Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

We welcome you on this most auspicious occasion of the appearance day of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. According to the Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, the Absolute Truth is realized in three features. Preliminary is Brahman, the impersonal light that emanates from the transcendental form of the Lord. Next is Paramatma, the localized Supersoul within the […]

Today is Varaha-dvadasi, the appearance day of the boar incarnation, Varahadeva. To celebrate His appearance, we shall read one verse about Him from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Seven: “Scheduled Incarnations with Specific Functions.” TEXT 1                        brahmovaca yatrodyatah ksiti-taloddharanaya bibhrat     kraudim tanum sakala-yajna-mayim anantah antar-maharnava upagatam adi-daityam     tam damstrayadrim iva vajra-dharo dadara TRANSLATION […]

 

Today is the disappearance anniversary of Sripada Ramanujacharya, the principal acharya in the Sri, or Lakshmi, sampradaya. In a letter dated November 22, 1974, Srila Prabhupada wrote, “We find great shelter at the lotus feet of Sri Ramanujacharya because his lotus feet are the strongest fort to combat the Mayavadi philosophy.” And in the early […]

Today is Sripada Madhvacharya’s disappearance day. Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, Chapter 9, describes him: TEXT 245 madhvacarya-sthane aila yanha ‘tattvavadi’ udupite ‘krsna’ dekhi, tahan haila premonmadi TRANSLATION Caitanya Mahaprabhu next arrived at Udupi, the place of Madhvacarya, where the philosophers known as Tattvavadis resided. There He saw the Deity of Lord Krsna and became mad with […]

Giriraj Swami begins at about -4.20.36.

 

This story was heard from the pujari at Sri Advaita Acharya’s house in Shantipur, West Bengal. He came to the ISKCON Chaitanya Chandrodoya Mandir, in Mayapur, with a copy of the Back to Godhead article about Srila Prabhupada entitled “A Lifetime in Preparation.” Just recently an amazing realization occurred to me that I wanted to […]

jaya jaya sri-caitanya jaya nityananda jayadvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda We are gathered here to celebrate the appearance day of Sri Advaita Acharya. Advaita Acharya is an incarnation of Maha-Vishnu. In terms of pastimes, He appeared before Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and thus was considered an elder by Mahaprabhu. He was actually older than Lord Chaitanya’s own father. […]

Giriraj Swami begins at 26:00.

Today is the appearance day of Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and many other acharyas and associates of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was born in a very aristocratic family in Bengal. His father and uncle, Govardhana and Hiranya Mazumdar, were wealthy landlords, or zamindars; they were almost like kings in opulence. But although […]

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter 10, Text 14: TEXT pundarika vidyanidhi—bada-sakha jani yanra nama lana prabhu kandila apani TRANSLATION Pundarika Vidyanidhi, the third big branch, was so dear to Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu that in his absence Lord Caitanya Himself would sometimes cry. PURPORT In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (54), Srila Pundarika Vidyanidhi is described as the father of […]

 

 

 

A talk by Giriraj Swami at the conclusion of a meeting held in his honor at the residence of Lalita Sakhi dasi (Smt. Lalita Piramal), in the presence of HH Radhanath Swami and devotees from Juhu and Chowpatty. Srila Prabhupada is so great we cannot even begin to estimate his greatness. In one sense he […]

The ISKCON Juhu temple opened on Makara Sankranti, January 14, 1978. The auspicious day of Makara Sankranti, which falls in the Krishna paksha of Magha mas, in the month of January, marks the sun’s entering the zodiac sign of Capricorn, or Makara. Although in ancient times all Sankrantis were observed and celebrated, Makara Sankranti is […]

 

For Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s appearance day, I thought to read a verse and purport about him from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter Ten, “The Branches of the Caitanya Tree”: TEXT 105 sri gopala bhatta eka sakha sarvottama rupa-sanatana-sange yanra prema-alapana TRANSLATION Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, the forty-seventh branch, was one of the great and exalted branches […]

 

Giriraj Swami begins at 6:40.

 

We are entering the New Year, 2023, and on such occasions we take stock of what and how we did in the previous year and what we want to do in the next. Studies have shown, and probably many of us have experienced, that most New Year’s resolutions are broken during the first week. Still […]

 

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter Ten describes the branches of the tree named Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. TEXT 1 sri-caitanya-padambhoja-   madhupebhyo namo namah kathancid asrayad yesam   svapi tad-gandha-bhag bhavet TRANSLATION Let me repeatedly offer my respectful obeisances unto the beelike devotees who always taste the honey of the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. If even […]