This was offered by Srila Radhanath Swami on 118th Vyaspuja of HDG Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Thakur in October 2016
I am both grateful and honored to have been given the opportunity to present an offering on the occasion of the advent ceremony of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Pramoda Puri Goswami Maharaja. My special gratitude to His Holiness Sripad B.B. Bodhayan Maharaja, who carries the true spirit of his Guru Maharaja’s compassionate mission. Srila Puri Goswami Maharaja, one of the closest personal associates of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupada, offered his whole life to living and teaching the pinnacle of spiritual life: unconditional, unmotivated loving service to Sri Radha Gopinath as taught by Sriman Mahaprabhu. I remember one evening many years ago. I was with about twenty-five devotees from Mumbai on a pilgrimage to Sri Mayapur Navadvipa Dhama. It was about nine o’clock at night and we were walking from the ghat where we had just returned by boat from the town. As we walked past a Gaudiya Math, we were told that Srila Bhakti Promode Puri Goswami, a dear Godbrother of my beloved Guru Maharaja, was in residence. We asked if we could his darshan for a moment darshan. We were told that he was very ill, however we could briefly offer our pranams to him. When we came to his door, from his bed, he graciously invited us to come in. We crowded around him and he began to speak. For the next one hour he spoke with profound joy and enthusiasm about the qualities of a true vaisnava, citing scriptures, histories and life experiences. Our hearts were filled with gratitude as we appreciated the mercy of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. His assistants were trying to persuade him to stop speaking and rest, but his enthusiasm to speak to us kept growing. Finally, they humbly pleaded with us to go so that he could rest. As we walked back, we were all in tears, having met one who truly loved Krishna and all of us. On another occasion during Kartik in Vrindavan, I went alone to meet him. I was told that he was very ill and could not speak, but that I could come in his room to offer pranams. I bowed down and said that I was feeling fortunate to receive his blessings on the holy day of the disappearance of Srila Narottama das Thakur. His eyes opened wide, he exclaimed, “Oh Narottama Thakur!” He proceeded to speak for well over an hour about the pastimes of Narottama Das Thakur, from the Thakur’s birth to his disappearance. He spoke with love and enthusiasm describing Narottama Das Thakur’s childhood and his escape from a luxurious home to a simple life of devotion in Vrindavan. Then he shared stories in beautiful emotional detail about Narottama’s humble service to Lokanath Goswami and Jiva Goswami, and about his loving relations with Srinivas Acarya and Ramchandra Kaviraja. Srila Puri Goswami Maharaja was physically so weak that he could only whisper. I was the only one in the room, kneeling at his bedside, my ear close to his mouth and heart filled with his compassion. Those days, every year, he would come to Sri Krishna Balarama Temple on the disappearance day of my beloved Guru Maharaja, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The courtyard was filled with hundreds of devotees from all over the world. Srila Puri Goswami Maharaja would sometimes have to be carried in, but he spoke with great devotional power. He lovingly glorified ISKCON founder Acharya Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, thus strengthening our faith. Seeing his love for his godbrother and compassion for us, we got a glimpse of the true universality of vaisnavas.
With gratitude, your servant,
Radhanath Swami