In His footsteps

Feeling completely rejuvinated after an amazing week of parikramas of the dham, sadhu sanga, listening of naam and lila kirtan, partaking of prasad and ganga darshan. There were grand celebrations in our temple 'Sonar Mandir' as we celebrated our gurudev Om Vishnupad 108 Tridandi Swami's birthday along with Mahaprabhu's abirbhav on the 11th of March. A grand feast was held on Jagannath Mishra's utsav, on the 12th when a large congregation enjoyed mahaprasadam. Devotees from all over the country were present to pay homage to guru and gauranga! The miracle of the holy dham is indeed mindblowing. Truly, there is no place like Navadvipa in the entire planet! yours in the service of the guru, sukhvinder

The excitement within my heart increases, as the dates of Goura Purnima 2009 come nearer. This year, I will take part in the parikrama of the 9 dvipas that is navadvipa. The celebrations in our temple will be in full swing, and I can immerse myself in the sounds of the Mahamantra, singing and dancing with joyous abandon, barefoot in the streets of Navadvipa. The energy of Baba, my gurudev, will permeate my being, and I will relive all the priceless moments I have shared with Him in this holy land! I am blessed to have lived with Him and served Him in Navadvipa.

GAURA GADADHAR Om Sri Sri Vishnupad 108 TRIDANDISWAMI BHAKTI SRAVAN TIRTHA MAHARAJ In the BELATI Village of Chattagram Dist lived Madhav Mishra & his wife Ratnawati. They had two sons who were called Baninath & Gadadhar. Madhav Mishra left Chattagram & moved to Navadwip. This was the birthplace of Gadadhar. Gadadhar was a childhood friend of Nimai Pandit, and both were students in the same “Tol”. They used to discuss various topics about transcendent literature together. Their teacher was Sri Advaita Acharya. On the way to their “Tol” (School) Nimai Pandit caught hold of Gadadhar & told him “What do you think of yourself, you think you are a really a great pundit”? Gadadhar who excelled in debating was asked, “What are the symptoms of a liberated soul”? Gadadhar gave his explanation with support from the scriptures. Nimai told him that he had given an absolutely wrong answer. Nimai said, the display of severe pain & unhappiness are the symptoms of a liber...

VAISHNAV BEHAVIOUR His Divine Grace OM Vishnupad 108 Tridandi Swami Sri Srimat Bhakti Sravan Tirtha Goswami Maharaj (While teaching Sanatana Dharma, Lord Chaitanya described twenty-six qualities of the Vaishnav J) Krpalu, akrta-doha, satya sara, sama, nirdosa, vadanya, mridu, suci, akincana sarvopakaraka, santa, krsnaik a-sarana akama, aniha, sthira, vijita-sad guna mita-bhuk, apramatta, manada, amani gambhira, karuna, maitra, kavi, mauni Devotees are always merciful, humble, truthful, equal to all, faultless, magnanimous, mild and clean. They are without material possessions and they perform welfare work for everyone. They are peaceful, surrendered to Krishna and desire less. They are indifferent to material acquisitions and are fixed in devotional service. They completely control the six bad qualities- lust, anger, greed and so forth. They eat only as much as required and they are not inebriated. They are respectful, grave, compa...

dear visitor, Pranams. Welcome to my home. See, I have spread a nice mat for you to sit on. I am so happy you are here. Make yourself comfortable in my home and enjoy yourself as you look around. Yes, you will see that my home is my temple for my Guru. He is the Master of this House as much as He is a master of my life, my heart, my soul. You will notice that while He is Centre and the spoke that holds the wheel, the empty spaces are me and you, to create and craft at will. My Guru's energies suffuse me, yet leave me completely free to be. His is the love of limitless options. I feel He wants for me what I want for myself. To be true to Him, I have to be true to myself. And to truly do that, I wish to relate to you from the deepest part of me, where everything falls away, and all that remains is love. My dear guest, in this space I invite you to sit and ponder on what is your most magnificient dream for yourself. To dream on becoming the grandest vision of you that you are capable ...

SRI KRISHNA, THE CENTRAL FIGURE OF ALL LOVE By His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad 108 Tridandi Swami Sri Srimat Bhakti Sravan Tirtha Goswami Maharaj Heart is the seat of love. As love is Godhead Himself, so the God of love dwells eternally in our heart of hearts. So we should love god and all beings with all our heart. We do not say, “I love you with all my intellect” but we say, ‘I love you with all my heart’. The brain is the seat of the intellect. It leads us to polemnic discussions without arriving at any definite conclusion. On the contrary, it leads us to endless dry reasoning resulting in agnosticism. It is the Vaishnavas who are Godloving in their element and possess the qualities of head and heart simultaneously, because without the knowledge of Godhead, Sri Vishnu or Sri Krishna, there is no love for Him. So sambandha-jyana is indispensably necessary for releasing Kris hna-Prem. The three qualities which are characteristic traits of pure love are : 1) Eternal qualities after the e...