by Sripad Bhakti Niketan Turyasrami Maharaj
Guru Mahārāj [Śrīla Bhakti Dayita Mādhav Goswāmī Mahārāj] did not leave us with his intentions written only in his heart. Already during his manifest pastimes, even two years before his disappearance, he declared and broadcast everywhere: “If I die, or if for some reason any other difficulty occurs, Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Mahārāj shall sit in my position. I am seating him as my successor. No one can have any objection to this.”
As Guru Mahārāj is antaryāmī (inward-knower), having received Prabhupād’s mercy, he also foresaw that in his absence, Śrīla Tīrtha Mahārāj would have no difficulty running the maṭh. For this reason, Guru Mahārāj declared Śrīla Tīrtha Mahārāj as the next āchārya before his own departure. When our Gurudev disappeared, dark clouds in the form of adversities or misunderstanding were cast over the maṭh, but the way that Śrīla Tīrtha Mahārāj has preserved Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s vāṇī (instructions) is beyond words.
We have been with him and witnessed that he did not deviate even one bit from any of Śrīla Gurudeva’s words. He said, “As long as I live, I won’t cross one letter of Guru Mahārāj’s vāṇī, whether you all are satisfied or angered.” The way Śrīla Tīrtha Mahārāj has foregone eating and sleeping by personally staying in the middle of disturbances from all corners to preserve Guru Mahārāj’s vāṇī in its original and perfect form—no one can match.
The śloka tṛnād api su-nīchena taror api sahiṣṇunā amāninā māna-dena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ is often repeated; I myself repeat it and tell it to others. We cannot act according to the śloka, but Śrīla Mahārāj is the direct embodiment of that śloka. He is beyond our imagination of human capacity. Every now and then, I have appealed to him, “Mahārāj, please give some response to all this! If this can be done it would be good—in this way what needs to be handled can be handled.” Mahārāj said, “No! I won’t say anything! What Gurudev will do will put them in their place. No one should tell me anything in this regard.” How many can have such courage? Is it possible for an ordinary human being? Impossible. In such a way, he has preserved Guru Mahārāj’s vāṇī.
