By His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj
Our Most Revered Parampujyapada Parivajakacharya Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj came to USA and started kirtan. The ultimate goal is satisfaction of Sri Krishna. Krishna bestowed so much grace upon Srila Swami Maharaj. Our Paramgurudeva Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur ‘Prabhupad’, the Absolute Counterpart of the Supreme Lord, was the founder of Sri Gaudiya Math and Sri Chaitanya Math. He as the spiritual master of Paramapujyapad Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj, imparted to him the power to preach all over the world.
Srila Swami Maharaj started on his life’s mission by praying for the grace of Supreme Lord Sri Krishna and His personal associates. We have heard that he came alone, with no assistance from others. His Gurudeva had given him the order to spread the all-embracing, all-accommodating divine knowledge and love of God throughout the world. He travelled from India with great difficulty and eventually disembarked in Boston. I have heard that he came by ship and that this was the first place he came to in the USA.
When I was in Vrindavan at Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math with my revered Gurudeva Parampujyapada Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhava Goswami Maharaj, we heard that a godbrother of our Gurudeva, Parampujyapada Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj, was staying at the Sri Sri Radha-Damodar temple. As he was a godbrother of our Gurudeva and a disciple of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur, he was naturally the object of great regard and reverence.
Thinking, “I shall go there and pay my obeisances to him,” I made my way to the Sri Sri Radha-Damodar temple. Upon meeting him, I offered my humble obeisances and he then began to speak. Showing me his writings, he said, “I want to publish a monthly magazine, Back to Godhead. Please go through my writings.” It was his order, I tried to go through it. When I had gone through the text he had given me, he said, “I have written other articles. You should also go through those.” After that I prayed out to him, “Will you not come to our Math? Our Gurudeva is there. Please come and see him.”
He immediately agreed, saying, “Yes, I will come tomorrow to see your Gurudeva.”
