It is said in the Rāma-carita-mānasa by Tulasī dāsa: honahāra vīravān ke hote haiṅ cikne paṭ—as the leaves of a sapling indicate how tall and powerful a tree will become, one’s character in childhood sheds light upon his future.
Before he could even roll over, Śrīman Nārāyaṇa (henceforward referred to as Śrīla Gurudeva or Gurudeva) would lie in his mother’s arms and listen to recitations of Rāmāyaṇa. When he was six months old, he would merrily ride on the shoulders of his father or grandfather to religious discourses. If they tried to leave before the lectures had finished, he cried loudly until they decided to stay. As a child, Śrīla Gurudeva sat in rapt attention for the entire duration of hari-kathā and never showed signs of hunger or thirst. When he appeared amongst the congregation, the atmosphere became surcharged by his presence, and anyone who caught sight of him was immediately filled with jubilation.
When Śrīla Gurudeva was about seven months, his parents noticed that if they tried to bathe him with ordinary water the gentle child would whimper and refuse to touch it. However, when they bathed him in water collected from the nearby Gaṅgā, he would be satisfied and joyous. He was exceedingly stubborn and would not eat a morsel, no matter how tempting, unless it was prasāda and only after the family gave him caraṇāmṛta (water that has bathed the Deity), from their morning worship of Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa and Śālagrāma.
As soon as his son learned to talk, Paṇḍita Tiwārī would place him on his lap and teach him verses of the Bhagavad-gītā, just as a young boy learns the alphabet from a teacher. He lovingly advised his son, “By memorizing the Gītā, Kṛṣṇa will be seated within your heart. Kṛṣṇa’s advice is His mahā-prasāda (great mercy). One who wants to make his life successful will read the Bhagavad-gītā and preserve the verses in his mind. Wherever there is respect for Kṛṣṇa and His holy speech, there will be no place for misery, sickness, or illusion. Carefully keep these verses in your heart and thus protect our family line.”
Under the tutelage of his father, Śrīla Gurudeva easily memorized verses of the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. After studying the Gītā at dawn, Gurudeva walked with his father to the Gaṅgā, where they worshiped her with incense, a ghee-wick lamp, and flowers; they then bathed and offered oblations to their forefathers. While walking to and fro, they recited the Bhagavad-gītā. At home, Gurudeva’s mother gave him caraṇāmṛta and fed him prasāda from the family Deities, Śrī Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa.
Śrīla Gurudeva began school when he was five. The local children were naturally drawn to him and they eagerly assembled at his house to accompany him to school. Even boys of neighboring villages came and joined him. Gurudeva’s parents gave the boys caranamrta and prasāda, and then Gurudeva led them to school in the neighboring village of Dalsāgara—about nine kilometers from his home. The pathway went through a wooded area scattered with fields that became flooded and difficult to cross in the rainy season. The simple elementary school in Dalsāgara had one room as the teacher’s office and a small shed where equipment was kept. Students gathered for their classes under a large tree. Gurudeva’s father gave him a peacock feather quill and homemade ink to write with. Pens were rare in those days and if a child had one it indicated he was from an affluent family.
When the teacher arrived he would notice that Gurudeva had been leading the boys in recitation of scripture. “Why aren’t you properly studying your actual lessons?” the teacher said. “What will you learn merely by reciting the Rāmāyaṇa?”
“Rāma will give us good intelligence,” Gurudeva replied, “and then the lessons will be easy to remember. How can we learn anything from you? You are forty or fifty years old, and we are mere five-year-old boys; how can we understand your lectures? We cannot equal you. But with the help of Rāma, we will understand your lessons.”
“Yes, Rāma will help you,” the teacher replied in surprise, and then, a few moments later, he said, “I will recite the verses together with you and then perhaps you will understand what I teach.” From then on, every morning before lessons began, the teacher and students recited a chapter of the Rāmāyaṇa and then a chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā. During recess Gurudeva recited verses by heart, naturally inspiring the other children to join along. The school was transformed by Gurudeva’s influence. The boys respected and followed him as a leader, and he was soon made class monitor. When school was finished for the day, the boys bouyantly accompanied Gurudeva home. Once home, Gurudeva watched his father and mother serve their Deities and attended evening ārati (an offering to Deities of incense, ghee-wick lamp, water, cloth, flowers, and fan). Brahminical custom designates that no one is allowed to worship or cook for the Deity without formal initiation. Hence, Śrīla Gurudeva watched his parents worship the Lord. Afterwards, he listened to his father speak hari-kathā to the villagers. He then partook of the Deities’ prasāda and rested for the night.
As time went by, the Tiwārīs’ home was visited by an increasing number of people. It was often noted, “This house has mystic power. By doing kīrtana here, one experiences profound sweetness.” Without invitation many people would visit, bearing gifts like rice, wheat, fruits, or flowers; all the while feeling they had entered a temple of God.
“We are householders,” Gurudeva’s parents said. “Taking donations from others is not appropriate for us.”
Śrīla Gurudeva said to his parents, “It is good everyone desires to serve Bhagavān. Please accept their gifts and offer bhoga (unoffered foodstuffs) to Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. Then give everyone mahā-prasāda.” His father and grandfather began arranging the daily distribution of mahā-prasāda to many people. Gurudeva was pleased to see that sādhus were given prasāda and a place to stay at his home.
