Srila Gurudev's Pastimes (2)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Vyasa Puja of Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj
Sri Nrisingha Palli, the main festival programme
1 January 2021, part 3, translated from Bengali

[His Divine Grace speaks on the pastimes of Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj.]

...Gurudev would also arrange tours. At first, Srila Sridhar Maharaj was alone, and Srila Gurudev would arrange tours: he would send everything they had collected to the temple. Srila Gurudev managed his family and sent everything to the temple.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj made Srila Gurudev [Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj] the secretary of the Mission, and this position of the secretary never changed—only when Srila Sridhar Maharaj declared Srila Govinda Maharaj the next acharya did they appoint somebody else as the secretary, but there were many brahmacharis at the temple who even saw Srila Prabhupad (Sripad Puri Maharaj), who even studied at Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's school (Krishna Sharan Brahmachari, Srila Gurudev later gave him sannyas, and his name became Bhakti Prashun Aranya Maharaj).

When Srila Sridhar Maharaj gave sannyas to Srila Gurudev, he told him that tridandi-sannyas means three things—to look after the Deities, to look after the temple, and to look after the devotees. Do you want to hear how Gurudev protected and looked after the temple? There are many naughty people in Kolerdanga, but Gurudev had such a tight grip on them that when he would come down from upstairs, people saw him and immediately spread the news among themselves, "Watch out! Govinda Maharaj is coming! Run for your life!" They were very afraid of Guru Maharaj [Srila Govinda Maharaj].

There was also another story that Gurudev told me.

One time, a clerk came from the municipality to measure the kitchen building to count the tax. Guru Maharaj [Srila Govinda Maharaj] said, "This is the Lordships' kitchen, you cannot come inside to take the measurements." There were no pillars at that time, so if the man measured outside, he would get twenty inches more, and Gurudev said, "You cannot enter inside. Measure outside, and even if you get twenty inches more, I do not mind it." The man became indignant, "Why cannot I enter inside?!" "Because this is the Deities' kitchen." The man claimed, "So what? I am a brahman!" and was going to go inside with his shoes on. Then, Gurudev said, "If you try to go inside, I will cut your leg." The man got furious and went to Srila Sridhar Maharaj, "What sort of man do you keep downstairs? He says he will cut my leg!" Srila Sridhar Maharaj said, "You must have done something. Call the boy." Then, Gurudev came, and Srila Sridhar Maharaj asked him, "What has happened? This man, a brahman, says you want to cut his leg?" Gurudev said, "He wants to go to the Deities' kitchen with his shoes on. What else will I say to him?"

Such was Gurudev.

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