Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

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. […]

In Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Srila Prabhupada explains the reasons for Sri Krishna Chaitanya’s appearance. Lord Krishna, in His pastimes, was unable to experience the glory of Srimati Radharani’s love for Him, the wonderful qualities in Krishna that She relishes through Her love, and the indescribable happiness She feels when She realizes the sweetness of His love. […]

In the first verse of the Bhagavad-gita, the low-minded king Dhrtarastra asks his secretary, “O Sanjaya, after my sons and the sons of Pandu assembled in the place of pilgrimage at Kuruksetra, desiring to fight, what did they do?” Kim akurvata: “What did they do?” Srila Prabhupada says that this is a foolish question. The […]

I will never forget the moment when I heard that George Harrison had passed away, shortly after Thanksgiving in 2001. My strong feelings of separation surprised me—and made me think how important and dear George must have been to Srila Prabhupada and Sri Krishna. And I remembered my own little experience with George in Bombay. […]

“Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was so renounced he would just sleep on the ground. For Food he might get some rice that he would just parch in the sun. If there was nothing else he would take some mud from the Ganges and ingest that. For clothing he would take whatever cloth was lying in the […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.8.3-5. “Piety refers to the process of cleansing the heart. As recommended by Lord Caitanya, one has to cleanse the dust from the mirror of the mind, and then advancement on the path of liberation begins. Here also the same process is recommended. Malam means “contamination.” We should learn to despise […]

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Remembrances from Various Devotees
Remembrance from Vrajendranandana Das
Remembrance from Giriraj Swami

Today is the disappearance day of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja. Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was a great devotee—a maha-bhagavata. He was a disciple of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and was very renounced. He had lived for many years in Vrindavan, roaming the twelve forests, chanting the holy names of Krishna, eating by begging alms, and […]

Today is Gopastami, the day on which Krishna and Balarama and other boys Their age, who previously had tended the calves, were given charge of the cows. This event is described in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.15.1): tatas ca pauganda-vayah-sritau vraje   babhuvatus tau pasu-pala-sammatau gas carayantau sakhibhih samam padair   vrndavanam punyam ativa cakratuh “When Lord Rama […]

Giriraj Swami offering arati to Srila Prabhupada.
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Panel Discussion with Bhargava dasa, Dugdha-pana dasa, and Giriraj Swami
Kirtan by Giriraj Swami
Talk by Giriraj Swami

A talk by Giriraj Swami on  Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day, November 14, 2007, Mayapur, India. I am very grateful to Srila Prabhupada for having brought me into your association. You are his sincere followers, and many of you have been serving him for decades, from when you read or heard about him or met him in person. […]

 
Govardhana-puja, Giriraj Swami
Posted by Kandarpa Manjari Devi Dasi on Thursday, November 8, 2018

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Govardhan-puja talk by Giriraj Swami
Kirtan by Sarvatma das and Radhika
Nrsimha Pr…

We are gathered on the auspicious occasion of Sri Govardhana-puja at the feet of Sri Giriraja Govardhana. Many of you may know the history, related in Srimad-Bhagavatam: One day Sri Krishna noticed that the cowherd men were collecting paraphernalia for worship. As the omniscient Supersoul, the Lord already understood the whole situation. Still, as a […]

Today we are beginning a new year, according to one calculation, and celebrating the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya. Lord Ramachandra, His brother Laksmana, and His eternal consort, Sita, had gone into exile. While in exile in the forest, Sita was kidnapped by Ravana and carried to his kingdom of Lanka. In time, Lord […]

“Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, quoting from the Vaisnava-tosani of Srila Sanatana Gosvami, says that the incident of Krsna’s breaking the pot of yogurt and being bound by mother Yasoda took place on the Dipavali Day, or Dipa-malika. Even today in India, this festival is generally celebrated very gorgeously in the month of Kartika.” (SB 10.9.1–2 […]

