Krishna Comes Under the Control of His Devotees, October 20, Houston
Giriraj Swami

————————– Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.9.19. “Krishna is always fully independent; when He becomes subordinate to His devotees, this is a display of ananda-cinmaya-rasa, the humor of transcendental qualities that increases His transcendental pleasure. Everyone worships Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore He sometimes desires to be controlled by […]

Immediate Relief, All Auspiciousness
Giriraj Swami

The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 1, “Characteristics of Pure Devotional Service,” states, “Pure devotional service brings immediate relief from all kinds of material distress.” And Srila Prabhupada, in a talk in Vrindavan on November 3, 1972, explained, “ ‘Pure devotional service brings immediate relief from all kinds of material distress.’ There is a song of […]

Dallas to Houston and Back
Giriraj Swami

Tomorrow I will drive to Houston, where I will stay for two weeks, including Rama-ekadasi, Thursday, October 24; Dipavali, Sunday, October 27; and Govardhana-puja, Monday, October 28. On Tuesday, October 29, I will return to Dallas, for Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day on Thursday, October 31—and to catch my return flight to Santa Barbara on Tuesday, […]

Vyasa-puja Celebration for His Holiness Rtadhvaja Swami, October 13, Dallas
Giriraj Swami

——————- “Before coming here I thought of a verse of the Bhagavad-gita that describes you and because you are such an avid reader and preacher of Bhagavad-gita I would like to offer this to you.” “One who is not envious but is a kind friend to all living entities, who does not think himself a […]

Sri Murari Gupta’s Disappearance Day
Giriraj Swami

Today is Sri Murari Gupta’s disappearance day. Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi 10.49–51, describes him: TEXT 49 sri-murari gupta sakha—premera bhandara prabhura hrdaya drave suni’ dainya yanra TRANSLATION Murari Gupta, the twenty-first branch of the tree of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, was a storehouse of love of Godhead. His great humility and meekness melted the heart of Lord […]

Kartik and Sarat-purnima: Special Mercy and the Dance of Divine Love
Giriraj Swami

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 […]

This Is the Bhagavata
Giriraj Swami

Today I heard a beautiful talk by Srila Prabhupada, Los Angeles, January 5, 1974, on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.16.8, which says, “Living beings who are under [Yamaraja’s] grip should take advantage by hearing the deathless nectar in the form of this narration of the transcendental pastimes of the Lord.” And Srila Prabhupada glorified Srimad-Bhagavatam and the importance […]

Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami
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 […]

Sri Rama-vijaya-dasami
Giriraj Swami

We read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Nine, Chapter Ten: “The Pastimes of the Supreme Lord, Ramacandra.” TEXT 20 te ’nikapa raghupater abhipatya sarve dvandvam varutham ibha-patti-rathasva-yodhaih jaghnur drumair giri-gadesubhir angadadyah sitabhimarsa-hata-mangala-ravanesan TRANSLATION Angada and the other commanders of the soldiers of Ramacandra faced the elephants, infantry, horses, and chariots of the enemy and hurled against them […]

Deity-Welcoming Program, September 25, Columbus, Ohio
Giriraj Swami

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.22. “Engagement in such worship of the Deity, under the direction of a bona fide spiritual master, will greatly help the householders to purify their very existence and make rapid progress in spiritual knowledge. Simple theoretical book knowledge is not sufficient for a neophyte devotee. Book knowledge is […]

Become Attached to Devotees, September 20, Columbus, Ohio
Giriraj Swami

———————————————— Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.20 Mahatma is a synonym of sadhu. It is said that service to a mahatma, or elevated devotee of the Lord, is dvaram ahur vimukteh, the royal road of liberation. Mahat-sevam dvaram ahur vimuktes tamo-dvaram yositam sangi-sangam (Srimad-Bhagavatam. 5.5.2). Rendering service to the materialists has the opposite […]

A Devotee of the Lord is Guaranteed Eternal Life, September 19, Dallas
Giriraj Swami

——————————————— Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.17 at a home program in Dallas. “Similarly, a moment passed in the association of a pure devotee by hearing and chanting the transcendental messages of the Lord is a perfect guarantee for eternal life, for returning home, back to Godhead. Mad-dhama gatva punar janma na vidyate. In other […]

A Devotee’s Understanding of Difficulties, September 19, Darshan Room, Dallas
Giriraj Swami

—————————————- Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.17.1-22 “A devotee’s conclusion is that no one is directly responsible for being a benefactor or mischief-monger without the sanction of the Lord; therefore he does not consider anyone to be directly responsible for such action. But in both the cases he takes it for granted that […]

The Heart of a Vaishnava—A Message for Sripada Bhakti Charu Swami’s Vyasa-puja
Giriraj Swami

One of Sripada Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja’s most prominent qualities is his deep love for Srila Prabhupada. Very soon after Maharaja met Srila Prabhupada, Prabhupada included him in his personal staff and made him his secretary for Bengali and Hindi correspondence. Soon thereafter, Srila Prabhupada gave him first and second initiation and then sannyasa. And […]

Increasing the Spiritual Family
Giriraj Swami

Yesterday, Sunday, September 15, in Dallas, in the presence of Sri Sri Radha-Kalachandji, Srila Prabhupada, and their followers, I was pleased to officially connect eight devotees to Srila Prabhupada and the guru-parampara through hari-nama initiation. Rajesh Sharma became Radha-vallabha dasa, Seema Sharma became Srimati dasi, Deo Pun became Divya Nama dasa, Manju Pun became Manjari […]