Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

Giriraj Swami read and spoke on Bhagavad-gita 3.13.

On my way to speaking at Ohio State University (OSU) tonight, I visited Hitchcock Hall, where Srila Prabhupada and Allen Ginsberg had presented a program. And I reread the account of the event in BTG, which began, “On the night of May 12, 1969, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and poet Allen Ginsberg […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.22.

Posted by Giriraj Swami on Monday, September 23, 2019

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.11

 
Srimad Bhagavatam 2.1.11 BY HH Giriraj Swami
Posted by ISKCON Columbus on Sunday, September 22, 2019

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Bhagavad-gita 3.10.

 
ISKCON Columbus Maha Satsang
Posted by Giriraj Swami on Saturday, September 21, 2019

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.23.
?
Audio:
Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.23 (Right click to download)

———————————————— 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 […]

——————————————— 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 […]

—————————————- 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Today Rajani Priya dasi (Rose Forkash) turned 99, and devotees and friends from the Santa Barbara area gathered at Mission Terrace to celebrate the occasion with her. She looked around the room and expressed her affection and appreciation for each devotee, one by one. And she expressed her gratitude for having received the “magic formula”—the […]

?

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 […]

Today is Bhadra-purnima. Srimad-Bhagavatam (12.13.13) states, “If on the full moon day of the month of Bhadra one places Srimad-Bhagavatam on a golden throne and gives it as a gift, he will attain the supreme transcendental destination.” As explained in the purport, “One should place Srimad-Bhagavatam on a golden throne because it is the king […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Antya-lila Chapter 11, “Haridasa Thakura is known as namacarya because it is he who preached the glories of chanting hari-nama, the holy name of God. By using the words tomara avatara (“your incarnation”), Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu confirms that Haridasa Thakura is the incarnation of Lord Brahma. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura says that advanced devotees help the Supreme Personality of […]

A lecture by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s appearance day, September 3, 1971,  London. So, today is a very auspicious day, Thakura Bhaktivinoda’s birthday. Here is the picture of Thakura Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda. He was one of the acharyas of this disciplic succession from Krishna. We have got […]

Today is Vamana-dvadasi, the appearance day of Vamanadeva. “Urukrama is a name for Lord Vamanadeva, who performed the wonderful act of occupying the three worlds with three footsteps. Lord Vamanadeva requested three paces of land from Maharaja Bali, and when Maharaja Bali agreed to grant them, the Lord immediately covered the entire world with two […]

Yesterday, in continuation of the Radhastami celebrations, the devotees in Dallas had a boat festival for Sri Sri Radha-Govinda. Here are some images and a video clip.

 
Posted by Giriraj Swami on Sunday, September 8, 2019

———&…

Giriraj Swami read and spoke on Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.23: “O King Rahugana, the perfectional stage of devotional service, or the paramahamsa stage of life, cannot be attained unless one is blessed by the dust of the feet of great devotees. It is never attained by tapasya [austerity], the Vedic worshiping process, acceptance of the renounced order of life, […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Bhagavad-gita 9.13: “Here it is mentioned ‘bhajanty ananya-manaso‘ without deviation of the mind. As we know from Bhagavad-gita and personal experience, the mind can be our best friend or our worst enemy. When the mind is engaged in Krishna consciousness it is our best friend and when it strays […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.23: jivañ chavo bhagavatanghri-renum na jatu martyo ’bhilabheta yas tu sri-visnu-padya manujas tulasyah svasañ chavo yas tu na veda gandham Translation: The person who has not at any time received the dust of the feet of the Lord’s pure devotee upon his head is certainly a dead body. […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.23. “In the Brahma-samhita it is said that the Lord is never to be found by becoming a great scholar of the Vedic literatures, but He is very easily approachable through His pure devotee. In Vrndavana all the pure devotees pray for the mercy of Srimati Radharani, the pleasure potency of Lord […]

For the most auspicious celebration of Sri Radhastami, we read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Three: “Pure Devotional Service.” TEXT 23 jivan chavo bhagavatanghri-renum na jatu martyo ’bhilabheta yas tu sri-visnu-padya manujas tulasyah svasan chavo yas tu na veda gandham TRANSLATION The person who has not at any time received the dust of the feet […]

