Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

“I can honestly say that I love you Giriraj Swami Maharaja. The love that we share is a love of a time-tested friendship that goes deep and is more satisfying than any mundane friendship. It is a relationship based on serving together during the pioneer days of our spiritual master’s mission. It is said that […]

Giriraj Swami, Janmashtami abisheik September 3, Houston from Derek Carter on Vimeo. ?? Giriraj Swami, Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja, September 4, Houston from Derek Carter on Vimeo.

Vyasa-puja talk (Right click to download)

“In one class at Bhaktivedanta Manor Srila Prabhupada proclaimed from the vyasasana that, ‘You can fall down but I cannot fall down’. After the class he was praying before the dieties. One disciple asked him what he was praying because he seemed to be very intent. Srila Prabhupada replied, ‘I am praying that I may […]

My dear Srila Prabhupada, Please accept my prostrated obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace. nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine  “I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krsna on this earth, […]

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 […]

We are together to celebrate the appearance of Lord Krishna in the material world. On special occasions such as this—we’ll soon be celebrating the pastime of Mother Yasoda binding Krishna with ropes, and then Krishna lifting Govardhana Hill—unless we know who Krishna is, we won’t know what to make of these seemingly fantastic stories. The […]

This class was given by Giriraja Swami and Devamrita Swami.

Hear is a clear recording of the discussion:
Chasing Sustainable Happiness (Right click to download)

“Someone may say. ‘What is wrong with taking birth in this material world? I have taken birth here and I am happy.’ There could be some truth to that but our pleasure is always mixed with pain. In this physical body we cannot experience pure unadulterated pleasure. Of course, the pleasure we experience from bringing […]

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 practice, O […]

Today we are celebrating the beginning of Jhulana-yatra, which is steeped in the moods of Vrindavan. When I first began reading Srila Prabhupadas books I was struck by the following description in the introduction to Teachings of Lord Chaitanya: “Actually, Vrindaban is as good as the Spiritual Vrindaban, and therefore Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami says […]

In 1976, on August 15, Indian Independence Day, some of the tenants assembled in the garden at noon, stood in silence for a minute before the small statue of Gandhi, and then proceeded with their annual celebration—hoisting an Indian flag, garlanding the statue, singing the national anthem, and distributing sweets. “Where is the question of […]

When I arrived at my chiropractor’s yesterday, all the tables were taken, so I took a copy of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is from his bookshelf, opened it, and received just the instruction I needed: yadrccha-labha-santustah—one who is satisfied with gain that comes of its own accord, dvandvatitah—who has surpassed duality, vimatsarah—who is free from […]

We read from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter One: “The Spiritual Masters.” TEXT 62 sadhavo hrdayam mahyam   sadhunam hrdayam tv aham mad-anyat te na jananti   naham tebhyo manag api SYNONYMS sadhavah—the saints; hrdayam—heart; mahyam—My; sadhunam—of the saints; hrdayam—the heart; tu—indeed; aham—I; mat—than Me; anyat—other; te—they; na—not; jananti—know; na—nor; aham—I; tebhyah—than them; manak—slightly; api—even. TRANSLATION […]

Question: “Can we pray for something that would be favorable for our service?” Giriraj Swami: “Suppose I don’t have a car to go to the temple. Can I pray to Krishna to give me a car so I can get to the temple? In the Bhagavad-gita (7.26) Krishna says, ‘O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality […]

Yesterday, I invited Rajani-priya (Rose Forkash), almost ninety-eight years old now, to accompany us to the Los Angeles Ratha-yatra. In the car on the way back to Carpinteria after the festival, she said, “Giriraj—I want to thank you, thank you, thank you so many times for including me in today’s program. I needed it, I […]

Yesterday Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja arrived in Carpinteria to spend some time with me at my ashram. I was much impressed with his plans and initiatives for cow protection (go-raksya) and, of course, as always, with his spiritual purity and Krishna consciousness. And I know that it was only his love for Srila Prabhupada and […]

Yesterday we were graced by a visit from Kalakantha Prabhu and Bhakta Jeff, from Gainesville. Kalakantha is such a sincere, intelligent, thoughtful, dynamic, compassionate, innovative preacher, I always feel enlightened and encouraged by his annual visits. As stated in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Adi 1.50), tesam satata-yuktanam   bhajatam priti-purvakam dadami buddhi-yogam tam   yena mam upayanti […]

“The mind is the agent of the false ego and the false ego doesn’t want to surrender to Krishna. The false ego wants to be the controller, the enjoyer, the proprietor and the center of everything. The mind will always give us so many reasons why not to surrender or chant Hare Krishna. So, we […]

