Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

Gita Jayanti is the day on which Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna. The Gita is also known as the Gitopanisad and is considered one of the Upanisads. The title Bhagavad-gita is sometimes translated as “The Song of God.” Gita means “song.” God, Krishna, is so sublime that whatever He speaks is music and […]

My dear devotees, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. In a letter to me dated December 1971, Srila Prabhupada wrote, “Go on increasing books, and go on increasing my pleasure.” December is a special opportunity to focus on Srila Prabhupada’s desire that we distribute books—and thus increase his pleasure. As he […]

 

Today is Odana-sasti, the date on which Lord Jagannatha is given a winter shawl. One year when Lord Chaitanya and His associates celebrated this festival in Puri, Pundarika Vidyanidhi, who is Vrsabhanu Maharaja, Srimati Radharani’s father, in krsna-lila, received some special mercy. His experience is instructive for us all. Srila Prabhupada explains, “At the beginning […]

I will never forget the moment when I heard that George Harrison had passed away, one week after Thanksgiving in 2001. My strong feelings of separation surprised me—and made me think how important and dear George must have been to Srila Prabhupada and Sri Krishna. And I remembered my own little experience with George in […]

Last night I was blessed to visit with my dear godbrother His Holiness Partha Sarathi Das Goswami at his residence at Govardhana. Upon my arrival, he graciously greeted me with the verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.13.10) bhavad-vidha bhagavatas   tirtha-bhutaù svayam vibho tirthi-kurvanti tirthani   svantah-sthena gadabhrta “My Lord, devotees like your good self are verily […]

If we are at all aware of how dependent we are on God—for the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and our very ability to eat and drink and breathe, to think and feel and will, and to walk, talk, and sense—we will feel grateful and want to reciprocate God’s […]

 

 

According to Vrinda-kunda Baba, Srimati Vrindadevi appeared on the full-moon night at the end of Kartik, or Damodara. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, in Sri Vrndadevi-astaka (6-8), glorifies her: rasabhilaso vasatis ca vrnda- vane tvad-isanghri-saroja-seva labhya ca pumsam krpaya tavaiva vrnde namas te caranaravindam “By your mercy, people attain residence in Vrindavan, the desire to serve […]

Today is the disappearance day of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja. Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was a great devotee—a maha-bhagavata. He was a disciple of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and was very renounced. Earlier, he lived for many years in Vrindavan, roaming the twelve forests, chanting the holy names of Krishna, begging alms, and sleeping under […]

Today is Gopastami, the day on which Krishna and Balarama and other boys Their age, who previously had tended the calves, were given charge of the cows. This event is described in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.15.1): tatas ca pauganda-vayah-sritau vraje   babhuvatus tau pasu-pala-sammatau gas carayantau sakhibhih samam padair   vrndavanam punyam ativa cakratuh “When Lord Rama […]

Once, on his guru maharaja’s disappearance day, Srila Prabhupada said, “On the absolute platform, there is no difference between the appearance and the disappearance of the spiritual master. Both are beautiful, just like the sunrise and the sunset.” So, although we feel separation, within that separation our remembrance of Srila Prabhupada is heightened, and thus […]

We shall read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Seven: “Scheduled Incarnations.” TEXT 32 gopair makhe pratihate vraja-viplavaya   deve ’bhivarsati pasun krpaya riraksuh dhartocchilindhram iva sapta-dinani sapta-   varso mahidhram anaghaika-kare salilam TRANSLATION When the cowherd men of Vrndavana, under instruction of Krsna, stopped offering sacrifice to the heavenly king, Indra, the whole tract of […]

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On the auspicious occasion of Diwali, I share with you a description by Smriti “Baby” Warrier (later initiated as Sravana dasi), whose family were tenants at Hare Krishna Land in Juhu, of how when she was a child she and her brothers wanted to set off fireworks, and how Srila Prabhupada responded. One Diwali, in […]

We wish you all a happy Diwali. Diwali, or Dipavali, marks the end of the year, and by the year’s end we want to pay our debts and rectify our relationships—and then try to do better the next year. The Vedic literatures inform us that in the present age, Kali-yuga, the recommended process for self-realization, […]

 

 

Giriraj Swami begins 1 hour, 56 minutes before the end.

We are gathered here in the auspicious month of Kartik, which is also known as Damodara. Srila Prabhupada wrote in The Nectar of Devotion that just as Lord Damodara is very dear to His devotees, so the month of Damodara is also dear to them. And in the month of Kartik, in the year 1974, […]

 

 

Kartik is very auspicious for spiritual advancement. Another name for Kartik is Urja-vrata. Urja means power. The supreme power, the original power, is Srimati Radharani. So, Urja-vrata, or Kartik-vrata, is for Srimati Radharani. Many important pastimes took place in the month of Kartik. On the full-moon night, Sri Krishna played His flute and enjoyed the […]

 

 

We welcome you to this most auspicious place, the temple of Sri Sri Radha-Radhanath, on the most auspicious occasion of the beginning of Kartik, in the most auspicious association of Lord Krishna’s devotees. Kartik is also known as the month of Damodara (dama means “ropes,” and udara means “abdomen”), or Krishna who allowed Himself to […]

October 8 to October 10 – Mumbai October 10 to November 10 – Vrindavan November 10 to November 28 – Govardhana November 28 to November 30 – Vrindavan November 30 to December 2 – Delhi December 2 to December 6 – Govardhan EcoVillage (GEV, Wada) December 6 to December 10 – Surat December 10 to […]

 

 

Today is the auspicious disappearance day of three great acharyas in the Gaudiya-Vaishnava sampradaya: Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, and Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami. We shall read about Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami from Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja’s Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, Chapter Thirteen: “Pastimes with Jagadananda Pandita and Raghunatha Bhatta.” TEXT 89 […]

Today is Sripada Madhvacharya’s appearance 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 […]

We read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Nine, Chapter Ten: “The Pastimes of the Supreme Lord, Ramacandra.” TEXT 20 te ’nikapa raghupater abhipatya sarve   dvandvam varutham ibha-patti-rathasva-yodhaih jaghnur drumair giri-gadesubhir angadadyah   sitabhimarsa-hata-mangala-ravanesan TRANSLATION Angada and the other commanders of the soldiers of Ramacandra faced the elephants, infantry, horses, and chariots of the enemy and hurled […]

Bhagavat das: Prabhupada said, “Can you quote this verse?” The two of us looked at each other, and I thought, “Tamal Krishna Goswami will quote the verse,” but Tamal Krishna Goswami thought I was going to do it. Neither of us knew the verse. Prabhupada said, “Just see. You are not reading my books. Every […]

 

 

I will begin by reading a couple of exchanges with Srila Prabhupada about his coming to America. Once, Srila Prabhupada was asked, “Your godbrothers who came to the West went to England and Germany. Why did you choose to come to America?” And he replied, “They went and came back to India without accomplishing anything. […]

Visvarupa-mahotsava marks the occasion on which Lord Chaitanya’s older brother, Visvarupa, took sannyasa, the renounced order of life. And on the same date some four hundred and fifty years later, our own spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, also accepted sannyasa. According to Vedic literatures, Lord Chaitanya is Krishna Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, come in […]