja.   So, seeing Gurudev simply means seeing Param Gurudev. Some of Gurudev's godbrothers had difficulty seeing and accepting their Gurudev's qualities as being fully present in their godbrother, but our Guru Mahārāja was always read...