Amidst all the divisive and inflammatory political rhetoric right now, approaching the midterm elections in the US, Srila Prabhupada’s brief essay “The Peace Formula” seems especially relevant, timeless, and appealing.  The great mistake of modern civilization is to encroach upon others’ property as though it were one’s own and to thereby create an unnecessary disturbance […]

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Damodarastakam by Radhika and Apsara, Moorpark
Mantras by Narottam das, Moorpark
Caitanya-caritamrta Antya-lila 20, conclusion by Giriraj Swami

In Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami says that the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya are like a lake with many beautiful lotus flowers, which are love for Krishna—Radha and Krishna. As our acharyas tell us, the Caitanya-caritamrta is perhaps the most important of all the books of the followers of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and on […]

Kartik is a very auspicious time for spiritual advancement. Another name for Kartik is Urja-vrata. Urja means power. The supreme power, the original power, is Srimati Radharani. So Urja-vrata, or Kartik-vrata, is for Srimati Radharani. Many important pastimes took place in the month of Kartik. On the full moon night, Lord Krishna played on His […]

“Srimad-Bhagavatam mentions two words: parisram which means hard labor or great endeavor and Krishna krpa or Krishna’s mercy. Our acharyas explain that the two finger gap preventing Mother Yasoda from tying the rope around Krishna can be bridged by a combination of parisram — our hard labor and Krishna krpa or Krishna’s mercy. Whatever we do in […]

As part of our evening program in Carpinteria during Kartik, we are reading from Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.9, “Mother Yasoda Binds Lord Krsna,” and tonight one verse and purport struck me as especially instructive: TEXT 5 tam ankam arudham apayayat stanam   sneha-snutam sa-smitam iksati mukham atrptam utsrjya javena sa yayav   utsicyamane payasi tv adhisrite TRANSLATION […]

Today, thinking of how valuable Krishna consciousness is and how few people are accepting it—and how people are suffering for want of Krishna consciousness—I felt somewhat discouraged, but then I thought of Srila Prabhupada’s encouraging words to a reporter from the New York Times, John Nordheimer, in September 1972. “How many followers do you have?” […]

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”), Krishna who allowed Himself to be […]

I have been rereading the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam and receiving great illumination and inspiration from it. Srila Prabhupada said that he was not sure how long he would live, so he put everything into the First Canto, and Ramesvara Prabhu told me that whenever he told Prabhupada that the BBT had money and asked […]

Today marks Sri Rama-vijaya-dasami (Dasara, or Dussehra), the day on which Lord Ramachandra vanquished the powerful tyrant Ravana. As described in Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.7.25): vaksah-sthala-sparsa-rugna-mahendra-vaha- dantair vidambita-kakubjusa udha-hasam sadyo ’subhih saha vinesyati dara-hartur visphurjitair dhanusa uccarato ’dhisainye “When Ravana was engaged in the battle, the trunk of the elephant which carried the king of heaven, Indra, […]

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How Narottama dasa’s conch came to Carpinteria
Kirtan by Sarvatma das
Kirtan 2 by Sarvatma das
Nrsimha Prayers by Giriraj Swami

During a preview of Viva Kultura in Gauranga Hall in Houston, the person playing the elderly gentleman who introduced Srimad-Bhagavatam walked down into the audience and presented me the volume: Srimad-Bhagavatam, First Canto, Chapters 1–8.  Somehow I was deeply touched by that act, and I carried the book with me back to my ashram in […]

To commemorate the anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in America, we shall sing and discuss the second poem that he wrote on the ship Jaladuta, when he arrived in the Boston harbor on September 17, 1965. Poem [translation]: 1:  My dear Lord Krishna, You are so kind upon this useless soul, but I do not […]

Below is my offering to Dvarkadhish Prabhu, read at his memorial program tonight in New Dvaraka, Los Angeles, by HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja. My dear Dvarkadhish Prabhu, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and his dedicated followers. I still can hardly believe you are gone. Your smiling face and enthusiastic service […]