brahmāṇḍa tārite śakti dhare jane janee veda purāṇe guṇa gāya jevā śunemahāprabhura gaṇa saba patita-pāvanatāi lobhe mui pāpī lainu śaraṇavandanā korite mui kata śakti dharitamo-buddhi-doṣe mui dambha mātra karitathāpi mūkera bhāgya manera ullāsadoṣa kṣami’ mo-adhame kara nija-dāsa
The glories of the pure devotees of the Supreme Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu know no bounds. Each of these dear devotees of the Lord, His eternal associates is able to deliver the whole universe. Thus, our attempts to pay homage to the Mahājanas, dear associates of the Supreme Lord, are compared to like holding a candle up to the sun. Similar are our attempts to glorify His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Pramode PurīGosvāmī Ṭhākura, who is a dear devotee of His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda and dear godbrother of His Divine Grace Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. Nonetheless, to honour and fulfill the desire of the Vaishnavas, to seek their grace and that of the Lord and for our own purification, it is our duty of love to do so. We have to bear in mind though that we do not really possess the strength or power to do so, lest we fall prey to fall pride and end up trying to glorify our own selves in the process. The exalted Vaishnavas such as Śrīla Bhakti Pramode Purī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura are devoid of such false pride and are the epitome of humility.Despite Śrīla Bhakti Pramode Purī GosvāmīṬhākura’s erudition in scriptural knowledge and personal connection with Their Supreme Lordships, His Divine Grace had never called attention to his person and had considered himself unworthy or insignificant, a living example of embodying Lord Caitanya’s teaching of
tṛṇād api sunīcena
and of heeding Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s warning of ‘āmi to vaiṣṇava’,
ei buddhi hoile, amānī nā ho’bo āmi
One example of this was when His Divine Grace was asked why there weren’t any photographs taken of him and his divine master Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta SarasvatīGosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda although he was Śrīla Bhaktisiddānta Prabhupāda’s dear entrusted disciple and therefore had many opportunities to be in close proximity. To this, Śrīla Bhakti Pramode Purī GosvāmīṬhākura explained that he wasn’t worthy to be in the same frame as his divine master. Another wonderful incident that comes to mind was when His Divine Grace was asked to give a spiritual talk with other eminent Vaishnavas in attendance. There were a list of speakers scheduled to speak and Śrīla Bhakti Pramode Purī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura was the first to speak, being the most advanced Vaishnava.
However, being absorbed in the glories of the Lord, His Divine Grace went on for hours in harikatha, oblivious to the time and the schedule for the programme. When reminded that it was already way past the time, Śrīla Bhakti Pramode Purī GosvāmīṬhākura was so apologetic for his unawareness and losing track of the time due to being aged. Such simplicity is indeed extremely rare. It is said that simplicity is Vaishnavism and His Divine Grace is undoubtedly an embodiment of simplicity. On another occasion, when His Divine Grace was told that he was spoken of in a dismissive manner by an eminent personality, he considered it to be a blessing, grace upon him.There are uncountable instances that can be cited extolling the glories of His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Pramode Purī GosvāmīṬhākura. The nature of spirit is that it is limitless while the nature of matter is that we are bound by space and time. We hope that Śrī Śrī Bhakti Pramode Purī GosvāmīṬhākura and the dear Vaishnava devotees of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu will be pleased by this feeble attempt of ours, overlooking our impudence, and thus shower their causeless mercy upon us by awakening us from our deep slumber of material existence and allowing us to be unreservedly engaged in their divine service. Bereft of their mercy, our life is useless
Written by Sakshigopal das