Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami’s Disappearance Day
Giriraj Swami

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 […]

Srila Prabhupada’s Beloved Disciple Jasomatinandan Das
Giriraj Swami

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,” […]

Our Whole Philosophy Is Love
Giriraj Swami

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 […]

Preach Krishna and Depend on Krishna, and Everything Will Be Fulfilled
Giriraj Swami

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.’ […]

Make It a Honey Society
Giriraj Swami

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 […]

Srimad-Bhagavatam—The Limit of Education
Giriraj Swami

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 […]

How to Get Direction
Giriraj Swami

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 […]

An Auspicious Bath in an Auspicious Month
Giriraj Swami

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 […]

  Srila Prabhupada’s Faith in the Holy Name
Giriraj Swami

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 […]

How to Elect Good Government
Giriraj Swami

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 […]

Purusottama Masa, the Extra Month
Giriraj Swami

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 […]

“ISKCON’S Mother”—Rajani Priya Dasi, Rose Forkash
Giriraj Swami

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 […]

Srila Prabhupada’s Arrival in America
Giriraj Swami

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 […]

Sri Visvarupa-mahotsava and Srila Prabhupada’s Sannyasa
Giriraj Swami

Visvarupa-mahotsava is the date 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 […]

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
Giriraj Swami

Today we have gathered 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 one devotee called him the Seventh Gosvami. […]

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
Giriraj Swami

Today we have gathered 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 one devotee called him the Seventh Gosvami. […]

Vyasa-puja Celebration of His Holiness Giriraj Swami, Session Three, Mauritius
Giriraj Swami

Vyasa-puja celebration of His Holiness Giriraj Swami (Session 3 – Mauritius) – LIVE
Vyasa-puja celebration of His Holiness Giriraj Swami (Session 3 – Mauritius) – LIVE
Posted by Giriraj Swami Vyasa-puja Celebration on Friday, A…