Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

Srila Prabhupada’s Inconceivable Struggle: “The Individual Endeavor Must Be There”
Giriraj Swami

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 […]

Makara Sankranti
Giriraj Swami

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 […]

Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s Appearance Day
Giriraj Swami

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 […]

Initiation of Bhaktin Sanskriti Munshi, now Shyamesvari (a name of Radharani, meaning “Lord Shyama’s queen”) Dasi, at the Goverdhan EcoVillage, Wada, Maharashtra
Giriraj Swami

Thoughts for the New Year
Giriraj Swami

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 […]

Srila Jiva Gosvami’s Disappearance Day
Giriraj Swami

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 […]

Happy Holidays
Giriraj Swami

In the West, is the holiday season, with Christmas and Hanukkah both coming up. As Srila Prabhupada explained, the Lord comes to this world to enlighten people with transcendental knowledge. Sometimes He comes personally, and sometimes He sends His son or His prophet or His representative, but they all come with the same message. They […]

Meeting with the President of Mauritius
Giriraj Swami

Today I met with the President of the Republic of Mauritius, His Excellency Sri Prithvirajsing Roopun, G.C.S.K, at the State House, Le Reduit. He was pleased to accept from me Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is and my I’ll Build You a Temple: The Juhu Story and Life’s Final Exam: Death and Dying from the […]

Yamuna-devi—Serving Vani and Vapuh
Giriraj Swami

There is so much to be said about Srimati Yamuna-devi dasi. In October of 1970 I was one of a group of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples from America going to join him in India. On the way, we stopped in Brussels, and it was there, in an apartment, that I first met Yamuna-devi—and Malati and Syamasundara […]

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s Disappearance Day
Giriraj Swami

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master, is my grand spiritual master, but I feel that I never really knew him very well until I read his biography Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava, by my godbrother Bhakti Vikasa Swami. Many of the quotes and references below come from that work. We are all here by the […]