Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

 

 

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 […]

Today is the divine disappearance day of Namacharya Srila Haridasa Thakura. So we shall read from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, Chapter Eleven: “The Passing of Haridasa Thakura.” INTRODUCTION The summary of this chapter is given by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in his Amrta-pravaha-bhasya as follows. In this chapter it is described how Brahma Haridasa Thakura gave up […]

We have gathered today for the most auspicious celebration of the appearance day of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was one of the most prominent acharyas in the disciplic succession after Lord Chaitanya, and his contribution to Gaudiya Vaishnavism and to the world is so great that he was called the Seventh Gosvami. Much […]

Today is Srila Jiva Gosvami’s appearance day. In his purport to Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Adi 10.85, Srila Prabhupada writes: “In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (195) it is said that Srila Jiva Gosvami was formerly Vilasa-manjari gopi. From his very childhood Jiva Gosvami was greatly fond of Srimad-Bhagavatam. He later came to Navadvipa to study Sanskrit, and, following in […]

We shall read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Eight, Chapter Twenty-two: “Bali Maharaja Surrenders His Life.” We begin with the chapter summary: “The summary of this twenty-second chapter is as follows. The Supreme Personality of Godhead was pleased by the behavior of Bali Maharaja. Thus the Lord placed him on the planet Sutala, and there, after bestowing […]

Giriraj Swami begins after one hour and twenty-six minutes.

For the most auspicious celebration of Sri Radhastami, we read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Three: “Pure Devotional Service.” TEXT 23 jivan chavo bhagavatanghri-renum   na jatu martyo ’bhilabheta yas tu sri-visnu-padya manujas tulasyah   svasan chavo yas tu na veda gandham TRANSLATION The person who has not at any time received the dust of […]

 

 

I will be participating in the Laguna Beach Ratha-yatra on Sunday, August 28, beginning at 4 PM—Kindly join us if you can.

Jaya Jagannatha!

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

 

My dear Srila Prabhupada, Please accept my humble, prostrated obeisances at your all-merciful lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace. When an interviewer once asked you, “What is the goal of life?” you replied, “The goal of life is to enjoy.” The effort to enjoy materially, through the mind and senses, leads only to […]

We read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Ten, Chapter Two: “Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Krsna in the Womb.” TEXT 18 tato jagan-mangalam acyutamsam   samahitam sura-sutena devi dadhara sarvatmakam atma-bhutam   kastha yathananda-karam manastah SYNONYMS tatah—thereafter; jagat-mangalam—auspiciousness for all living entities in all the universes of the creation; acyuta-amsam—the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is […]

Jnanasim, the sword of knowledge, is given by Krsna, and when one serves the guru and Krsna in order to hold the sword of Krsna’s instructions, Balarama gives one strength. Balarama is Nityananda. Vrajendra-nandana yei, saci-suta haila sei, balarama ha-ila nitai. This bala—Balarama—comes with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and both of Them are so merciful that […]

Today is the appearance day of Lord Balarama, the Personality of Godhead who is the first expansion of Lord Krishna, the original Personality of Godhead. Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita (4.7): yada yada hi dharmasya   glanir bhavati bharata abhyutthanam adharmasya   tadatmanam srjamy aham “Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, […]

We read from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, Chapter 19: TEXT 1 vrndavaniyam rasa-keli-vartam   kalena luptam nija-saktim utkah sancarya rupe vyatanot punah sa   prabhur vidhau prag iva loka-srstim TRANSLATION Before the creation of this cosmic manifestation, the Lord enlightened the heart of Lord Brahma with the details of the creation and manifested the Vedic knowledge. […]

Today we are celebrating the beginning of Jhulana-yatra, which is steeped in the moods of Vrindavan. When I first began reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, I was struck by the following description in the introduction to Teachings of Lord Chaitanya: “Actually, Vrindaban is as good as the Spiritual Vrindaban, and therefore Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami says […]

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Yesterday my dear godbrother HH Siddhartha Swami Maharaja came to visit me in Carpinteria. He was the head pujari in Juhu for many years when I was the temple president, and we shared many fond remembrances of our time together in service to Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari. Now Maharaja is developing a huge […]

Urvasi Dasi was Srila Prabhupada’s beloved disciple and my dear godsister. His Divine Grace said that when a Vaishnava departs, we feel simultaneously happy and sad—sad because we will miss the Vaishnava’s association, and happy because we know they have gone to serve Krishna. In the last few months, I have had several programs at […]

Our dear Urvasi Dasi, who left her body recently, shares some beautiful memories of Srila Prabhupada.

 

Srila Prabhupada incorporated ISKCON on July 13, 1966, in New York City, which corresponds to today on the Vaishnava calendar. One exchange between him and Bhavananda indicates some of its significance: Bhavananda: In Svarup Ganj theres one big astrologer. So, he saw your photograph, and he said, “This is the face of the most powerful […]

Today I thought to read a verse and purport about Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami 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 of the […]

Today is Guru-purnima. Srila Prabhupada has explained that the system of honoring the spiritual master is current in all sections of Vedic followers. In the Mayavadi (impersonalist) sects, the disciples offer respect to the spiritual master once a year, on Guru-purnima. And in the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya, the disciples offer homage annually on the appearance […]