Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

The dates and times of the online sessions for Giriraj Swami’s Vyasa-puja celebration have been finalized.
Click here or the menu tab above to see the schedule.

Srila Prabhupada Vyasa Puja Offering by HH Giriraj Swami
Hear about the pastimes and glories of His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on his appearance day, by one of his most senior disciple, HH GIriraj Swami.
Posted by ISKCON Juhu Media…

Please view my talk here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vE6G0aG7bmSwduQNEdIrUsM5H-Y2Oc3l/view?usp=sharing
Thank you.
Hare Krishna.
Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

My dear Srila Prabhupada, Please accept my prostrated obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace, the embodiment of unlimited mercy. Knowledgeable devotees agree that you were a saktyavesa-avatara, an empowered incarnation, and you have indicated as much yourself. Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 2.13–14) states, “To deliver people in regions […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.23 Translation: Alas, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He who granted the position of mother to a she-demon [Putana] although she was unfaithful and she prepared deadly poison to be sucked from her breast? Purport: Here is an example of the extreme mercy […]

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 […]

On August 7, Giriraj Swami spoke on Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.13 with ISKCON Atlanta.

HH Giriraj Swami Maharaj speaking Krishna Katha.
HH Giriraj Swami Maharaj speaking Krishna Katha to ISKCON Atlanta.
Posted by ISKCON Atlanta on Friday, August 7, 2020

Balaram Purnima with HH Giriraj Swami Maharaj and HH Partha Sarati Das Goswami Maharaj
Posted by ISKCON Durban on Monday, August 3, 2020

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. As 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 […]

Giriraj Swami spoke with devotees from Bangalore over Zoom.

Balaram Purnima 2020 – HH Giriraj Swami Maharaja
Balaram Purnima 2020 – HH Giriraj Swami Maharaja
Posted by ISKCON Sri Jagannath Mandir, Seshadripuram, Bangalore on Sunday, August…

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.7.26 during a Zoom conference with ISKCON Malaga.

 
Posted by Hare Krishna Malaga – Iskcon Malaga on Sunday, August 2, 2020

 
Posted by Giriraj Swami on Wednesday, July 29, 2020

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. In exactly […]

We are celebrating 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, the Vrindaban on earth is as good as the spiritual Vrindaban, and therefore Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami says that […]

Giriraj Swami and Rtadhvaja Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.18 “Ordinarily, the spiritual master, husband, father, mother or superior relative accepts worship from an inferior relative, but here Rsabhadeva forbids this. First the father, spiritual master or husband must be able to release the dependent from repeated birth and death. If he cannot do […]

Speaking on Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.41, on June 7, 1976, in Los Angeles, Srila Prabhupada explained the following verse from the Padma Purana: arcye visnau sila-dhir gurusu nara-matir vaisnave jati-buddhir visnor va vaisnavanam kali-mala-mathane pada-tirthe ’mbu-buddhih sri-visnor namni mantre sakala-kalusa-he sabda-samanya-buddhir visnau sarvesvarese tad-itara-sama-dhir yasya va naraki sah “One who thinks the Deity in the temple to […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.6. etavan sankhya-yogabhyam sva-dharma-parinisthaya janma-labha? parah pumsam ante narayana-smrtih “The highest perfection of human life, achieved either by complete knowledge of matter and spirit, by practice of mystic powers, or by perfect discharge of occupational duty, is to remember the Personality of Godhead at the end of life.” […]

An interview with Giriraj Swami by the ISKCON Strategic Planning Office, July 9, 2020, via Facebook. Gauranga Dasa: Hare Krishna. We welcome all the devotees who have joined this weekly care conversation, Vaishnava seva. This week we are very honored to have with us His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja. We welcome His Holiness Giriraj Swami […]

Dear Giriraj Maharaja, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Here is a story that I would like to share with you—an experience with Srila Prabhupada in Germany in 1974. At that time I was in charge of managing the festival of Srila Prabhupada’s stay in Schloss Rettershof. For organizing all the […]

The more we hear about Krishna, the more we become purified. We cannot understand Krishna because we are not purified. But if you hear the Krishna name, Hare Krishna—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare—if you chant and hear, you become purified. So why should we not take this simple method, as it is […]

On the anniversary today of the incorporation of ISKCON in New York City . . . Bhavananda: In Svarup Ganj there’s one big astrologer. So, he saw your photograph, and he said, “This is the face of the most powerful spiritual personality on the planet.” Prabhupada: [laughs] Hare Krishna. Brahmananda: Then what else? Bhavananda: Then […]

How to keep the devotees together and closer to Krishna?
How to keep the devotees together and closer to Krishna?

For Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s disappearance day, I thought to read one 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 […]

Giriraj Swami in an interview with Gauranga Das from the ISKCON GBC Strategic Planning Team on “Devotee Care”.

Srila Prabhupada Personifies Devotee Care
Let us hear about “Srila Prabhupada Personifies Devotee Care” from a very …

Dear Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. And all glories to your wonderful service to him. One of your most prominent qualities while you were physically with us was your deep love for Srila Prabhupada. Very soon after you met him, he included you in his personal […]

Appreciating His Holiness Srila Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja. Zoom conference with ISKCON Towaco.

Posted by Giriraj Swami on Monday, July 6, 2020

Memorial Event for HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj
Memorial Event for HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj
Posted by Bhaktivedanta Manor on Monday, July 6, 2020

Tributes from Bhakti Caitanya Swami, Jayadvaita Swami and Giriraj Swami.

Guru Purnima Class by HH Giriraj Swami Maharaja
LIVE class by HH Giriraj Swami Maharaja on Guru Purnima,
Glorifications of His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja.
Special Occasions:
-Sri Guru Purnima
-Srila Sanatana Goswami’s disappearance day…

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 […]

Dear Devotees, Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. It is with overwhelming heartache that we announce to you the departure of our beloved godbrother and a dearmost servant of Srila Prabhupada, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami. From his earliest days as a young devotee, Maharaja had the extraordinary privilege of serving […]

Certain situations are extremely painful, and our intelligence fails to understand how this could be a blessing of the Lord. At such times, we can try humbly submitting a prayer: “O God, please give me the strength to see this situation as your mercy, although my intelligence fails to see it so.” This way we […]

I will read a verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Three, Chapter Two, Text 23. This verse is very significant. Not only is the verse beautiful, but it also has historical significance, because when Sukadeva Gosvami came out of the womb, after sixteen years, he left home immediately, and his father, Srila Vyasadeva, followed him into the […]

Chanting before Tulasi today, I recalled an incident with Srila Prabhupada in his garden in New Dvaraka, Los Angeles, in 1973. I was looking at him, and suddenly his face lit up, his eyes opened wide, and he smiled broadly, as if he were seeing a long-lost dear friend. When I turned around to see […]

Giriraj Swami read from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.11 during the program.

 
Kirtan & Lecture by HH Giriraj Swami Maharaj
Posted by Prem Kirtan Mela – Delhi on Saturday, June 27, 2020

Ratha Yatra Pastimes by HH Giriraj Swami Maharaj
Ratha Yatra Pastimes by HH Giriraj Swami Maharaj
Posted by ISKCON Sri Jagannath Mandir, Seshadripuram, Bangalore on Monday, June 22, 2020

Class by H.H.Giriraj Swami Maharaj
Posted by Iskcon Orlando on Sunday, June 21, 2020

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.12.