In the morning, he observed that many deer, parrots, squirrels, pigeons, and other animals would gather outside his house, eat some grass or grains, and then leave. Intrigued, he ran behind them, asking, “Where are you going? Why are you leaving?”
He asked his grandfather, “Why do the animals come for such a short time and then leave?”
“They go wherever they are loved and stay there with their friends and family,” Dhyānacandra Tiwārī replied.
In the evenings, when the villagers and guests would gather at the Tiwārī household to hear Paṇḍitajī’s discourses, Gurudeva would also sit and listen. He was taught from a young age to offer respect to all Vaiṣṇavas and brāhmaṇas; in reciprocation they affectionately blessed him to be successful in life. Being attracted to Gurudeva, villagers would congregate around him, and became good-natured and devout in his company; such is the power of saintly persons.
The villagers returned to their homes at the conclusion of the evening program. One day, Śrīla Gurudeva asked his grandfather, “Why don’t people stay here with us?”
“It is not possible for them to always stay,” his grandfather patiently explained.
“Where do they go?” Gurudeva asked.
“They return to their families at home,” his grandfather said, “where their hearts are bound by love.”
“But don’t they like us?”
“They do, but this is the nature of God’s creation. People have the most affection for those whom they have direct relationships with.”
“Who is God?” Gurudeva asked.
“Rāma is God.”
“If we have love for Rāma, will He ever leave us? Will we ever leave Him?”
“Hanumānjī had so much love for Rāma; therefore, Rāma never left him and he never left Rāma.”
“I want to have love for Rāma like Hanumān,” Gurudeva said. “If I have real love for Rāma, then He will come and never leave me. Everyone else who comes eventually leaves.”
“All your family is here with you,” his grandfather said, “why are you worrying about others?”
“But everyone leaves and lives separately.”
From a young age, Śrīla Gurudeva’s attachment for God was quite apparent. He asked his parents questions like, “How can we develop a loving relationship with Bhagavān, so that He will never leave us?”
Understanding the fleeting nature of worldly relationships, Gurudeva vowed, “One day I will teach everyone the meaning of real love. Pure love is unavailable in this world. People search for love in all beings and objects, but they cannot find lasting love because everything here is temporary; therefore they remain unsatisfied.”
He heard from his father that those who have love for God naturally love all beings, yet those who have no love for God are cruel and hard-hearted. With this barometer, he examined the character of whomever he met, thinking, “When will I find a pure devotee of Bhagavān?”
In search of such devotees, Gurudeva attended discourses on the Rāmāyaṇa, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and other scriptures. Lord Rāma is adored by the residents of Tiwārīpura, and day-long recitations of His pastimes would often take place in the local temple, where Deities of Rāma, Sītā, and Lakṣmaṇa, as well as Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and Bāla Gopāla, are worshiped on the main altar. A deity of Hanumān and a Śiva-liṅga are also worshiped in the temple compound. Gurudeva sometimes went to this temple in the morning and listened to the brāhmaṇa priests recite Vedic mantras, and then stayed for recitations of the Rāmāyaṇa. Other notable places where religious programs are held in Tiwārīpura are Vāmanadeva’s temple and the āśramas of Nārada Ṛṣi, Vaśiṣṭha, and Gautama Ṛṣi.
During Rāma Navamī, the residents of Tiwārīpura would recite Tulasī Dāsa’s account of Lord Rāma all day and night—all the while fasting without a drop of water. Gurudeva wept incessantly upon hearing the woeful pastimes of Lord Rāma, such as when King Daśaratha was separated from his beloved exiled son and cried, “Hā Rāma! Hā Rāma! Hā Rāma!” before giving up his life. When hearing how Bharata came to the forest to bring back his elder brother, Gurudeva exclaimed, “How great is the love of Bharata!”
Śrīla Gurudeva later asked his grandfather, Dhyānacandra Tiwārī, “Tell me, why do we fast and recite the entire Rāmāyaṇa on Rāma’s birthday?”
“If we do so,” his grandfather replied, “Rāma will come and be pleased with us. This is His puja (worship). Physical articles are not the only means to serve Bhagavān. If one doesn’t remember and embrace Rāma’s glories in his heart, Rāma Himself will not enter the heart; thus, one’s consciousness will remain impure.”
“Why don’t we read this daily then?” Gurudeva asked. “If we do, Rāma will always stay with us.”
“It is good to read every day, but it is so long—there is no time.”
“Why is there no time?” Gurudeva asked. “Isn’t all one’s time and life meant for Rāma?”
“This is correct,” his grandfather said, “but twenty-four hours are required to recite the entire epic. You should memorize Tulasī dāsa’s Sundara-kāṇḍa. This is good for you and will not take such a long time.” Śrīla Gurudeva quickly memorized the Sundara-kāṇḍa and recited it along with the verses of the Bhagavad-gītā.
Śrīla Gurudeva remembered the heroic tales of Lord Rāma throughout the day and at night he dreamt of pastimes such as Rāma battling Rāvaṇa. Early one morning he had a vision of Lord Rāma, along with Sītā-devī, Lakṣmaṇa, and Hanumān, descending from the sky seated upon a divine swan. He ran forward and prostrated himself before Rāma’s feet. After Lord Rāma and Sītā-devī blessed Their beloved devotee They ascended, leaving Gurudeva trembling with a sense of separation.
[Excerpted from the Bhakta Bandhav Publications “Śrī Guru Darśana“]