Today is a very auspicious day as Srila Bhakti Vallabha Tirtha Gosvami Maharaja disappeared from this material world. Srila Bhakti Vallabha Tirtha Gosvami Maharaja was the disciple of Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhava Gosvami Maharaja. He was also the president of Chaitanya Gaudiya Matha, the president of the World Vaishnava Association and the founder of GOKUL (Global Organisation of Krishna Chaitanya’s Universal Love).
In our Gaudiya Vaishnava sanga, he is recognised as a great acharya. His Gurudeva, nitya-lila-pravishta om vishnupada ashtottara-shata Sri Srimad Bhakti Dayita Madhava Gosvami Maharaja was the disciple of nitya-lila-pravishta om vishnupada ashtottara-shata Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada. Srila Bhakti Vallabha Tirtha Gosvami Maharaja was very intelligent and was an expert in serving his guru - guru-seva. Gurura sevaka hoy manya apanar — You must show respect for the guru’s servitors.
He also wrote many granthas and he was very proficient in speaking many languages including Bengali, Hindi and English. Also, Srila Bhakti Vallabha Tirtha Gosvami Maharaja travelled all over the world and preached the message of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu according to the Lord’s prophecy:
pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
Chaitanya-bhagavata (Antya-khanda 4.126)
[“As many towns and villages there are on the surface of the globe everywhere people will know My name.”]
In bhakti, there is no discrimination with regards to caste, race, etc. Simply by absorbing themselves in the divine love of the holy names, everybody forgets about their own material designations,
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
So, many times, I had met with Srila Bhakti Vallabha Tirtha Gosvami Maharaja in his temple and sometimes he also used to come to our temple, Sri Keshavaji Gaudiya Matha and especially Sri Rupa Sanatana Gaudiya Matha. Once, he came at the time of Sri Rupa Gosvami’s disappearance day and he gave a very sweet lecture — hari-katha. Moreover, he had so much love and affection for our beloved Gurudeva, Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja. Based upon this connection, I have so much love and affection for him and also, many times I listened to his sweet hari-katha.
So, today I remember Srila Maharaja’s disappearance; on 21st April 2017 he departed from this material world and entered into the transcendental world to serve his ishtadevi, Vrishabhanu-nandini Srimati Radhika. I remember this event clearly. At that time I was in the Western Countries, and I felt so much separation from him. Many times he would come to our Sri Keshavaji Gaudiya Matha, and there we witnessed so much love and affection between him and Gurudeva. Sometimes, Srila Bhakti Vallabha Tirtha Gosvami Maharaja also used to invite Gurudeva to his temple. During Navadvipa-dhama parikrama, we often associated with him too.
He was very sweet, his loving face was always smiling, and he was also very humble. Our shastra is saying,
krishnera yate guna bhaktere sanchare
“The qualities of Krishna manifest in the heart of the pure devotee of the Lord.”
Our shastra also explains 26 qualities of the Vaishnavas, including kripalu, akrita-droha, satya, sara-sama, vadanya, kavi, daksha and mauni.
At that time, while listening to his hari-katha, I remember how he was very sweet and affectionate; he did not discriminate between his disciples and the disciples of other gurus. Always, he gave his blessings to us. I only remember a little part of his life history which I heard from one of his disciples. Since, at that time, we had so much deep attachment with our beloved Gurudeva, Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja, staying in Mathura and Vrindavana, we did not get much time to have the privilege of his association.
So before, I heard some things about Srila Bhakti Vallabha Tirtha Gosvami Maharaja’s life history. This was spoken by his disciple. His earlier life was very sweet. When he was a small boy, he was completely absorbed in meditation of the Lord — dhyanastha.
Srila Bhakti Vallabha Tirtha Gosvami Maharaja was born 13th April 1924, on the day of Rama-navami, in Goalapara, Assam, India. His household name was Kamakhya Charan Guharay. His mother gave this name because she received him by the causeless mercy of Kamakhya-devi, the worship of Kamakhya-devi is very popular in Assam, so just as Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura received Vimala-prasada (Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada) by the mercy of Vimala-devi, who is the consort of Jagannathadeva. Sometimes, when he was absorbed in meditation, seated with his eyes closed, no one knew what he was doing, and if anyone disturbed his meditation, he would cry. At this very young age, he also learned all the shastras, especially Bhagavad-gita, he was a very intelligent child. We can observe in our line of Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya, that our acharyas are all very intelligent from a young age, and also they are very expert in shastras, especially Srimad-Bhagavatam and Gita.
Srila Bhakti Vallabha Tirtha Gosvami Maharaja had good samskaras and thus always followed the rules and regulations of society. In this regard, I heard that he would always follow the instruction of his father — ‘pitri agaya palan’. Just like Lord Ramacandra always followed the instructions of Dasharatha Maharaja. The Ramayana mentions:
raghukul reet sada chali aaye, praan jaaye par vachan na jaaye
Rama-charita-manasa by Tulasi dasa
[Raghukul customs dictate that a promise has to be kept even at the cost of one's own life.]
In the same way Srila Bhakti Vallabha Tirtha Maharaja always followed the instructions of his father. He had so much love and affection for all living entities since childhood. Once I heard from a devotee that if anybody would kill a mosquito or any other insect, then he would say "Oh, don't disturb them!" He had so much daya (sympathy) towards all living entities — sarva prani par deya. Our shastras explain about how one should give love and affection to all living entities. Vaishnava dharma means exactly this; having love and affection which is described as "seva, maitri and kripa". Seva means to have a mood of servitude [towards advanced devotees]. Maitri means having friendship towards [devotees of a similar eligibility]. [And kripa means giving mercy to devotees on a kanishtha platform. This applies especially to a devotee in the madhyama stage.]
