Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

 

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 upon His flute and enjoyed […]

Initiation of Narottama Vilasa dasa
11/05/20 Narottama Vilasa dasa Initiation (Right click to download)

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.17. “This verse indirectly confirms the greater importance of utilizing the human form of life to realize our lost relationship with the Supreme Lord by acceleration of devotional service. Time and tide wait for no man. So the time indicated by the sunrise and the sunset will be […]

The following incident, described in Watering the Seed, took place exactly forty-five years ago. Almost every morning in Bombay Srila Prabhupada used to walk on Juhu Beach. One morning I was feeling especially wretched and miserable. Although so many other devotees were present, Srila Prabhupada began to speak as if he were addressing me personally. […]

“All my desires to work as an engineer seem to have dwindled by seeing your lotus face in New Vrindavan. I am enjoying the nectar of devotion more and more every day. I have been going on sankirtan every day for an average of six to eight hours, sometimes even fifteen ever since I have […]

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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 […]

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 Srila Prabhupadas beloved disciple, my dear godbrother, Jasomatinandan Das left his body in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, due to COVID-19. He is Srila Prabhupada’s eternal servant, and he will continue his service at Prabhupada’s lotus feet. On a morning walk on Juhu Beach, Srila Prabhupada asked Dr. Patel why he was coming daily. “I don’t know,” […]

Without love, nothing can sustain. If I do not love Krishna, I cannot surrender—it is not possible. Just like a small child—he is naturally surrendered to the parents because there is love. The child loves the parents. So without the basic principle of love—the more you love, the more the surrender is perfect. Just like […]

SPEAKER HH GIRIRAJ SWAMI
Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.4.3
Posted by Hare Krishna Africa on Thursday, October 22, 2020

Perhaps we are the only society who is proclaiming, “Here is God, Krishna. Take it.” We are the only society in the whole world. Otherwise they are all misled, all misled. Others may cooperate or not cooperate; we don’t mind. But we cannot change our policy. Our policy is, “Krishna says, ‘I am the Supreme.’ […]

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On June 6, 1969, in New Vrindaban, Srila Prabhupada spoke on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.10: na yad vacas citra-padam harer yaso jagat-pavitram pragånita karhicit tad vayasam tirtham usanti manasa na yatra hamsa niramanty usik-ksayah “Those words which do not describe the glories of the Lord, who alone can sanctify the atmosphere of the whole universe, are considered […]

During Purusottama-adhika-masa, it is recommended to read Brahma’s Prayers to Lord Krishna.

atho maha-bhaga bhavan amogha-drk suci-sravah satya-rato dhrta-vratah urukra masyakhila-bandha-muktaye samadhinanusmara tad-vicestitam “O Vyasadeva, your vision is completely perfect. Your good fame is spotless. You are firm in vow and situated in truthfulness. And thus you can think of the pastimes of the Lord in trance for the liberation of the people in general from all […]

yasya deve para bhaktir yatha deve tatha gurau tasyaite kathita hy arthah prakasante mahatmanah [Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.38] [“Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge are automatically revealed.”] Transcendental knowledge becomes revealed. To whom it becomes revealed? It becomes […]

On September 17 we began the auspicious Purusottama-adhika-masa (extra month), which is considered three times more powerful than Kartik. One year, Srila Prabhupada was in Juhu during Purusottama-adhika-masa, and Dr. C. P. Patel, Srila Prabhupada’s regular companion on his morning walks on Juhu Beach, prevailed upon him to take bath in the sea. In an […]

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In observance of the World Holy Name Festival. Srila Prabhupada came to the Western world to give us the holy name. He did so on the order of his spiritual master, with full faith in the holy name, that if people like us would just chant the holy name, everything else would follow. Srila Prabhupada […]

On June 21, 1973, in Mayapur, Srila Prabhupada spoke on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.10.6: nadhayo vyadhayah klesa daiva-bhutatma-hetavah ajata-satrav abhavan jantunam rajni karhicit “Due to the king’s having no enemy, the living beings were not at any time disturbed by mental agonies, diseases, or excessive heat or cold.” Srila Prabhupada explained, “In Maharaja Yudhisthira’s time, the government […]

 

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.25

Giriraj Swami begins at about 2:23:21.

Both the Gregorian and Vedic calendars comprise twelve months. But whereas the number of days in each month varies in the Gregorian calendar, the Vedic months are all of the same duration: about fourteen days from the new moon to the full moon and from the full moon to the new. The day of the […]

Today we celebrate the auspicious occasion of the 85th birthday of our dear Rose Forkash. When Srila Prabhupada first arrived in America, it took some time—almost a year—before people began to take his message seriously. But gradually, after he moved to New York, some young men and women did join him. And after starting the […]

A talk by Giriraj Swami and Sri Prahlada dasa, September 28, 2002, Three Rivers, California. To commemorate the anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in America, we shall sing and discuss the second poem that he wrote on the ship Jaladuta when he arrived in the Boston harbor on September 17, 1965. Poem [translation]: 1:  My dear Lord […]