Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

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. […]

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 […]