Taste for Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam

The family guru (kula-guru) of the Tiwari family was a learned scholar of Śrī sampradāya, and would perform a month-long recitation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. When he came to Tiwaripur, Śrīla Gurudeva would serve him attentively, decorating the stage, the deities’ altar, and the seat for the speaker. every day, for a month, he would take the family guru from his accommodation to the stage, and afterwards bring him back to his place. each day, he would do the priest’s laundry and massage his feet when he took rest. As a result of serving in so many ways and hearing attentively, Śrīla Gurudeva’s relish for Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam increased more and more. His taste for hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was enhanced by his mood of service and he acquired the same taste for hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that he had had for hearing Rāmāyaṇa.

As for Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord rāma, there is no difference between Them. Lord Kṛṣṇa is Svayam Bhagavān; Lord rāma is also Bhagavān.

It is mentioned in the Brahma-saṃhitā (5.39):

रामादि-मूर्तिषु कला-नियमेन तिष्ठन् नानावतारम् अकरोद् भुवनेषु किन्तु
कृष्णः स्वयं समभवत् परमः पुमान् यो गोविन्दम् आदि-पुरुषं तम् अहं भजामि

rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu
kṛṣṇaḥ svayaṃ samabhavat paramaḥ pumān yo govindam ādi-puruṣaṃ tam ahaṃ bhajāmi

I worship the original personality, Govinda, who manifests Himself in the material world as Śrī rāmacandra and many other incarnations who are His plenary portions and sub-portions, and who personally appears in His original form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains in his purport to this verse:

Avatāras such as Śrī rāma, Nṛsiṃha and Varāha are called personal expansion avatāras. They all reside eternally in Their own dhāmas in Vaikuṇṭha along with Their associates, and whenever Kṛṣṇa desires, They descend here to the material world for the welfare of the universe. All these incarnations descend to relieve the burden of the earth, to chastise miscreants, to establish religious principles for the particular age in which They descend, and to bestow auspiciousness upon the jīvas. However, whenever and wherever Bhagavān descends into this material world, He does so exclusively by His own sweet will, bringing along His spiritual dhāma and His eternal associates. Similarly, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is non-different from the Supreme Personality Śrī Kṛṣṇa, also appears in His original personal form (svayaṃrūpa). This is the confidential meaning of the verse.

Śrīla Gurudeva was naturally attracted to Śrī Bhagavān from the beginning of his life and that strong attraction had deepened more and more.