apperanceday of Srila Bhaktivaibhava Puri Maharaja

[Paramananda das]

I recall I came to visit him once in Vrindavana and I was taking my show of but I did not see he and his servant and come and he was going to speak so he patiently waited till I had removed my shoes , I felt embarrassed i had blocked him for even short time because I had not seen him .He smiled at me and recognized me , at the time I felt he has seen and served Srila Bhaktissidhanta Prabhupada I am truely blessed by his association . Another day he told me some devotee are thinking now I am a manjari but they are omitting Vasudeva Krsna and will not read Bhagavad Gita , I knew who he was talking about . I agreed .When he looked at you , ,I felt blessed when he talked to you , I felt blessed . He was surely one of my Siksa Gurus , Srila Bhakti Vaibhava   Puri Maharaja and a dear friend of our Srila Prabhupada and dear disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada

Srila Bhakti Vaibhava  Puri Maharaja taught a sannyasi should never be alone with a woman , he was a strict sannyasi and chanted 64 rounds daily since he joined Gaudiya math , he was a disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada and close friend of our Srila Prabhupada: Puri Maharaja again visited Rome. After welcoming him at the airport, his disciples drove him to the temple they have in the city. During this particular trip, one day Maharaja entered his room after delivering a lecture. He was alone. Devotes remained outside cheerfully talking about Maharaja's glories. An innocent young mataji took advantage of the situation and boldly ventured herself inside the room. Noticing her, Maharaja started to call aloud: "Aaaaahh, Aaaaahh, Aaaaahh". When nobody noticed his voice, Maharaja raised his voice: "AAAAAHH! AAAAAHH! AAAAHH!" Finally, to convince all that he was in imminent danger, he literally started to scream at the top of his voice: "AAAAHH!!! AAAAAHH!!! AAAAAHH!!!
This time everyone ran inside the room to see what was happening to Maharaja. With a pale face due to the effort Maharaja stared intensely at the lady who was respectfully but frightened standing in front of him with folded hands. Then all understood: Maharaja was crying for help! Although a perfect self-realized soul, Maharaja wanted to impart to his disciples a memorable lesson: a sannyasi or brahmacari should never stay alone with a woman. What to speak of talking intimately with her! What to speak of receiving messages in front of her or getting poetry from her etc.
He was elderly enough to be the great-grandfather of this particular lady, nevertheless he showed with his personal example that a serious practitioner of Krishna consciousness must abide the rules and sadacara of the sannyasa asrama. As our Srila Prabhupada commented of Govinda dasi after forcefully sending her to Hawaii: "She can perfectly be my grand-daughter... I have no problem at all keeping her engaged in Krishna consciousness. But I'm a sannyasi A Ceasar's wife must be above any suspicion.' "