One must conquer the modes of passion and ignorance by developing the mode of goodness, and then one must become detached from the mode of goodness by promoting oneself to the platform of suddha-sattva. All this can be automatically done if one engages in the service of the spiritual master with faith and devotion. In […]

———————————————— Giriraj Swami and Kalachandji dasa shared their memories of His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja. ———————————————— Kalachandji dasa (Right click to download) Giriraj Swami (Right click to download)

Today is Guru-purnima. Srila Prabhupada has explained that the system of honoring the spiritual master annually is current among all Vedic followers. In Mayavadi (impersonalist) sects, disciples offer respect to the spiritual master on Guru-purnima. And in the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya, disciples offer homage on the appearance day of the spiritual master, in a ceremony […]

It is a great honor, privilege, and pleasure to be here on the auspicious occasion of Snana-yatra. The first deities of Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra in ISKCON were discovered in San Francisco in 1967. One of Srila Prabhupada’s early disciples, Malati dasi, saw a small figure in an import store, Cost Plus, and brought it to […]

While I was chanting japa at Butterfly Beach, about forty crows converged on the sand nearby, and I told Jivan-mukta, “Look: a place of pilgrimage for crows (vayasam tirtham),” referring Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.1 na yad vacas citra-padam harer yaso   jagat-pavitram pragrnita karhicit tad vayasam tirtham usanti manasa   na yatra hamsa niramanty usik-ksayah ————————————————————————————————– “Those […]

We shall continue our discussion of the cleansing of the heart, “The Cleansing of the Gundica Temple,” Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, Chapter Twelve. I will read the verse again and then the entire purport. We have already discussed the beginning of the purport, which explains the general process of cleansing the heart. Now we shall discuss […]

The observance of Gundica-marjana, the washing and cleansing of the Gundica temple, takes place on the day before Ratha-yatra, in preparation for the arrival of the Lord. The history of Ratha-yatra goes back thousands of years, to a previous age, but for us the specific significance of the Ratha-yatra and the cleaning of the Gundica […]

On May 12 Mohini Madaan, now Madana-mohana-mohini dasi, who suffers from severe muscular dystrophy and has been told she does not have long to live, shared with me her thoughts on her eighteenth birthday: My dearest Maharaja, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva. All glories to your divine […]

Madan Mohan Mohini Dasi (Mohini Madaan) received her first and second initiation, and Hema Gauranga Das, Hemangi Dasi, and Sri-gopika Dasi received their second initiations, in a ceremony on Sunday evening. ——————————————- Kirtan by Giriraj Swami (Right click to download) Initiation talk (Right click to download)

Srivasa Pandita is one of the members of the Panca-tattva: sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu-nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasa. Vedic authorities state that in the current Age of Kali, Krishna came as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Balarama came as Sri Nityananda Prabhu. Similarly, Maha-vishnu appeared as Advaita Acharya, Srimati Radharani as Gadadhara Pandita, and Narada Muni as Srivasa Pandita. […]

Today the Supreme Court of India ruled that no one should be barred from the Jagannatha temple in Puri because of his faith or nationality, providing legal support to Srila Prabhupada’s long-standing desire that his disciples be allowed to enter, as described in the following excerpt from my forthcoming book about Srila Prabhupada and Juhu: […]

———————————————————- ————————————————— In-Dependence Event. The Darshan Room (Right click to download)

While I was leaving the Dallas Fort Worth airport on July 4, a large American flag flying in the wind caught my eye, and I was surprised by how happy I felt. I reflected on how fortunate we were to live in a country where we have freedom of religion, and how Srila Prabhupada said, […]

On July 5 we celebrate the divine disappearance day of Sri Srimad Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaja, who left our world on this date on the Vedic calendar in 2005. Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Four, Chapter Twenty-eight: “Puranjana Becomes a Woman in the Next Life,” discusses the disappearance of the spiritual master: TEXT 48 uttisthottistha rajarse   imam […]

Sravanam and Kirtanam with HH Giriraj Swami and Madhava dasa.
#Kirtanforever
Posted by Madhava Kirtan Community on Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Yesterday we were blessed with the association of seven stalwart brahmachari book distributors who are following the Warped Tour. They arrived the night before, attended our entire morning program, and then, after breakfast, we discussed various aspects of the practice and preaching of Krishna consciousness. These devotees are extending Srila Prabhupada and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s […]

Today we were blessed to observe Nirjala Ekadasi with about twenty devotees from the Mantra House program in Los Angeles. Not only did we chant many rounds together, but we also discussed many interesting points related to the practice and preaching of Krishna consciousness. “Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord. Everyone […]