1. I had the good fortune to meet Srila Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Goswami Maharaj in 1990. I was called by my godbrothers and requested to offer some services to him in Singapore. When I went to receive him, he was staying in an unfurnished apartment in Singapore. I was a bit shocked to see how he was staying. He had no bedding, no pillows, or anything to lie on. He was actually sleeping on a piece of cloth. So I asked, "Srila Maharaj, would you allow me to serve you by giving you some bedding?" He said, “What for? Why do I need bedding? Did Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu sleep on a pillow, mattress, or anything? He slept on the floor with his arm as a pillow. I am following His footsteps and I have to follow this also.”

—Sri Gauraraja Das (disciple of Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj), Australia
Spoken on April 28, 2024 via Zoom

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2. One sunny day I took Guru Maharaj and his sevak team for a morning walk on the beach. Singapore beach is usually sunny. On that walk, there was some discussion about Raganuga-bhakti. There was another great Vaishnava there who was particularly speaking to Russian devotees while emphasizing that topic.

It was Hrishikesh Maharaj, an American disciple, who introduced this topic with a question related to how all of us should go to Raganuga-bhakti. The discussion went on for a while and Guru Maharaj was very patient while listening. At the end of the conversation, I told him directly that I do not have a good background and I don't come from a favorable part of the world. I continued to explain that my Guru Maharaj, [Srila Bhaktivedanta] Swami Maharaj instructed me to do sadhana bhakti and I am not qualified to do Raganuga-bhakti because of my background.

Guru Maharaj replied while simply folding his hands in pranam and said, "This Maharaj who is speaking is a great Vaishnava, I am nothing." Just that was his reply: only to say that he is a great Vaishnava. It was a simple gesture, no more than that.

—Vidyapati Das (China/Australia)
excerpted and slightly edited from a transcription of Zoom meeting lead by Sri Rasbihari Das on 28/4/2020

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3. I will speak about Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj's humility. Maharaj spoke evening katha daily. Sometimes when he was busy writing, he would tell me to ask Sri Keshava Prabhu or sometimes Srila Bharati Maharaj if they would offer bhagavat-katha that evening. He would not give anyone orders; he had such a humble mood always—no pride at all.

Abhaya Prabhu of Medinipur had given me a tape recorder with cassettes of Guru Maharaj's [Sri Srimad Bhakti Dayita Maharaj] harikatha. Our god-brothers and god-sisters in Kolkata expressed their desire to hear Guru Maharaj's katha.

He came down with his danda, sat on the wooden stage, and spoke harikatha for a while. Then he told me, "Now you may continue to play the tape recorder." I had been sitting with the tape recorder on my lap. I gave it an asan and pressed play. Instantly Maharaj got down from his seat with his danda and sat down along with us and started listening. He gave utmost respect, honor to guru-vāṇī as if Guru Maharaj was present there in person.

Another instance of his humility is after offering vandana and beginning katha he suddenly saw Sri Krishna Keshava Brahmachari sitting in the audience, and he immediately stopped katha and got down the stage. We hear and say the words tṛṇād api sunīcena, taror api sahiṣṇunā, amāninā māna-dena, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ but do not follow it. Maharaj practiced it, followed it literally.

—Sripad Bhakti Prapanna Tapasvi Maharaj
Excerpt from a transcription-translation from Hindi to English (translation by Rasbihari Das) Spoken on 14.4.2020