Author Archives: H.H. Giriraj Swami

Giriraj Swami read and spoke on Bhagavad-gita 9.14 during the Sunday Krishna Fest. “This verse is the summary of the previous verses. The Lord tells Arjuna that those who are purely in Krsna consciousness and do not know anything other than Krsna are called mahatma; yet there are other persons who are not exactly in […]

Today is Visvarupa-mahotsava, 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 scripture, Lord Chaitanya is Krishna Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, come […]

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 […]

Today is the disappearance day of Namacarya Srila Haridasa Thakura, so we shall read from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, Chapter Eleven, “The Passing of Haridasa Thakura”: “The summary of this chapter is given by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in his Amrta-pravaha-bhasya as follows. In this chapter Brahma Haridasa Thakura gave up his body with the consent of […]

Giriraj Swami read and discussed Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, Chapter 11, “The Passing of Srila Haridasa Thakura,” during the Sunday morning class. 09.23.18, Disappearance Pastime of Srila Haridasa Thakura, CC Antya 11, Dallas “If one cannot complete the fixed number of rounds he is assigned, he should be considered to be in a diseased condition of spiritual […]

Devotees gathered to remember and glorify His Holiness Gunagrahi Das Goswami. ——————— Devotees remembering Gunagrahi Das Goswami Giriraj Swami remembering Gunagrahi Das Goswami

“Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura retired to Godrumadvipa, Mayapur, and standing on his veranda there he had a vision of a spiritual city where devotees from all over the world would come together and chant the holy names and worship Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. When I visited there I stood on that veranda and looked across the river […]

Today marks the anniversary of the birth—the appearance—of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, “the pioneer of the program for benedicting the entire world with Krishna consciousness.” To honor the occasion, I would like to share a short piece I wrote about Srila Bhaktivinoda and Srila Prabhupada. We pray for their continued guidance and mercy. “Dedicated to the sacred […]

“Bali Maharaja has become the most famous among the demons and nonbelievers, for in spite of being bereft of all material opulences, he is fixed in his devotional service.” (SB 8.22.28) Purport: In this verse, the words sidann api na muhyati are very important. A devotee is sometimes put into adversity while executing devotional service. […]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.7.17 on the occasion of Vamana-dvadasi. “In the beginning stage we sort of surrender but then we go back on our surrender. As Bhurijana Prabhu said, ‘They surrender, but then they take it back.’ This is common in Kali-yuga, because the atmosphere is so polluted and so surcharged with nescience […]

———————————————- “These are serious vows. Srila Prabhupada said that if he had relaxed the regulative principles he could have had millions of disciples. But he didn’t want cheap disciples. He said that one moon brightens up the night more that millions of little stars twinkling. He wasn’t after twinkling stars he was after one moon. […]

“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 […]