Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

Today is the disappearance day of Sri Isvara Puri. He was such a perfect disciple of Sri Madhavendra Puri that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Krishna Himself, was pleased to accept Isvara Puri as his spiritual master. Later, Lord Chaitanya visited Isvara Puri’s birthplace at Kumara-hatta and collected some earth from the birth site, which He […]

“We will not be able to chant purely as long as we are absorbed in material thoughts. How can we chant Krishna’s name if we are not inclined to serve Him? A person interested in sense gratification, who is fond of cheating and who is a hypocrite, can never chant the holy name. Those who […]

Today is the appearance day of Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. He was very kind, but also very strict. He said of himself, “I am not only a proofreader of the press; I am a proofreader of men—I see their faults and try to correct them. I am also a proofreader of […]

Today is the appearance day Srila Narottama dasa Thakura, of whom Srila Prabhupada said, He was “a great acharya of the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya. He has written many songs about the Vaishnava philosophy, and they are approved as completely corresponding with Vedic instructions.  .  .  . So, we should relish the instruction of Narottama dasa […]

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We welcome you to the most auspicious observance of Sri Nityananda-trayodasi, the appearance day of Lord Nityananda Balarama. We shall read from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, the authorized biography of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates, Adi-lila, Chapter 5: “The Glories of Lord Nityananda Balarama.” TEXT 1 vande ’nantadbhutaisvaryam   sri-nityanandam isvaram yasyecchaya tat-svarupam   ajnenapi nirupyate TRANSLATION […]

Today is Varaha-dvadasi, Lord Varaha’s appearance day. Srila Prabhupada spoke on this occasion in Los Angeles on February 18, 1970: “Today is the incarnation day of Lord Krishna’s appearing as the Boar. He lifted the world when it was submerged within the water of Garbhodaka Ocean. The universe which we are seeing is only half. […]

Today, February 14, Saint Valentine’s Day, I was struck when Srila Prabhupada, at the conclusion of his class on Sri Isopanisad, spoke about love—the love that Krishna wants and the love that will satisfy us: “Any religion, it doesn’t matter whether Hindu religion, Muslim religion, Christian religion—if you are developing love of God, then you […]

Today is the appearance anniversary of Sripada Ramanujacharya, the principal acharya in the Sri, or Lakshmi, sampradaya. Srila Prabhupada wrote that “We find great shelter at the lotus feet of Sri Ramanujacharya because his lotus feet are the strongest fort to combat the Mayavadi philosophy.” (letter 22.11.1974) And in the early days of ISKCON in […]

To honor Sri Advaita Acharya’s  appearance day, we present Srila Prabhupada’s talk about him in Mayapur on April 6, 1975. advaitam harinadvaitad   acaryam bhakti-samsanat bhaktavataram isam tam   advaita acaryam asraye “Because He is nondifferent from Hari, the Supreme Lord, He is called Advaita, and because He propagates the cult of devotion, He is […]

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Giriraj Swami and Rtadhvaja Swami spoke on the subject of life’s final exam during the Sunday Feast Program in Houston. In this verse the importance of Krsna consciousness is stressed. Anyone who quits his body in Krsna consciousness is at once transferred to the transcendental nature of the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is the […]

Posted by Daily readings of Srila Prabhupada’s Books on Thursday, January 24, 2019

For Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s appearance day I thought to read a 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 […]

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Giriraj Swami gave the keynote presentation on his book Life’s Final Exam: Death and Dying from the Vedic Perspective at the Bhaktivedanta Medical Retreat in Houston.   Live from Bhaktivedanta Medical Retreat in Houston, where Giriraj Swami is giving the keynote presentation on his book Life’s Final Exam: Death and Dying from the Vedic Perspective. […]

Giriraj Swami and Rtadvhaja Maharaja led a Bhagavad-gita As It Is questions and answers session during the Sunday program.

Giriraj Swami, Vishvambara das, Nityananda das and Rtadvaja Swami spoke on Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.18 at the housewrming celebration of Balaram Prasad das and Siddhesvari dasi

Giriraj Swami singing Mangalacarana and Kirtan
Talks by Giriraj Swami, Vishv…

Today, January 14, Makara-sankranti, marks the anniversary of the grand opening of Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari’s temple and cultural complex in Juhu, Bombay. Two days after the opening, The New York Times ran an article on the front page of its second section, with the headline “Hare Krishna Sect Displays Vitality At Its New $2 Million […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.11 at a bhakti-vriksha meeting in Fisco TX.