Today is Lalita-sasti, Srimati Lalita-devi’s appearance day. She is Srimati Radharani’s direct expansion and dearest friend. She is also very merciful and canvasses for devotees to come to serve Sri Sri Radha and Krishna. We can pray to her, following Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami:  sandra-prema-rasaih pluta priyataya pragalbhyam apta tayoh prana-prestha-vayasyayor anudinam lilabhisaram kramaih vaidagdhyena […]

Yesterday eight of us—Kuntidevi, Lavanga Manjari, Nanda Kishore, Kandarpa Manjari (his wife), Gopal (their son), Srimati (their daughter), Jivan Mukta, and I—visited Rajani Priya Dasi (Rose Forkash) at Mission Terrace Convalescent Hospital, where she is staying temporarily. She was as Krishna conscious as ever and told us how she is getting staff, patients, and visitors […]

“Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord. Everyone should praise another’s service to the Lord and not be proud of his own service. This is the way of Vaisnava thinking, Vaikuntha thinking. There may be rivalries and apparent competition between servants in performing service, but in the Vaikuntha planets the service of […]

My dear Sridhar Swami Maharaja, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. One of the most important lessons in Krishna consciousness is service in separation, and I have learned much about that from you since your departure. Three days after you left, while on my daily walk, I suddenly began to feel […]

Today I heard a lively argument between Srila Prabhupada and Dr. Patel on a morning walk on Juhu Beach, February 23, 1974. Srila Prabhupada was criticizing so-called gurus who are actually Mayavadis and say, “I am God. Let me now have rasa dance. Send your children. Send your wife, send your daughter. We’ll dance.” “These […]

Zack Richards and Chaitanya Mishra received first initiation and the names Vraja Mohana Dasa and Chaitanya Priya Dasi, and the sisters Priti Radhika Dasi and Priya Gopika Dasi were awarded second initiation.   Zack Richards and Chaitanya Mishra received first initiation and the names Vraja Mohana Dasa and Chaitanya Priya Dasi, and the sisters Priti […]

My dear Gopal Krishna Maharaja, Congratulations on your seventy-fifth appearance day!  My first vivid recollection of you is from 1973. I had heard about you—how you had studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and then at McGill University in Montreal and then held responsible positions with Pepsi Cola and Bristol-Myers, and how you would come […]

 
Giriraj Swami’s Talk during Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja celebration at ISKCON Silicon Valley
Posted by Damodar Das on Monday, August 26, 2019

Audio
Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja talk (Right click to download)

Giriraj Swami Janmashtami talk, August 23, ISKCON Silicon Valley
Posted by Damodar Das on Sunday, August 25, 2019

Audio
Janmashtami Talk, ISV (Right click to download)

Dear Srila Prabhupada, I wish to tell you about my journey to meet you—and how your journey to meet me was effective. In my youth I aspired to attain perfect happiness, and soon I realized that such happiness could not be achieved materially but only spiritually. And, through reading spiritual books, I came to understand […]

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 […]

When I arrived at my chiropractor’s office today, all the tables were occupied, so I took the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, gifted to him by Rtadhvaja Swami, from the shelf and began to read. Then the chiropractor came out from the treatment room, took Life’s Final Exam from the shelf, handed it to me, and […]

Today I heard an inspiring conversation in which Srila Prabhupada explained the reason for his great success, namely his faith in the order of his spiritual master and in chanting the holy names, and encouraged us to follow in the same way, using the same formula. He said, “In the shastra it is said, harer […]

“Because He is as powerful as Lord Krsna and can bestow spiritual power to the devotees, He is therefore known as Baladeva. In the Vedas also it is enjoined that no one can know the Supreme Lord without being favored by Baladeva. Bala means spiritual strength, not physical. Some less intelligent persons interpret bala as […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 2, and from Sri Caitanya-bhagavata. “The son of Rohini will also be celebrated as Sankarsana because of being sent from the womb of Devaki to the womb of Rohini. He will be called Rama because of His ability to please all the inhabitants of Gokula, […]