Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

Today is Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada’s appearance day and also also the disappearance day of Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja. He left on Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s appearance day. The first time we celebrated Srila Bhaktisiddhanta’s appearance day, I was a new devotee in the Boston temple in early 1970, and Srila Prabhupada instructed […]

On February 21 we are celebrating the 148th birth anniversary of Om Vishnupada Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja. This is the 100th year since our dear Srila Prabhupada met his guru maharaja on the rooftop of the building at 1 Ultadanga Junction Road. The Gaudiya Matha was there for twelve years, beginning in 1918, and […]

 

Today, February 14, Saint Valentine’s Day, I was struck when Srila Prabhupada, at the conclusion of his class on Sri Isopanisad, spoke about love—the love that Krishna wants and the love that will satisfy us: “Any religion, it doesn’t matter whether Hindu religion, Muslim religion, Christian religion—if you are developing love of God, then you […]

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.  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 ecstasy. […]

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 so was considered an elder by Mahaprabhu. He was actually older than Lord Chaitanya’s own father. Advaita Acharya, although Vishnu Himself, was in the […]

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 […]

 

Question: “Why, at the time of death, the name of God does not come to the tongue?” Prabhupada: Because you are not practiced. You practice to chant Hare Krishna, at the time of death it will come. Abhyasa-yoga-yuktena cetasa nanya-gamina. [“He who meditates on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering […]

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 […]

Dear Giriraj Swami, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Thank for all your blessings and prayers. My mother always took pride in serving you in India and South Africa throughout the 1980s and ’90s. We are blessed to have had such a wonderful mother and are also eternally grateful for the […]

On January 10, my beloved disciple Palika Dasi left her body in South Africa. Kindly read Madri Dasi’s beautiful description of this wonderful devotee. Bitten by the Krishna Bug: Honoring the Life of Palika Dasi By Madri Dasi A few days ago, I heard of Palika’s transitioning from this mortal world. I did not want […]

On October 3, 1974, in Mayapur, Srila Prabhupada spoke on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.23, Queen Kunti’s prayer: yatha hrsikesa khalena devaki   kamsena ruddhaticiram sucarpita vimocitaham ca sahatmaja vibho   tvayaiva nathena muhur vipad-ganat “O Hrsikesa, the master of the senses and the Lord of lords, You have released Your Mother Devaki, who was long imprisoned and […]

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 […]

Giriraj Swami begins at 1:20.

We are entering the New Year, 2022, 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 […]

Twenty years ago, with a group of three people, I went to the ancient Russian city of Suzdal to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books. It was a bold decision to go to a place where almost every second resident was a nun or a priest, and almost every corner had a church or a temple. On […]

Radhanath Swami: This morning I was listening to the recording of Srila Prabhupada on Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s disappearance day in Hyderabad (I think it was 1972), and it is very, very special, because Srila Prabhupada wrote that beautiful poem for him in 1936, and that poem was lost. Srila Prabhupada was saying in this […]

“Who is a saint? A saint is tolerant, very tolerant—tolerant to the utmost. You have got a very good example in Lord Jesus Christ, a great saint or sadhu. Of course, he was more than a sadhu. Now, just see his behavior, how much tolerant he was. He was being crucified, and he was praying […]

“Now these Christmas holidays have begun in your country. Throughout the whole month of December you’ll observe nice festivities. Why? It began with God consciousness. Jesus Christ came to give you God consciousness, and in relation to him these festivities are going on. It may have degraded into another form, but the beginning was God […]

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 […]