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Kirtan
Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.11
Nrsimha Prayers

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.23. “In other words, Lord Sri Krsna is the property of His pure, unconditional devotees, and as such only the devotees can deliver Krsna to another devotee; Krsna is never obtainable directly. Lord Caitanya therefore designated Himself as gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah, or “the most obedient servant of the […]

A talk by Giriraj Swami on Srila Jiva Gosvami’s disappearance day, January 14, 1994, Mauritius. Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter Ten describes the branches of the tree named Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. TEXT 1 sri-caitanya-padambhoja-madhupebhyo namo namah kathancid asrayad yesam svapi tad-gandha-bhag bhavet TRANSLATION Let me repeatedly offer my respectful obeisances unto the beelike devotees who always […]

On Sunday, January 6, Srila Locana dasa Thakura’s appearance day, in the presence of Sri Sri Radha-Kalachandji, Srila Prabhupada, and their followers, I was pleased to officially connect five devotees to Srila Prabhupada and the guru-parampara through hari-nama initiation. Jeff Janock became Jaya Chaitanya dasa, Nishant Mehta became Nitai dasa, Sakar Panta became Shyama Gopala […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.17. “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 words, a devotee of the […]

We have gathered at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada in this wonderful temple of Sri Sri Radha-Gokulananda, Sri Sita-Rama-Laksmana-Hanuman, and Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, in the presence of His Holiness Radhanath Swami and so many exalted devotees. We are entering the new year, and on such occasions we take stock of what and how we […]

Most resolutions take the form of “do’s”—things I resolve to do—and “don’ts”—things I resolve to not do. And Vedic wisdom tells us that all do’s and don’ts should support one main do—always remember Krishna (God)—and one main don’t—never forget Him. Now, practically, what can we do to always remember Krishna and never forget Him? The […]

Srila Prabhupada’s beloved disciple Yamuna-devi dasi passed away on Saphala-ekadasi, which falls on Tuesday, January 1. There is so much to be said about Srimati Yamuna-devi dasi. In October of 1970 I was one of a group of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples from America going to join him in India. On the way, we stopped in […]

At Kirtan50 today, Bada Haridas Prabhu and I spoke about the holy name, following the theme of this beautiful verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.2.55): visrjati hrdayam na yasya saksad   dharir avasabhihito ’py aghaugha-nasah pranaya-rasanaya dhrtanghri-padma sa bhavati bhagavata-pradhana ukta “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is so kind to the conditioned souls that if they call upon […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad Bhagavatam 3.15.25. “On the auspicious occasion of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s disappearance day, we were pleased to officially connect Vishal Amarnani and his wife, Shweta, to Srila Prabhupada and the guru-parampara through hari-nama initiation. Their new names are Vraja Bihari dasa and Sveta-manjari dasi. Please bless them and […]

On the auspicious occasion of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s disappearance day, we were pleased to officially connect Vishal Amarnani and his wife, Shweta, to Srila Prabhupada and the guru-parampara through hari-nama initiation. Their new names are Vraja Bihari dasa and Sveta-manjari dasi. Please bless them and support them in their service to Srila Prabhupada, Sri […]

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master, is my grand spiritual master, but I feel that I never really knew him very well until I read his biography Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava by my godbrother Bhakti Vikasa Swami. Many of the quotes and references below come from that work.  We are all here by the […]

“Now these Christmas holidays have begun in your country. Throughout the whole month of December you’ll observe nice festivities. Why? It began with God consciousness. Jesus Christ came to give you God consciousness, and in relation to him these festivities are going on. It may have degraded into another form, but the beginning was God […]

An address by Giriraj Swami to leaders of Hindu organizations in Houston, October 23, 2009.   The Bhagavad-gita is also known as the Gitopanisad and is considered one of the Upanishads. The title Bhagavad-gita is sometimes translated as “The Song of God.” Gita mean “song.” God, Krishna, is so sublime that whatever He speaks is music […]

We read from Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Chapter Three: “Karma-yoga.” TEXT 41 tasmat tvam indriyany adau   niyamya bharatarsabha papmanam prajahi hy enam   jnana-vijnana-nasanam TRANSLATION Therefore, O Arjuna, best of the Bharatas, in the very beginning curb this great symbol of sin [lust] by regulating the senses, and slay this destroyer of knowledge and […]

Today is Odana-sasthi, the date on which Lord Jagannatha is given a winter shawl. One year, when Lord Caitanya and His associates celebrated this festival in Puri, Purdarika Vidyanidhi, who is Vrsabhanu Maharaja, Srimati Radharani’s father, in krsna-lila, received some special mercy. His experience is instructive for us all. Srila Prabhupada explains, “At the beginning […]

On January 3, 1974, in Los Angeles, Srila Prabhupada spoke on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.16.6: athavasya padambhoja-   makaranda-liham satam kim anyair asad-alapair   ayuso yad asad-vyayah “Or please speak of topics related to the devotees of the Lord, who are accustomed to licking up the honey available from the lotus feet of the Lord. What is […]

In the West this is the holiday season, with Christmas and Hanukkah both coming up. As Srila Prabhupada explained, the Lord comes to this world to enlighten people with transcendental knowledge. Sometimes He comes personally, and sometimes He sends His son or His prophet or His representative, but they all come with the same message. […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.8.6. “Dhruva Maharaja was pleasing to everyone. He was pleasing to his brother who was the threat to his kingdom, to his father, even to hos step-mother who was so mean to him. Srila Prabhupada was like that to. He spoke about the art of criticizing. He quoted […]

Srila Prabhupada personally wrote me, “Go on increasing books, and go on increasing my pleasure.” The December marathon is a special opportunity to increase the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada and the parampara by distributing books about Krishna consciousness. So, I encourage you all to increase their pleasure—and your own—by distributing as many books as possible. […]