In academics, Srila Maharaja achieved an undergraduate degree and then went on to attain a Masters degree from Assam University. Although he studied in university, he was always keen to read philosophical books in the university library because he was curious about the absolute truth; that is, ‘Who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead?’
Subsequently, he met his Gurudeva, Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhava Gosvami Maharaja and listened to his lecture on the Brahma-samhita:
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
Sri Brahma-samhita (5.1)
[Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.]
Also, Srimad-Bhagavatam clearly gives this statement about Krishna’s supremacy:
ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ
kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam
indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ
mṛḍayanti yuge yuge
Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.3.28)
[All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.]
Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead — Svayam Bhagavan — and is known as sarva-avatari — the source of all incarnations. Rama, Nrisimha, Kalki, Varaha and Matsya are known as the incarnations of Krishna. Therefore, one who serves sarva-avatari Krishna, Vrajendra-nandana Shyamasundara, serves all the incarnations of the Lord. Krishna has sixty four qualifications and four of them are extraordinary. They are: rupa-madhurya - sweetness of His beauty; lila-madhurya - sweetness of His divine pastimes; prema-madhurya - sweetness of His divine love; and the fourth is venu-madhurya - sweetness of the sound of His flute. These four things only Krishna possesses.
So, when he heard this lecture of the Brahma-samhita from the lotus lips of Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhava Gosvami Maharaja, he decided I have to do bhajana and sadhana to Krishna, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Svayam Bhagavan. And in this way, he completely surrendered to the lotus feet of his Srila Gurudeva Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhava Gosvami Maharaja.
Sometimes, I listen to his hari-katha on YouTube, and one can see how much guru-nishtha he has for his Gurudeva. Once, when he came to our temple during Vraja mandala parikrama, Gurudeva humbly requested him to speak something, so he performed kirtana and spoke some hari-katha. Before speaking, he was completely absorbed in his glorification — vandana — for his Gurudeva. His kirtana was so sweet with a melodious voice coming from his lotus lips, he was singing "Jaya dao, jaya dao, Gurudevera jaya dao, jaya dao jaya dao Vaishnavera jaya dao, jaya dao jaya dao Prabhupadera, (aur) jaya dao jaya dao Madhava Gosvami jaya dao". At that time, everybody was completely intoxicated in his hari-katha, and in this way, he captivated the heart of all the audience. I remember he was singing Gurudevera jaya dao for almost fifteen to twenty minutes. Jaya dao means giving all glories to gurupada-padma, all glories to Prabhupada and all glories to all Vaishnavas. Our shastras explain — gurupada padma rahe jara nishtha bhakti, sansara tarite sei dhare maha shakti — one who has guru-nishtha, that is being one pointed with guru, he can conquer the whole world.
Whereas a king is able to conquer the whole world with his armies and weapons, and when he is on his simhasana (throne), [with all power(shakti) vested in him,] then he is able to command the respect of everyone. But pure Vaishnavas conquer the heart of their devotees with love and affection. Actually, this love and affection comes from Srimati Radhika, since Srimati Radhika is the embodiment of divine love — premera svarupa radha, premera vivahita.
Also, Srila Gurudeva, Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja, used to explain this way too in his hari-katha; Vaishnava dharma is called prema dharma, and this prema dharma is coming from Srimati Radhika, hladani-sakti.
Hladini means ananda (bliss). And this original ananda comes from Srimati Radhika.This dharma is eternal and transcendental.
Prema is eternal and transcendental, and in this Kali-yuga that prema has come from Gaurasundara. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the combined form of the Divine Couple Sri Sri Radha and Krishna. Sacinandana Gaurahari indiscriminately distributed this highest prema, and all his eternal associates, parikaras, also distributed it too. In the same way, they did not discriminate who is qualified or unqualified. And this is also the case with Srila Bhakti Vallabha Tirtha Maharaja. All Vaishnava's qualifications were present in him, I noticed this. He was very affectionate and humble too. Also, he gave respect to all the Vaishnavas and performed vaishnava-seva day and night. He was so absorbed in his guru-seva. Our shastras say, "Kaya mana aur vachana"; that is with our body, mind and speech we should always be absorbed in guru-seva:
guru-śuśrūṣayā bhaktyā
sarva-labdhārpaṇena ca
saṅgena sādhu-bhaktānām
īśvarārādhanena ca
Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.7.30)
[One must accept the bona fide spiritual guru and render service unto him with great devotion and faith. Whatever one has in one’s possession should be offered to Guru and one must be in the association of saintly persons and devotees.]
Gaura Premanande Hari Haribol!
Jaya nitya-lila Bhakti Vallabha Tirtha Gosvami Maharaja ki jaya!
Jaya samasta guru-varga ki jaya!
Gaura Premanande!
Jaya Jaya Sri Radhe!
Date: 16 April 2020 Location: Zoom
Transcriber: Radha-sundari dasi (UK) Editor: Chandrika dasi (UK), Damodara dasa (UK) Integrity check: Divya-premamayi dasi (Slovakia) Proofreader: Chandrika dasi (UK) Image: Ananda-svarupini dasi (Poland)